7.10 hangs on startup

[linux_challenged]

This is not really a new thread but a continuation of an ongoing problem I am having with version 7.10 stalling on startup.

A couple weeks ago, Pumalite gave me some advice on installation, suggesting that the alternate CD version would be a better choice for installing on my dell i8100 laptop.

I am hoping Pumalite will see this new post and have some other ideas that I can try. In case that doesn't happen, I am re-posting my problem in case some one else has any ideas.

Anyway, the installation went fine, no issues whatsoever. I bypassed the network installation initially, just to get the software loaded. That all went fine - I was even able to reboot a couple of times without any problems. The third time I tried to reboot to do the network stuff, the old problem resurfaced - Ubuntu stalls out on initialization at the line where it says it is "Starting the Common Unix Printing System: cupsd ". The cursor just sits there and flashes at me.

Does anyone know what would cause this? I don't even have my printer connected at this time. I have no idea how to resolve this but it is becoming a deal breaker for me. If I can't get this resolved, I may have to give up on Ubuntu, and I really don't want to do that.

Any help will be greatly appreciated...

[unbuntued]

I suggest you install bootchart, this little application will monitor your boot sequence and plot a graph describing the different processes on boot time and how much time they take.
Once your problem occur, reboot until you can boot correctly and check your bootchart logs. It will tell you if it's actually cupsd which is hanging or some other process.
Once you find which process is hanging, you can try to fix it or simply uninstall it.
Check here for how to install bootchart and see the logs: http://www.ubuntued.com/?p=43

If the problem turns out to be cupsd and you don't use any printers, just uninstall it.

sudo apt-get remove cupsys

[linux_challenged]

how do I install this program if I can't get Ubuntu to start up?

Not trying to be difficult, but I am new to this linux stuff and would like to get it running so I can learn about what is going on.

Would be nice if "it just worked"...

[unbuntued]

how do I install this program if I can't get Ubuntu to start up?

Not trying to be difficult, but I am new to this linux stuff and would like to get it running so I can learn about what is going on.

Would be nice if "it just worked"...
Oh I though you said that it boots up sometimes correctly and sometimes not.

I suggest you boot then in recovery mode. On boot, when you see "Loading GRUB menu" press ESC, then select recovery mode. This should get Ubuntu to start up in command line mode (I think so).
Once you're there, just login. Then type:

sudo apt-get remove cupsys

Let me know if this works for you.

[linux_challenged]

okay - I started up in recovery mode though the process was a bit different than your reply. When the grub menu came up I scrolled down to start up in recovery mode. There was some activity, then there was a root@ubuntu command line where I entered the sudo line you gave me. Then I got a cursor so I powered off and started back up - no change, still hangs at the Starting Common Unix blah,blah,blah.

I have tried everything to get this running - different versions, different flavors, live CD, alternate CD - none work.

This is an older laptop, 5 or six year old dell inspiron 8100 with a PIII processor, 512Mb RAM, nvidia card but I am running xp pro on it with no issues whatsoever.

I did have an installation of 6.06 that got screwed up when I took the upgrade to 7.10 directly, skipping 7.04 entirely. That was my fault.

I am not sure how or if I want to proceed with Ubuntu. Many aspects of Linux appeal to me, not the least of which is being able to dump windows. But the fact is, Windows works and so far, Ubuntu doesn't.

If you have any suggestions about how to get Ubuntu up and running I would be interested in trying a couple more times.

thanx for all your help...

[unbuntued]

okay - I started up in recovery mode though the process was a bit different than your reply. When the grub menu came up I scrolled down to start up in recovery mode. There was some activity, then there was a root@ubuntu command line where I entered the sudo line you gave me. Then I got a cursor so I powered off and started back up - no change, still hangs at the Starting Common Unix blah,blah,blah.

I have tried everything to get this running - different versions, different flavors, live CD, alternate CD - none work.

This is an older laptop, 5 or six year old dell inspiron 8100 with a PIII processor, 512Mb RAM, nvidia card but I am running xp pro on it with no issues whatsoever.

I did have an installation of 6.06 that got screwed up when I took the upgrade to 7.10 directly, skipping 7.04 entirely. That was my fault.

I am not sure how or if I want to proceed with Ubuntu. Many aspects of Linux appeal to me, not the least of which is being able to dump windows. But the fact is, Windows works and so far, Ubuntu doesn't.

If you have any suggestions about how to get Ubuntu up and running I would be interested in trying a couple more times.

thanx for all your help...
What do you mean you got a cursor? Did it hang?

If you've executed the command correctly, "Starting the Common Unix Printing System: cupsd" shouldn't show up any longer because you would have removed it.

Try once more:
- Go to recovery mode
- When you get to the command line, type:

sudo apt-get remove cupsys
Press enter and then if it asks you whether you want to remove the package, just type "Y" and then enter.
- Now reboot.

[linux_challenged]

the command line I get when starting in recovery mode is as follows:

root@ubuntu:~#

why do I need the sudo command - I am already root?

at any rate when I do enter the sudo apt-get remove cupsys command I get a cursor that just flashes at me...

[unbuntued]

the command line I get when starting in recovery mode is as follows:

root@ubuntu:~#

why do I need the sudo command - I am already root?

at any rate when I do enter the sudo apt-get remove cupsys command I get a cursor that just flashes at me...

You don't necessarily need sudo in that case. Try without 'sudo' then.
I'm not sure why it's just flashing; maybe you should just have to wait for a little while. If this doesn't help, I don't have an obvious solution.