Hardy is BY FAR the worst Ubuntu version yet. LOCKUP WARNING!!!

[Niniel]

Lol, this thread is funny.
Not in the sense that I'm trying to belittle people's problems. But seriously, "worst ever"?
How much are you willing to bet that there are threads like this after every single release?
I have to say, from my limited experience, the upgrade has gone very well. I kind of expected a total crash and burn after I read some Gutsy upgrade stories after that come out, but I haven't run into any problems yet but one (icon themes broken).
And yes, the system does feel a little faster.

[Invader Amoto]

This is by far the worst ubuntu version yet...for some. Most people seem to have it working perfectly. I haven't been so lucky though. I don't feel like explaining my problems again so i'll just link to the thread i started about my (strange) problems.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4818011

[nudnik]

After several years of Ubuntu this release has caused me to flee to FreeBSD on my main machine (Intel DG33BU MB with a Core 2 Duo CPU). I'm sad to say the freezes rendered my desktop virtually useless. Debian remains on my antique back-up unit. I may consider returning once the kernel has been updated, assuming that sorts things out.

The mascot holds true...see below.

[Jim March]

In part, the title was to get people's attention. However, Linux in general is NOT supposed to hard-lock like this while giving no clue as to what blew up. That's not acceptable. It means error-checking is wonky, and it's going to be a cast-iron bi+ch to fix because hey, guess what, no error messages/logs AT ALL.

My Acer lappy running the -rt kernel has a SATA drive. So at a minimum that CAN work.

Matt and others, here's how to add the -rt kernel. Note that the GRUB instructions are set up to allow you to test-jump to different kernels on boot which I think is a good place to be while we sort this out.

---

Assuming you have a working Internet connection:

1) Under the "System" menu find "Administration", go into "Synaptic". This is a more advanced version of the "Add/Remove Programs" tool.

2) In Synaptic hit the "search" button, change "look in" to "name" and under the keyword to search for type "linux" (no quotes). Hit "Search".

3) It's now showing you everything you can add to your system that has the word "linux" in it's title. Make this window bigger and stretch the"package" column wider (look for the vertical line just left of "installed version", drag it to the right).

4) Scroll down until you spot each of the following:

linux-headers-2.6.24-16-rt
linux-headers-rt
linux-image-2.6.24-16-rt
linux-image-rt
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-16-rt
linux-restricted-modules-rt

For each one, hit their checkbox and mark them as "to be installed". Hit the "apply" button when done. It'll download and install the stuff.

DO NOT reboot yet!

5) Pull up the "terminal" under "Applications>Accessories". Copy and past this next line in exactly as written - use the mouse's right-click in the terminal to do the "paste" as "CTRL-V" won't work in the terminal window:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

6) You're now editing a file in a simple "notepad" type program. Look for the line that says "timeout" and raise the number of seconds. I recommend 20.

7) Find the word "hiddenmenu" sitting on it's own line and put a hash ("#") in front of it to turn "hiddenmenu" off. Save this edited file.

8) Do a normal shutdown or restart.

When you come back up, a menu will pop up showing all of your kernel flavors available. Pick the one that ends in -rt (realtime) and hit enter to start with that kernel. Run it for a while, see if this helps.

Explanation:

The "realtime" kernel alters the way multiple tasks are scheduled ("prioritized") between each other. It will run fractionally slower for most apps but any app that requests it can be bumped way up in priority. This is for situations where the computer has to be doing something on schedule, tied to other needs such as on an assembly line or something, and can give a critical task it's whole attention.

Something about it's scheduling difference has fixed the lockups on my system and some others.

When regular kernel updates come along, I'll check and see if those fix the lockups and report back to this thread.

[zedcar]

I have to say, from my limited experience, the upgrade has gone very well. I kind of expected a total crash and burn after I read some Gutsy upgrade stories after that come out, but I haven't run into any problems yet but one (icon themes broken).
And yes, the system does feel a little faster.

Well I'm glad it went well for you, but I'm really worried by this thread - the stats say it all. So far only 20% of 8.04 installers say it was a good experience. 30% say it was really bad, and the rest say it caused problems they were able to solve. It might be too soon to say this is the worst ever, but numbers don't lie.

I'm sure the team is working on this freezing issue and I wish them well. (It seems to me that wifi is a common denominator.)

[hiddensphinx]

Hardy is BY FAR the worst Ubuntu version yet

I agree too. So many problems getting ATI X200 gpu on a Compaq V2000 to load. It freezes after loading. Recovery version of Linux via GRUB not helping at all.

I used Ultimate Boot CD for Win XP to fix my master boot record by using the reconvery console option. Then I used the Linux Rescue CD 2006 to remove the partitions where Ubuntu was located.

Fiesty Fawn/Gutsy Gibbon were awesome but Hardy Tardy is something I am staying away from.

[Jammin80503]

If Hardy isn't working on your machine, just chill and wait a few months. Some users are experiencing lockups - You cant deny that. However, those that do should just revert to gutsy and wait. All the work I've done with hardy has gone great.

[gtdaqua]

Lol, this thread is funny.
Not in the sense that I'm trying to belittle people's problems. But seriously, "worst ever"?
How much are you willing to bet that there are threads like this after every single release?
I have to say, from my limited experience, the upgrade has gone very well. I kind of expected a total crash and burn after I read some Gutsy upgrade stories after that come out, but I haven't run into any problems yet but one (icon themes broken).
And yes, the system does feel a little faster.

I agree. When Gutsy was released, there were similar talks. But I should say Hardy is good for me. And yes, the server is quite faster now - especially web apps. The response time I get is considerably better than that of Gutsy's.

Whatever it is, Ubuntu masters should look at what is causing the kernel panics & other issues and should provide workarounds. This is more important than saying that 'these kind of threads happen after new releases....'

[Jim March]

After two days of heavy pounding, the -rt kernel finally locked up on me.

It did so differently than before - with this latest I still had mouse movement. Seems there's more than one failure mode going on...dammit.

[Buffalo Soldier]

My overall experience with Hardy
- 1 laptop since Alpha 6
- 1 home desktop since Alpha 6
- 3 office desktop since RC

All 5 machine has been far more stable than Gutsy. So I'm really surprised with the lock-ups mentioned here.

Maybe I should try a fresh install using the latest realease CD. Will update here once I try that out.