Windows-based Ubuntu Installer Development Thread (merged parts 1 and 2)

[ago]

Picked it in the BIOS and got lots of rapid scrolling. It stopped for ages on a page with Usage;grep at the top. Below that it said - search for PATTERN in each file or standard input. This was followed by a list of options such as -H prefix output lines...

That's a known bug that should have been fixed in the latest code, but it is not fatal.

was staring at this in frustration for a while when it changed up a bit showing busybox and-
bin/sh:can't access tty:job controls turned off
(intramfs)

If you run the Wubi in debug mode, this is normal you can press CTRL+D and continue. It stops to allow us to check if anything went according to plan in the first stage. If you did NOT start Wubi in debug mode and still get a shell prompt, then it is a problem.

[ago]

This is just an idea, but, instead of using a torrent downloader, use a Metadata downloader

I must have been leaving under a stone but what exactly is a Metadata downloader?
By the way the bittorrent downloader should be dropped in the next versions in favor of an http downloader with automatic mirror selection.

[ago]

Regarding the translation into another languages.

Probably right now it is like shooting to a moving target, but i have seen that the text of the web site has not changed for a while. If that text is final (well, more or less) and now you are just working to improve the design part, then I may begin translating it into Spanish if you like.

If so, let me know if yu want me to send you just a text file wth just the words or an html with the design (as it is when I get it) included.

Thanks for that, the plan is to create a script to generate the webpages from simple text files. This will make translations easier since you will not have to handle any html. I did not have time yet to work on that. As soon as I do so, I will activate rosetta in launchpad and you are more than welcome to help us out.

[johnwillyums]

Hi folks. Following ecology2007s advice I uninstalled Ubuntu via the windows add/remove program and then started a fresh install.
This was from Wubi-7.04-herd4-v6 and took about 40 minutes to download the ISO.
I then got a prompt box saying "Wubi Setup-do you wish to reboot to test ubuntu. Clicked yes.
Nothing happened so, after about 5 minutes I logged off via the start menu. I don't know whether it's relevant but I got a box saying "RSask Form2 not responding-end now so I ended that and the system began to shut down.
I clicked restart and then chose Ubuntu in the BIOS,
At the next stage I chose the normal Ubuntu option rather than debug or dynamic.
Once again the install stopped on a page headed "Usage:grep (inHnqvsEABC) PATTERN files
Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input"
Underneath this was a list headed options. These began -H prefix output name where match was from and ran down through h,i,l,n,q,v,s,c,f,e.F,E,A,B,C.
As before I waited a few minutes without touching anything and then the screen moved up slightly and showed this:
"check root=bootarg cat/proc/cmdline or missing modules,devices:Cat/proc/modules Is/dev"
"Alert! does not exist. Dropping to a shell!"
"BusyBox v1.1.3(Debian 1:1.1.3-3ubuntu2) Built-in Shell (ash)"
"Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands"
"/bin/sh:can't access tty job control turned off"
(initramfs
and then a flashing horizontal cursor.
As I said this was in normal mode not debug but I tried Ago's suggestion and pressed Ctrl+D
this produced a page repeating the above about alert!, BusyBox etc.
Can anyone suggest what I should try next?
Thanks for listening. johnwillyums

[ago]

You start in debug mode, then when you are at the prompt you scroll with shift+pgup and see if there is any relevant error message, errors about grep and tty you can disregard, you should look for errors about not finding the right ISO or being unable to find the host folder. Look if you have a host folder (ls /host/).

[ago]

Thanks for that, the plan is to create a script to generate the webpages from simple text files. This will make translations easier since you will not have to handle any html. I did not have time yet to work on that. As soon as I do so, I will activate rosetta in launchpad and you are more than welcome to help us out.

One of the most common reasons you get a prompt is if the installation was interrupted previously and then you try again. What happens is that the disk images are no longer vergin, and if the disk images are not vergin, the installer will try to boot as opposed to install, but if the installation did not complete previously, it will obviously fail and you get the shell. In short if the installation is interrupted for any reason AFTER you get to the page with the progress bars, you have to delete and recreate root.img.

[johnwillyums]

Thanks for your reply Ago.
I rebooted and pressed debug mode and after a bit of rapid scrolling got to a page with-
+/bin/sleep 0.1
slumber= and a rapid countdown from around 2000 I think.
Once this had completed I was at the point I reached previously-
/bin/sh:cant access tty:job control turned off

I used shift+page up and looked back but there were no errors relating to ISO, finding ISO, finding host folder etc.
There was no sign of (is/host/) or any sign of the word host at all.
I don't know whether your second recent post was aimed at me but after several attempts last night I uninstalled and deleted my installer and started from scratch with a freshly downloaded one and got exactly the same result.
I think I finally plucked up the courage to try this and started posting my problems from about page 111 if you want to check what I've done so far.

This is really frustrating. I'm beginning to think I just don't have the knowledge base to achieve this and I so wanted to give it a try and dump MS. Oh well. johnwillyums

[ago]

slumber= and a rapid countdown from around 2000 I think.

That's the main init process waiting for the root device. There should be some message about trying to mount a device berfore the slumber messages start. Init should try to mount /dev/ram0 and it is strange that it does not find it.

There was no sign of (is/host/)

That shuold be the LS command in lower case and with a space after it and a folder name. If you run `ls /` you will see what folder are there and `ls /host/` for a list of files inside /host

[open2linux]

Since you leave in spain, can you try a fresh install and tell me if now wubi sets correctly your language for the gnome interface ?

OK downloading the v6 right now. I will report later

[johnwillyums]

Hi Ago, I rebooted and went for debug mode again. Could not see any messages re, mount/dev/ram0 but it flashes past at speed so hard to see.
Once the slumber countdown page had finished I tried shift and page up to look for the messages you mention.
I could not page up past +slumber=35
Going back down past numerous messages I get to +/sbin/usplash_write SUCCESSok
then +echoPROGRESS_STATE=4
then +/sbin/usplash_write TIMEOUT=15
+(!-e)
Then echo check root
-echo or missing modules
then+/sbin/usplash_write QUIT
Then stuff like:
+modprobe-q 18042
+modprobe-q atkbd

then ALERT! does not exist dropping to a shell

I typed in ls/ and got :not found
I typed in ls/host and got :not found

So there seems to be something drastically wrong. Thanks for your help and patience any suggestions where to go from here. johnwillyums