Acer Aspire (with Linux) Network centre crashed.
 

hi,

something strange happened to my acer aspire when I turned it off yesterday -

-network centre stopped running (no internet)
-xfce4-panel crashed and would not restart
-few other minor things that I can't recall now

I've managed to rebuild the xfce4-panel from scratch. However, the network centre is dead (I click on the icon and nothing happens).

Now I've read the threads and tried all the suggested solutions:

---> clearing the directory by rm -rf ~/.gconf/system/networking did not help. On inspection, the system directory was empty, ie the networking directory was not there.
same goes for going down to the root and repeating the same.


---> And yet typing [root@localhost bin]# rpm -qa |grep -i networkmanager gives me
NetworkManager-openvpn-0.7.0-daily.lp.080416
NetworkManager-gnome-0.7.0-lp.0025.o.1
NetworkManager-vpnc-0.7.0-daily.lp.080416
NetworkManager-0.7.0-lp.0025.o.1
NetworkManager-glib-0.7.0-lp.0025.o.1

so something exists there

--> typing sudo /usr/bin/nm-applet gives a stream of messages, events and warnings, which is too long to reproduce here. Then terminal hangs up, but interestingly, when I try to open the network centre in the usual way the terminal unhangs and goes to cursor with message (nm-applet:8316): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_window_present_with_time:assertion 'GTK_IS WINDOW (window)" failed.

--> while sudo chown user:user .optsdksettings says that .optsdksettings cannot be found

--> I also tried unhiding the xfce4 panel - doesn't help.

any other suggestions? Thanks. It's a refurbished computer, so I've no documentation or startup disks.

Hello Mooooooo,

please provide more information, which distribution? wireless or wired network? which networkadapter?

Markus

one possibility is to switch to the console by means of "Alt-Ctrl-F1" and use "Alt-Ctrl-PageUp/PageDown" to look for error messages that could give you a clue. a lockfile or PATH change could keep things from starting. in fact, any app tied to the X window will leave a message on the console, that plausibly could pinpoint the problem.

"dmesg | less" might tell you if a piece of hardware isn't being found.

i don't have any specific debian or ubuntu experience, but those are things that could help nail it down.

I have both a wireless and a wired network. But they work fine on other computers. The problem is that the file nm-applet simply refuses to run - whichever way you try to start it (command line, file structure, settings menu on desctop).

not sure what you mean by distribution - it's an acer aspire one, with Linpus.

Well, just another time this statement: get rid of Linpus and install a fullfeatured distribution like Mint: http://linuxmint.com/ or Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/netbook
I (and many others) have often tried to help people who purchased an Acer with Linpus preinstalled, it is very frustrating since Linpus is based on an antique no longer maintained version of Fedora.

In order to install such a distribution you may install the program "unetbootin" on a computer where the network is working http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ and download an isoimage for the distribution you want to install. Then you can create a bootable USB-stick, like it is described here: http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

Good luck

Markus

thanks. Alt+Ctrl+F1 doesn't seem to do anything. dmesg | less just spits out a mountain of info - some error messages but not many. But the last line is the most relevant:

nm-applet[1958]: segfault at 0000000d eip 0806729e esp bfc4b490 error 4

any ideas? What's a segmentation fault anyway?

Yes, a segmentation fault is when a programm tries to access parts of the memory which are not allowed for the program (simply spoken).

Markus

so any ideas of how to fix that memory access thing?

I certainly can install Ubuntu, but would obv. rather perform a less 'capital' fix.

Hi Mooooooo,

normaly (if you were using a normal distribution) I would really suggest to fix this issue since fixing teaches more than reinstalling. But in your case this isn't valid because you will not learn anything from Linpus (on the long run). And you will again and again run in such issues with Linpus.

So do yourself a favour and install Ubuntu (or another distribution, you may look here: http://distrowatch.com/ and here: http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/ )

Markus

ok, so I am trying to make a Ubuntu boot USB. I've downloaded the .iso file (following the instructions here http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download), converted it to an image file (I am on a Mac OS, so it gives endind .img.dmg), unmounted my flash disk, but when I try

sudo dd if=/path/to/converted/file of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1m

then I get '/dev/rdiskN permission denied'. I cleared my flash disk of files (incl. trashcan), but nothing changes.

Hi,

I don't have any experience with Mac. Did you check that the device /dev/rdiskN is really your flash-disk? and what about your path to the input file, you'll have to insert the correct path there (for example) I think if you have both pathes correct, this should work with sudo permissions. Is you flash-drive big enough?

Markus

sorry, I made a typo in the disk name. So I've made the Ubuntu flash: how do I make the Acer boot from it?

You'll have to enter the BIOS while bootup, mostly you'll have to use the <DEL> or the <F2> key.
In the BIOS you'll have to add USB to the bootable devices and configure in the "Bootsequence" that USB has a higher priority than the harddisk.
Then again reboot (with the flash-device inserted) and the Ubuntu-installation should begin.

Markus

something's not working - I did as you said and moved 'USB HDD' to the top in the bios bootup sequence menu, moving 'HDD' to the bottom. Bios clearly sees the USB stick.

But then when I try to boot - no matter how many times I restart - it just ignores the Ubuntu USB and boots from HD.

Edit: when the Linpus starts up I can see the flash drive and all the Ubuntu-installed files in it...

There are laptops where one has to press a specific button at startup in order to break the bootupprocess and chose the alternative bootdevice manually (my thinkpad for example). Are there any messages on the screen at the beginning of the bootprocess?

Markus