oldefoxx
June 29th, 2010, 03:12 AM
Okay, I've got a nasty one. Notebook has been fine for awhile with 10.04 on it, except it does not support HID, which is short for Human Interface Devices, with the USB ports. Sort of an issue if you only have USB ports for attaching external devices, typical of notebooks, but an increasing issue in an age when new PCs are coming with no PS/2 ports for hooking up a mouse of keyboard. You have to be able to use both with USB ports instead.
I got another post out there about this problem. Still working on the problem myself. A really difficult case can be dealing with a Netbook, such as the HP Mini 1000, which only offers two USB ports, There you may need to go with a 4-port hub for adding attachments. I was having some results in doing that, when Whacko! My drop down menus under Applications, Places, System, and trhe icons on the top right bar, only showed me a few choices like Help, Edit Menus, Lock Panel, and I think one or two others.
I tried Edit Menus, which looked fine for selection, but nothing changed in what was displayed, no way to shut down normally, no way to enter into terminal mode the menu way, and no real idea of at least 3 things:
(1) What went wrong and how it caused this effect Suspect it was some combo of keys pressed on the lower right side of keyboard, when a cord was caught there as the lid was closed to set it aside to go to dinner.
(2) A reinstall with the /home left intact does not fix the problem. In fact, it stays exactly the same. Seems obvious that there must me at least one configuration file under the user account that that persists unless you agree to a reformat of the partition that houses /home.
(3) An effort at Reset under Edit Menus appears to do nothing. Now why isn't there a clearly defined way to restore an install to a state close to that obtained during and following the install? I mean take some or all the config backup files and overwrite the new versions per our instructions? Maybe allow us to try the old version first, then either stay with it or switch back to the new one. And include the name of the files involved, so that they can become the matter of discussion on forums like this.
What is obvious at this point is that maintaining config files under user accounts lets each user have their own preference, and many of those preferences can carry forward with new installs replacing the old, as long as the structure of the config files remains intact. But as I have found, not being able to obtain a clean reinstall while still keeping user accounts fully intact is a gapped area of concern.
I got another post out there about this problem. Still working on the problem myself. A really difficult case can be dealing with a Netbook, such as the HP Mini 1000, which only offers two USB ports, There you may need to go with a 4-port hub for adding attachments. I was having some results in doing that, when Whacko! My drop down menus under Applications, Places, System, and trhe icons on the top right bar, only showed me a few choices like Help, Edit Menus, Lock Panel, and I think one or two others.
I tried Edit Menus, which looked fine for selection, but nothing changed in what was displayed, no way to shut down normally, no way to enter into terminal mode the menu way, and no real idea of at least 3 things:
(1) What went wrong and how it caused this effect Suspect it was some combo of keys pressed on the lower right side of keyboard, when a cord was caught there as the lid was closed to set it aside to go to dinner.
(2) A reinstall with the /home left intact does not fix the problem. In fact, it stays exactly the same. Seems obvious that there must me at least one configuration file under the user account that that persists unless you agree to a reformat of the partition that houses /home.
(3) An effort at Reset under Edit Menus appears to do nothing. Now why isn't there a clearly defined way to restore an install to a state close to that obtained during and following the install? I mean take some or all the config backup files and overwrite the new versions per our instructions? Maybe allow us to try the old version first, then either stay with it or switch back to the new one. And include the name of the files involved, so that they can become the matter of discussion on forums like this.
What is obvious at this point is that maintaining config files under user accounts lets each user have their own preference, and many of those preferences can carry forward with new installs replacing the old, as long as the structure of the config files remains intact. But as I have found, not being able to obtain a clean reinstall while still keeping user accounts fully intact is a gapped area of concern.