Booting, Sound, and Panel Glitches

nick11h

Sat May 12, 2012 1:21:57 pm

I can only successfully boot normally one out of four times. When choosing the first option, I often get stuck on the blue screen (Now blank) or watch code stream down the black screen and freeze. The loading bar is usually present moving at a slow rate, in disproportion. As you're probably able to tell, I'm new to Linux.

Using recovery mode and then starting up use to work, but no longer. I've found going back from version 15 to 14 works, but I believe it may be the cause of my next problem.

The notification panel is blank. Sometimes it appears after a ten minutes and others, it refuses to show. This rarely happens when I get version 15 working.

Lastly,similar the panel, audio spontaneously ceases. I believe there are a few other threads on this, but I didn't see harm in including a line about it here.

I'm using an Acer Aspire, but also plan on using Zorin on a desktop I'm building. Any driver information I should have? I've noticed that Linksys wireless adapters don't often work either.

Thanks

nick11h

Sat May 12, 2012 5:27:06 pm

Acer 5741G
Intel i5
4G Ram (Upgraded to 8)
500G Hard drive
ATI Graphics Card (Somewhere around 6000 I think)
It doesn't seem to be sold anymore.
I'm only running Zorin.

Wolfman

Sat May 12, 2012 6:19:15 pm

Hi Nick,

boot into recovery mode and run "fsck" followed by "dpkg" and then restart. Let us know if this helps you further.

Regards Wolfman

madvinegar

Sat May 12, 2012 7:33:04 pm

Have you enabled the recomended drivers of your ATI card?
ATI cards sometimes have a temperature problem with linux and the system operates far better when the recomended drivers are enabled.

Next time you log in to your desktop (either normally or through low graphics mode) go to system>administration>additional drivers and enable the recomended ATI driver. Most probably the recomended ATI drivers will be two. Choose the one that does NOT say about the edition updates. Restart.

Also, download the "ATI Catalyst control center" (from ubuntu software center or Synpatics package manager) and go to the tab that says "alternate graphics" (it is under the 3D menu) and chose the option "GPU saving power for maximum battery life".

Do the above and let me know.

Wolfman

Sat May 12, 2012 8:44:42 pm

Hi,

further to MV's suggestions, take a look at the links below:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1694

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1617

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1618

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Sat May 12, 2012 10:35:24 pm

Sorry, I left out a detail about Recovery Mode. It often freezes at Loading Ramdisk (Second line). I was unable to enter the command.
All drivers updated. The Catalyst Center appears to already be installed. Sadly, I can't find the alternate graphics page.
Help Topic Number Two: How can I fit this image in? I tried shrinking it in Gimp and Photobucket, but it turns out the same on the forum. Attachments yield similar results.

Last thoughts: Could it have anything to do with the charger (Hipro AC Adapter HP-A0904A3)?
I'm about to try the other suggestions out of a prior Linux version.
Didn't expect such speedy replies, thanks.

nick11h

Sat May 12, 2012 11:53:54 pm

Updating the distro via command line seems to have worked. Only thing I notice is that the blue Grub screen after the boot screen is a tad darker, and strange static noises seem to happen when I switch windows and click things. I'll check other posts about the sound.
Some other questions:
I'm planning on using this processor for a desktop: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103955
There are complaints about its compatibility with Linux in the comments. Will this affect Zorin?
Also, with my computer specs, in the first post, should COD 4 work? I tried it through Wine and from a CD, but it played very laggy and items kept blinking.
Any tips on setting up a Kodak wireless printer without plugging it into the computer (I'm not in possession of a cable)?

Wolfman

Sun May 13, 2012 5:22:59 am

Hi Nick,

with your specs; the PC should run Zorin no problem, when you burnt the ISO; did you do so at the slowest possible speed, if you didn't, you would get read/write errors which would lead to any number of problems some of which you report!. Re-burn the ISO if you haven't already done so and start again!!.

I would do more checks about the processor before committing to buying it!!.

Here is a sound How-To:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2023&p=7875#p7875

I don't know anything about COD4 sorry but you can look here:

http://wine-reviews.net/games/call-of-d ... -wine.html

Let us know if this helps you further,

Regards Wolfman

madvinegar

Sun May 13, 2012 8:43:41 am

"Alternate graphics" must be "powerplay" (under 3D). Chose the option that says "maximum battery life".

Have you also enabled the recomended ATI driver from additional drivers???

Wolfman

Sun May 13, 2012 1:45:47 pm

Hi Nick,

I just noticed your comment about screenshots, if I were you I would install "Shutter", it is a niffty little prog for screenshots!!.

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Sun May 13, 2012 5:35:10 pm

madvinegar wrote:"Alternate graphics" must be "powerplay" (under 3D). Chose the option that says "maximum battery life".

Have you also enabled the recomended ATI driver from additional drivers???

All done, thanks.

swarfendor437 wrote:Just to add to what Wolfman mentioned about burning - also check the md5 checksum using winmd5free from http://www.winmd5.com - Announcenment at top of Installation section - think I will copy it to this section as well!

Should I check the integrity of the OS file after downloading it? Btw, I'm about to use Furius ISO Mount to burn a new copy.

Wolfman wrote:Hi Nick,

I just noticed your comment about screenshots, if I were you I would install "Shutter", it is a niffty little prog for screenshots!!.

Regards Wolfman

Shutter's great, thanks.

nick11h

Sun May 13, 2012 10:51:47 pm

Couldn't find the checksum, can someone post it?
Also, is 2.4x the correct speed for k3b burner?

Wolfman

Mon May 14, 2012 6:49:59 am

Hi Nick,

if 2.4x is the slowest speed for the media disk, that is fine. You don't need the md5 with k3b as it does it automatically!!.

With regard to shutter, open Synaptic and right click on the package and add the recommended and suggested packages also!.

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Mon May 14, 2012 11:27:58 pm

Thanks for all your help.
I'll back up and reinstall when I get a chance.

-Sincerely, Nick

nick11h

Sat May 19, 2012 6:04:21 pm

Just a quick update:
Everything's working great so far.
Panels are still a tad glitchy if I use transparency or add a tool.
While messing around with resolution for gaming purposes, I managed to alter the login screen size and can't seem to fix it.

Wolfman

Sat May 19, 2012 6:59:23 pm

Hi Nick,

did you check out the links on page 1 of this thread about updating and software sources blah blah blah. This may well solve the little problems you still have!!.

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Sun May 20, 2012 5:16:54 pm

I redid everything, but the distro seems to be shifting back to the buggy booting. I had to restart it 4 times, each cutting of at random points. I guess I'll just stick with using "Previous Linux Versions," which works without fail, until a fix or update of sorts is released. Anyway, I learned a ton of things from this thread, (Catalyst Center, repair commands, etc).

Thanks for the help.

Sincerely, Nick.

Wolfman

Sun May 20, 2012 7:11:40 pm

Hi Nick,

I can only ask once again, did you burn the ISO at the SLOWEST POSSIBLE SPEED??. If you didn't, you would get read/write errors on the disk!.

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Mon May 21, 2012 9:32:45 pm

Yep

Wolfman

Tue May 22, 2012 5:16:25 am

Hi Nick,

how old is the hard drive??, you said that you only have Zorin on it, which version??, if you had another OS on the drive prior to your current OS, did you format the /home partition fully??.

Did you run "fsck"??.

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Wed May 23, 2012 6:59:25 pm

The computer is about three years old and uses a 500 GB HDD. I ran the command and partitioned the main hard drive using the tool in the live version installation, but I noticed several "Z Drives," which were around 100 MB each, from the previous Zorin OS install.

Wolfman

Thu May 24, 2012 4:47:59 am

nick11h wrote:The computer is about three years old and uses a 500 GB HDD. I ran the command and partitioned the main hard drive using the tool in the live version installation, but I noticed several "Z Drives," which were around 100 MB each, from the previous Zorin OS install.

Hi Nick,

I cannot say for sure but it is quite possible that something on those "Z" drives you mention might be the cause of your problems.

I can really only recommend a complete cleaning and formatting of the drive and re-install!!. Sorry that I don't have any other suggestions!!.

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Fri May 25, 2012 9:40:59 pm

Those partitions were created when I ran Zorin along side Windows and eventually made Zorin the only OS. Are they not suppose to be there?

Wolfman

Sat May 26, 2012 6:29:19 am

nick11h wrote:Those partitions were created when I ran Zorin along side Windows and eventually made Zorin the only OS. Are they not suppose to be there?

Hi Nick,

if you have the time and don't mind a re-install, that is what I would do, I woud first create my 3 partitions, swap, root and home and then do a manual install when asked where I want to install Zorin, I would choose something else and make my selections manually!!, this way, all the c**p [detritis!] on the drive is cleaned and you should have a good install with no problems!!. (Said he hopefully crossing both fingers and legs

)

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Sat May 26, 2012 2:02:09 pm

This is a bit of a noob question, but is there any in depth tutorials on how to partition from scratch as Wolfman suggested?

Wolfman

Sat May 26, 2012 2:34:25 pm

Hi Nick,

here you go:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1616

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Sun May 27, 2012 5:48:03 pm

Just a quick review before I start editing the partitions:

1. Live Disk
2. Open GParted
3. Delete all partitions
4. Create Swap (4 GB), Extended (4GB), and Root (Rest of the hard drive space)
5. Reinstall Zorin into Root

Correct?

nick11h

Tue May 29, 2012 8:14:45 pm

The "/home" changed to "/dev/sda3" after I took the shot.
When I attempted to install the OS in "/," it gave me an error message. I went through a couple steps to reformat the similar to GParted, selecting "/" and "ext4."
Everything appears to be saving "/." Should I remove "/home' and resize it?

nick11h

Wed May 30, 2012 8:22:15 pm

From this point:
1. Go to the installer on the live disk
2. Select something else
3. Check "Format" on the "/" partition
4. Format it to "ext4" and "/"
5. Proceed to install the OS into the partition

Correct?

nick11h

Thu May 31, 2012 12:25:33 am

Check all of them for formatting or just "/"?
I get error messages without formatting anything.

Wolfman

Thu May 31, 2012 5:33:25 am

Hi Nick,

yes!, you should format /root, you don't have to format /home as long as it is formatted already to Ext4, swap doesn't need formatting!!. (If you have another OS on your /home, you should format it, in your case, you had only the same OS on it so it is not necessary!)

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:54:50 am

I've noticed that the charger will often glitch booting and safely plug it in five minutes after. I've gotten one panel error message; should I lay off transparency settings and the force quit button?

Other than the above, many of the previous bugs have vanished. Thanks for walking me through the partitioning process.

Just out of curiosity: Is there a list of glitchy programs (Could Dropbox, Minecraft, etc be affecting the OS?), and have laptop charger problems ever been reported before? Could some of the bugs simply be from old/cheap(Acer) hardware (The computer is three years old)?

Wolfman

Fri Jun 01, 2012 7:40:10 am

Hi Nick,

what you can try to check out how well your hard drive state is, is to open recovery mode when booting and select "fsck" from the list, this will check your hard drive for errors and correct them if it can!!.

When you say "hard shutdown", do you mean holding the power button for more than 4 seconds so the PC shuts down; or do you mean something else??. Yes!; you should avoid hard shutdown (force quit) if you can!!.

Regards Wolfman

nick11h

Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:27:35 pm

I'll run fsck again, but I don't recall mentioning a "hard shutdown." I often have to do one when booting freezes, though, I try not to.

Wolfman

Mon Jun 04, 2012 7:23:48 am

nick11h wrote:I'll run fsck again, but I don't recall mentioning a "hard shutdown." I often have to do one when booting freezes, though, I try not to.

Hi Nick,

sorry mate, I must have been reading something else prior to posting my last comments, running "fsck" won't hurt especially if you have a damaged drive!!.

Regards Wolfman

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