Fresh Install Creates Broken Kernel, dist-upgrading From Edgy Works Fine

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Binary package hint: ubiquity

I'll preface this report by saying that this bug may not be in Ubiquity itself, but is certainly part of the install process:

I found was that my Netgear MA401 wireless card worked fine off the Live CD, but after installing, the kernel would panic if the card was installed when the system was booted. Playing a hunch, I installed Edgy. Everything worked. After dist-upgrading to the latest Feisty, wireless was still working. Finally, I reinstalled Feisty several times from the CDs (I tried Herd 4, 5, and the Beta), and each time the kernel would panic if the card was installed.

Ubiquity, or some other part of the installation process, adds kernel in such a way that PCMCIA and wireless (and perhaps other modules) are broken for many users out of box. At least, I'm assuming is part of the reason why wireless seems to work great for many, but is broken for others. You can find a more detailed description of the specific boot problems in this report:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.20/+bug/95817

Other things I did or noticed:

I used the Alternate Install CD for Herd 5. The kernel was still broken after installation. This leads me to believe some other part of the install process, and not Ubiquity specifically, is at fault.

I installed gnome-network-manager on Edgy before dist-upgrading.

My MA401 card (or any other part of the Dell Latitude C640 laptop I was testing) does not require any restricted drivers.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

I'm mystified; certainly the kernel ought to be the same either way. Could you compare the output of 'COLUMNS=200 dpkg -l | grep ^ii' in the two situations, to check that the same set of packages is installed?

[jpbed (jpbedinger)]

Test Platform
-----------------------------------------------------------
Access Point: Netgear FWG114P
Interface: Netgear MA401 Rev D (ver 2.5)
  No "RA" designation visible on card itself.
Laptop: IBM T23 (Type 2647)
Test Date: July 14-15, 2007

Method 1: Ubuntu 7.04 default install
   Community CD (SHA1 verified, media verified) installation

Method 2: Ubuntu 6.06LTS -> 6.10 -> 7.04, default install
   via Update Manager (no universe or multiverse packages)
          see: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=486013

Method 1: As noted by the previous user, card does not work in WEP
mode using 128 bit encryption. I did not try using an open AP until
method "2". The card was present during installation. After 5 to 30
minutes, the computer keyboard becomes unresponsive, and programs
do not launch. System would not shutdown properly. Forcing the card
to exclude IRQ3, or IRQ 3 and 4, do not help, although the card does
start using different IRQs.

Method 2: 6.06LTS does not initially connect to the AP using WEP.
However, after first connecting with no encryption (an open AP),
MA401 connects to the AP with good signal strength, and no crashes
for over 8 hours. Switching the card and AP back to WEP, and rebooting
Ubuntu, results in normal operation.

Installing the distribution upgrades via Update Manager was slow (several
hours), however, the resulting 7.04 system seemed to install without
any errors.

As with 6.06LTS, 7.04 did not initially connect to the AP using WEP.
However, after first connecting with no encryption (an open AP),
MA401 connects to the AP with good signal strength, and again no crashes
for over 8 hours. Switching the card and AP back to WEP, and rebooting
Ubuntu, results in normal operation using 7.04.

Attached are the diff outputs of dpkg run on both systems.
Note the packages now are mostly different, so i'm not sure how much
this is going to help.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

The biggest thing I notice is that you're booting linux-386 in one case and linux-generic in the other. linux-generic should be the default on a fresh install; I don't suppose that using linux-386 instead makes any difference?

(I've attached a more digestible form of your diff.)

[Przemek K. (azrael)]

linux-386 doesn't exist in later Ubuntu releases.
does this bug still appear in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala?

[Przemek K. (azrael)]

I'm closing this bug because I've received no response from the original reporter nor from any commenter.
Please test the latest Ubuntu version (9.10 or 10.04) and report a new bug if necessary.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs