Kubuntu upstart stagnates after failed attempt to upgrade from Jaunty to Karmic.

[Bas Roufs]

Hello everybody

Yesterday (Fri. 6 November 09) I started an attempt to upgrade my laptop
from Kubuntu 9.04 to 9.10. However, today it became clear that this attempt
failed. Moreover: at the laptop as it is now, it is simply not possible any
more to start Kubuntu at all. That's why, I would like to evaluate with you
what exactly went wrong and which mistakes I need to avoid: ….

* ….when carrying out a fresh 'install from scratch' from a Kubuntu 9.10 CD
at the laptop

* ….when carrying out an upgrade from Kubuntu 9.04 to 9.10 at my desktop.

 In principle, I am perfectly happy to do a fresh 'install from scratch' at
my laptop with an image CD of Kubuntu 9.10. From all the files, I have back
ups at an external HD and a desktop. So, I would not loose any data by
reformatting the laptop HD during such an installation procedure. On the
other hand, I still would prefer an upgrade instead of an 'install from
scratch' at my desktop CD.

 At the laptop in it's present state, the upstart procedure simply gets
stuck. Immediately after starting or restarting the laptop as it is now, the
following happens.

 In the beginning, I do not see any initial screen, mentioning the
possibilties to run a 'memtest' , a terminal or Kubuntu in a 'normal' or
'safe' mode.

 However, the upstart procedure still goes on, till I see a few failure
reports.

 Soon after the Kubuntu logo shows up, a first terminal failure report tells
the following:

 “(...)

Mountall : symbol lookup error: mountall: undefined symbol:
udev_monitor_dd_match_substystem_devtype

init: mountall main process (687) terminated with status 127

(...)”

 Than, I get 25 to 50 failure reports who look quite similar, but whose
codes and figures slightly differ from one another. Below I mention the last
three reports amongst them:

 “ (…)

[ *59.81*7955] Corrupted low memory at *c004e*98 (*4e*09 *phys*) = fffff4906

[ *59.81*8013] Corrupted low memory at *c004e*98 (*4e*9c *phys*) = aa666601

[ *59.81*8124] Corrupted low memory at *c004ea*0 (*4e*a0 *phys*) = 0000cc00

(….) “


 Immediately after the last of the three lines above, the following report
comes:

“(…)

[ 59.818124] Memory corruption detected in low memory

(...)”


 After this, the upstart procedure stagnates immediately.

Now, every attempt to start Kubuntu at the laptop ends up in the results
summarised above – but still the figures and codes slightly differ; only the
*underlined* parts of them are the same.


 Of course, I have been trying to evaluate what could have gone wrong in
this process. The problem could be related to the unreliable WIFI signal I
am using now. It could also have to do something with the laptop itself.

The WIFI signal I point at, comes from an 'unencrypted network' which is not
constantly available. If the signal is there, some internet pages are being
opened quite slowly. Downloading files take much more time compared to a
steady, wired connection. Sometimes, downloading processes are simply being
interrupted because of the WIFI signal fading away totally. The upgrade in
combination with this WIFI connection was quite slow compared to a similar
process in combination with a wired or more strong WIFI connection. Often,
this connection is simply fading away or being interrupted. I needed to wait
a bit before I could send this message to the list.

 In about one week I will have again a more reliable, own internet
connection. If the problem would only have to do with this connection issue,
I simply could wait for that.

However, I am wondering whether the problem also is related with the laptop
itself: if I do not touch it for more than about 5 minutes, it automatically
comes into a kind of hibernating mode. After some hours, the laptop totally
shuts down, unless I reactivate it by touching one or more keyboard buttons.


 Could you please let me know how I could avoid similar problems when trying
again to upgrade my desktop and to carry out a fresh installation at the
laptop? I would appreciate your feedback.

 Respectfully yours,

Bas.
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