Pater Phil
November 4th, 2010, 10:13 AM
I've been a Linux Desktop user since 2002, using almost every major distribution at some point until settling on Ubuntu 7.04. I really liked Ubuntu at first. I have it running on my desktop, laptop, MythTV boxes, wife's netbook, dad's machine, mother's machine, servers at work and home. After my experience with Maverick on my laptop, I will probably be switching to something else. It seems that every release is more problematic. To me, it seems there is such a rush to dumb things down, that releases are actually betas, and I am tired of the frustration.
OK, I have a Dell Latitude D510. Single-boot machine, with the entire hard drive devoted to Ubuntu. The graphics chip is an ATI RS690M (x1200 series), and I have 2GB of RAM. Lucid (AMD64) was installed and working fine with Compiz enabled.
For kicks, I did an in place upgrade to the unperfect 10.10. I never managed to successfully login to Gnome (my preference). After credentials were entered, the gnome-session would start, and then halt even before the panels were drawn.
I did a fresh install. When I tried to login, same problem. I did a fresh install of the 32-bit version, and same problem. Switched to a text console, discovered aptitude was no longer installed by default (this frosted me to no end), installed aptitude, and updated the system. Still unable to login.
I then tried a safe-mode session. Successfully logged in. However, as soon as the screensaver started, I started having issues. When I entered my password, the screensaver kept the screen occupied. The mouse would register, but nothing happened. I could still switch consoles, but never could get X moving again.
I did a fresh install of AMD64 again, and could not login. Went to safe-mode session, logged out, and tried logging into a regular session. Success until the screensaver activated. Same problems as before. Tried going to a different screensaver, did a preview, and bam, unable to close the preview. Mouse works, can partially view the desktop, cannot access any other programs, but can access other consoles. Killed X.
Disabled screensaver. Next, I tried opening Synaptic for the hell of it, and gksudo hangs. At the same time, mouse is moving, but no clicks register, I can't switch between windows. I can access other consoles. top shows nothing out of the ordinary. Kill X.
Back in Gnome, everything seems to work for a bit, and then the desktop sort of hangs. Try switching to Metacity. Log out. Log in. Can't get to a desktop. Kill X. Log out. Log in to safe mode. It works. Log out. Log in to regular session, can't finish logging in. From console, I switch back to Compiz. Kill X. Voila, I login in again. I open Firefox. I can open Synaptic no problem using sudo from a bash Window. No error output. A few minutes later, the desktop locks up again.
Switch to console, kill X, and install kubuntu-desktop. Try logging into KDE session. Splash screen gets to the first icon, and then nothing changes for ten minutes. No hard disk activity, nothing. Kill X. Try logging into KDE session. Success. KDE is has been working fine. Still can't get into Gnome.
I have spent about 6 hours searching for something relevant. I can't find anything for Maverick. I have reached my absolute tolerance limit. I don't even have any idea how to begin tracking the problem down, because I have never encountered anything like this (partial lock-up). Honestly, I have never had difficulty with X or Gnome, and so I am not really sure where to look for debugging information. dmesg output seems normal.
Any help is appreciated, but I am thinking hard about going to another distro that is not connected to Ubuntu. Again, I am really becoming disappointed with what appears to me to be diminishing quality control. The sad thing is, I still really prefer the Ubuntu community to any other.
-Pater Phil
OK, I have a Dell Latitude D510. Single-boot machine, with the entire hard drive devoted to Ubuntu. The graphics chip is an ATI RS690M (x1200 series), and I have 2GB of RAM. Lucid (AMD64) was installed and working fine with Compiz enabled.
For kicks, I did an in place upgrade to the unperfect 10.10. I never managed to successfully login to Gnome (my preference). After credentials were entered, the gnome-session would start, and then halt even before the panels were drawn.
I did a fresh install. When I tried to login, same problem. I did a fresh install of the 32-bit version, and same problem. Switched to a text console, discovered aptitude was no longer installed by default (this frosted me to no end), installed aptitude, and updated the system. Still unable to login.
I then tried a safe-mode session. Successfully logged in. However, as soon as the screensaver started, I started having issues. When I entered my password, the screensaver kept the screen occupied. The mouse would register, but nothing happened. I could still switch consoles, but never could get X moving again.
I did a fresh install of AMD64 again, and could not login. Went to safe-mode session, logged out, and tried logging into a regular session. Success until the screensaver activated. Same problems as before. Tried going to a different screensaver, did a preview, and bam, unable to close the preview. Mouse works, can partially view the desktop, cannot access any other programs, but can access other consoles. Killed X.
Disabled screensaver. Next, I tried opening Synaptic for the hell of it, and gksudo hangs. At the same time, mouse is moving, but no clicks register, I can't switch between windows. I can access other consoles. top shows nothing out of the ordinary. Kill X.
Back in Gnome, everything seems to work for a bit, and then the desktop sort of hangs. Try switching to Metacity. Log out. Log in. Can't get to a desktop. Kill X. Log out. Log in to safe mode. It works. Log out. Log in to regular session, can't finish logging in. From console, I switch back to Compiz. Kill X. Voila, I login in again. I open Firefox. I can open Synaptic no problem using sudo from a bash Window. No error output. A few minutes later, the desktop locks up again.
Switch to console, kill X, and install kubuntu-desktop. Try logging into KDE session. Splash screen gets to the first icon, and then nothing changes for ten minutes. No hard disk activity, nothing. Kill X. Try logging into KDE session. Success. KDE is has been working fine. Still can't get into Gnome.
I have spent about 6 hours searching for something relevant. I can't find anything for Maverick. I have reached my absolute tolerance limit. I don't even have any idea how to begin tracking the problem down, because I have never encountered anything like this (partial lock-up). Honestly, I have never had difficulty with X or Gnome, and so I am not really sure where to look for debugging information. dmesg output seems normal.
Any help is appreciated, but I am thinking hard about going to another distro that is not connected to Ubuntu. Again, I am really becoming disappointed with what appears to me to be diminishing quality control. The sad thing is, I still really prefer the Ubuntu community to any other.
-Pater Phil