Benefits of upgrading?

[malmomma]

Hi all! Brand new Linux user - just wiped my laptop the other day and installed Ubuntu Heron 8.04 from a disk we had. At times, it seems a little quirky (random letters on my keyboard being entered after I hit the key once - ex. ggggggggggggggg; cursor moving from current location to a previous spot - using this post as an example, it might jump back to just before the word previous in this sentence.) Other little random things, too.

Should I think about upgrading it to a later version? What are the benefits of upgrading? And thanks en, yikes, how do I upgrade? Is it fairly easy or will I be, in essence, wiping my machine again?

Th

BUGGER. Cursor jumped again and I left it so you could see what I mean. I was going to type "Thanks" just above this paragraph, but the cursor jumped to where I made the text red. Oy! :confused:
anks
Th

Ok, now this is irking me... Anyhoo, thanks for any help!!! I greatly appreciate it.

Karen

[snowpine]

Hi Malmomma, welcome to the forums...

For your keyboard and trackpad problems, try going to System->Preferences->Mouse/Keyboard and adjusting the settings. For example, you can disable your trackpad while you're typing (should fix the cursor jumping problem).

8.04 is the current "long term support" release, which means it is the most stable Ubuntu currently available. I would not recommend upgrading to 8.10 (because support for it ends soon). If you wait until later in the month, 10.04, the next long term support, will be available, and you can upgrade directly from 8.04 to 10.04, skipping over all the versions in between.

There is no hurry to upgrade from 8.04 if it's working well for you. It will be fully supported through April 2011. The main reason to upgrade is to get newer versions of applications.

I always recommend testing a Live CD of a new release before you commit to an upgrade. If there is a problem with the new release, you want to know about it before you mess up your old version with a failed upgrade.

Good luck!

[malmomma]

Thanks for the welcome, Snowpine. :) I appreciate the answer as to whether or not I should upgrade. I'll definitely hold off then.

As for the cursor and letter issues... I couldn't find where I could turn off my track pad. I'm not sure if that would help or not, as I never had the problem when I had Windows. But hey, I'm all for trying. Is there a specific spot where it would allow me to turn off the track pad?

The letter repeating thing - again, didn't happen when I had Windows. Doesn't happen very often, but I turned off Repeat Keys to see if that helps. (Downside is I can't just hold down my backspace key anymore! LOL)

Thanks again for the help!

[thenailedone]

... if your hardware is current I would urge you to update, Ubuntu 10.04 is coming out officially the 29th of April (it is also a LTS release)... or you could try 9.10 current release or download 10.04 beta (it is uber sweet)...

[new_tolinux]

If stability is your most urgent issue, I would recommend not to upgrade.
Also don't upgrade to 10.04 during the first six months, because I've learned that every "final" release needs some major bugfixing before it becomes really stable.

[malmomma]

... if your hardware is current I would urge you to update, Ubuntu 10.04 is coming out officially the 29th of April (it is also a LTS release)... or you could try 9.10 current release or download 10.04 beta (it is uber sweet)...

Hmm, I have no idea if it is or not. I bought my Dell XPS M1530 about 2 years ago. Since then, I've had a total of 3 motherboards and 2 hard drives to "fix" an issue I had been having. The tech who came to install the 3rd motherboard, when I described the problem, said he thought it was an issue of the hard drive not reading Windows - or something like that. I'm not a techie (can fiddle a little, but my husband is the real techie, LOL), so I can't be sure. As far as stats go, it's a Core 2 Duo processor 2.4 GHz with 2 gigs of RAM.

If I were to upgrade, is it easy or would I end up wiping my machine with the install?

[Bruce S]

May I suggest trying another "Tech" if he has installed 3 motherboards and 2 hard drives , and you are still having problems.

You get an A for persevering in trying to fix your computer.

[thenailedone]

Hmm, I have no idea if it is or not. I bought my Dell XPS M1530 about 2 years ago. Since then, I've had a total of 3 motherboards and 2 hard drives to "fix" an issue I had been having. The tech who came to install the 3rd motherboard, when I described the problem, said he thought it was an issue of the hard drive not reading Windows - or something like that. I'm not a techie (can fiddle a little, but my husband is the real techie, LOL), so I can't be sure. As far as stats go, it's a Core 2 Duo processor 2.4 GHz with 2 gigs of RAM.

If I were to upgrade, is it easy or would I end up wiping my machine with the install?

Most users would recommend a fresh install as the best... which sucks because a proper upgrade should be so much easier (if it worked)... your hardware would easily run any version of Ubuntu currently.

I would recommend if you can download a copy of 9.10, burn a CD and boot into the live CD and see if you like and if everything seems to work... then if you want to, backup all your data and install 9.10 over 8.04 (wiping it off your HDD in other words)... sorry, don't know how technical I can go with you ;)

[malmomma]

May I suggest trying another "Tech" if he has installed 3 motherboards and 2 hard drives , and you are still having problems.

You get an A for persevering in trying to fix your computer.

ROFL. I don't know if you have ever tried to deal with Dell phone techs. The language barrier is rough. I tried to explain - both in emails & the phone - what was happening. Now, I have learned over the years a few things about computers (by no means am I an expert), but dang. Those "techs" were idiots and they were the ones sending the guys who came.

Now the tech who actually was here this last time seemed to know more about what he was doing then the phone guys & he, based on what I was saying, was the one who told me to wipe Windows & try a reinstall. I never did, the problem seemed to go away... and then return every once in a while.

Since Ubuntu, the laptop boots every time like a charm. No more locking up/freezing up/etc. DH thinks it was most likely a virus, but who knows. I still remain with the firm stance that crappy Vista finally died. ;)

Thanks for the A. LOL I just want this thing to run as it should - and since it hasn't for most of the time I've had it... Ah well. No more Dells in this house. Hoping Ubuntu will at least resolve issues until I can afford a new machine. Then again, I'll probably stick Ubuntu on any machine I get from here on out.

I apologize. I got way too wordy... Bad habit.


Most users would recommend a fresh install as the best... which sucks because a proper upgrade should be so much easier (if it worked)... your hardware would easily run any version of Ubuntu currently.

I would recommend if you can download a copy of 9.10, burn a CD and boot into the live CD and see if you like and if everything seems to work... then if you want to, backup all your data and install 9.10 over 8.04 (wiping it off your HDD in other words)... sorry, don't know how technical I can go with you :wink:

Well, if you give me fairly clear directions, you can go technical. I did some basic help desk support for a few years, so I know how to navigate... Well, I knew how to navigate a Windows machine. LOL I'm sure I can navigate this one as long as you're not vague. So basically, what you are saying I can do, is to burn the CD, pop it in the drive, and boot from it, essentially running the machine off the disk FIRST. Then, if I like how it runs, I can then save data & wipe the machine all over again with that CD. Gotcha. :D

Thanks so much for all the help, gang. Very nice community you have here! :) And now I need to scurry off and figure out why on boot up I get a message stating something about the nm-applet not being unlocked on a keyring... I WILL learn this OS, darn it!

Karen

[thenailedone]

Thats the spirit :D :KS

[malmomma]

Well, still having issues with the cursor bopping over the place & letters just going crazy and repeating without me doing anything. Also now having an issue with Firefox and some Caret Browsing thing. Yikes. Are these issues that others have with 8.04 or is it just me? The caret browsing window pops up - and doesn't go away, instead multiplies like rabbits. I click Do not show this box again & don't turn it on, and it keeps coming back anyhow. VERY frustrating. Never saw a Caret Browsing window when I had Firefox on Windows.

Not sure if the keyboard issue is that I don't have the correct keyboard set up in Linux or something else. I've gone to System -> Preferences -> Keyboard -> Layouts and looked up Dell, but my laptop is not on the list. I see Latitude, Inspiron & Precision, but no XPS. I don't have 101 keys, nor do I have 85 keys. A little frustrating for me right now.

I also can't figure out the cursor jumping issue... It will happen when I'm not even touching the mousepad...

If anyone has any ideas that might aid in fixing these issues, I'd be very grateful! Or if you know that upgrading to a more recent version might help, I'm game for that, too.

Thanks in advance! :)

Karen