ltnewbie
June 30th, 2012, 07:19 PM
I am not certain if this is the right forum for this post, but most of my problems do centre around OS installation. As these problems are manifold - though probably interrelated - I think the best way to describe them is by telling the story chronologically.
When, a few weeks ago, I got fed up with Windows, I decided to install Ubuntu. It happened that I had a copy of the installation ISO of version 11.07 mounted to a CD-ROM from a failed Ubuntu adventure a few months ago, so I backed up my files onto USB flash drives and booted from the disk, choosing to wipe out my Windows partitions to install Ubuntu. Things went fine at first - I transferred my files on to the hard drive (and subsequently deleted them on the keys... oops) installed my favourite software, etc. Shortly, though, I found problems downloading and installing and uninstalling and running certain programs, with error codes I did not begin to comprehend. I decided not to panic, though, and rather than try to deal with it all I decided to download and install version 11.10. A problem arose when installing the upgrade, though, and the computer crashed. Now, as it loads, I get this message:
the disk drive for / is not ready or not yet present
the disk drive for /tmp is not ready or not yet present
the disk drive for /dev/mapper/crystswap is not ready or not yet presentWhen I try to log in, the log in fails and I get this message:
Could not update ICE authority file /home/louis/.ICEauthorityTo solve this problem, I again booted version 11.04 from my CD-ROM and installed Ubuntu on to another partition - for those keeping track at home, that makes three: the first one, which I can not log in to; the second, formed during the attempted upgrade, which I can also not log in to; and the third one, installed from the CD-ROM. This third one worked fine - better than the other - and as I slowly came to understand Ubuntu a little more, I found myself interacting with it much more productively. There were problems - Firefox crashed constantly and I couldn't get the hang of converting videos, etc. - but overall things went well. So well that I felt confident enough to again try upgrading to version 11.10. This seemed to go well; the installation was not interrupted and there were no error messages. When the computer restarted and I tried to log in, there was no problem. The problem is that once I log in, I see no GUI, only the terminal. Attempts to launch programs from the terminal indicate that they are not installed.
Here I am: two partitions in to which I cannot log and one without any programs. Obviously, I am writing this on a different computer, but I desperately would like to access my old files and be able to use my old PC. Can anyone help?
-louis
When, a few weeks ago, I got fed up with Windows, I decided to install Ubuntu. It happened that I had a copy of the installation ISO of version 11.07 mounted to a CD-ROM from a failed Ubuntu adventure a few months ago, so I backed up my files onto USB flash drives and booted from the disk, choosing to wipe out my Windows partitions to install Ubuntu. Things went fine at first - I transferred my files on to the hard drive (and subsequently deleted them on the keys... oops) installed my favourite software, etc. Shortly, though, I found problems downloading and installing and uninstalling and running certain programs, with error codes I did not begin to comprehend. I decided not to panic, though, and rather than try to deal with it all I decided to download and install version 11.10. A problem arose when installing the upgrade, though, and the computer crashed. Now, as it loads, I get this message:
the disk drive for / is not ready or not yet present
the disk drive for /tmp is not ready or not yet present
the disk drive for /dev/mapper/crystswap is not ready or not yet presentWhen I try to log in, the log in fails and I get this message:
Could not update ICE authority file /home/louis/.ICEauthorityTo solve this problem, I again booted version 11.04 from my CD-ROM and installed Ubuntu on to another partition - for those keeping track at home, that makes three: the first one, which I can not log in to; the second, formed during the attempted upgrade, which I can also not log in to; and the third one, installed from the CD-ROM. This third one worked fine - better than the other - and as I slowly came to understand Ubuntu a little more, I found myself interacting with it much more productively. There were problems - Firefox crashed constantly and I couldn't get the hang of converting videos, etc. - but overall things went well. So well that I felt confident enough to again try upgrading to version 11.10. This seemed to go well; the installation was not interrupted and there were no error messages. When the computer restarted and I tried to log in, there was no problem. The problem is that once I log in, I see no GUI, only the terminal. Attempts to launch programs from the terminal indicate that they are not installed.
Here I am: two partitions in to which I cannot log and one without any programs. Obviously, I am writing this on a different computer, but I desperately would like to access my old files and be able to use my old PC. Can anyone help?
-louis