Ubiquity 2.10.16: Lubuntu 12.04 Install Crash on slideshow

Bug #996568 reported by DnsF
354
This bug affects 21 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
ubiquity (Ubuntu)
Triaged
High
Unassigned
webkit (Ubuntu)
Triaged
High
Unassigned

Bug Description

Hello,
I test it on Lubuntu and Xubuntu.
With differents methods.
Test:
  from Live-CD or Usb
  with-Without Net update (like mp3)
  Formatting all disk, or using already exist partition (EXT4 + Swap)
  Entering information on copy file process or after

At all times, it's crashing during the slideshow. (after entering user information)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: ubiquity 2.10.16
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-23.36-generic 3.2.14
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-23-generic i686
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu5
Architecture: i386
CasperVersion: 1.315
Date: Tue May 8 16:27:32 2012
InstallCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true file=/cdrom/preseed/lubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- debian-installer/language=fr keyboard-configuration/layoutcode?=fr keyboard-configuration/variantcode?=oss
LiveMediaBuild: Lubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386 (20120423)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: ubiquity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

Revision history for this message
DnsF (dfraipont-gmx) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Changed in ubiquity (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
LinTim (jtl-4282) wrote :

Same for me. I can boot into a live system (lubuntu or xubuntu) without any problem. Installation crashes just after entering user information, i.e. the X-window closes and shows console no.7 - only a (working) mouse pointer remains on the screeen, which I am still able to move around. I am not a linux expert - but if someone tells me which log files could be of any help, I could post them here as well.

Revision history for this message
Massimiliano Ballerini (mballerini) wrote :

Happens to me too... log say something like:

**CRITICAL** Ubiquity: access denied writing to /root/.cache/somefile

Revision history for this message
DnsF (dfraipont-gmx) wrote :

OK. I've found a solution with Percherie's help.

On Synaptic, just after starting Live-session, I suppress ubiquity-slideshow-lubuntu package.
And run Installation without mistake.

So the bug is on ubiquity-slideshow-lubuntu (and ubiquity-slideshow-xubuntu) package. (version 58)

Revision history for this message
Dennis Schridde (devurandom) wrote :

Persists in Ubuntu 12.04 final, too.

I removed ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu before starting the installer. Now I get an "Unable to load page - file:/.../ubiquity-slideshow/..." page instead of the crash. After Ubiquity finished copying the files, the installation proceeds without problems.

Thanks for the hint!

Possible duplicates: bug #978489, bug #985354, bug #1014071.

Revision history for this message
Matteo Sgalaberni (sgala-9) wrote :

Hi Dennis, I can confirm this workaround. Removing ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu package the install finish without problems.

I found this problem on two different AMD based CPU computers (old computers).

M.

Revision history for this message
Dennis Schridde (devurandom) wrote :

My computer is also an old AMD (Athlon XP 2600+) - dunno whether that is in any way related, since it seems that it is Python code crashing, which should be system independent.

Revision history for this message
David Lee (ramchyld) wrote :

Hi,

I can confirm that this bug exists in 12.04LTS release and that the workaround works as well.

I am currently trying to install Ubuntu Precise onto a old desktop with a SiS chipset and a Athlon XP CPU as well. Ubiquity would always crash just when the slideshow is loading up. A method to outright tell ubiquity to not show the slideshow would be a good workaround for this issue. Either that, or providing text install as well with the live CD.

I'd also like to note that the alternate installer CD, for some reason, would not work with this chipset- the chipset will not see the bootloader on the CD.

Revision history for this message
JoseRoberto (joseroberto) wrote :

I can confirm this bug too, it happens before the first slideshow change to the second one, and even worst the installer keeps running without knowing what is really going on with the installation.

I have an older computer, Intel Pentium III, 512MB of ram, with intel integrated graphics.

It understandable that the Lubuntu team didn't found this bug before releasing the official version of 12.04, but even the wiki of ubuntu said that ubiquity consume almost 700MB of ram and in top of that recommends a distribution that consume less ram using the same bugged ubiquity. I consider that ubiquity isn't necessary, there are more effective ways of having a nice installer without compromising the user experiance and gives better results than using ubiquity, and that's what Lubuntu needs, not a "nice" slideshow, not a "parallel" installation while you still configuring the computer, just the basic things that we need to install Lubuntu successfully.

Revision history for this message
Dennis Schridde (devurandom) wrote :

My computer has 2GiB of RAM.

Revision history for this message
jolo (joop-loep) wrote :

Also here on an old AthlonXP 1700+ pc, the Ubuntu 12.04 installation crashes during the slideshow. I also can confirm the workaround. If I did remove ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu package.

In the terminalvenster

sudo apt-get remove ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu

Then I can finish the installation succesfully.

Revision history for this message
doccpu (dhorner) wrote :

just reran install of 12.04 from original iso burnt on dvd ( cd's just wont boot on several machines ive tried does endless reboot ) it failed of course and opened desktop. ctrl alt f2 term and did
'sudo apt-get remove ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu' . ( what the heck is that)
it installed fine this time. figures the cute bells and whistles screwed up the install once again. I guess not enough ram to make pretty and run whats necessary at same time.
installs should check ram and run what can. not everybody has the latest and greatest mega machine like the guys that write the install packs. It took me forever to actually find the alternate dloads on the ubuntu site. sigh if it says you can find the alternate install some where they should give a link to that some where not just a general note they can be found ...... and give no links besides the torrents or older versions. it finally crashed some how and dumped me to a text page that had text that turned out to be links.

Revision history for this message
Roberto (roberto-fastec) wrote :

What is worst is one issue that may be a complementary bug.

In my case the installer crashes on an old notebook HP OmniBook EX3. It is Celeron with 384MB RAM and Intel VGA.

On this notebook both Lubuntu and Xubuntu installed slide crashes... so I tried both the Alternate versions.

With both of them, CD starts reading, but just some 10 seconds and nothing appear on the screen.

Obviously it is not matter of the cd burned used for the CD creation. CDs are Sony and the burner is the same used for the desktop installations.

When finally I've been able to install Xubuntu, the result has been really bad. During the live session, the screen resolution was detected and setup correctly, but during installation, some packages (upgrades) have been downloaded from the internet and when the system booted for the first time, the screen resolution was wrong. PLEASE NOTE that I DIDN'T checked the "download updates" check-mark. Now I'm going to reinstall it with network cable disconnected.

Regards

Robert

Revision history for this message
Roberto (roberto-fastec) wrote :

errata corrige "On this notebook both Lubuntu and Xubuntu INSTALLER-SLIDE crashes..."

Revision history for this message
david96 (robot1) wrote :

Possible solution:
Before installation:
sudo apt-get remove ubiquity-slideshow-lubuntu

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/985354/comments/9

Revision history for this message
amjjawad  (amjjawad) wrote :

Okay, it's time for me to jump in and check that. I have installed Lubuntu 12.04 on LESS than 512MB of RAM ... to be more accurate, on 460MB and it's Intel P4. Installer didn't crash.

I will do my best to investigate and see what is going on.

Checking MD5SUM is a MUST in such cases.
Checking the integrity of the HDD or at least the partitions is very important too.

I have two TEST machines, one is a desktop and one is a laptop, both with 512MB of RAM and less so these two should be very good test subjects.

Will get back to you with some result :)

Revision history for this message
amjjawad  (amjjawad) wrote :

Ok, here is what I have found out so far:

Case 1:
Installing Lubuntu 12.04 32-bit from the LiveCD on two different machines, one is P4 with 430MB RAM and the other is Core i5 2nd generation with 4GB RAM (Laptop) and YES, I'm aware that 32bit version can't detect the whole RAM which is 4GB in my case.

Installations FAILED because the LiveCD was faulty.

Conclusion:
1- User needs to check MD5SUM.
2- User needs to make sure to burn the LiveCD at the lowest possible speed.
3- If possible, better to use the LiveUSB.

Case 2:
Installing Lubuntu 12.04 32-bit from the LiveCD on two different machines, one is P4 with 430MB RAM and the other is Core i5 2nd generation with 4GB RAM (Laptop) and YES, I'm aware that 32bit version can't detect the whole RAM which is 4GB in my case.

Installations DONE successfully after burning the LiveCD at 10x burning speed.

Conclusion:
1- Since Lubuntu is designed for LOW Resources Machines on the first place, then this bug, IMHO, has nothing to do with LOW RAM, just in case someone might be mistaken or confused about that.

2- One needs to follow some basic steps before reporting any bug. I always used to suggest that and I'm talking in general here not about this very specific case. Consider that as a basic simple advice :)

3- In some cases, the machine itself could be the problem. Faulty CD/DVD Drive, Faulty HDD, etc. That must be checked as well.

End of report :)

If you guys need more testing or help, please let me know.

Revision history for this message
Brad Needham (fishrcynic) wrote :

lubuntu 12.04 i386 / ubuntu 12.04 i386
install fine on a toshiba A70 p4 3.2. 1.0gb ram, ATI mobile 9000, 60gb hd

both crash at ubiquity-slideshow
on a celeron 700, 1.0gb ram, cuv4x mb, nvidia 5700 256, 80gb hd

cds both verified, image prior to burning, verfied against image after burning
and verified on celeron machine prior to 3rd install attempt using lubuntu
tested ram
verified hard drive was ok

then installed antix with no issues

went for 3rd lubuntu attempt
removed ubiquity-slideshow-* prior to installing allowed install to complete
thanks for the advice on this bug report

Revision history for this message
Andrius (andrius4669) wrote :

This problem also occurs in Lubuntu 12.10 installer...
Installer crashes while showing slideshow

My hardware:
AMD Athlon XP 1700+
1.75GB ram
40GB HDD

after uninstalling ubiquity-slideshow-lubuntu installation works fine.

i think this problem occurs because my cpu doesn't support SSE2 instructions

Revision history for this message
Paul F (boxjunk) wrote :

This problem affected me on Precise 12.04 install and is still present in Quantal 12.10 installation. Like others have reported, I am running an old AMD Athlon XP-M (32-bit, K7, nForce2 chipset).

Revision history for this message
Paul F (boxjunk) wrote :

Ooops, forgot to add: Ubuntu distro.

Revision history for this message
Darko (darkose) wrote :

Lubuntu installation only works if I do the following:

Before installation:
sudo apt-get remove ubiquity-slideshow-lubuntu

Hardware:

AMD Athlon XP 2500
1 GB ram
80 GB HDD

Thank you very much for the workaround! I tried at least five times before disabling the slideshow.

Changed in ubiquity (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → High
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Changed in webkit (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Todd Harrington (todd-stellarscience) wrote :

I ran into this bug today trying to install on an old Sony Vaio laptop.

Both Lubuntu 12.04 and 12.10 installers crashed at the slide show.
I booted form live CD, removed the slideshow package, then installed and that worked for Lubuntu 12.10

Hardware:
Sony Vaio PCG-NVR23
AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1.53 GHz)
512 MB RAM
30 GB HDD

Revision history for this message
Luca Gambardella (luca.gambardella) wrote :

The workaround works on my pc.

Hardware:

Main board: A7V
CPU: AMD Athlon 1400 MHz
RAM: 1 GB
Hard drive: 80 GB (PATA)
Graphics card: ATI 9800

Revision history for this message
Charles Heap (chasnnad) wrote :

I am adding this comment because I only came here after I had spent hours and hours and hours trying various things out and think it worth while to pass on my experience to whoever is interested. Note that I am not an expert but do have some knowledge of Linux and over theyears I have tried many releases but so far have always come back to Lubuntu.

Firstly, as yet I have not tried the suggested workaround because I eventually gave up on Lubuntu 12.10 even though I love it. I got really p****d and started experimenting and this is what I found. I originally installed version 11.04 on my Acer One and upgraded as each new version came out, eventually getting to 12.10 so as yet no 'new install' so no probs. Then the trouble started, I decided to change the 8 Gbyte SSD to a larger faster one so I had to do a fresh install. Crash after crash, new downloads, new usb installs etc etc. but no luck, same crash every time so I then decided to try an install on a USB stick but same problem!

Then a change of thought! I have Mint 12 on another machine so I decided to try that and hey presto it installed on the Acer ok so I then decided to install Mint 13 because of the LTS which is not available with Lubuntu (as I read somewhere) thinking the problem was new release based. It too crashed, along with WattOS which I came across whilst looking for a solution. What I have established is that nothing later than Mint 12 will install but I will now try Lubuntu 12.10 on a stick with the workaround. If it does install I may try 12.10 again on my Acer but I am reluctant to as I have Mint 12 working perfectly with all my packages installed etc.

BFN

information type: Public → Public Security
Revision history for this message
amjjawad  (amjjawad) wrote :

Since the first day this bug has been created until now, I failed to re-produce it. I have done so many installation but the slideshow never ever crashed.

Can someone here tell me how to re-produce this bug?

My Machine is:
Laptop - ASUS F3F, Intel Due Core, 1.86GHz and 488MB RAM

I tried to turn SWAP OFF sometimes and still can't produce the error :)

Revision history for this message
Andrius (andrius4669) wrote :

ubiquity-slideshow seems to crash only on old hardware (AMD CPUs without SSE2 instructions support).

Revision history for this message
jerrylamos (jerrylamos) wrote :

Ubuntu decided not to support my IBM Thinkpad T40 any more - too old, they wrote - so I bought a new Chromebook, inexpensive, maybe I could install Ubuntu on it. Oops, 1 gHz intel Chromebook is quicker and easier to use than my 3.3 gHz intel/ATI tower running Raring Unity Ubuntu. No point in trying to install Raring Ubuntu on the Chromebook.

Revision history for this message
amjjawad  (amjjawad) wrote :

After all these months, I must say this bug seems to affect certain Hardware while it does NOT affect other hardware.

From the comments (mine and others), it seems it is not about RAM Size because some with 1GB RAM are affected with this while on my two test machines with 512MB RAM, (P4 and Core Due) I am not affected. It could be the CPU but I am not sure.

Can't ignore all those who are affected by this: 27

I think we must find out what is going on and work harder to fix this once and for all :)

Revision history for this message
Phill Whiteside (phillw) wrote :

This looks to me another issue of https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1227202 coming out and biting. That has both a workaround and fix. Please try what is suggested on there.

Revision history for this message
Phill Whiteside (phillw) wrote :

If the fix there does work, please do comment here and I'll mark this as duplicate to what will then be the master bug so people can easily follow it.

Thanks,

Phill.

Revision history for this message
jerrylamos (jerrylamos) wrote :

I had this bug way back when 12.04 was being developed. I no longer have that pc.

Revision history for this message
Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa) wrote :

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/996568

tags: added: iso-testing
Revision history for this message
Adam Smith (adamsmith) wrote :

I marked bug 1256588 a duplicate of this since the initial symptoms sound there same. However, the suggestion to uninstall the slideshow package does NOT lead to a successful install in Trusty. It stops the crash yes, but, the user info screen is not reached and ubiquity just sits there. The files can be heard to copy in the backround.

Please feel free to reassign 1256588 if you don't think it is appropriate, however my feeling is that this is going to hit a lot of users when Trusty is released. Could a ubiquity developer look at it please?

tags: added: trusty
Revision history for this message
Adam Smith (adamsmith) wrote :

Correction: I just re-ran the test to gain the logs. This time I used 'purge' instead of 'remove' and the installer ran to completion. Can people repeat my findings?

Revision history for this message
Lars Noodén (larsnooden) wrote :

On a G4, this worked:

  apt-get purge ubiquity-slideshow-lubuntu

and then the installation ran to completion with a small "copying files..." and "installing system" and such progress dialogs instead of the slideshow.

This is something that has to be worked on using real hardware. Strangely, the same installation image worked without modification in a virtual machine in Qemu.

Revision history for this message
Adam Smith (adamsmith) wrote :

Is this related to bug 1278062 since I believe the slideshow is html based?

Revision history for this message
Lars Noodén (larsnooden) wrote :

I haven't had any problems with FF using the Live image or after install. Right now it is just the slide show that is hanging and purging the package is a work-around.

Revision history for this message
Adam Smith (adamsmith) wrote :

That's odd because it is often really buggy for me. I've tried messing with themes/environment variables ala the bug report and sometimes I think I've fixed it. There is also a PowerPC bug with webkit (bug 1274167).

Revision history for this message
Alberto Salvia Novella (es20490446e) wrote :

It has a severe impact on a large portion of Ubuntu users.

Changed in webkit (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → High
Changed in ubiquity (Ubuntu):
importance: High → Critical
Changed in webkit (Ubuntu):
importance: High → Critical
status: Confirmed → Triaged
status: Triaged → Confirmed
Changed in webkit (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
Changed in ubiquity (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Brian Murray (brian-murray) wrote :

The bug that was marked as a duplicate of this one appears to be a different bug report. Additionally, I'm fairly certain that the PowerPC architecture isn't used by a large portion of Ubuntu users so I'm setting the importances back to high.

Changed in ubiquity (Ubuntu):
importance: Critical → High
Changed in webkit (Ubuntu):
importance: Critical → High
Revision history for this message
Lars Noodén (larsnooden) wrote :

For those that use PPC, it is a critical bug.

Revision history for this message
Keith Rogers (keith-z-deactivatedaccount) wrote : Re: [Bug 996568] Re: Ubiquity 2.10.16: Lubuntu 12.04 Install Crash on slideshow

Real happy to hear you say that, Lars. : )

Keith

On Apr 9, 2014, at 2:57 PM, Lars Noodén wrote:

> For those that use PPC, it is a critical bug.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the
> bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/996568
>
> Title:
> Ubiquity 2.10.16: Lubuntu 12.04 Install Crash on slideshow
>
> Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “webkit” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> Hello,
> I test it on Lubuntu and Xubuntu.
> With differents methods.
> Test:
> from Live-CD or Usb
> with-Without Net update (like mp3)
> Formatting all disk, or using already exist partition (EXT4 + Swap)
> Entering information on copy file process or after
>
> At all times, it's crashing during the slideshow. (after entering
> user
> information)
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
> Package: ubiquity 2.10.16
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-23.36-generic 3.2.14
> Uname: Linux 3.2.0-23-generic i686
> ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu5
> Architecture: i386
> CasperVersion: 1.315
> Date: Tue May 8 16:27:32 2012
> InstallCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true file=/cdrom/
> preseed/lubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet
> splash -- debian-installer/language=fr keyboard-configuration/
> layoutcode?=fr keyboard-configuration/variantcode?=oss
> LiveMediaBuild: Lubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386
> (20120423)
> ProcEnviron:
> TERM=xterm
> PATH=(custom, no user)
> LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> SourcePackage: ubiquity
> UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/996568/+subscriptions

Revision history for this message
Lars Noodén (larsnooden) wrote :

Maybe a work-around can be done. The package ubiquity-slideshow-lubuntu needs to be purged from the PCC Live Desktop CD to enable the installation process to succeed. That should be easy to do in the time remaining and would, in a way, solve this very critical bug.

Revision history for this message
Paul F (boxjunk) wrote :

This is not limited to PowerPc. AMD Athlon XP and XP-M 32-bit CPUs fail and, according to #10, Intel PIIIs too.

Revision history for this message
Adam Smith (adamsmith) wrote :

If this is still happening in current versions of ubiquity on other architectures then please remove duplicate status.

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