Are Ubuntu problems ever really caused by a faulty installation CD?

[Phasmus]

We all know bad CD-burns happen. However, it seems to me that whenever something weird and inexplicable afflicts an Ubuntu user there are usually one or two folks who emphatically suggest checking the CD's ISO hash and reburning it on slow. This is especially the case with installation problems, but I've seen it suggested often enough for issues with full installations as well.

If the premise that bad CDs are often the cause of weird Ubuntu behavior is correct, this makes perfect sense. The thing is, I don't seem to recall ever seeing a case where a bad CD (assuming it would load at all) was actually related to a user's difficulties. If the premise is false then having a user go reburn their CD is (usually, probably) just an irksome exercise in futility. I'm guessing there's some justification for it though.

So I ask you, what has your experience been with bad Ubuntu CDs? What kinds of problems tend to show up when the bits get a bit scrambled, and how often does it actually happen?

[hessiess]

We all know bad CD-burns happen. However, it seems to me that whenever something weird and inexplicable afflicts an Ubuntu user there are usually one or two folks who emphatically suggest checking the CD's ISO hash and reburning it on slow. This is especially the case with installation problems, but I've seen it suggested often enough for issues with full installations as well.

If the premise that bad CDs are often the cause of weird Ubuntu behavior is correct, this makes perfect sense. The thing is, I don't seem to recall ever seeing a case where a bad CD (assuming it would load at all) was actually related to a user's difficulties. If the premise is false then having a user go reburn their CD is (usually, probably) just an irksome exercise in futility. I'm guessing there's some justification for it though.

So I ask you, what has your experience been with bad Ubuntu CDs? What kinds of problems tend to show up when the bits get a bit scrambled, and how often does it actually happen?

Personally ive always burnt my Arch / Ubuntu / random distro im trying out CD's at high speed and have still never had a isue with errors. However I do have some year~ old CD,s that are completely unreadable.

[SomeGuyDude]

It happened to me once. I installed it, the thing wouldn't boot, when I ran a disc check it said there was an error. Never happened again and keep in mind I always burn at top speed.

It's also worth mentioning that this is one Ubuntu disc out of maybe 15 Ubuntu discs and another 20 discs of various other distros.

[Sand & Mercury]

I've only had a problem once with a Ubuntu disc. Luckily though it told me so before installing, so burning another that worked was no problem.

[clanky]

A CD not booting because of a bad burn I can understand, but I have seen a few people suggest that faults after installation could be down to a bad burn, and I think that is what the OP is talking about? Can that really happen, if a CD has a minor fault can it install but cause problems afterwards?

[Nepherte]

Before you install ubuntu from the cd-rom, verify the cd...

[FuturePilot]

I wouldn't say all problems are caused by a bad CD, but some could definitely be caused by a bad CD. It's happened to me before. I finally decided to check the CD and it was bad.

[LaRoza]

Yes. A faulty image download or a faulty burn can cause problems, and I have seen it (but not for me, as I check images and check burns)

[Scunge]

If the CD will boot up, there is a "Check the CD contents" (or similar wording) menu option which I always run to make sure that the CD is completely readable before starting any kind of install.
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj22/Rob_0edab8/Spacer.gif

[Daminvar]

I've always been paranoid about that kind of stuff, so I always burn my CDs at the lowest speed and do a CD check from the starting menu...

I remember that when I was trying Sabayon for the first time the CD would freeze at "Loading Kernel". I burned a new CD after trying a couple of times and the new CD worked fine.

[lisati]

One might even suspect that a bad burn or a bad image download might have a small chance of having installation run to completion (most likely to happen when the installer chooses not to use data from the "bad" portion). On the other hand, problems are likely to show up sooner or later (disk not bootable, installation hangs or fails, weired things happen running the disk, insert other examples of your own choosing)

[SpaceMaster]

Final installations from CD's haven't ever had issues from me. If there's a flaw in the CD, it'll let me know by not working before the install ever gets going.

In fact, recently, I had some bad luck downloading the ISOs. I'd come out with final disks with consistent errors from each image - some of them only reporting errors in a single file. However, these CD's would never finish booting. Recently, I had issues installing on my shiny new desktop (see the images above). In fact, it turns out that the regular installer doesn't much like my hardware configuration. I made it through in a slightly-round-about manner.

The only time anything has gone wrong after I clicked that little "Install" button was when the CD drive itself inexplicably let go - lacerating the bottom of my disk with its tattered drive belts. I finished the install by using a fresh drive, fresh disk, and muttering a four letter incantation while chucking the old drive from the highest window possible.

[Tatty]

Yes I have seen this happen before too, I have had at least one installation failure which turned out to be the result of a bad burn. Its definately something worth checking if you suspect it might be a problem.

I get frustrated when new users with such installation problems claim their cd is burned correctly without having actually checked it. Its almost like they take it as an insult that their computer might have made a mistake, and dont follow the advice to check its integrity.

Does anyone else feel this, or is it just me? lol.

[insane_alien]

Yep, i've had a few broken full installs from faulty CD's(damaged by wear and tear it was a well used CD)

the problems were fixed by identifying the broken package and reinstalling that package from the internet.