Ubuntu 5.04 is running without problem on my PC. When I try to install Ubuntu 5.10 or 6.06 I am running into trouble.

Ubuntu 5.10 does not complete the installation. The first phase completes, and after reboot the installation continues, but stops at about 70%. The same happens with Kubuntu 5.10.

Ubuntu 6.06 installs without problem, but my PC freezes at the GDM login. This happens with both Ubuntu and Kubuntu and with both the x86 and AMD64 versions.

I then tried several other distributions and came to following results (OK=works, NO=not working):

Debian Sarge 3.1 Kernel 2.4.27 OK (VESA)
Xandros 3.0 Kernel 2.6.9 OK
Ubuntu 5.04 Kernel 2.6.10 OK
Mandriva 2006 Kernel 2.6.11 OK
Knoppix 4.0 Live CD Kernel 2.6.11 OK
Ubuntu 5.10 Kernel 2.6.12 NO
Suse 10.0 Kernel 2.6.13 NO
Kanotix 2005.04 Kernel 2.6.14 NO
Fedora Core 5 Kernel 2.6.15 NO
Ubuntu 6.06B2-x86 Kernel 2.6.15 NO
Ubuntu 6.06B2-AMD64 Kernel 2.6.15 NO

This seems to indicate that the problem is kernel related. Apparently something changed in the kernel between 2.6.11 and 2.6.12 which made it incompatible with my hardware, which is:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-K8VM800M
Processor: AMD Sempron 3100+
Graphics Card: XFX Geforce 6200

Any ideas on how I can pinpoint the problem?

Not necessarily!

Does Ctrl+Alt+F2 switch you to a terminal screen? (Press Ctrl+Alt+F7 if you wish to return to GUI.)

If the installation "did not finish," then of course the state of your overall configuration is unknown. But as things stand now, it seems quite possible that the problem is with X-windows. If your system got all the way to a graphic login screen, the kernel probably isn't the problem.

From the terminal-screen, login as root, then cd /var/log. Do ls to see what files are there. Try: less messages ("Q" to exit) to see if there are any useful messages. Try the same less command against other files that are in the same place.

The problem could be with gdm specifically. You don't know yet...

In Ubuntu 6.06, after the freeze at the GDM login screen, I rebooted in Recovery Mode and started GDM at the command prompt. This allowed me to log in without problem. However, after logging in I got following warning message:

Quote

Power Manager

The program cannot start until you start the dbus service.

This is usually started by your operating system by default and is normally called messagebus.

It is strongly recommended you reboot your computer after starting messagebus.

Unquote

Closing this message box brought up following error message:

Quote

Failed to initialize HAL

Unquote

The system (except maybe hotplugging) and the applications seemed to work correctly, inclusive internet access.

Following some postings in the forums I typed following in a terminal session:

# /etc/init.d/dbus start

This brought following response:

* Starting system message bus dbus [OK]
* Starting hardware abstraction layer hal [OK]

Next I rebooted in Recovery Mode and typed following at the command prompt:

# /etc/init.d/dbus start

This started both dbus and HAL. Starting GDM then allowed me to log in without bringing up the Power Manager and HAL error messages.

Next I checked /var/log/syslog and the only error message that seems to have a bearing on my problem was:

Quote

Can't get system message bus name: connection ":1.1" is not allowed to own the service "org.bluez" due to security policies in the configuration file.

Unquote

Posting but not able to help - I get exactly the same messagebus error as you on boot. I'm using Fedora Core 5. Was running fine until yesterday. Didn't really want to re-install or roll back the changes I made yesterday (installed Limewire and maybe some other bits)
I'll be watching this post too.
A

I have exactly that problem with Fedora 5. It tries to boot, can't find the messagebus??? then fails after hanging for an age. If I can get the X server running then the log in window appears. I enter my user name ok, then the password, and then it hangs again. The only solution is to reset.
Normansdog

Yep, me too, did anyone get a fix here?

FC5 boot just hangs at messagebus, efforts to bypass lead to GDM or network issues looping so I don't even get to a terminal...

Looks like this might be a Fedora special feature? can anyone help?
Cheers,

OK, read on and found an answer, 'Comment out ldap from group line in /etc/nsswitch.conf'

Now can boot again, just can't use LDAP authentication...
Cheers,
Dgm2