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Anybody update to any flavor of ubuntu 7.10 today?

post #1 of 12
4/24/08 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
I meant "Anybody update to any flavor of ubuntu 8.04 today?"
I just upgraded from kubuntu 7.10 to 8.04 a few hours ago.
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post #2 of 12
4/24/08 at 7:59pm
I updated a server. No problems so far. I'm assuming you upgraded a media center PC?
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post #3 of 12
4/25/08 at 2:24am
Thread Starter 
Actually, I only use the desktop version of kubuntu for everyday use. I'm still using a standalone dvd player. I have burned mythbuntu to a cd though. Maybe one day I'll build a HTPC.
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post #4 of 12
4/25/08 at 6:59am
I updated one machine yesterday and it borked it pretty bad. I had to restore from my 7.10 backup and now my sound card isn't found, WTF? I am not sure what is going on with this particular machine. I may have had a bad download, shrug? I'll probably wait until there are a few updates in the pipe before trying again.
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post #5 of 12
4/25/08 at 3:58pm
I was using beta 8.04 mythbuntu and updates hosed my video playback, so I dl'd stable> version to install this weekend.
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post #6 of 12
4/26/08 at 1:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelZ View Post

I updated one machine yesterday and it borked it pretty bad. I had to restore from my 7.10 backup and now my sound card isn't found, WTF? I am not sure what is going on with this particular machine. I may have had a bad download, shrug? I'll probably wait until there are a few updates in the pipe before trying again.

I found that when that happens, I have to do a clean install. The only "simple" way that I used was to do a complete install of 7.04 (to reformat the drive) and then reinstall 7.10. I found that a "re-install" didn't really help, if I made a error (I'm a Linux - Ubuntu newbie).

I did find that 7.10 boots a lot slower than 7.04 does, but has better support for my HP laptop hardware. I also have some buggy performance with Firefox.

I just finished downloading the "official - just released" 8.04, so I will be installing that when I get a chance. I haven't checked the download, because they hadn't posted the hash yesterday. I just looked, and it's there today.

PS -- I'm waiting with Myth until I finish putting together my new desktop PC - a dual boot PC with Windows XP, for compatibility with our other computers, but 99.9% Linux. I'm going to have to do some serious reading on the correct way to "upgrade".
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post #7 of 12
4/26/08 at 4:57pm
Just a few comments for new readers or those relatively new to Linux/Ubuntu and its auto-updates functionality and impacts to stability.

Anyone who has used Windows 98 or Xp for the past 10 years for media PC/HTPC use knows that Windows Updates/Auto Updates also frequently hosed user's HTPC's- that's why in my years of Win98/XP use, I patched up the OS to be current on the day I installed the OS, then I turned off Auto Updates, then I installed and set up the media apps/codecs/etc. Zero difference with Ubuntu.

I would then only install Critical/Security patches every six months or so, making an image backup of the hard disk *before* applying the patches, as even these basic patches could often break a working HTPC.

With Ubuntu, we get a whole new distro every six months, so it makes sense to partition your drive with your /home directory with all settings and data separate from the OS/kernal partition, and simply install the new OS on top of the old one, wiping the prior OS partition. As a backup plan, you could image the older OS first, in case the newer distro has issues.

Ubuntu's Auto Updates function allows you to pick and choose the updates you want, so you could uncheck the updates related to A/V drivers, apps, codecs and media players if you want to avoid breaking something related to media playback. Also, there are really no significant security issues with Linux, except for occasional Firefox patches. If everything is working the way you want it, just disable the Auto Notify/Updates in Ubuntu, and only install a new release every 6 months or even only every year, after imaging your OS partition.

The bottom line is, with *any* OS- heck , even basic set top DVD players- if you change software (firmware in a set top DVD), you could break something. Have a backup plan, and only change something if you need a new function or to fix a known issue- if it ain't broke...
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post #8 of 12
4/26/08 at 6:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rgb View Post

Just a few comments for new readers or those relatively new to Linux/Ubuntu and its auto-updates functionality and impacts to stability.

Anyone who has used Windows 98 or Xp for the past 10 years for media PC/HTPC use knows that Windows Updates/Auto Updates also frequently hosed user's HTPC's- that's why in my years of Win98/XP use, I patched up the OS to be current on the day I installed the OS, then I turned off Auto Updates, then I installed and set up the media apps/codecs/etc. Zero difference with Ubuntu.

I would then only install Critical/Security patches every six months or so, making an image backup of the hard disk *before* applying the patches, as even these basic patches could often break a working HTPC.

With Ubuntu, we get a whole new distro every six months, so it makes sense to partition your drive with your /home directory with all settings and data separate from the OS/kernal partition, and simply install the new OS on top of the old one, wiping the prior OS partition. As a backup plan, you could image the older OS first, in case the newer distro has issues.

Ubuntu's Auto Updates function allows you to pick and choose the updates you want, so you could uncheck the updates related to A/V drivers, apps, codecs and media players if you want to avoid breaking something related to media playback. Also, there are really no significant security issues with Linux, except for occasional Firefox patches. If everything is working the way you want it, just disable the Auto Notify/Updates in Ubuntu, and only install a new release every 6 months or even only every year, after imaging your OS partition.

The bottom line is, with *any* OS- heck , even basic set top DVD players- if you change software (firmware in a set top DVD), you could break something. Have a backup plan, and only change something if you need a new function or to fix a known issue- if it ain't broke...

Bumped for excellent, spot-on advice. I was using the beta version, so I anticipated a fresh install at some point. It's probably no coincidence that the necessity occurred on the same day that the stable version was released.

What rgb says is 100% true: once everything works right, LEAVE IT ALONE! For example, I have a gentoo box (that I'm posting from right now) in the office that hasn't been updated in a good year and a half. Why? Because it's a solid build and it does everything I need it to do exactly right. The only time it shuts down is when the power goes out -- it runs for months at a time.

34 days since last power outage:
Code:
guest@localhost ~ $ top
top - 21:48:58 up 34 days,  9:12,  1 user,  load average: 0.18, 0.27, 0.26
Tasks:  78 total,   2 running,  76 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
Cpu(s):  1.0%us,  1.0%sy,  0.0%ni, 97.3%id,  0.0%wa,  0.3%hi,  0.3%si,  0.0%st
Mem:    515956k total,   463652k used,    52304k free,    94108k buffers
Swap:  1028152k total,    95148k used,   933004k free,   220956k cached
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post #9 of 12
4/27/08 at 8:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CT_Wiebe View Post

I found that when that happens, I have to do a clean install. The only "simple" way that I used was to do a complete install of 7.04 (to reformat the drive) and then reinstall 7.10. I found that a "re-install" didn't really help, if I made a error (I'm a Linux - Ubuntu newbie).
.

I am not sure why my sound card did not work after my restore but I simply reinstalled the backports and it was working again! I usually use "tar" to backup my system and I've never really had any problems restoring. I do think a clean install is also the way to go but this was one of my desktop units and I hate to reinstall everything. Anyway, I downloaded the 8.04 live cd and when I get a chance I'll try a clean install and see how it goes!
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post #10 of 12
5/2/08 at 12:58am
I finally updated to 8.04 and it works just fine. I did have a hiccup with my keypad, but a reset and restore of my settings, followed by a cold boot fixed it. The upgrade did clean out a lot of "unused" stuff, which made it boot faster. However, some items "may" have to be re-installed, if a reset and cold boot doesn't restore full operation.

I did download and burn a Live CD version of 8.04LTS, for install on another computer, when I get finished building it.
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post #11 of 12
5/2/08 at 12:49pm
Well I tried a clean install of 8.04 and everything seemed to work except I noticed downloads were extremely slow (wireless)! So I built from source Serialmonkeys driver (newest version) and it too was extremely slow! I was getting only 100kb/s vs 5000kb/s using 7.10 (with same serialmonkey drivers). I tried every trick in the book and I can not get past 100kb/s. Also, when it is downloading, it almost freezes the whole wireless network! My wife was not to happy with that so it back to 7.10 again!
I was told by one of the developers they are aware of this particular problem and think it was fixed in one of the kernels that is being tested for a future update. I hope so. Outside of that problem, everything else looked pretty cool and worked pretty much as advertised. The pulse audio can use a few more tools and it feels beta but I am sure it will be fixed by fall.
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post #12 of 12
5/6/08 at 12:15am
I noticed that too. I turned off my wireless connection and went back to my cat5 cable - I'm sitting only 3' away from my router anyway. I had the same problem with 7.04 and 7.10. I haven't tried the wireless connection, after I upgraded to 8.04LTS.

BTW, my other half's laptop, running Windows Vista, behaves similarly (runs slower with the wireless connection). It could be my router. I have a newer router, which I haven't hooked up yet.
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