Hey Everyone,
I'm a fairly new linux user and I seem to have a problem with ubuntu 8.10 after installing it.

Well firstly, Here are my specs:

Acer Aspire 5710
Intel Centrino Duo 2.0Ghz
1 Gb ram
ATI Radeon HD 2300 (128mb)
140 GB HDD

and I'm running vista (Home Premium) 32 bit at the moment as my primary OS.

To make sure everything was working fine before i could do a dual installation, i ran the live cd and it worked like a charm.
Everything works fine in the live cd....the internet, sound, graphic drivers (even the special effects seemed to be work fine)

I thought wow...after having a bitter experience with Ubuntu 8.04 and 7.10 (I couldnt install those at all coz of driver issues and stuff) I thought this is it!

So I used the wubi installer to install ubuntu in my D drive (I didnt wanna use C just to be safe as the primary OS is installed there). Gave it a healthy space of 15 gb. Finished the installation and the rebooted.

I went inside Ubuntu which started doing its installation and copying of files and stuff. So far so good.....

And then once it finished its installation and copying of files (100 %), the screen went blank and i see a cursor blinking. I thought maybe its restarting and thats why it must be doing this.

I wait for nearly 10 mins and nothings happening except for the cursor blinking on the black screen. I press the caps lock key to see if anything is processing. Nope. So i manually shut it down and then load ubuntu.

It loads like 20-30%....rests for a while....and then it loads a bit (not completley)....after that it takes me to a command line asking me for my password and username.

I enter those correctly. But it doesnt get me into the main GUI screen yet.

It shows me a lot of the this error msg:
-bash: /dev/null:Permission denied

I'm still in command line (or terminal to be precise). So i use 'startx' (something which i learned from my csci labs ) to start a new session. It showed signs of starting a new session (i can see the mouse pointer and stuff) and then poof....back to the command line again!

So I shut it down and load it again in recovery mode. It shows signs of the same symptoms in the splash screen (going very slow after 20-30 % ) and then this time, before i'm asked for my username and password in the command line, it shows a lot of warnings: fake daemon running (or something like that) and i cant even use startx!

So i didnt know what to do, uninstalled ubuntu and did a fresh installation (wubi and in the same D drive). Reboot. Install and copy files 100% and then a blank screen again with the dreaded cursor blinking. I still wait for about 10 mins and nothing yet happens. So I manually shut it down (again) and then load ubuntu and unsurprisingly i have the same problem as what i described before....doesnt load properly and i'm not able to come out of the terminal.


Can anyone please please help me with this problem?

As root:

# chmod 666 /dev/null

Let me know if it works...

I tried it...
then performed a startx
it went inside and there was an error on the screen saying that a "panel hasnt been loaded and i need to reload it"

but i couldnt do anything about it since my mouse, keyboard werent working!

i noticed something else when i was trying this out. When ubuntu was loading there was a msg saying that the "hardware drivers failed to load" and "running with fake start-stop daemon"

now i really dont know what that means!

Try this:

# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

It seems the install is not finishing properly. The above command will configure xorg. Answer the questions as best you can. Take a look at the link below for more info. Good luck!


https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/201946

ps: I run Debian which is the mother of Ubuntu. So these suggestions should work on you're system. Don't give up!

hey,
thanx for your quick reply!! (I have posted this question in a lot of forums and you seem to be the only one who is helping me). I did try out the command!

It asked me to set up my keyboard layout and other stuff.. I did that...and then i performed a reboot.

But i end up with the same problem once again...in the splash screen it just loads a bit....then i get those msgs that the hardware drivers failed to load, fake start stop daemon....

Is it because after i finished the installation, it just went blank and then i manually shut it down (I waited for 10 mins...my wireless was connected but my keyboard wasnt working...i tried pressing ctrl alt f4)

I have been really trying to use ubuntu for a very long time now....i tried 7.10 but i couldnt install it coz of some drivers issue and 8.04 i couldnt find wireless drivers....now i 8.10 works fine in live cd....but its not installing properly (or atleast thats what i think the problem is

Below is a quote I found on https://help.ubuntu.com/8.10/install...eshooting.html

There are a number of options you could try that is documented on the above link. I would suggest trying the one below first. Unfortunately, this means re-installing. When the Ubunto cd starts up, there are a number of options to pass to the kernel/installer. Check them out with the F1, F2 etc.

Hey,
I'm using the wubi installer (installing inside windows)...I have never tried the install option after booting from the cd! Would i be able to make changes to the boot parameter if i use the wubi installer?

Also i was just researching on other stuff and i found out that it might be a problem of my ati drivers as well and i should use vesa...but i dont know how to do that... can you kindly explain that to me?

I am not sure about the wubi installer. Regarding the ati vesa thing, when you run dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, it should give you a list of drivers to choose from. If it auto-detects ati, you can override it by scrolling through the drivers and choose the vesa driver. Vesa is a good option if you are having trouble with the ati driver. It is a generic driver but it works.

i ran the command and it just set up keyboard and something about buffer...it didnt ask me for graphic drivers and stuff...is there any other way to change it?

Erase the old code in /etc/X11/xorg.conf and put the code below into it. If it does not exist create it. Save the file and run dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg again and see if it gives you the driver options.