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Paddy Landau
June 6th, 2008, 01:23 PM
I recently installed Ubuntu 8.04 (a fresh install on a fresh partition from the downloaded CD).

Today, something strange has been happening when I've tried to start various programs from System -> Administration (e.g. Firestarter, Hardware Drivers, Synaptic Package Manager). The system hangs for around 15 seconds (the cursor changes to a circle), then it stops hanging; but, the program doesn't start.

When I open Update Manager and press Refresh, it hangs completely and I can't even close its window (although, after about 15 seconds, I can work on other windows).

Therefore, I don't have access to number of the System Administration programs.

I can open other non-Administration programs, such as Firefox.

What can I do to solve this problem?

skymera
June 6th, 2008, 02:06 PM
Whats the output when you run them in the terminal?

Paddy Landau
June 6th, 2008, 03:42 PM
Whats the output when you run them in the terminal?
How do I run them in terminal? (Sorry for the dumb question; I'm new at this. I do know how to start terminal, but not how to run adminstration tasks there.)

Paddy Landau
June 7th, 2008, 02:55 PM
How do I run them in terminal? (Sorry for the dumb question; I'm new at this. I do know how to start terminal, but not how to run adminstration tasks there.)
OK, I figured it out. I went into terminal and ran:

gksu /usr/sbin/firestarter(I hope that's the right command.) I got the same result. The system hangs for about 15 seconds, and then the terminal just sits there doing nothing. :(

EDIT: Actually, I think something similar is happening with the automated updates. I clicked the "Update" button in the panel. The Update Manager opened and let me click "Install Updates". It's been sitting there doing nothing ever since, with the buttons grayed out.

Paddy Landau
June 9th, 2008, 10:26 AM
Well, it looks as though no one has an answer to this problem.

I've just reinstalled a fresh installation of Ubuntu (overwriting the old one).

In future, I'll make regular partition backups with something like Partimage (http://www.partimage.org/) after making any important changes successfully.

Paddy Landau
June 9th, 2008, 12:05 PM
My new, fresh install is giving problems, too. :(

There is a diference, though.

I can get into all functions in System -> Administration. However, System -> Administration -> Login Window gives an odd result. It first asks for my administrator password (as it should). After I enter the password, the Login Window opens; but it immediately closes again!

Entering the following command into a terminal window has the exact same effect:

gksu /usr/sbin/gdmsetupCan anyone give any clue as to how to solve this problem?