couple of problems

[lukydude]

New install, a time computer.

cds arrived this morning.

install was OK.

but:

1) can't open add/remove programs

2)i can't install programs i want ~ above^

3)Somethings up, max brightness but the screen is extraordinarily dark, i have to shine a VERY VERY VERY bright light on the screen just to be able to see a darky dim shot of everything i do.

[wpshooter]

What is "a time computer" ?

[lukydude]

manafactured by (time) INC.

time computers inc.: Click Here To Visit Them (http://www.timecomputers.com/)

I

[wpshooter]

Did you check the integrity of the Ubuntu CD by running the verification function that is found on the initial Ubuntu boot screen menu BEFORE you installed the O/S ?

[lukydude]

i ordered it from ubuntu if you read 1st post. and if you mean one on disc yes.

[wpshooter]

Is this the Live CD or the ALTERNATE (text based) CD version that you are installing from ?

Is this a desktop or a laptop computer ? Picture on link shows desktop. But things in your first post makes me think it might be laptop.

[lukydude]

its a laptop computer ~ its not text i went down to install it booted it up and then loaded the Live CD and opened an install dialog but during install dialog boes ome up but i'm running actual ubuntu now.

[avtolle]

Since he got it from ship-it, I'd venture it is a Live CD, as that's what they normally distribute.

[avtolle]

You are now running from your Ubuntu install on your computer, correct? As to Add/Remove programs, as an alternative way to doing this, go to System>>Administration>>Synaptic Package Manager and see if you can find the specific applications you want to install and check them for installation. This process will also install dependencies for them as well.

[wpshooter]

I did exactly understand that last part. I assume that you are saying that you did get the Ubuntu O/S installed to the hard drive but that it just not seem to be performing correctly in certain areas.

But does this computer have an other O/S on it ?

[avtolle]

Forgot to ask; have you installed all the updates yet (I'd imagine there is quite a number, as you just installed this morning).

[wpshooter]

Forgot to ask; have you installed all the updates yet (I'd imagine there is quite a number, as you just installed this morning).

Probably are a lot of updates but I have my doubts as to whether applying those are going to fix this problem, in that, he should be able to access add/remove program right out of the box, so to speak.

[avtolle]

Probably are a lot of updates but I have my doubts as to whether applying those are going to fix this problem, in that, he should be able to access add/remove program right out of the box, so to speak.
You're most likely correct; but as we still have no specs for his laptop, just throwing something out to do which might give a better result than where he's at right now.

[wpshooter]

You're most likely correct; but as we still have no specs for his laptop, just throwing something out to do which might give a better result than where he's at right now.

Might be worth a shot, but I sort of think that since I don't think that this is a bug, that he may have to reinstall to cure this problem.

[avtolle]

Might be worth a shot, but I sort of think that since I don't think that this is a bug, that he may have to reinstall to cure this problem.
The more I think on this, the more I become convinced that he might well have to reinstall.

[lukydude]

synaptic works but java is not on there and the only other way is to use add/remove synapti found broken package but it was just the remains of when i installed ubuntu from live cd i an only mark for removal should i do that?

[wpshooter]

P. S. - Yes it might be good to have specs. of his system but since it appears to be a newly purchased computer, I doubt that it is lacking in resources but could be some incompatibility in hardware. I am sort of wondering about the quality control of that company. Do you have any idea as to whether their systems are of high quality ?

[lukydude]

60GB HD is all i know, there is no model stamps or anything just a modem stamp (made by different company).

[lukydude]

its not newly purchased

its quite a few years old but i just refurbished it after windows had a complete failure

[avtolle]

synaptic works but java is not on there and the only other way is to use add/remove synapti found broken package but it was just the remains of when i installed ubuntu from live cd i an only mark for removal should i do that?
Yes, mark for removal. Then, under Synaptic, in the menu bar, click on settings, select Repositories, and check any of the ones which are not currently checked. Then reload.

Search for java using the search tool under Synaptic.

[lukydude]

i have used other pcs from company they lasted 6 years before a defiecieny occureed, this ones about 3 3/4 years old since i bought it. Can you remotely control my pc? and umm darkness is still a problem i have a VERY VERY VERY VERY bright light shining on it and it's dim.

[wpshooter]

i have used other pcs from company they lasted 6 years before a defiecieny occureed, this ones about 3 3/4 years old since i bought it. Can you remotely control my pc? and umm darkness is still a problem i have a VERY VERY VERY VERY bright light shining on it and it's dim.

Try what Avtolle suggested first to see if that will make a difference. If it does not, then I will be home in about 2 hours and I will check on the status of your problem. Good luck.

[avtolle]

Since it is a laptop, one possible way to check this would be to go to System>>Preferences>>Power Management, and see if the brightness of the screen is turned down. I am presuming you are not operating from the battery, but from the household current.

[lukydude]

im installing over 1gb of different programs from synaptic now, 353 files.

[lukydude]

i'm still stuck with darkness, i made the brightness max but it already was is there anything else that effects brightness/contrast

[avtolle]

Before you had your laptop refurbished, were you having this problem? Was the refurbishing company supposed to take care of this?

[lukydude]

no and by refurbish i meant install ubuntu

[lukydude]

i just got error but can continue its same as 2 of errors from ubuntu install. (attached)!

[lukydude]

another error (attached).

[avtolle]

That is the same error, as you noted earlier, that resulted from the installation. Once you have finished downloading all the updates, try this
sudo apt-get clean from the terminal.

[lukydude]

ok i will try after pakcages updates etc. but software sources desn't work either, anyway ill get back to you after isntalls and command ran

[avtolle]

Good luck; I'll ask someone else to pick up the trail from here, as I need to go, and will not be back until tomorrow.

EDIT: Just had another thought. After the updates have finished downloading, try this from the terminal rather than the command I earlier gave
sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude safe-upgrade
This should not download any new updates, if you have totally downloaded them but will remove the other package. I stumbled upon that one time when I had a similar problem with an installation, and wasn't sure if all the updates had downloaded. Much to my surprise, the "safe-upgrade" command removed the remnants of the package that had failed to be removed by the installer, and from that point on, I was not bothered by an error message concerning it. Hope this helps, and again, good luck.

[lukydude]

well updates etc. failed :S i try command now.

[lukydude]

Good luck; I'll ask someone else to pick up the trail from here, as I need to go, and will not be back until tomorrow.

EDIT: Just had another thought. After the updates have finished downloading, try this from the terminal rather than the command I earlier gave
sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude safe-upgrade
This should not download any new updates, if you have totally downloaded them but will remove the other package. I stumbled upon that one time when I had a similar problem with an installation, and wasn't sure if all the updates had downloaded. Much to my surprise, the "safe-upgrade" command removed the remnants of the package that had failed to be removed by the installer, and from that point on, I was not bothered by an error message concerning it. Hope this helps, and again, good luck.
trying this now and attached are all screenies i got so far of everything.

[lukydude]

last screenshot is of command i quoted in previous post

[lukydude]

with your commnd got same exit error: exit error status 1

[avtolle]

I got held up a bit, and had the time to look at your last post. Type Y and let it work. Good luck.

[lukydude]

i did, error script returned exit error status 1 again, on one of my other comuters i had 7.10 (still got disc somewhere) and the upgrade was flawless and the 7.10 install was flawless but i used clean install ordered from ubuntu for this pc (normal 32 bit cd).

[lukydude]

end of your command attached a few errors there.

[wpshooter]

im installing over 1gb of different programs from synaptic now, 353 files.

Please tell me why you are doing this ?

Are you trying to update your computer or are you trying to install applications ?

[lukydude]

both and read all posts
keep getting script returnned error eit code status 1 what does it mean? nd i'm still in dark, moved laptop upstairs now using torch to light up parts of screen i want to see.

also software sources and add/remove don't work they display password i enter it nothing happens after that.

[wpshooter]

Lukydude:

If you have not gotten this fixed by now and IF there is nothing on this computer that you need to save, here is what I would do.

I would get www.killdisk.com and WIPE that hard drive COMPLETELY clean and then I would reinstall the Ubuntu O/S from scratch and I would use the ALTERNATE CD version of Ubuntu to do the install NOT the LIVE CD version.

You never did give us much as far as specs. on this computer are concerned. I am assuming that you do have enough RAM in this machine to properly run a Ubuntu O/S. IMO, a computer that does not have a minimum of 512mb of RAM is hardly worth the effort of trying to get Ubuntu installed and running on.

Good luck.

P. S. - Does this computer have any problems with the display of the BIOS and post screens and if you were to put a WIN98SE bootable diskette in it, is the display properly readable ?

[lukydude]

ok i plugged pc into a monitor (its a laptop) made ubuntu detect it and now how do i get the display on there?

[lukydude]

on one of my othr computers i installed 7.10 i still have disc and then upgraded was flawless, and as for this machine the hard drive was clean when i installed it 100% wiped.

[wpshooter]

on one of my othr computers i installed 7.10 i still have disc and then upgraded was flawless, and the hard drive was clean when i installed it 100% wiped.

When you say the hard drive was clean when you installed, are you talking about the laptop you are having the problems with or one of your other computers ? Also, how is this computer connected to the Internet, i.e. via dial-up or high speed ISP ?

[lukydude]

Lukydude:

If you have not gotten this fixed by now and IF there is nothing on this computer that you need to save, here is what I would do.

I would get www.killdisk.com and WIPE that hard drive COMPLETELY clean and then I would reinstall the Ubuntu O/S from scratch and I would use the ALTERNATE CD version of Ubuntu to do the install NOT the LIVE CD version.

You never did give us much as far as specs. on this computer are concerned. I am assuming that you do have enough RAM in this machine to properly run a Ubuntu O/S. IMO, a computer that does not have a minimum of 512mb of RAM is hardly worth the effort of trying to get Ubuntu installed and running on.

Good luck.

P. S. - Does this computer have any problems with the display of the BIOS and post screens and if you were to put a WIN98SE bootable diskette in it, is the display properly readable ?
to be hones ti think the reapiar shop busted the screen it was working (not the screen) when it came back but the hinges of screen were cracked (massively) and hte screen was slightly scratched.

[lukydude]

When you say the hard drive was clean when you installed, are you talking about the laptop you are having the problems with or one of your other computers ? Also, how is this computer connected to the Internet, i.e. via dial-up or high speed ISP ?
other pc flawless upgrade from 7.10 i nstalled on same day as upgrade pc im on now not so good also how do i get the displkyoto go to the monitor from my laptop? ubuntu has added it to detected list on screen resoloution i just don't know how to output it

[wpshooter]

other pc flawless upgrade from 7.10 i nstalled on same day as upgrade pc im on now not so good also how do i get the displkyoto go to the monitor from my laptop? ubuntu has added it to detected list on screen resoloution i just don't know how to output it

My "guess" is that you MAY have a parameter in BIOS that will allow you to toggle between laptop screen and an external monitor.

But first thing I would like to know is if you can properly see the screen output on the laptops screen if you go into the BIOS ?

[lukydude]

My "guess" is that you MAY have a parameter in BIOS that will allow you to toggle between laptop screen and an external monitor.

But first thing I would like to know is if you can properly see the screen output on the laptops screen if you go into the BIOS ?
you mean the boot up thing press f2 to enter system configuration?

[lukydude]

should i do killdisk.com?

[wpshooter]

Yes, when the computer opens up into the BIOS/Setup menus, can you see them properly or are they distorted like you have described the Ubuntu display as being ?

[wpshooter]

Also, you said that you had previously WIPED the drive, how did you go about doing that ?

[lukydude]

i;; check but i think since i installed ubuntu itdisabled it but ill brb to check (reboot)

[wpshooter]

should i do killdisk.com?

That is what I would do. You can probably do that and get this fixed long before you go to the effort of figuring out what may have went wrong.

BUT the first thing that I would advise you to do is go into the BIOS and setup ALL of the BIOS parameters back to the DEFAULT values. Do you know how to do that ?

[lukydude]

cant see my bios ubuntu chooser over-powers ti and strange thing is i can see on my laptop and monitor untill ubuntu login screen comes up, then it's laptop screen only.

[lukydude]

killdisk is a .exe

[wpshooter]

Do you know for a fact that the key stroke to get into BIOS is F2 ? Are you sure it is not DEL key or some other key stroke sequence ? The Ubuntu O/S can NOT keep you from getting into the BIOS. You just have to make sure that you are pressing the proper key and that you are pressing it early enough in the boot sequence so that it goes to the BIOS instead of booting to the operating system. Whatever key it is just start tapping it about once every 1/2 second just after you press the computer power on button.

[wpshooter]

killdisk is a .exe

Download the bootable ISO version and burn it to a CD.

I believe that it is the one on the bottom of second column.

[wpshooter]

Am going for my evening walk, will be back in about 30 minutes.

I am back how is it going ?

[lukydude]

ok: killdisk: done bios reset: done install: crashed running?: live cd

[wpshooter]

ok: killdisk: done bios reset: done install: crashed running?: live cd

What do you mean when you say crashed ? Did it not get up to the live CD desktop or did it not successfully complete the installation to the hard drive ?

[lukydude]

"sorry ubiquity (or sonething spelt similar to that (hmm package could not be removed after install)) closed unexpectedly"

i submitted the error report.

[wpshooter]

"sorry ubiquity (or sonething spelt similar to that (hmm package could not be removed after install)) closed unexpectedly"

i submitted the error report.

Why were you removing this ?

[lukydude]

now i get a different error (attached).

[lukydude]

Why were you removing this ?
i was not after install before diskkill.com thats what coul not be ridded off after install i might go with 7.10 then upgrad eto be honest.

[wpshooter]

I would first try downloading the ALTERNATE CD and attempt to install from that. I would WIPE the drive again before the ALTERNATE install attempt.

If that is not successful then you might consider going back to Gutsy.

But it sounds remotely to me that that you might have a hard drive and/or hard drive controller problem.

[wpshooter]

You might also want to consider trying to clean the CD drive like the message said. Also is the firmware on your CD drive on the latest and greatest version ?

[lukydude]

yes but i didn't clean or update anything just restartted install is dfine, on ubuntu now but still have screen problem i come to conclusion repair people broke light on screen (it came bak from repair cracked). but thats not a problem i have a monitor but then the problem is when ubuntu starts (login screen) output stops but before that it is fine.

[K.Mandla]

Chances are your laptop is set to send the video output to both the screen and the monitor. After it starts up, it stops sending the signal to the monitor -- that's normal for most machines. You need to set the BIOS to redirect everything to the monitor, permanently.

In the mean time, talk to the store that sold you the computer and tell them the screen is broken ... or did you know it was broken when you bought it?

[lukydude]

it was only like that after it was repaired... repairing workings of it but breaking the screen...

[lukydude]

I went in on a tab and set it to bi-directional buyt stil lnothing are you sure it's noot ubuntu o'welll ill contineue in dark and disconnect monitor - ill be back to this threade later

[wpshooter]

I went in on a tab and set it to bi-directional buyt stil lnothing are you sure it's noot ubuntu o'welll ill contineue in dark and disconnect monitor - ill be back to this threade later

More likely than not, the bi-directional parameter that you changed, has to do with PRINTERS and not video. You need to look under the VIDEO related BIOS parameters.

Sounds like to me that you need to call the people that were supposed to fix this computer and ask them why the display does not work now (tell them that it worked when you bought to them) and are they going to fix it for you.

You never did tell us how much RAM this computer has. I am wondering if you may not be just "beating a dead horse here" !!!

[lukydude]

theres main (info about pc) advnaced memory video memory etc. boot= boot order and exit is to eit i really do not know what to do now.

[wpshooter]

Did you see anything that would allow you to send video to an external monitor in the VIDEO section ?

Have you looked at the keyboard of the laptop to see if there is a key combination built into the keyboard that allows the goggling between the laptop display and an external monitor ? Some laptops use combinations like crl + a function key or alt + a function key. Usually the key combinations for this will be marked with symbols that indicate their functions.

[lukydude]

there is no video option on BIOS theres a function on f4 when i hold fn f4 nothing happens and the picture has a picture of a little screen then / then a big screen.

[lukydude]

help please?

[wpshooter]

there is no video option on BIOS theres a function on f4 when i hold fn f4 nothing happens and the picture has a picture of a little screen then / then a big screen.

That should be it. But now whether it will work is another story.

Shut the computer down. Then hook your external monitor to the motherboard video port. Then boot the machine to some bootable device other than the Ubuntu O/S on the hard drive (like a WIN98SE boot disk or a CD version of Memtest) and once it get to that boot program, see if you can toggle between the laptop screen and the external monitor.

[lukydude]

works iwndws but it corrupted so i installe dubuntu is there anything in ubuntu to configure?

[wpshooter]

works iwndws but it corrupted so i installe dubuntu is there anything in ubuntu to configure?

My best "guess" is that if you have the display showing on the external monitor when you boot to the Ubuntu install CD, then the installation process will configure the O/S to display to that external monitor. I would highly recommend at you use the ALTERNATE version to do the installation this time.

Good luck.

[lukydude]

it was not plugged in when i installed ubuntu.

[wpshooter]

it was not plugged in when i installed ubuntu.

Then you need to go back and reinstall the system (if you have not already done so, WIPE that drive completely clean before you start), this time with the video showing on the external monitor !!!

[lukydude]

i did no effect even with alternate