Problem with UM 1.3

[tlscott99]

Using 1.3 I have a problem that I didn't encounter in 1.083.   Basically the boot process just loops with a flash of a mouse cursor, followed by a blank screen, repeating the process indefinitely.

I verified the download checksum, installed on 2 different flash drives, installed on 4 different hard drives, installed on 2 different computers with completely different motherboards and video.  I.083 works fine on all of these hard drives, computers, and flash drives.

Not sure what to make of it.  I can email a video of the process if needed, but doesn't look like the forum will allow me to upload much.

Anyone else having problems with 1.3?  Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[jnetman1]

What are the specs of these machines you are testing on? Also, please install 1.083 on them, open a terminal, and do a "lshw -C video" on them, then post the results here.

[tlscott99]

Here are the 2 system responses.  Both are using the onboard video and both work with no problems on 1.083. 

Lenovo X200s:
user@system-18e6a3:~$ sudo lshw -C video
  *-display:0             
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       version: 07
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
       resources: irq:48 memory:f2000000-f23fffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff ioport:1800(size=8)
  *-display:1 UNCLAIMED
       description: Display controller
       product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2.1
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
       version: 07
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:f2400000-f24fffff

Generic whitebox with ASUS P5s800-VM motherboard:
user@system-0042c1:~$ sudo lshw -C video
  *-display UNCLAIMED     
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter
       vendor: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS]
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       version: 00
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 66MHz
       capabilities: pm agp agp-3.0 vga_controller cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:d0000000-d7ffffff memory:dfee0000-dfefffff ioport:dc00(size=128)

[jnetman1]

This *might* be an issue with the modesetting driver in the new xorg. If you get a chance, reinstall 1.3, then on boot, see if you can press ctrl-alt-f1 to get to a console. If so login as user with password "password", then type "sudo apt-get purge xserver-xorg-video-modesetting-lts-raring" and reboot when complete. Let me know what happens.

[tlscott99]

Well, it took me about 30 reboots to finally get the ctrl-alt-f1 to work, but it finally did.  I did your command as above and rebooted.  No problems now getting UM 1.3 to boot as expected.  Is this something I need to do then add it to my simple updates or is there a change you will be making for the next update?

[jnetman1]

Simple updates won't work in this instance, since this is a delete operation. You'll want to follow the instructions under "Rebuilding the base image" on the http://ubermix.org/customization.html page.

To get this done faster (and avoid the multiple-reboots issue) let's try the following:

• Hold down "shift" at startup until the menu appears. Select "Normal Boot" and press "e" to edit.
• Navigate with the arrow keys to the end of the "linux" line and add the word "nomodeset" to the end of the line.
• Navigate to the end of the line that starts with "initrd" and replace the letters "aufs" with "generic".
• Press ctrl-x to boot.

If it boots OK, then you can open a terminal and "sudo apt-get purge xserver-xorg-video-modesetting-lts-raring" to update your base image. If it doesn't work, then we can take the more complicated route and boot into single user mode, as follows:

• Hold down "shift" at startup until the menu appears. Select "Normal Boot" and press "e" to edit.
• Navigate to the end of the line that starts with "gfxmode" and replace the "$linux_gfx_mode" with "text".
• Navigate with the arrow keys to the end of the "linux" line and delete everything from the word "splash" on, including the word "splash". Add the word "single" to the end of the line.
• Navigate to the end of the line that starts with "initrd" and replace the letters "aufs" with "generic".
• Press ctrl-x to boot.
• When you get to a prompt, type "apt-get purge xserver-xorg-video-modesetting-lts-raring" and press the enter key.
• Type "reboot" followed by the enter key.

When you are done, the machine should boot OK and you can update your key, as mentioned above. Please be sure to let me know which set of steps works for you, so I can produce some documentation, until I figure out a way to handle this automagically on new installs. Thanks!

[tlscott99]

The second group of steps did the job.  The first set of steps produced colorful, but unreadable characters and lines.

[jnetman1]

Good deal. I'll see if I can somehow detect a card that won't modeset and disable the driver in the next release. Or, perhaps disable it altogether and add a script to add it back in, if needed. Will need to experiment with more machines...

[tlscott99]

After playing with UM 1.3 I noticed several things missing that were in previous versions.

For my use, I want my clients to immediately change their password, but the User Accts icon in System Settings is not present in 1.3.

Also, while I don't currently have a need for it, I noticed that the "Main Menu" icon is not available in System Tools for UM 1.3. 

Were these changes by design?  (I didn't notice anything regarding these in changelog).

[jnetman1]

Sounds like you installed the default simple updates, which are just an example of the sort of changes I make when I distribute to kids. They include hiding some of the icons, etc. If you install option 1, everything is there.