newbie installation woes

[JonH]

Hi all,
Please forgive my probable newbie mistakes but I am having real issues trying to install.
I have downloaded & burned to DVD the iso image, I have booted from the dvd & selected install linuxmce (onto a freshly formated disk) the problems start at the remove disk & press enter to reboot.
I have done this process 4 times now & it has never done anything other than boot up into kubuntu & does not attempt to install linux mce. There is a window on the desktop with a file in it called linux mce but clicking on this just opens a terminal window that quickly fills up with a stream of can not open file errors & can not connect errors, then nothing. This I guess is because there is no network connection, I cannot access the internet or my own network & there is no activity on the NIC led.
The system itself works fine as I have a second HD loaded with ubuntu which works AOK.
Any help for a complete linux newbie would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Jon

[joshpond]

Hi Jon,

What hardware are you using?

Are you using two NICs?

LinuxMCE won't install unless there is an internet connection I believe.

When you get to the Kubuntu, you need to get the external network/internet working.

Josh

[JonH]

Hi Josh & thanks for your reply.
I've installed a second nic & sometimes I can get an internet connection & sometimes nothing.
I tried clicking the linux mce file that was in the window on 1 of the occassions I did have a web connection but I got KDE Sudo Error command not found, It tries to install a load of stuff that it is pulling from a server but gets a way through & then just stops.
On 1 of the attempts it refused to install as kubuntu was out of date but when I went to upgrade it said are you sure you want to upgrade to a version of UBUNTU that is no longer supported?
To be honest I've had enough, the product certainly isn't ready for the general public, documentation is out of date & contradictory & the installation guides are a joke "install with just 3 clicks" yea right.
It's a pity really I was looking forward to getting this up & running as I have 5 pc's spread throughout various buildings & wanted to be able to share media & phone calls across them all along with cctv footage & lighting control. The promise is so great but it just does not deliver.

[merkur2k]

its a project, not a product. you paid nothing for it, so you dont get to expect anything from us. that said we do appreciate any help anyone is able to give to help make it better. this is the way open source works.

[joshpond]

Hi Jon,

Yes it is one of the drawbacks with open source, but if you wanted something more plain sailing at this stage then you also have to pay a lot for it. People here are pretty helpful and if you stick with it it does eventually get going but you do need a lot of patience. I believe this software is very much in it's infancy.

If you do want to stick with it:
use the latest snapshot and one that is recommended.
http://linuxmce.iptp.org/snapshots/
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Snapshot_overview

Installation on my last snapshot (23843 16 March) was pretty much 3 clicks.

Josh

[JonH]

Hi merkur, I'm not being negative just trying to express my disappointment after having spent 3 1/2 days working on this to end up not even being able to install it.
You may call it a project & I can see from your point of view it is but it is out there in the world & it is being promoted, so just because you aren't charging doesn't make it a product and in this day & age if you make claims for a product it should stand up. If it doesn't and has obvious flaws call it a beta.
I would love to be able to help & work on this project but I don't have the knowledge & experience, & without a functioning install I'm not likely to gain it either am I.
As for my remarks about documentation, well if I can't get it even installed after aprox 20 hours of work what more do I need to say.
What I was hoping to gain from this forum was constructive help from someone who really knows how it all works of the sort that josh started to offer, please remember none of us are born with the knowledge of how to install an operating system, EVERYONE had to ask questions at some point, especially if the user manual requires interpretation.
Regards
Jon

[Marie.O]

Jon,

I can understand your disappointment. Lots of videos out their show how easy things are, and now that you try to get into the world of LinuxMCE you see stumbling blocks everywhere.

From what you have written in your first post, I strongly suspect networking/internet connectivity problems as your main problems. There is a wiki page about the snapshots (as joshpond has pointed out already), containing a list of snapshots which have successfully completed a basic installation test done by our main snapshot tester bongowongo.

If you have chosen a snapshot that is defined as working, and you do not have success installing it, internet connectivity problems and/or hardware problems are most probable the culprit.

Unfortunately, not much we can do about those two.

If you have wiki pages that contradict each other, feel free to open a trac ticket for each of those pages, and let us know about them, or, if you can after some time, just correct the ones that are wrong.

Thanks and good luck getting the sucker installed.

[JonH]

Hi Josh,
Thanks for your reply. Yes that is the image I used.
I've also tried with the very latest version but no difference.
I'm really struggling with kubuntu & don't find it very intuitive or user friendly at all, maybe I'm just not into it yet but feel like I'm banging my head against a wall.
Really need someone to help & guide me through this as I feel like I've been dumped on mars at the moment.

[JonH]

Thanks Posde,
Unfortunately I'm using the recommended image on a system that I know is good, it works fine when booted with Ubuntu 10.10 or windows.
Networking does seem to be the issue and not understanding what the likes of network manager are supposed to do does not help. For instance I want to see whats going on with my network so obviously I try to open network manger, click on the link to it and what happens, nothing. No windows open, no dialog boxes, no new icons...??
Trying hard not to be negative but everywhere I turn is a dead end.
Thanks for commenting.
Jon

[Marie.O]

Remember that Windows and Ubuntu 1010 has support for newer devices. So it might be the fact, that your hardware is too new to be usable out-of-the-box with an 810 snapshot.

[joshpond]

Hi Jon,

Keep banging that head, Mine is getting nice and tough now but it does work. The biggest thing if you haven't used a linux system before is that it is very different from windows and MS stuff.

If you have a known working snapshot, the next thing is run the dvd.iso, get to kubuntu and open up a terminal. (From memory (not infront of my machine) click the start button on the bottom left, Applications and system, konsole.

Paste the output of:

Code: [Select]

lspci

Code: [Select]

ifconfig

Code: [Select]

ifconfig -a
As psode said, likely either a hardware incompatability or networking issue as you need to get onto the internet.

Also please list the details of your setup and network and there any many people here that will help.

Josh

[Techstyle]

I tried clicking the linux mce file that was in the window on 1 of the occassions I did have a web connection but I got KDE Sudo Error command not found, It tries to install a load of stuff that it is pulling from a server but gets a way through & then just stops.

When you next try to install and you have your internet issues sorted, if you get the error message you commented on above do not click the 'OK' button or anything - just leave it.  I had this same error message and when clicked it kicked me out but when left it ran fine.

[Schmich]

I thought I was the only one with the Ksudo issue. I'll add it to the wiki as it drove me nuts trying to find the error. Basically when you double click the icon you will receive some kind of Kdesudo error and you have to ignore it completely, not even press "OK" like Techstyle says.

[BelSean21]

I found the same ksudo problem whilst attempting my first installation over the last few days.

I also found that I had to change the Ubuntu repository from the local mirror (Australia) that was selected during the first stages of the installation to the main Ubuntu repository.

Sean.

[l3mce]

Sounds like your nics are not supported in 810. A simple google search should reveal some answers.

You can do some work to make them work (probably), but my recommendation is to install 10.04. reading this very well. http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Installing_1004

While this is less stable at the moment (devs are working very hard to make all of the pieces functional) you will likely have much better success. Get used to a terminal. We are happy to help, but as Merkur2k said, it is a project. These guys will give you their time, but complaints are not well received. This system is like nothing else in existence. It's hard... and hacked at in the devs spare time.