User:Skierpage: Difference between revisions

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I've followed the project for a while, running KDE-Windows under Windows XP (it's amazing that it works at all, that it works pretty well is astounding!)
I've followed the project for a while, running KDE-Windows under Windows XP (it's amazing that it works at all, that it works pretty well is astounding!)


April 2009 I went and installed Kubuntu on a spare partition.  Lots of struggle, documented here.
April 2009 I went and installed Kubuntu on a spare partition.  Lots of struggle, documented in [[/Kubuntu 9.04 setup and problems]].


I then overwrite the first GB of my hard drive, oops, details on that repair at  
I then overwrite the first GB of my hard drive, oops, details on that repair at  
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[[/Windows reinstall]].
[[/Windows reinstall]].


== Setup ==
I've maintained a dual-boot environment, so I mount my C: drive:
/dev/sda1 on /media/WindowsCdrive type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)
== Notes on Kubuntu installation ==
Here are my notes on Kubuntu installation
Notes on Amarok at http://amarok.kde.org/wiki/User:Skierpage
=== Boot from CD ===
* Should be a warning that test disk will require a reboot
=== Install from CD ===
* The Kubuntu logo screen should say what it's doing.
*: "Now loading enough of the Kubuntu operating system and programs to provide you a graphic installer. (Nothing is yet being installed on your disks"
* Install progress bar got about 70% of the way then got some screen flickers and then over 30 seconds with a blank gray screen.
=== In the installer ===
* The installer should remind me what the hell it is (AMD64 & Intel EM64T).  That would help me in Ubuntu installation guide https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/installation-guide/ to choose the right "architecture of your computer"
==== Release Notes and web ====
Running Konqueror to read the release notes is amazing!
* Clicking Release Notes takes me to http://www.kubuntu.org/news.  But this has ''nothing'' about 9.04 release notes!!  It has a news item on 9.04, but that's it.
* The news item ends with
*:  What's New?
  Kubuntu 9.04 includes an upgraded desktop containing many bug fixes, new configuration options, as well as many new and updated applications. Below are some highlights.
  ''some white space''
  Kubuntu Jaunty KDE 3 Remix Release Candidate
There's no indication that the item is truncated or that there's more info if I click the heading.
* In https://wiki.kubuntu.org/  , the [Titles] and [Text] buttons at the top right for search look funny, with rounded buttons over rectangles with lines.  And if the tip of the cursor is on the button text, the button doesn't highlight and is inactive; the button only highlights if the cursor tip is in the top 1/3 of the button,
==== Back to installer ====
* The full-screen "Where are you" is impressive.  But when I click in the San Francisco Bay Area, it keeps selecting the timezone to the right of it!  It seems to be picking the nearest city it knows about (Boise), rather than selecting that timezone.  Quite confusing.  If you're going to keep this approach, it should highlight the nearest cities as you hover, or always select the nearest city ''in the same timezone''.  I can only select my timezone if I click far away near Vancouver or Los Angeles!!
* I chose my Keyboard Layout and clicked [Forward].  A small dialog about filesystems briefly flashed and [Back] and [Forward] disabled.  Then nothing.  My cursor is not spinning, and the page 3 is active, I can type into the test typing box.  What happened??!  After more than 50 seconds of this no feedback, it advanced to Step 4.
* In Step 4 I chose partition manually.  A small Scanning partitions window appeared for several seconds (didn't it already display this earlier?)  That box had a (?) symbol on it with a "Help" tooltip, but it is '''completely useless''', in this dialog and the next "Edit Partition" there's no
==== Partitioning ====
I want to keep my first partition for Windows.  I had already set aside a 27GB D: partition for Ubuntu.  Automatic partitioning wanted to use the entire disk for Ubuntu!
* there needs to be an intermediate "guided partitioning"
So I chose manual partitioning, but that dumps me into choosing file systems and stuff.  I read up about home and swap and dual-booting before going into the installer, but I really need help here.  Like the _Release Notes_ link at the start of install, there should be a link to a some help here.
I clicked my second partition and the 'Edit Partition' dialog popped up (with another useless (?) help cursor button).  I chose "Use as ext4", Format the partition check, Mount point /
* "Use as" is the wrong label, it doesn't match the table column "Type" on the main page; the label should be something like "File system type"
* Having a separate checkmark for format doesn't make sense if I choose a different file system type.  If it's NTFS and I set it to ext4, surely the partition needs to be formatted sooner or later.
* I would expect a form item "Use as" to let me choose what is going on the partition, e.g. "Use as main Linux area ('/' or root)", "use as home area (/home directories), etc."  That's a lot friendlier than the label "Mount point"
* When I clicked [OK] there was a pause and a cursor and then scanning drives appeared, and then the main window showed "Type" ext4.  Had the program formatted the partition yet?  It could be clearer.
* I couldn't figure out how to create logical partitions inside my D: partition.  Adjusting the size gave me a scary warning about making immediate changes; are these destructive or not?!
* I read https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/installation-guide/amd64/partitioning.html but it didn't make sense in the context of the installer.  E.g. https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/installation-guide/amd64/partition-programs.html mentions several partitioning programs, but I'm in a graphical installer, what the heck is it running?
Thankfully user "Firefishe" helped me out, I wound up with
/dev/sda divided into...
  /dev/sda1  ntfs  83.8 GB hopefully untouched
  /dev/sda2 ext3 / Format? checked Size 20003 MB Used 495MB
  /dev/sda3 ext4 /home Format? checked Size 7994 MB Used Unknown
  /dev/sda5 swap mount and Format blank, Size 2006 MB Used Unknown
=== Step 6 confirmation ===
  WARNING: This will destroy all data on any partitions you have removed as
well as on the partitions that are going to be formatted.
  The partition tables of the following devices are changed:
  SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sda)
  The following partitions are going to be formatted:
  partition #3 of SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sda) as ext4
  partition #5 of SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sda) as swap
Alas, "Migration Assistant:" is blank, it never detected my C: drive full of Windows stuff.
Scared about the missing sda4, so went back.
Clicking [Back] from step 5 briefly displayed a checking disks window, and then nothing for many seconds.
Step 4 had forgotten my additional partitioning after the root, I had to repeat it.
==== redo ====
The /dev/sda5 was because I let it be logical, not physical.
Now,
  /dev/sda1  ntfs  Size 90025 MB (83.8 GB) hopefully untouched
  /dev/sda2 ext3 Mount / Format? checked  Size 20003 MB Used 495 MB
  /dev/sda3 ext4 Mount /home Format? checked  Size 8003 MB Used unknown
  /dev/sda4 swap Mount [blank] Format? [blank] Size 1998 MB Used unknown
Step 6 says
<pre>Language: English
Keyboard layout: USA
Name: S Page
Login name: skierpage
Location: America/Los_Angeles
Migration Assistant:
</pre>
If you continue, the changes listed below will be written to the disks.
Otherwise, you will be able to make further changes manually.
WARNING: This will destroy all data on any partitions you have removed as
well as on the partitions that are going to be formatted.
The partition tables of the following devices are changed:
SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sda)
The following partitions are going to be formatted:
partition #2 of SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sda) as ext3
partition #3 of SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sda) as ext4
partition #4 of SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sda) as swap</pre>
Then went off!
== User Firefishe is awesome!!  ==
Who needs decent doc for this step with him or her around!
firefishe @  inbox.com
== Kubuntu glitches ==
=== Konqueror ===
* ''kde bug filed'' "The [Icon] History in your SideBar "
*: I can't tell what the icon is in the black background, and the menu calls it Go > Show History in Sidebar (not 'Side'''B'''ar).
* I ran into Bug 189761: Middle-clicking does not work in Konqueror if gestures are enabled.
=== Kubuntu Help ===
* "Open Add/Remove Programs by going to Application Launcher → System → Package Manager (Add/Remove)."
*# I have to navigate to the Applications tab first before I see "System"
*# No such application, it's "Software management (KPackageKit)"
* [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kubuntu-docs/+bug/367224 bug 367224] In Kubuntu  System Documentation Index, click "How do I view my Windows partition?", get
*: There is no documentation available for /kubuntu/index/kubuntu/hardware/hardware.html.
* [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/367219 bug 367219] Tried to search, nothing but a black box (checkmark?) for Unix manual pages, the installer should have built search index.
* Clicking Build Search Index... didn't work, brought up a dialog with another checkmark "Application Manuals    Status Missing"
** Status missing mis-aligned.
* [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kdebase-runtime/+bug/367215 bug 367215] Clicking build anyway, got error
<tt>(7729)/ main: cmdFile: "/tmp/kde-skierpage/khelpcenterqp4796.tmp" (7729)/ main: indexDir: "/home/skierpage/.kde/share/apps/khelpcenter/index/" (7729)/ main: can access (7729)/ KHC::IndexBuilder::IndexBuilder: IndexBuilder() (7729)/ KHC::IndexBuilder::buildIndices: Opened file ' "/tmp/kde-skierpage/khelpcenterqp4796.tmp" ' (7729)/ KHC::IndexBuilder::buildIndices: LINE: "/usr/lib/kde4/libexec/khc_docbookdig.pl --indexdir=/home/skierpage/.kde/share/apps/khelpcenter/index/ --docpath=khelpcenter:kde_application_manuals --identifier=kde_application_manuals" (7729)/ KHC::IndexBuilder::processCmdQueue: IndexBuilder::processCmdQueue() (7729)/ KHC::IndexBuilder::processCmdQueue: PROCESS: "/usr/lib/kde4/libexec/khc_docbookdig.pl --indexdir=/home/skierpage/.kde/share/apps/khelpcenter/index/ --docpath=khelpcenter:kde_application_manuals --identifier=kde_application_manuals"
INDEXDIR: /home/skierpage/.kde/share/apps/khelpcenter/index/
FINDCMD: find /usr/share/doc/kde/HTML/en/ -name index.docbook
Creating index for 'kde_application_manuals'
htdig failed
(7729)/: running ("/usr/lib/kde4/libexec/khc_docbookdig.pl", "--indexdir=/home/skierpage/.kde/share/apps/khelpcenter/index/", "--docpath=khelpcenter:kde_application_manuals", "--identifier=kde_application_manuals") failed with exitCode 255 (7729)/: stdout output: "" (7729)/: stderr output: "" (7729)/ KHC::IndexBuilder::sendProgressSignal: IndexBuilder::sendProgressSignal()
(7729)/ KHC::IndexBuilder::processCmdQueue: IndexBuilder::processCmdQueue() (7729)/ KHC::IndexBuilder::quit: IndexBuilder::quit()</tt>
I think because /usr/bin/htdig does not exist.
=== KPackageKit ===
* Didn't know about Firefox, unlike what the Kubuntu help said
* Clicking its bottom-left [Help] button popped up Help Center which alerted
*: Kioslaves > mbox "The file or folder help:/ does not exist"
==== InstallingSoftware out-of-date ====
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallingSoftware says "Kubuntu's new and easy method of installing packages is to use the 'Add/Remove Programs' tool." with a screenshot of "adept"
Not there any more!  adept not around.
=== Flash install ===
Went to flash page, http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ , Konq popped up dialog asking if it should install plugin.  Installed a lot of things.  But still didn't work.  dpkg and aptitude and KPackageKit thought I had  flashplugin-installer, flashplugin-nonfree, and konqueror-nsplugins installed, yet no Flash in Konqueror.  I quit and restarted, still none.
''Answer!'' After everything auto-installs, you have to do Settings > Configure Konqueror... > Plugins > Plugins tab and click [Scan for Plugins] !
==== No sound in Flash ====
E.g. ftp://www.skierpage.com/www.skierpage.com/docs/olpc/flash_tests/embed_car_smash.html
Dog on internet recommended web page with alsa-oss.  That didn't help.
===== Default sound card =====
<tt>aplay -vv /usr/share/sounds/k3b_success1.wav</tt> showed the problem, it uses the wrong sound device, my Via chip and not Audigy2 sound card (I edited
http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php/TroubleShooting to add a section on test playing.)
The best solution is to get your preferred device as sound card 0.
* Pages say "This sucks, use udev rules to fix this"  But Udev configuration hurts.
* http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Advanced_Linux_Sound_Architecture#Set_the_default_sound_card suggests tinkering with /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf (I have a /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf).
* djktar suggested asoundconf
===== asoundconf to the rescue =====
  asoundconf list
shows V8237 and Audigy2
and <tt>asoundconf set-default-card Audigy2</tt> made aplay work, and after I exited and restarted Konq, sound played in Flash!
However, see [[#Screeching noises]]
=== /usr/bin/package-install ===
I think Konqueror is popping up <tt>/usr/bin/package-install</tt>.
* ? How can I find a log of what this did?  I don't see a history in KPackageKit ([https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kpackagekit/+bug/371917 Launchpad bug 371917] filed)<br>''A:'' Consult <tt>/var/log/dpkg.log</tt>
* BUG: <tt>kdesudo "/usr/bin/install-package --install NoSUCHFoo"<br/>no such package NoSUCHFoo</tt> , but the dialog says "already installed"
=== logout thingy ===
I pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del, got a logout chooser, but I couldn't choose Cancel with mouse or keyboard.  I finally started killing processes at random in a shell.
=== MP3 install ===
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats suggests `sudo apt-get install kubuntu-restricted-extras` to play MP3s.  says 51 newly installed packages/221 MB, seems a lot just to play MP3s in Amarok.
''Answer!'' The minimal is `sudo apt-get install libxine1-ffmpeg`, only 8MB!
=== KHelp Center ===
*Clicking KInfoCenter >IEEE 1394 Devices gives
*:  There is no documentation available for /kinfocenter/view1394/index.html.
and an alert "The file or folder help:/kinfocenter/view1394/index.html does not exist"
* Clicking "Browse Info Pages" takes you to DIR:top with nonsensical instructions like "Typing "q" exits, "?" lists all Info commands, "d" returns here,"
* help:/khelpcenter/userguide/kicker-configuring.html seems out-of-date:
** Says "kicker displays some icons next to the K menu. ", but I just have a starred folder icon.
** Says "To remove an icon, right mouse button-click on the icon, and select Remove application name Button " but the starred folder icon's right-click menu has "Remove this Quick Access"
** Says "To add a new icon, right mouse button-click on an empty space on the panel, and follow the menu entry Add Application to Panel ." but ther's no empty space, I couldn't do it.  Even when there is empty space, there's no such menu item.
* help:/khelpcenter/userguide/kicker-related-information.html says "there is a lot more information on Kicker ... simply entering help:/kicker"  But this doesn't work, no such document.
=== Jockey hardware drivers window  crash ===
[https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/jockey/+bug/367265 367265]
=== ubuntu.com ===
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Video says
:  You can back it up:
  cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old
doesn't work unless you prepend <tt>sudo</tt>
=== Font trouble ===
Click System Settings > Font Installer
right-click "AR PL UMing TW MBE", choose Open in Font Viewer", get alert
  Could not read font.
also for other fonts like "AR PL UMing HK[1]
=== Tried Running KPackageKit ===
No Firefox in it, despite what KHelpCenter says.
Tried vim.  Very confused by + and minus signs.  The moment I clicked OK the window vanished, no feedback.
Seele's blog post about its update tab has more comments on it, including mine.
=== Missing Help ===
I explored why broken help for KInfoCenter > IEEE 1394 shows up in KHelpCenter.
(see /usr/share/kde4/services/kcmview1394.desktop ).  Part of mega launchpad bug about docs, https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/284915
=== Sometimes Help button for KDE Connection Manager ===
But why does e.g kcmshell4 kcmsolidproc have a [Help] button that doesn't work (goes to help:/ which doesn't work), while `kcmshell4 kcm_solid` knows to gray it out?
Something deep within http://lxr.kde.org/source/KDE/kdelibs/kutils/kcmultidialog.cpp ? KPageDialog ?
=== strace woes ===
I tried using strace to debug the KCM mysteries but it kept crashing on me. 
  *** glibc detected *** strace: malloc(): memory corruption (fast): 0x0000000002642610 *** 
is another launchpad bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/16762, with possible workaround in bugs.redhat
but sometimes get
  *** glibc detected *** strace: munmap_chunk(): invalid pointer: 0x00000000008107d0
== Thunderbird switch ==
I want to run Thunderbird 3 beta 2 on Windows XP.
* Download the Linux version from http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/early_releases/downloads/
* Read http://tuxicity.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/install-native-mozilla-thunderbird-20-beta-2-on-ubuntu/ for different advice on where to put it.
* Use ark to unpack it to ~/programs
* In theory, <tt>ln -s /media/WindowsCdrive/Documents\ and\ Settings/S\ Page/Application\ Data/Thunderbird/Profiles ~/.thunderbird</tt> should work to pick up my old profile.  But each Thunderbird instance uses a different prefix for profiles like ''li37qyx''.default, so one doesn't find the other.
* Instead run thunderbird -P, click [Create Profile], navigate to Windows profile and open it.
'''WORKS!!''' All my old mail.
=== Thunderbird 3 start-up errors ===
(thunderbird-bin:32711): Gtk-WARNING **: /usr/lib/gtk-2.0/2.10.0/engines/libqtcurve.so: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64
GConf Error: Failed to contact configuration server; some possible causes are that you need to enable TCP/IP networking for ORBit, or you have stale NFS locks due to a system crash. See http://projects.gnome.org/gconf/ for information. (Details -  1: Could not send message to gconf daemon: The name org.gnome.GConf was not provided by any .service files)
but it seems to start.
=== Thunderbird 3 can't read or send mail ===
Reading and sending don't work, get can't connect to pop.earthlink.net.  Error console says
  Failed to load XPCOM component: /home/skierpage/programs/thunderbird/components/libmozgnome.so
but I do have that component.
I asked on [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1083835 MozillaZine forums]. This bug seems to be [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=480529 Mozilla bug 480529]
==== missing components? ====
Seems like I just need a few missing 32-bit components and this will work.
* Look at ubuntuzilla (won't install a beta).
* Maybe https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FirefoxAMD64FlashJava
Or install a 64-bit version:
* Used to be an Aussie providing 64-bit builds, not any more.
* Try using `ldd`to see what it's missing
cd ~/programs/thunderbird
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=`pwd`
ldd components/libmozgnome.go | grep found
        libgnomevfs-2.so.0 => not found
        libgnome-2.so.0 => not found
I have all kinds of gnome/GTK stuff in /usr/lib32 , I think I just need to install these.
==== Thunderbird 64-bit ====
Finally found it, the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:QA_TestDay:2009-05-14 Thunderbird QA test day blog post] mentions a "PPA" at https://edge.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-mozilla-daily/+archive/ppa that has a 64-bit TB3 nightly for Jaunty.
== Firefox 3 beta 4 ==
Same thing: download it, open with Ark, extract to ~/programs, try running it, get the same warnings about libqtcurve and GConf but it appears fine, but when I try to connect to a website, I get errors, and Error Console has
Failed to load XPCOM component: /home/skierpage/programs/firefox/components/libnkgnomevfs.so
Failed to load XPCOM component: /home/skierpage/programs/firefox/components/libmozgnome.so
likewise, ldd shows these need libgnomevfs-2.so.0 and libgnome-2.so.0.
This Firefox 32-bit problem might be [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=435042 bug 435042], that has "suggested installing 32-bit SSL libraries", but libssl3.so is built-in to Thunderbird/Firefox.
=== Firefox 64-bit ===
The solution for Firefox is to skip the beta and go straight to http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/ which has an x86_64 build.  Download and run, it works fine! 
To use my existing Windows profile start it with -P option and create a new 3.2 profile and click to navigate to my Windows Firefox profile directory.  All my bookmarks and extensions appear!
== getlibs for 32-bit problems ==
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=474790 says  "Automatically solves dependencies for 32-bit programs on 64-bit".
Install it (just a single program in /usr/bin), modify all its cp copies to use -i to prompt before destroying.
  /usr/bin/getlibs --verbose libgnome-2.so.0
gets libgnome-2 package and copies just libgnome-2.so.0 in /usr/lib32.  Repeated for libgnomevfs-2.so.0, but 32-bit Firefox and Thunderbird don't run any better.
Repeated ldd and it complained about libavahi-glib.so.1, installed that, still no progress.  strace showed lack of libgnomeui-2.so.  Installed that, no progress.  I'm still getting the gconf error on start-up, maybe that needs to be addressed. 
[http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/nd8forum.nsf/02999c1268ede32685256bf0006b6f74/54e3c4fd8c4b45e58525740e006285f6?OpenDocument This for Lotus Notes] lists a ton more libs to install to lib32
== Display, display corruption ==
Sometimes parts of windows get corrupted.  Especially Konqueror.  Sometimes resizing fixes.
=== Display driver (RESOLVED, no issues) ===
I have an ATI 9800 Pro, according to `lspci` it's a Radeon 350 chip.  There's a "Hardware" applet that runs a "jockey" utility that says I have no proprietary drivers and displays two blank panes (useless!).
Turns out ([http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1093487 see forum thread]) that the version of ATI's proprietary ''fglrx'' driver for Kubuntu 9.04 doesn't support earlier hardware!  I have to use one of the open source ATI drivers, xf86-video-ati or xf86-video-radeonhd together with Mesa.  http://www.x.org/wiki/radeon is probably the best explanation of the two drivers.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf has nothing specific.  Someone suggested looking at /var/log/Xorg.0.log, which reveals
Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//radeon_drv.so
        compiled for 1.6.0, module version = 6.12.1
I think the xf86-video-ati driver is the best fit with my R350 Radeon 9800 Pro.  I think radeon_drv.so seems to be the video-radeon driver, xserver-xorg-video-radeon, also at version 6.12.1.  http://www.x.org/wiki/radeon says "Part of xf86-video-ati, ie. also known as the ”ati” driver."  Jesus this is so f***ing confusing.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver says how to install it.
==== in Kubuntu 9.10 ====
Much the same, according to /var/log/Xorg.0.og ati_drv.so, radeon_drv.so, version 6.12.99 get loaded, then later dri/r300_dri.so
==== display drivers and 3D ====
2010-03-12 I keep reading about "Gallium3D" awesomeness from Zack Rusin's blog posts aggregated on http://planet.freedesktop.org
After some sleuthing:
* Mesa 7.5 integrated the Gallium3D infrastructure, Kubuntu 9.10 has liglu-mesa, libgl-mesa-dri, libgl-mesa-glx all at 7.6.0)
* But the Radeon r300 driver doesn't use it yet.  There's an "r300g" driver in development, see X.org's [http://www.x.org/wiki/GalliumStatus GalliumStatus] and [http://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature RadeonFeature]
* Maybe if I [http://tirdc.livejournal.com/24963.html force 3D software rendering] (<tt>export LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1</tt>) I'm using Gallium3D
* Kubuntu 9.10 isn't using KMS mode-setting and other cool stuff [http://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature#Featuredependencytree see the feature tree] anyway.
Use <tt>export LIBGL_DEBUG=1;glxgears -info</tt> to see what's going on. THe good news is it normally uses Mesa DRI to talk to my R350 card and gets high FPS -- "17500 frames in 5.0 seconds"
=== Display glitches on resume from suspend ===
I think with the KDE 4.3.1 packages, I got a default login screen.
On that, after I resume from suspend, the screen around the password dialog often appears in a groovy mottled pattern. Sounds like [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-ati/+bug/272969 Launchpad bug #272969]
=== Sometimes no video on LCD after resume from suspend===
I filed [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-ati/+bug/425968 launchpad bug #425968] Sounds a bit like [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/339336 Launchpad bug #339336].
==== TODO: ====
Next time it happens, I should boot from CD and look at the logs like /var/log/pm-suspend.log.
See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Quirks#ATI%20AGP%20Mode%20Quirk and https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingKernelSuspendHibernateResume
Need to run https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/SuspendResume
==== Test session ====
I pressed power button Sept. 8 at 04:30am, went into suspend.  Next day around 1pm, pressed power button but also pressed the arrow keys a lot.  System appeared to hang (d'oh, did I have power off??!).  So rebooted into Kubuntu Live CD and mounted partitions.
; cat var/lib/pm-utils/status
: suspend
; var/lib/pm-utils/resume-hang.log
: ''several days old'', lists a bunch of processes from days ago
; var/log/pm-suspend.log
: timestamp dates from my suspend, but the last lines in it are:
  Save video state failed
  success.
  /etc/pm/sleep.d/action_wpa suspend suspend: success.
  Tue Sep  8 04:38:40 PDT 2009: performing suspend
I couldn't find any files in var newer than the suspend time.
??!
While in LiveCD I tried <tt>sudo test-suspend --server</tt> from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/SuspendResume.  System suspended, but never came back!  I had to press the power button and then it came back fine. Logs are in ~/debugging/test-suspend_manual_resume/ . I reproted the failure in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/SuspendResumeTesting/Feedback
== Lockups ==
So far in a week I've had two complete lockups.  No cursor tracking, no keys work.  I have to hold down the power switch.  WTF!?
== Screeching noises ==
If I do anything else while Flash is playing sound, it screeches.  64-bit Flash, 64-bit browser.  I tried <tt>asoundconf set-pulseaudio</tt> but that stopped sound from working, got
% aplay -v -v /usr/share/sounds/k3b_success1.wav
ALSA lib pulse.c:272:(pulse_connect) PulseAudio: Unable to connect: Connection refused
Hmm?  Next steps are to try with Konqueror, maybe try my built-in VIA sound instead of fancy Audigy card, maybe try PCI tricks.
=== Switching sound card again ===
After upgrading to Kubuntu Lucid Lynx in April 2010, the screeching in Amarok got even worse.  It went away when I switched to the built-in card.
==== Switching sound card for KDE Phonon ====
To do this in KDE's Phonon I:
* transfer speaker plug from Audigy to built-in
* Open System Settings > Multimedia > Audio Output, selected the VIA built-in card, click Test to verify speakers set up.
* click Prefer to move it to the top of the list above Audigy, then click [Apply Device List to...] , and then quit and restart Amarok a few times.
==== Switching sound card for ALSA ====
vlc and Flash didn't use the right sound card because they don't use Phonon.  <tt>aplay -vv</tt> confirmed.  <tt>cat /proc/asound/cards</tt> shows which card is which, and the VIA chip is card 2.
So back to how to change Alsa device order.  Sigh, so many conflicting instructions for this: modprobes, udevs, blah blah.  The command-line program asoundconf is no longer in Ubuntu, and ~/.asoundrc.asoundconf tells me not to edit it. 
I can't even get <tt>aplay -D 'V8237'</tt> or any variants to work.
'''Answer:''' You could say !default is card1 in ~/.asoundrc, see [http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php/.asoundrc#A_brief_example. .asoundrc "A brief example"] for the syntax.  But better to dissuade the Audigy ZS from being the first card, by adding <tt>options snd slots=,snd-emu10k1</tt> (note the comma!) to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf.  See [http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php/MultipleCards#Reordering_the_driver_for_a_particular_card MultipleCards "Reordering the driver for a particular card"].
== Wrote all this up ==
It's on [http://www.skierpage.com/blog/ my blog] ''FIXME''
== Disaster, I trashed it all! ==
Following the dangerous instructions at rawhide-XO ''FIXME'', I overwrote my hard drive whenI meant to overwrite my Secure Digital flash card.  More nightmare at
[[/Disk recovery]].
== Sound problems again ==
2009-12-26, just after Christmas, sound stopped working in vlc and Flash and <tt>aplay -vv /usr/share/sounds/k3b_success1.wav</tt>
* Still works in System Settings > Multimedia and Amarok.
* Still works if I name a device with <tt>aplay -D 'front:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0' /usr/share/sounds/k3b_success1.wav</tt>
So something in the default Alsa-PulseAudio layers is messed up.
pactl/pacmd stat says "Default Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_0d.0.analog-stereo which is my Audigy2 card.  ?!???  http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php/TroubleShooting all seems OK, alsamixer looks OK, http://www.pulseaudio.org/wiki/CLI doesn't help.  WTF??!
My last updates in /var/log/dpkg.log were thunderbird and "mountall", ureadahead, and man-db.  Earlier was vlc 1.02, libc-bin, but I'm pretty sure I played sounds back then.
=== Solution: remove PulseAudio ===
There's no evidence of a PulseAudio install in /var/log/dpkg.log* at all.  Maybe it got installed when I tried to get [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Development_Team/Jhbuild/Ubuntu Sugar-jhbuild] (the Sugar UI is developed on Fedora and so requires a lot of stuff that isn't in Kubuntu).
<tt>aptitude why</tt> shows pulseaudio was pulled in as an optional package by gnome-desktop or something.  <tt>aptitude remove pulseaudio</tt> warned about removing 12 mystery packages with <tt>{u}</tt> after their names as well as a few pulseaudio glue packages.  So I removed pulseaudio and pulseaudio-utils in KPackageKit, KPackageKit warned about removing just some other pulseaudio glue, I let it remove them, and now sound is fine!


== Firefox early exit ==
== Firefox early exit ==

Revision as of 21:12, 16 August 2011

I've followed the project for a while, running KDE-Windows under Windows XP (it's amazing that it works at all, that it works pretty well is astounding!)

April 2009 I went and installed Kubuntu on a spare partition. Lots of struggle, documented in /Kubuntu 9.04 setup and problems.

I then overwrite the first GB of my hard drive, oops, details on that repair at /Disk recovery; the Windows part of it is at /Windows reinstall.


Firefox early exit

See /Firefox early exit


Subpages of User:Skierpage