Taking A Chance On Lucid 10.04 Beta 2 :-)

The Game Is Afoot.

Downloading:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/10.04/ubuntu-10.04-beta2-desktop-amd64.iso

Using TestDrive, as I can do a quick test in a vm 1st, then do a real install over the old Beta 1.

Just seen that the CD/DVD problem Bug #554433 should be fixed as well, so very pleased :-)

Onwards!

______________________________

Here We Go!

Update 1
23:55 08/04/10
Had to run testdrive again to get it to load the vm but no big.
Lucid Beta 2 Installed in the vm with no problems.
Ran my package Cleanstart script and no issues so far.

Next to burn the CD and do the deed!

See you later :-)

______________________________

Update 2
09:00 09/04/10
OK installed Beta 2 and all is working :-)

This took a lot longer than planned. The CD wouldn’t pass the Integrity test.
I burnt 3 different CD’s, each reported fine in vm, md5sum checks etc. on the desktop, but all reported a file error when checked from the LiveCD.

I burnt the next CD at four speed and it past the Integrity test!

______________________________

Update 3
13:30 10/04/10
Found a problem with installing NVIDIA drivers (Workaround below).
Bug #552653 [Lucid] Jockey gives message that it failed to install nvidia hardware driver.

Workaround:
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Added to bottom of list:
vga16fb
nouveau

______________________________

Wrap Up.

Well I now have a working system again!
The NVIDA driver install problem was unexpected at this stage in the game but blacklisting solved it, and better now than later.

As expected Window Controls are now back at the left (with close on the far left).

Have to say that Lucid looks very polished, new install slides ‘n all, well on target for a successful full release by the end of the month.

Taking A Chance On Lucid 10.04 Beta 1 :-)

The Game Is Afoot.

Downloading:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-beta1-desktop-amd64.iso

______________________________

Check List.

• Downloaded LiveCD – Done
• Tested in TestDrive – Done
• Backup – Done
• Burn CD – Done
• Check CD Integrity – Done.
  
• Partitions Screenshot (send to web)- Done

______________________________

The LiveCD Installation.

Very well designed, great to be able to browse the web while installing the OS.

As you can see below the Lucid Installer is open on the left and Firefox on the right.
This allows me to consult the previously saved screenshot of my partitions.
Double checking is a good ideas at this point!

______________________________

First Impressions.

Well I am back up and running!

Lucid looks great and seems to be performing well so far…

• Wow purple… well that’s a bold choice :-)
• I wasn’t planning on using that dark a theme, but now I have seen it, I may be able to live with it.
• Controls on the left… yep I can retrain myself to use them, hopefully there is a good reason for the change. I wonder what the plans are for the space on the right :-?

Notes:

• I was running Karmic 9.10 64bit.
• Hardware: Intel Quad Core, 8GB/1.5TB, NVIDA.
• I am performing a Clean Install not an Upgrade.
• My /home is on its own partition.
  This enables me to keep 99% of my configuration information,
  (Application Settings, Desktop, Panels, etc.) and is a huge time saver.

Post Install Tasks:

• I ran the script cleanstart-packages.list.sh after the install of Lucid.
  This reinstalls all of my favourite packages from a list.
• I reset my background to the default Purple.
• I selected the new Ambiance Theme.

Things I Noticed:

• My sound applet in the top panel has gone missing (Solved).
  Its called the “Indicator Applet”, no mention of Sound at all.
• At 32 pixels the top panel looked odd, with a grey bottom edge.
• Nautilus, F3 Gets you an Extra Panel nice!

______________________________

The Thrilling Conclusion.

You know I think I like it :-)

Lucid has been the easiest, least problematic, Ubuntu OS to install yet.

Come on in, the water’s fine :-)

______________________________

Addendum.

Bugs.

Bug #542365 Indicator applet needs renamed appropriately so people can find it (Some reference to Sound Control needed).

Bug #532101 “You can receive files over Bluetooth into this folder” always visible on XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR folder, even without a Bluetooth device.

Bug #532309 Light-themes: panel-background isn’t scaling.
Confirmed workaround:
sudo gedit /usr/share/themes/Ambiance/gtk-2.0/gtkrc
sudo gedit /usr/share/themes/Radiance/gtk-2.0/gtkrc
Comment out bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = “panel_bg.png” e.g. #bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = “panel_bg.png”
Log out then Log in again.

Miscellaneous.

The menu to Check CD Integrity is only available for a second or two at startup.

Theme changed from Ambiance to Radiance, loved the Ambiance theme but it was too dark for me. I now use Radiance, with the Ambiance Window Border.

Customised Theme Tooltips to yellow (#F5F5B5) with black text (#000000). Firefox’s Boox, amongst others, looks odd otherwise. Right Click on Desktop > Change Desktop Background. Theme (Ambience) > Customise > Colour >Tooltips.

Doing a Kamikaze run and Installing Lucid 10.04 Beta 1

So thinking of taking a chance and installing the 10.04 beta1 tonight :-)

I did a backup and started to do a mental check-list of what I would need, before doing the deed.

Spotted this article on Arstechnica… nice! Also very handy, cheers Ryan.

I am on 9.04 64bit so… get TestDrive and install.
____________________

Terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:testdrive/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install testdrive

____________________

Then run “TestDrive” (System Tools menu).

I went with the defaults:
____________________

Terminal:

Welcome to Testdrive!

1. Ubuntu Desktop (lucid-amd64)
2. Ubuntu Server (lucid-amd64)
3. Ubuntu Alternate (lucid-amd64)
4. Ubuntu DVD (lucid-amd64)
5. Ubuntu Desktop (lucid-i386)
6. Ubuntu Server (lucid-i386)
7. Ubuntu Alternate (lucid-i386)
8. Ubuntu DVD (lucid-i386)
9. Ubuntu Netbook (lucid-i386)
10. Other (prompt for ISO URL)

Select an ISO to testdrive [1]:
INFO: Using KVM for virtual machine hosting…

INFO: Syncing the specified ISO…

rsync://cdimage.ubuntu.com/cdimage/daily-live/current/lucid-desktop-amd64.iso

receiving file list …
1 file to consider
lucid-desktop-amd64.iso
711749632 100% 936.46kB/s 0:12:22 (xfer#1, to-check=0/1)

sent 143 bytes received 711988704 bytes 957617.82 bytes/sec
total size is 711749632 speedup is 1.00
INFO: Creating disk image [/home/sil/.cache/testdrive/img/testdrive-disk-JbZ_w9.img]…

Formatting ‘/home/sil/.cache/testdrive/img/testdrive-disk-JbZ_w9.img’, fmt=qcow2 size=6442450944 encryption=off cluster_size=0

INFO: Running the Virtual Machine…

____________________

5 minutes from start to finish and we have lift-off!

How Cool is that :-)

It even offered to install a bootable image to a USB drive (well we will see how successful that was later).

Now just waiting for the official 10.04 Beta1.

Some Screenshots to pass the time…

First Impressions

You know I think I like it :-)

• Wow purple… well that’s a bold choice :-)
• I wasn’t planning on using that dark a theme, but now I have seen it, I may be able to live with it.
• Controls on the left… yep I can retrain myself to use them, hopefully there is a good reason for the change.

I wonder what Mark is planing for the space on the right :-?

____________________

[Update 19th March 2010]

Release was postponed until the 19th!
But never mind, see the thrilling conclusion in my next post: Taking A Chance On Lucid 10.04 Beta 1 :-)