[12.04 i386] installer crashing

[zebul]

hi.
I am trying to install 12.04 alongside ubuntu 10.04. I want my mother to test unity before removing 10.04

I am running the live CD choosing "Test Ubuntu" to be able to copy the wap2 key from the USB pendrive to the network dialog

Then launching the "Install ubuntu 12.04 LTS", every thing is fine until I come into "import account ?". I select nothing and then bam it crashes.
After that it seems to use the network of over one minute (sending crash report ? or downloading updates ?)
It is reproducebable. It already happened twice. I checked the partition with badblocks everything is fine there.

1. Where can I find a log of the installer to send a bug report with some meaningfull info about that ?
2. what comes after the "Import account" in the installer walk-through ?? This is certainly what is crashing
3. How could I finally install 12.04 ?


Also, as soon as the live CD is running I already got a report about a crash in colord (not engaging)
and another one in console this time about the kernel finding some null pointer about inode problem on ext4 (!)

[linuxmatt7]

Try a new CD/DVD with the image written on it. If it still crashes or freezes than delete your Ubuntu 12.04 iso image and download again. Than burn to a CD/DVD. If it continues than file a report on the Debian installer package so they can fix this problem.

You could also install Unity on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, test it out. If she likes it than upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 to Ubuntu 12.04 through the update manager. If she doesn't like Unity than I would try Xubuntu 12.04. Here is the command to isntall Unity on Ubuntu 10.04

"sudo apt-get install unity"

Then whenever you login choose the Unity UI.

[ajgreeny]

hi.
I am trying to install 12.04 alongside ubuntu 10.04. I want my mother to test unity before removing 10.04

I am running the live CD choosing "Test Ubuntu" to be able to copy the wap2 key from the USB pendrive to the network dialog

Then launching the "Install ubuntu 12.04 LTS", every thing is fine until I come into "import account ?". I select nothing and then bam it crashes.
After that it seems to use the network of over one minute (sending crash report ? or downloading updates ?)
It is reproducebable. It already happened twice. I checked the partition with badblocks everything is fine there.

1. Where can I find a log of the installer to send a bug report with some meaningfull info about that ?
2. what comes after the "Import account" in the installer walk-through ?? This is certainly what is crashing
3. How could I finally install 12.04 ?


Also, as soon as the live CD is running I already got a report about a crash in colord (not engaging)
and another one in console this time about the kernel finding some null pointer about inode problem on ext4 (!)
I am having exactly the same problem here trying to install on my desktop machine, a sempron 2400+ with an ATI 9200SE graphic card, and 2GB ram. The installer crashes at the same place as yours, having done everything else without problem.

I also get the same /usr/lib/....../colord error message after the desktop appears, but the live system still runs OK

The iso file I used was downloaded with transmission, and I have checked the md5sum which is correct. I have also checked the burned DVD using the first menu that appears when you boot to the disk, and no errors were found. So I am wondering about the possibility of hardware incompatibility, even though the live system runs fine. I have the iso also on a USB live system which works fine on my netbook, but which I can not get to boot properly on the desktop, where everything just stops with the purple screen.

Any ideas, anybody?

[zebul]

I have checked the iso downloaded, the md5sum is ok.
I have checked the file on the CD manually with this command: md5sum -c <md5sums.txt with the txt being the one at the root of the CD. No problem here either

I have installed the iso on an usb key and performed another install 3 times from the usb key.

It's always the same problem.
Even if I let the installer copy all its file before moving to the next step of the installer, it always crashing after "import account wizard" whether I check or not the account to be imported.

I was thinking to find a way to hide the 10.04 partition so that the import wizard does not show up, in case it's him the culprit.

Before it crashes, I am able to see the right arrow of in the installer, the arrow you see during the diaporama at the end of the install. So I am guessing it is during the loading of the diaporama or something related to the install at that moment.

Note also, I have tried to run the installer in my native language french but also in english. No difference here.
I have also tried to run "Install Ubuntu" stragith from the first menu instead of running the Live CD/Usb first. But it's still the same

[zebul]

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/995126

[mastablasta]

try to install without the wizzard and then see if it is ok.
a bit of workarround... :
in the process create same acocunt with same account name and password. move all /home or at least settings files found in home to new install. settings files are hidden (they start with ./). so i think crtl+h in nautilus should show them up. ah if you added plenty of programmes, install those first then move the settings files. or if you prefer a gui process then use mintbackup tool or similar to do it all.

[haresear]

This sounds like the problem discussed in the following thread:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1965802&highlight=install+crashes

[zebul]

yes. It seems to be.

I will try the alternate install. I should have though of that.

[ajgreeny]

try to install without the wizzard and then see if it is ok.
a bit of workarround... :
in the process create same acocunt with same account name and password. move all /home or at least settings files found in home to new install. settings files are hidden (they start with ./). so i think crtl+h in nautilus should show them up. ah if you added plenty of programmes, install those first then move the settings files. or if you prefer a gui process then use mintbackup tool or similar to do it all.
I have absolutely no idea what you mean by this!

What wizzard do you mean? I use the "Something Else" option at disk preparation, and choose just a 10GB root partition (where I had 11.10). I do not choose a separate /home partition as there is not enough room for that, and in the past once installed I link all the data files of my main 10.04 install to the home folder of the new install, but keep all configuration files and folders unlinked.

My current 10.04 home partition is 114GB, so I have no spare room to make a new /home partition for the new install, and I do not trust the two OSs to use the same mounted /home partition (in 10.04 and 12.04), as I think the configurations are likely to get totally corrupted when I go from the old OS to the new, and then back again to the old.

It seems a lot of people are having this problem but the only option seems to be to either install 11.10 and upgrade from that, or use the alternate install CD which does not appear to work for everyone.

This is a very poor situation for a LTS version!!

@ zebul: I have added my comments to your bug posting. Here's hoping for a solution.

EDIT:
I have just finished installing using the Alternate Install CD ISO.

I had forgotten how easy it is when you have installed many OSs as I have, and so far all seems good with the new version, and ubiquity must have been the problem, as this instalation operation is so far faultless, and the system runs extremely well.

[zebul]

installing with the alternate cd was a nightmare !

It asks me about a firmware to support my usb wifi dongle. It's a linksys WUSB54GC. It's very well supported by later kernel than 2.6.25, not speaking of 3.x

I skipped that step and was never able to brought up that wifi connexion. (why do I have to provide a firmware ?? that is well supported by any distro ???)

I finally manage to install anyway.
512M of memory is too short. the system is slow.

Just to check, I retried an installation, and when it asks me again about rt73.bin, I plug-in a usb ley with the file on it.
It was never able to find the file or even mount the usb key. !!!


When it (12.04) boots, after the grub screen, the CRT screen is set to sleep mode (sic) ! The boot process seems almost stop for 30 seconds. then it wakes up on the login screen !

is it the nouveau driver, that bugs ?


And you know what ? all of this was because flash was not working anymore on 10.04! AND ... flash is still not working on 12.04 !!

wt*!

[Awesome422]

I had similar problems with the installer and flash. I found this site to help with the installation:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/139698/ubuntu-12-04-lts-installer-crashes

After I uninstalled the slideshow the install worked just fine.

[btwThieves]

installing with the alternate cd was a nightmare !

It asks me about a firmware to support my usb wifi dongle. It's a linksys WUSB54GC. It's very well supported by later kernel than 2.6.25, not speaking of 3.x

I skipped that step and was never able to brought up that wifi connexion. (why do I have to provide a firmware ?? that is well supported by any distro ???)

I finally manage to install anyway.
512M of memory is too short. the system is slow.

Just to check, I retried an installation, and when it asks me again about rt73.bin, I plug-in a usb ley with the file on it.
It was never able to find the file or even mount the usb key. !!!


When it (12.04) boots, after the grub screen, the CRT screen is set to sleep mode (sic) ! The boot process seems almost stop for 30 seconds. then it wakes up on the login screen !

is it the nouveau driver, that bugs ?


And you know what ? all of this was because flash was not working anymore on 10.04! AND ... flash is still not working on 12.04 !!

wt*!

This sounds like a few of my past experiences with Arch Linux - the difference, of course, is that with Arch you know the installer and the OS are mostly limited by the mistakes YOU make, not the problems with the mysterious divinations of the higher powers responsible for making your OS.

Tell me, have you tried the Xubuntu installer? The stock Ubuntu installer crashed on one of my similarly low-specced machines but the Xubuntu one went through like a champion. Note: I'm talking about the standard Xubuntu install ISO, NOT the "alternative" one. If it works, it'll give you much fewer headaches during the install and it'll hopefully result in a less faulty system post-install.