Ubuntu Help

nivrip

nivrip

Yorkshire Cruncher
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My daughter has a Dell Latitude D500 laptop running XP and Ubuntu.

She decided to do some sort of update but I'm not sure what was actually done. Anyway, the whole thing has now stopped working so, as daughters do, she has brought it round to me. My knowledge of Ubuntu is extremely limited and I have got nowhere.

On starting the machine there is a quick glimpse of the Ubuntu logo and then it changes to the Dell screen where it is checking itself. Then nothing on the screen at all. Fiddling with the F keys eventually brought up "could not write bytes - broken pipe", whatever that means. :o

More random fiddling then brought up Login and Password which, when entered brought up "Welcome to Ubuntu!
*Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/
mel@mel-Latitude-D500:~$_ (Mel is my daughter's name)

It is clearly inviting me to type something in but I've no idea what (I've tried start, open and boot and got nowhere).

Can any of the Linux users on the Forum offer any help at all? :wall:
 
Last edited:
Bit more info.

When I type in "open" I get the message "Unable to open ?dev/tty7: Permission denied"
 
Sounds like the boot info's hosed to me.

You could try typing start x then press enter but I'm not hopeful tbh.
 
*Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/

That link that got thrown up will take you to the official site for help.

If you can get back to ,

Code: 
mel@mel-Latitude-D500:~$_ (Mel is my daughter's name)

then type in,

Code: 
sudo apt-get clean

then.

Code: 
sudo apt-get update

that should ensure that you have all the latest updates which may possibly fix the problem.

Flops sugestion of typing,

Code: 
startx

might throw up some interesting information.

She decided to do some sort of update
Click to expand...

Was she trying to update the system or a program? Further information would be very useful.

Thats the best I can offer as I'm not a Ubuntu user.

Put out a sos for Urmas as he is the man for this epic task. :cool:
 
Thanks for the input, AB. Been away hence the delay in replying.

Tried your suggestions but no go.. It did,however, try to update but got "some index files failed to download"

Startx brought up "fatal server error", "no server found" and "unable to connect to X server"

Anyway, I've booted it up using a Puppy Linux CD I made about a year ago. But I don't know if it's possible to get from Puppy Linux into the rest of the laptop. Is that even possible? I read somewhere that if you can get booted up you could retrieve info from your previous OS.

I tried downloading the same version of Ubuntu (10.4) and it nearly made it except that it ran out of hard disc just before it was to finish.

Was she trying to update the system or a program ?
Click to expand...
Trying to update Ubuntu to the latest edition.
 
You can access the laptop from Puppy. You may have to mount the drives and partitions, you should be able to figure that out from the icons on the desktop. It has been a while since I ran Puppy so can not be more specific. If you get stuck I'll have another look.

If you set up Ubuntu with separate "/" and "/home" partitions then your easiest route would be to download the latest Ubuntu and do a reinstall. You should be able to just install the "/" and all your old "/home" should be untouched.

If you can access via Puppy then save the folders and files you need and do a clean wipe and install of Ubuntu.

Then when you are up and running. Teach the youngsters how to set up and run Clonezilla so that they can do regular backups to stop this sort of thing happening again. :lol:
 
Abarbarian said:
If you set up Ubuntu with separate "/" and "/home" partitions then your easiest route would be to download the latest Ubuntu and do a reinstall.
Click to expand...

Can't get the latest Ubuntu downloaded till I get into the system and delete a lot of old stuff. There isn't room on the HD. It's access to all the old files that I need and I've no idea how to do that. :o
 
http://puppylinuxfaq.org/bundled-software/93-pmount-drive-mounter.html

Pmount Drive Mounter


Puppy Linux automatically mounts your drive(s) at boot. This utility enables you to mount or unmount drives. To unmount a drive right click the desktop icon for that drive and select unmount.
Note: Drives cannot be accessed until they are mounted.
Note: If you boot from Puppy Linux Live Disc the optical drive is not mounted. You may remove the disc immediately after booting.
Mount Flash Drive


  • Plug in Flash Drive
  • In a few seconds a new drive icon will appear on desktop.
  • Click once on Flash Drive icon
Unmount Flash Drive


  • Right click Flash Drive icon and select Unmount
Menu Location

Go to Menu > Filesystem > Pmount mount/unmount drives
Desktop Location

Desktop Navigation

Bundled With


  • Puppy Linux 5.2
  • Puppy Linux 4.3.1
  • Puppy Linux 4.2.1
Click to expand...

This should help you. :cool:
 
Thanks AB. :)

That helped a lot. Got rid of some old stuff. :thumb:
 
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