14.04 post install: no usb, no video card, no resolution, no wifi, no nothing

[emre]

Hello,
I've returned to try ubuntu after several years, and I picked 14.04.1 LTS thinking of it as a safer route. But it has been a huge disappointment so far.

First I tried the downloaded ISO in a virtual machine in W8. I liked it and decided to install with dual booting W8, using a usb flash drive.

I booted to usb, and it was ok, I could test and install with nice resolution and my usb keyboard and mouse working fine.

After install and restart, ubuntu greeted me with a very low resolution, no usb functioning, no wireless, etc. I could not try and fix anything without a connection, so I tried reinstalling over it. Again installation looks fine, but first run - same problems.

Well I'm a noob of course, seemed a Xorg thing to me, but I don't know. How can a system recognize everything while in live-usb install mode, and cant recognize them after install?

By the way, my machine is a Sony Vaio F22M1E, with a Nvidia 540m on it. My onboard keyboard has defected keys so it is hard typing there.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Emre.

[tomalperin]

So it was the install directly without virtualization where the problems occur? To get wireless working, you might need to install additional drivers to get usb and wireless working. Search for and open "Additional Drivers." The dialog is going to make you think it's pointless since you don't have an internet connection, but it must be finding the drivers somewhere locally but not "installed." I was able to get wireless working on a Macbook Air this way." You may be able to find USB drivers similarly however if you can not but do get wireless working, you will have more options available to fix other issues. I've looked up your computer and specs indicate it has ethernet, if this is correct, you could also try connecting using ethernet as this will be more likely to work properly without installing additional drivers. Try searching for additional drivers first though as this will be a quick fix if it works.

[emre]

So it was the install directly without virtualization where the problems occur? To get wireless working, you might need to install additional drivers to get usb and wireless working. Search for and open "Additional Drivers." The dialog is going to make you think it's pointless since you don't have an internet connection, but it must be finding the drivers somewhere locally but not "installed." I was able to get wireless working on a Macbook Air this way." You may be able to find USB drivers similarly however if you can not but do get wireless working, you will have more options available to fix other issues. I've looked up your computer and specs indicate it has ethernet, if this is correct, you could also try connecting using ethernet as this will be more likely to work properly without installing additional drivers. Try searching for additional drivers first though as this will be a quick fix if it works.

Hello,
Thanks for the answer. I was about to give up. I asked about this at askubuntu, too, got no answers. I tried what you suggested, it only found Nvidia drivers, but when I apply them it falls back to nouveau.

I also want to point out that I downloaded, and installed 14.10 over it, again the same issue:
-No ethernet (tried attaching a cable)
-No wifi
-No usb (so no mouse and keyboard)
-wrong vga driver, so no resolution.

As I said, the weird part is, everything is nice while installing, as if I'd better stay in live-cd mode :). After install looks like no drivers have been installed. I listed the hardware, it finds them allright, but does not use them.

at this point, I'm more than ready to give up on ubuntu, but not sure if any other distro will help. :(

[tomalperin]

I find it a bit odd that the live installer works with proper drivers but the install does not. I installed on a Core i3 Next Unit of Computing with no issues at all although I think the difference might be that I did not install as dual boot. There may be some issues specifically with dual boot and having both operating systems on the same drive. Try googling to see if anyone else has had these issues specifically with the same model computer and same version of operating system. I think Windows 8 causes havoc with dual boot Ubuntu install.

Edit--------------
I've done some Googling myself and found nothing so far. You could continue to run Ubuntu in a VM although this is not ideal. I'm running it in a VM now on my Mac and it feels a bit slower than Ubuntu on the Core i3 NUC, even though the NUC does not have as good a processor. It's usable for what I use it for on the Macbook Air, but that might not be the case for you.

[emre]

Hello again,
Before install, I didn't pay much attention to W8 and UEFI stuff, because I think since my laptop originally comes with W7 and upgraded to W8 by me, it has a standart bios. Am I right?

Also I tried doing this with linux mint, it ran well in live mode, but when installing it crashes.

As you said I may have to sort this with w8, or try my luck with a non-ubuntu based distro for the last time. I feel bad, because I never had any problems like this with my older trials.

[emre]

An update to anybody who wish to help me. I think this question is similar to my case, but I don't fully understand how to apply the solution mentioned there:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/477543/usb-and-network-adapters-dont-work-after-ubuntu-14-04-fresh-install-no-etherne

[emre]

Another update here; I tried installing elementary OS Luna, and it is working without problems so far. So it is Ubuntu...

[emre]

Well, ubuntu community did not help me very much (including askubuntu), but I solved the issue with an idea from a similar problem on askubuntu. I'd like to write here maybe it may help so some newbie like me.

Without any usb and any network from within ubuntu, it was impossible to fix. But I learned that ubuntu livecd (or liveusb) is an invaluable tool. By the help of https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCdRecovery , I mounted my local installation as root in the live system. Then I did a standart,

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

and this fixed all issues I think. While I was there I installed restricted stuff, and proprietary drivers too. After a reboot, my installation worked ok. And I am very happy.

Cheer everyone!