Ubuntu Update Gone Bad?

Ubuntu, like most other distros, prompts you to install system updates. You can control the schedule using the Update Manager and set it for daily, every two days, per week or every two weeks. I prefer the weekly updates. There are other options as well but I will not be highlighting them at this time. Typically the defaults on most options will work for most users but they are fairly straightforward and do not need much explanation. Most of the time updates will install just fine. However once in a while the internet or your computer just doesn't cooperate. The update then gets hung and maybe the system will not even boot fully. It is times like this that a little knowledge of the command line will be very beneficial. If possible boot to the prompt and issue these commands:

sudo apt-get update 
(password)
apt-get upgrade -u

This will perform the rest of the update just as you were using the gui's Update Manager. It will be important to note that wireless users may or may not be connected, so it might be wise to connect via a cable if possible. Running the unfinished upgrade this way just may prevent a needless re-install of the OS. But you have /Home on a separate partition anyway, right?

Karmic Koala Installed For Two Weeks

I have now had Karmic Koala installed for about two weeks. I first did the install via 9.04's Update Manager and it was not a very pleasant experience. Perhaps the Ubuntu servers were still being hit hard but the install lasted for more than 7 hours. Ugh! I couldn't quit though since I had no idea what had started and what it would do. So I toughed it out and let it run. Everything worked pretty good except for the video. Screen re-draws were slow and played video almost impossible. I ran it for two days like this until I decided to go ahead and do a clean install. Wow what a difference. Video is sharp and snappy and played video runs as good as it ever has.



Overall I am quite happy with the new install. The boot time is very snappy and faster than 9.04. Watch this video of comparison boot times between Karmic Koala, Jaunty Jackalope, Vista and Windows 7. The test was done on all the same hardware and new installs conducted by the folks a Linux Format.

Distribution Upgrade Issues Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 4 Solved

I logged into Ubuntu one morning and was greeted by the Update Manager wanting to update 180 files. Since I had just re-installed and this was an Alpha system I chose to proceed. But for some reason the Update Manager failed reporting a 404 error and unable to fetch the files. Well since I am still somewhat of a newbie, but learning, I wrote that error of to the servers being too busy. After all this version had just been released a few days before. A few days later I tried again but I got the same results. What's up with that? I really didn't feel like digging into it at that time either so I let it go again. Well this morning brought the same results in Update Manager and now I know there are 180 updates waiting so this can't be right. This time I turned to our trusty command shell bash and did it the easy way:
>sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
And after supplying the password and answering Y it took off and did the upgrade. You just have to love the command line for its simplicity and that it will usually work or at least give you information on the errors. For me I learned to trust the command line and I am going to learn more on this powerful tool.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Tool

This post has been moved to Working With Windows.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Before I plunk down some of my hard earned cash for Windows 7, I want to know how it will run on my system. I have two options with one option being to download the rather large release candidate and install it. Option two is to run the Upgrade Advisor and get a report of how Windows 7 should install. The test laptop is a HP ze5385us which runs on a P4 2.66ghz cpu with 1gb of ram. My first step is to download the Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft here. The Upgrade Advisor is packaged as a msi file and is 6414kb in size.

Double clicking the msi file starts the install process. Simply accept the defaults for the install and it completes in about ten seconds leaving you at this screen with the option to launch the advisor.

The system check ran for only a couple of minutes. I now had enough information to decide running Windows 7. The good news it reported was that all my hardware passed minimum requirements. I did have two warnings listed in the report. One about the upgrade process and another about Aero Desktop. I won't be able to run Aero Desktop on this laptop since I can't upgrade the graphics card. The upgrade warning gave a link for step by step installation information. This could be very helpful and is a nice touch from Microsoft. All in all I'm glad I ran the tool. Upgrade Advisor has given me enough information to make an informed decision. Upgrading to Windows 7 on this laptop should go quite smoothly if I decide to install.

Are You Ready For Windows 7?

Ready or not Windows 7 is on the way. The word from the Windows blog is set for October 22 of this year. I'll personally believe it when I see it since Microsoft has always pushed back the official release dates for every version of Windows I personally have seen released. However in their defense the release candidates are looking like they are pretty close to full release. Tonight I plan on running Microsoft's Upgrade Adviser Tool on a HP Laptop with an Intel P4 running at 2.66ghz and 1gb of ram. Check back tomorrow for the results.