should I upgrade? clean install?

[jrschrock]

I had only a few minor problems related to sound (internal mic not working was the biggest problem). I started working through this troubleshooting guide found at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/So...otingProcedure and catastrophe ensued....

Now I have no sound whatsoever, my desktop environment is whacky (launcher is stuck all the time, covering up any other window I have open). Also when I attempt to go into sound preferences, a terminal pops open, but doesn't allow me to run any commands on it. Also, sound preferences shows no speakers, no hardware.

It seems like all the progress I've made getting Ubuntu set up the way I like has been wiped out. Should I upgrade to 11.10 and see what happens there? Should I do a clean install? Help please!!

[sammiev]

You can try a live CD or USB but you can expect a few bugs now and then with 11.10 as it's still Beta. I must add that I think 11.10 is the best yet in my books.

[jrschrock]

You can try a live CD or USB but you can expect a few bugs now and then with 11.10 as it's still Beta. I must add that I think 11.10 is the best yet in my books.

isn't there a terminal command to upgrade distros?

[vasa1]

...
It seems like all the progress I've made getting Ubuntu set up the way I like has been wiped out. Should I upgrade to 11.10 and see what happens there? Should I do a clean install? Help please!!

Hi! Advice for a one-month-old user of 11.04. I feel you'd be better off getting help to troubleshoot your difficulties with 11.04 than upgrading to 11.10. The "experience base" should be larger with 11.04.

[mörgæs]

If your system is unstable, you should definitely not do an online upgrade. A fresh install is the way to go.

Whether 11.04 or 11.10 is best for you I can not tell. You could install both side by side for comparison.

[jrschrock]

If your system is unstable, you should definitely not do an online upgrade. A fresh install is the way to go.

Whether 11.04 or 11.10 is best for you I can not tell. You could install both side by side for comparison.

I'd rather do a fresh install, however, I do not have a CD drive, so I can't use the CD to install and I'm not sure how to go about it otherwise..any suggestions?

Thanks

[mörgæs]

With Unetbootin you can create a bootable USB stick.
More advice here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1580857

[jrschrock]

With Unetbootin you can create a bootable USB stick.
More advice here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1580857

Trying to create a bootable stick, unfortunately, one of the problems with my system right now is that the USB drive is not recognized.

[mörgæs]

Did you read the link I gave you about Unetbootin? You can run it on any computer, also on Windows.

[jrschrock]

Did you read the link I gave you about Unetbootin? You can run it on any computer, also on Windows.

I did read it. From the guide, I attempted to create a bootable disk, to no avail. Then I also attempted to do a net install from a mirror site, but I'm not making sense of it at all. I then proceeded to run through a troubleshooting guide using terminal commands and submitted it as a question on launchpad.net, so I'll be checking the results of that next.

I appreciate the feedback.