Ubuntu Linux issues

[Random Electron]

Any Linux (Ubuntu) anoraks out there? My Linux expert First Officer got me interested in Linux, but now he has moved base. I installed it on my laptop, and like it very much, but have a few issues, like it will not automatically shut down, I must do each stage manually with a click of the enter key. This, I believe is not right. Anybody got any ideas? (In plain English please, I am not a computer tecchie!) Thanks.

[FullOppositeRudder]

Hmmm ...an unusual problem which I've not seen myself to date anyway. I'm not a Ubuntu expert, just a bottom feeder in fact, but I suggest that it will be helpful to know which version you have installed, and whether it's allowed to update from time to time when the computer is online.

It may also be helpful to know whether Ubuntu is the only operating system on your laptop (make and model could also be helpful here), or if there is another OS (Windows?) installed with the option of selecting Ubuntu or the other one at startup.

regards,
FoR

[bnt]

Can you try the following?
- close all open applications;
- open a Terminal session (launch "Terminal");
- in Terminal, enter the following: sudo shutdown -h 0
- you will be asked for your password - this is normal;
- the computer should shut down; if not, is there any message in the Terminal?

[Random Electron]

Hi Full Opp, thanks for the reply. My Ubuntu version is a fully up to date V11.10, freshly installed on to a blank hard drive, with no other operating system on board. My machine is a Fujutsu Siemens Amilo pro V2035. After selecting the shut down option, the screen defaults to the blank start up page with just the Ubuntu logo in the centre, and if I then hit the Escape key, it reverts to the Linux equivalent of DOS, and I can observe the shutdown sequence. I must hit the Enter key to move it through each action in the shut down sequence, but sometimes I have to wait a few minutes before it will accept the command. All in all, the shut down procedure takes quite a few minutes, and will not complete automatically, Other than that, I really like the OS, and am having great fun with it. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Random Electron]

Thanks for the suggestion bnt, I am just off the Rhodes now, but will try your suggestions tonight when I get home. Thanks again

[bnt]

After selecting the shut down option, the screen defaults to the blank start up page with just the Ubuntu logo in the centre, and if I then hit the Escape key, it reverts to the Linux equivalent of DOS, and I can observe the shutdown sequence. I must hit the Enter key to move it through each action in the shut down sequence, but sometimes I have to wait a few minutes before it will accept the command.
Can you give an example of "each action"? If you're being asked to confirm things at that point, that's not normal, and it's never happened to me - so you need to tell us what you're being asked.

If the machine is taking a long time to do things, it usually means it's busy doing something. It probably would shut down by itself eventually, but I can't tell you what it's doing without you doing more "techie" things.

[Random Electron]

Hello again bnt.

Right, OK, a deep breath, this is what I must do to shut down my laptop.
After clicking "Shut Down" from the drop down menu top right corner, the screen blanks to the purple screen with the Ubuntu logo. If I then press Escape, I see the following messages:-

"Pulse audio configured for per-user sessions
saned disabled; edit / etc /default / saned [OK]
shutting down Smartlink Modem driver normally acpid:exiting
Unloading modem driver from kernel...snd_via82zz_modem
speech-dispatcher disabled; edit / etc /default / speech-despatcher

Checking for unattended - upgrades [OK]
*Stopping Bluetooth [OK]
*Asking all remaining processes to terminate [OK]

At this point the process hangs. If I then do nothing, there is no further activity. After 3 or 4 minutes, and several taps of the Enter key later, the process resumes with:-

*Killing all remaining processes...... [fail]
modem-manager [777]: <info> Caught signal 15, shutting down

The process halts again, until I press the Enter key again several times.
It resumes with:-
* Deconfiguring network interfaces
* Deactivation swap...

System halts again, until I press the Enter key again several times.
Resumes with:-
unmount: /run/lock: not mounted

System halts again, until I press the Enter key again several times.
Resumes with:-
*Will now halt"

And only then will it shut itself down. The whole process from start to finish takes about 7 to 10 minutes.

All quotation mark are mine.
The "fail" after *Killing all remaining processes, is in red

Being a total novice to Linux, I don't even know where to start looking to fix this, so any suggestions you might have will be a great help. Thanks.

[le Pingouin]

Sounds like you have the problem discussed here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/869635

Open a terminal window & enter the following command:

sudo gedit /etc/init/network-manager.conf


Add the following line as per below: stop on runlevel [06]

It should now look like this (that's an arrow so don't include it):

start on (local-filesystems
and started dbus)
stop on stopping dbus
stop on runlevel [06] <--------------------------

expect fork
respawn

[Random Electron]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I have tried both suggestions, but no joy so far. At the moment my machine is upgrading itself, it has decided there is a very significant upgrade required, so for the last day it has been "Preparing to Upgrade", "Getting New Packages", and it is now "Installing the Upgrades". This seems to be a painfully slow process, despite the Connection Information reporting wireless connection speeds of 54Mb/s. Like the shut down situation, the process seems to require me to 'help it along' with some gentle tapping of the enter key when it decides to take a long, seemingly permanent rest. I have just received the 'Ubuntu for Dummies' book I ordered, I will have a plough through this and see what I can learn. Thanks for your help so far........

[izod tester]

Whilst it would be ideal for you to find out what is causing the problem and resolve it, in your case as a Linux tyro I would go for a complete format and fresh installation. Rather than Ubuntu, I would recommend you download whichever version of Linux Mint you prefer (the versions revolve around which desktop you want, Gnome or KDE).

Mint is a refined product originally developed from Ubuntu, but which now also includes direct access to the Debian packages too. It also provides the appropriate media codecs to allow you to view dvds and other media files which Ubuntu does not.

[rgbrock1]

Random Electron:

As a rabid Linux user - predominately Linux Mint - I have never seen the behavior you outline exhibited by anyLinux distro.

I would strongly suggest that you blow away your current installation and start from scratch. (Saving any documents you might have, beforehand of course!)

If you are running Ubuntu v11.10 I would suggest downloading Ubuntu v12.04, which is the latest and greatest, and then install it.

[Random Electron]

Thanks for the advice guys. Making progress! The software update completed, and now the shut down is much, much cleaner. Still not quite there though.

To shut the laptop down, I only have to tap the Enter key once now, in about the middle of the shut down sequence, and then it continues on by itself. The whole sequence takes only about a minute now, which is a big improvement. Stay reading please, I might have some more questions...........

[bnt]

Note: to upgrade to the current version of Ubuntu, you don't have to download the ISO again, you can do an in-place upgrade: press Alt+F2 and type in
update-manager -d
This launches the Update Manager with a button for the new version. It'll download hundreds of megabytes and do the upgrade, which may take a good bit of time, depending on your system. This way preserves all your files and settings. But, as noted, that's not a guaranteed fix for your problem.

[Random Electron]

Thank you bnt (and others), I will try your suggestion in the morning. I think I am within a mile or so of getting my head around Linux.

I have to say, it really does impress how much help, advice and coaching is so readily available out there. That would never happen with Windows, unless of course you are willing to pay.

Linux has got me well intrigued, so no way I am giving up now.........

[mixture]

I have to say, it really does impress how much help, advice and coaching is so readily available out there. That would never happen with Windows, unless of course you are willing to pay.

Huh ? Given that the adopted home PC user-base for Windows is far, far greater than what Linux could ever dream to achieve, I would suggest that statement is not quite correct.

After all, not only is Windows advice to be found in PPRuNe, but there are 101 websites out there with tutorials, step-by-step instructions and other forums.

Also, as you've discovered yourself through this little incident, the use of Linux on home machines by non-techies does tend to require a fair bit of hand-holding and hence the appearance of lots of support resources on the internet.

Linux has a long way to go to catch up with both Windows and Mac on the desktop.

[le Pingouin]

The use of Windows requires a fair bit of hand-holding as well if you're not used to it or have an obscure problem. Or why do Windows users keep asking me for help? The problem RE has encountered is far from normal.

Where are the repositories of Windows software? Windows had a long way to go to catch up.......