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Thread: very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus

    very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

    http://ubuntuforums.org/images/smilies/icon_mad.gif
    Help!! Fellow users, I'd like to ask your advice: Should I just give up on Hardy Heron and reinstall Gibbon? http://ubuntuforums.org/images/smilies/confused.gif


    - Skype won't install: dependency issues, and the needed elements are not available
    - Amarok won't install -- similar reasons (yes, Rhythmbox is nice but last I tried, it kept crashing once I hooked it up with all my 2000 music files)
    - auto-install doesn't work any more for programs downloaded from websites: I've downloaded some programs, and one I figured out how to install on the command line but the others I have no clue what to do with except extracting all their files onto the desktop
    - media files: sound quality is now horrible, with crackling and skipping on ogg files and mp3s, and one song kept trying to play in several places simultaneously (using VLC media player) -- videos online such as on YouTube keep jumping constantly (sound and picture) with the processor stuck at 100% -- I thought I installed all the Gstreamer codecs but Totem still can't play anything but ogg files.
    - DVDs won't play any more -- neither on Totem nor on VLC Media Player
    - improvements I was desperately hoping for are still not there: all print jobs to my LaserJet printer still add too much space between lines of text, regardless of which driver or settings I choose -- the Stopwatch program still can't make a notification sound, the GnuWash program I just tried in its place just keeps freezing up (and I can't figure out how to install the two other timers I've downloaded) -- my GigaWare headset still doesn't work at all with Ubuntu (earlier it worked only with Skype, and in that case was stuck at maximum volume)

    The only improvements I see with the Heron: Wireless networking is easier and more intuitive (excellent); now I can slide the top and bottom bars off the screen to save space.

    Sorry if I seem to be ranting / too verbose -- just very frustrated, and my wife is yelling in frustration that she can't watch her comedy shows on YouTube in the kitchen. Should I just reinstall Gibbon, or try just doing only word processing on that computer while I wait for updates, or go back to Windows? Reinstalling Gibbon means a whole lot of work, all over again. Waiting for updates hasn't worked for me in the past -- never saw any improvements in functionality until doing a full version upgrade. And I'm tired of the security headaches with Windows.

    (I'm using a 2003 Sony Vaio laptop with 1MB RAM. I'm not quite a newbie any more but I'm still far short of being a programmer.)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    Re: very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

    To tell you the true i dont think the updates will solve your problems, probably you will have to painstakinly fix one by one, googling and such.
    If gutsy gibbon works, i'd say go back.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Re: very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

    Yes go back to gibbon or do a fresh and clean install of Hardy. What you're facing could be an upgrade from a "dirty" gibbon install : 3rd party repositories, lot of install / uninstall, etc...
    Only knowledge will set you free.
    Ubuntu user #3088
    Using Linux-only PC powered since december 2004, Ubuntu user since june 2006.
    Acer Laptop 5520g / Ubuntu 9.04 - AMD64.

  4. #4
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    Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

    Re: very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

    it is obvious that there are issues with hardy, all seem "trivial" with the exception of the hard lock, which i have been following pretty closely; and from but reports, it seems to be moving back up kernel tree, an may not be specifically an ubuntu problem, simlar issues have been reported in Arch.

    I agree with the suggestion to try a clean install; but maybe don't spend too much time banging your head if it does not work out of the box. I would not hesitate to revert if hardy is not to your expectations.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
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    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

    I agree completely about the clean install. Next time you install though I suggest putting /home on it's own partition if you haven't already. Makes things much easier! I've never been a fan of distribution upgrades. I'd rather start fresh and only keep /home. (and my MythTV recordings & database..lol)


    -n8

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    8

    Re: very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

    I wouldn't know what to tell you. I've done a fresh install of Hardy and I am running into some of the same issues. I still have a partition with Feisty installed so I'm going back to that for the time being. I remember there being some issues with Gutsy when it was first released, so hopefully many of the issues will be addressed in subsequent updates.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

    Re: very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

    I Have to agree on rolling back to GG. I personally don't mind the bugs, as I can learn the system buy buy figuring them out but some people don't have the time to sit and troubleshoot and need there systems to work.
    The original point and click interface was The Smith & Wesson.



  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    San Francisco
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    Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus

    Re: very frustrated with Heron: Go back to Gibbon, or stick it out??

    Thank you all for your input! It looks like 5 votes for returning to Gutsy Gibbon, and 0 for each of the other options. So that's what I'll do. And I will definitely try putting /home on its own partition -- that sounds like a great idea, natrixgli. That will save me from having to copy about 12GB of files. I don't see any way I can do that now, before reinstalling. I suppose I have to let everything be deleted this time, and set up the partition on my next install.

    BTW -- I meant I have 1GB of RAM, not 1MB.

    Also, my Hardy Heron is a fresh installation, while my Gutsy Gibbon that worked so much better was a dirty upgrade from Feisty Fawn.

    The lesson I'm learning here seems to be: Be patient and wait a few months before upgrading to a new version of Ubuntu.

    So I'll have to say a say goodbye to the new Firefox and network-selection tool.

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