Booting from the 8.10 CD failed to start

Hi esther.
It could probably be caused by a video problem, or at last it seems to me, could you please put your pc specs, including your videocard's?
Dimitri.

I don't know how to find out what type of videocard I have.

The processor is 2.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4
I have 500+ RAM
120 GB

I should add - it's Compaq

Okay, I looked it up online, and found that for the computer I have the default video card is Integrated, 64 MB memory. I'm pretty sure the video card hasn't been changed since we got the computer.

It sounds like your Xorg is not working which is likely a video card/driver issue.

When you installed, did you install it directly to the hard disk like a normal OS, or did you use the WUBI windows installer, which creates a virtual disk to install to?

If you are not sure what I mean, then simply explain in EXPLICIT DETAIL what steps you did to install.

Good luck,

I'm pretty sure it installed directly to the hard disk.

I received an 8.10 Ubuntu disk from a friend. I inserted the disk in my computer and restarted. At first I tried to install it alongside windows, but when that didn't work I backed up the hard drive, put the CD in, restarted the computer, and selected "Install Ubuntu". I went through the language, location/time zone, hard drive partitioning (I gave the whole hard drive over to Ubuntu), and computer login setup. All of that worked fine.

I hope that's enough.

Am I going to have to get a new video card?

If you are in trouble with screen graphic user interface (usually the screen is black with a blinking cursor or screen out of range message):
- first try to dynamically change screen resolution please the press CTRL + ALT + "+" and/or CTRL + ALT + "-"
- Try to restart the graphic layer press CTRL + ALT + BACKSPACE

Always useful is the online Ubuntu doc https://help.ubuntu.com/8.10/

Hope this helps

I don't think it has anything to do with that, nothing happened when I tried CTRL+ALT+ +/-/Backspace.

If even the "Try Ubuntu Without Any Change to your Computer" option is resulting in a freeze, it is likely that there is some issue with the provided driver with your video card. This is especially likely if your computer is using an Intel video chipset built into its motherboard, since that driver has been being heavily reworked for a while now. I have experienced intermittent freezes during boot on a computer with Intel graphics using 8.10.

Some things you might try:

1) When the computer appears to be frozen, type CTRL-ALT-F1. This will take you to a text terminal. If you can log in there with the username and password, then it means your installation is working, but there is a problem with the graphics layer. You may get better results if you execute command "sudo apt-get update" then "sudo apt-get upgrade" in the text terminal and reboot -- this will ensure that you have the latest driver installed for your hardware.

2) You can try booting in "safe graphics mode" to see if this helps. If it works, then there is more evidence that it is an issue with the driver for your hardware.

3) During the boot process, when you see the "ubuntu" splash screen logo with the progress bar, hit CTRL-ALT-F1 and watch for messages that indicate some problem with the load. On my balky Intel-graphics computer, switching to the F1 terminal during splash usually prevents a hang, for whatever reason.

I hit Ctrl+Alt+F1 when it froze, and was able to enter the username but not
the password (nothing appeared when I typed, and then I pressed Enter and
was able to type, but then it told me 'Login incorrect').

I've tried Safe Graphics Mode and it froze as before.

I tried Ctrl+Alt+F1 on the Ubuntu screen with the progress bar - and once
again, received a frozen orange screen. When I tried Ctrl+Alt+F1 on this
frozen screen nothing happened.
I don't know how to execute commands. Can someone guide me through that?
On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 06:38, FactTech
<email address hidden>wrote:

> Your question #73017 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/73017
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> FactTech proposed the following answer:
>
> If even the "Try Ubuntu Without Any Change to your Computer" option is
> resulting in a freeze, it is likely that there is some issue with the
> provided driver with your video card. This is especially likely if your
> computer is using an Intel video chipset built into its motherboard, since
> that driver has been being heavily reworked for a while now. I have
> experienced intermittent freezes during boot on a computer with Intel
> graphics using 8.10.
>
> Some things you might try:
>
> 1) When the computer appears to be frozen, type CTRL-ALT-F1. This will
> take you to a text terminal. If you can log in there with the username
> and password, then it means your installation is working, but there is a
> problem with the graphics layer. You may get better results if you
> execute command "sudo apt-get update" then "sudo apt-get upgrade" in the
> text terminal and reboot -- this will ensure that you have the latest
> driver installed for your hardware.
>
> 2) You can try booting in "safe graphics mode" to see if this helps. If
> it works, then there is more evidence that it is an issue with the
> driver for your hardware.
>
> 3) During the boot process, when you see the "ubuntu" splash screen logo
> with the progress bar, hit CTRL-ALT-F1 and watch for messages that
> indicate some problem with the load. On my balky Intel-graphics
> computer, switching to the F1 terminal during splash usually prevents a
> hang, for whatever reason.
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/73017/+confirm?answer_id=8
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/73017
>
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.
>

Actually, I'm not sure that I've tried Safe Graphics Mode.

After installation (I've already re-installed several times) a message appears on the screen directing me to take the CD out of the disk drive and press Enter. The disk drive then opens for a split second and I have to be prepared to snatch the CD out before the drive closes again (after it closes it doesn't open when I press the button).

In addition, I've received a screen of blue/green/white abstract garbled zigzags and then the computer turns off - I don't pay attention to waht causes it, but I think it's after it's been frozen for some time, or after I press the power button once when it's frozen.

Just to clarify, to execute any of those commands, just type them in as shown and press enter at a command prompt. Command prompts look like:

username@machinename:~$

When typing the command in, it looks like this:

username@machinename:~$ sudo apt-get update

Just press the enter key at the end of the command and it will execute.

Now CTRL+ALT+F1 isn't doing anything. When I do it when the Ubuntu progress
bar shows, a black screen with white text appears and after scrolling
through a bit it takes me to the frozen orange/tan screen, and I can't do
anything after that. Letting the computer load and then trying Ctrl+Alt+F1
from the frozen screen doesn't do anything at all. The screen stays blank;
I can move the mouse and that's it.

Never mind, I got it to the upgrade part, and it's working now. I really hope this works - thanks so much for the help!

Thanks FactTech, that solved my question.