Acer Aspire 1310 laptop freezes on ubuntu 9.04 installation

[Matthijs Jansen]

I wanted to install ubuntu 9.04 on my old laptop, an Acer Aspire 1310:

AMD Athlon XP 2000+ (1666 MHz)
512 MB DDR (Onbekend merk)
30 GB HDD IBM Travelstar 2.5" 4200 RPM (Serial nummer: IC25N030ATCS04-0)
S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR (32 MB)
QSI CD-RW/DVD-ROM SBW-242

To install ubuntu I used this image:

ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso

While installing for the first time, it freezed somewhere on 23%. After that I tried it again, and it also got stuck around 25%. (Can't remember exactly, but what I do remember is that the percentages differed.) At these certain points I just could not move my mouse cursor anymore.

Alternatively I tried using this image:

ubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.iso

Still no luck there, first it got stuck at 83%, at something like "Copying file 2 of 9". (Not completely sure.) Secondly it freezed at 28%, "Preparing cups". (Which I am sure of.)

For both installation CDs I did the check on the ubuntu loader, they were both fine. After the first freeze I did the memory test from the ubuntu boot CD, which was on for 1,5 hours, but I did not know when it would end, so I quit it. (It did not return any errors though.) On the ubuntu IRC support channel I got the advice to do a Drive Fitness Test to see if my harddrive is working properly. I did this test and it did not give any errors:

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

I have no USB devices inserted, and also no stuff like a wireless card.

What can be wrong? Thanks in advance.

[drehorgelmann (tobias-knurps)]

Hi Matthijs,

I ran into the same problem yesterday, same laptop (Acer Aspire 1310). No luck installing from CD but I've got a workaround: Installing via network. Here's how:

1. Make sure you've got the most recent BIOS (on Acer's website there's a link like "older models")

2. Set the laptop to boot from PXE

3. For the following you'll need the MAC and IP adress of the laptop. I'm using DHCP so what I did was
    - boot the live system from CD, this works if you're using "acpi=off" and "noapic"
    - once it's up, open terminal and get MAC/IP from ifconfig

4. Follow the instructions here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/LocalNet
    I ran into the following:
    - at one point you have to "Download the netboot installer tarfile from the Ubuntu Archives", the link, however, points to intrepid -> use this: http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/intrepid/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/386/netboot.tar.gz
    - there's a script for the bootp daemon, one would actually have to RUN that script... if you blindly follow the instructions (like yours truly), you'll wonder why bootp support seems to be not working :)
    - you might have to start tftp-hpa manually, as in the default config it's not configured to run as a daemon

5. Boot the laptop

[Matthijs Jansen (matthijs-evonise)]

Hi drehorgelmann/Tobias (?),

Thanks for your reply! Unfortunately I already fixed my problem using the mini.iso and with the use of a network cable. So the solution is something like you described in a way. Therefore I think the problem is the CD/DVD drive.

Again thanks for the reply and sorry I did not report on this bug report how I found a workaround. Good luck to anyone who has the same problem...

[drehorgelmann (tobias-knurps)]

A few more notes:

- After booting the laptop, when PXE has done it's magic, I didn't have to select acpi=off or noapic, just hit return.

- This will take you to the text based installer. There's an alternate approach using a live CD image, I didn't try that, though. Instead, I selected "Ubuntu Desktop" at the dialog where you can pick software bundles (like "Basic server", "LAMP server", ...). I think that's what the graphical installer does, after installation you end up with a regular desktop system just like the CD install.

That's all I guess. If you find something's still not working and you know a solution, please add a comment here. Chances are I'll run into the same problems X)

[Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better.
Is this bug reproducible with the latest Lucid packages ?
Tanks in advance.

[Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi)]

Hi, I have no idea. I have Ubuntu installed on the computer for some time now. Dunno how I fixed it, and how to reproduce the bug. Also don't know what Lucid packages are...

Good luck, I can't help you I guess!

Matthijs

Sent from my HTC

----- Reply message -----
From: "Fabio Marconi" <email address hidden>
Date: Mon, Aug 2, 2010 22:03
Subject: [Bug 396244] Re: Acer Aspire 1310 laptop freezes on ubuntu 9.04 installation
To: <email address hidden>

[Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi)]

Thanks for the reply
As the bug is not reproducible by the reporter I mark as Invalid.
:)Fabio

[Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi)]

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!

[Jochen Fahrner (jofa)]

The same happens on my neighbours Acer Aspire 1312XC and 12.04. Neither normal desktop cd nor alternate install works. After some amount of copying the system freezes. Even the spinning wheel cursor stops spinning.
I'm now installing with mini.iso, this seems to be working. Thanks Matthijs for this hint.