Question for you Linux guys -- installing Ubuntu 14.04.5

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
I am trying to install Ubuntu 14.04.5 onto a Lenovo Yogi 260 laptop.

I can't get the laptop to boot off the DVD.

I had a DVD for 14.04.1 and it will boot fine, but when I try to install Ubuntu I get a blank screen (after the splash screen sits there forever). We tracked that down to the kernel being 4.1 and apparently we need it to be 4.3 due to the video display driver on the Lenovo.

I talked myself into using Ubuntu 16.04.3 instead, since I had to download an installation image anyway, and was able to install it. But (as has happened every other time I've tried to run stuff on a later version of Linux) I can't install the software because of dependency problems.

So, fine. I figured I would just go ahead and download 14.04.5 and install it since our other machine that has programs we need on it is running that distribution. Burned the DVD the same way I did the 16.04.3 distro. The machine won't boot off it. Burned a second DVD from a fresh download and got the same result.

So any suggestions on how I can get this version of Ubuntu installed on this machine?
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
I am trying to install Ubuntu 14.04.5 onto a Lenovo Yogi 260 laptop.

I can't get the laptop to boot off the DVD.

I had a DVD for 14.04.1 and it will boot fine, but when I try to install Ubuntu I get a blank screen (after the splash screen sits there forever). We tracked that down to the kernel being 4.1 and apparently we need it to be 4.3 due to the video display driver on the Lenovo.

I talked myself into using Ubuntu 16.04.3 instead, since I had to download an installation image anyway, and was able to install it. But (as has happened every other time I've tried to run stuff on a later version of Linux) I can't install the software because of dependency problems.

So, fine. I figured I would just go ahead and download 14.04.5 and install it since our other machine that has programs we need on it is running that distribution. Burned the DVD the same way I did the 16.04.3 distro. The machine won't boot off it. Burned a second DVD from a fresh download and got the same result.

So any suggestions on how I can get this version of Ubuntu installed on this machine?
I would be happy to help you, @WBahn.

First, 14.04 is EOL for hardware updates, and maintenance updates only extend for about one more year. I highly recommend you install 16.04.3 or you are going to have to do this all over a year from now. I run 16.04.3 on various pieces of hardware with no problems.

Also, I strongly do not recommend any of the current non-LTS releases. Too much has changed, and they are relatively unstable IMHO (along with some important software incompatibilities that will likely be resolved by the next LTS).

Is there something about 14.04 that you require? Or is this just a matter of not being able to boot the CD?

Have you attempted to boot from USB? This is the modern preferred method.
 

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
I would be happy to help you, @WBahn.

First, 14.04 is EOL for hardware updates, and maintenance updates only extend for about one more year. I highly recommend you install 16.04.3 or you are going to have to do this all over a year from now. I run 16.04.3 on various pieces of hardware with no problems.

Also, I strongly do not recommend any of the current non-LTS releases. Too much has changed, and they are relatively unstable IMHO (along with some important software incompatibilities that will likely be resolved by the next LTS).

Is there something about 14.04 that you require? Or is this just a matter of not being able to boot the CD?

Have you attempted to boot from USB? This is the modern preferred method.
I was willing to use 16.04.3 and installed it. But as soon as I tried to install the software for the robot it had nothing but problems with it complaining about dependencies that aren't going to be installed and that I'm holding a broken package.

I tried booting from the 16.04.2 DVD and it wouldn't boot from there, either (despite the fact that it HAD booted from there less than an hour before). Looking through the BIOS gave me the impression that it might be getting mixed up because of the LAN connection (even though the LAN has been connected all along). So on a hunch I disconnected the LAN cable and now it booted from the 14.04.5 DVD just fine and I managed to get it installed.

I've since installed all the software without any problems.

This is a problem I've had every time (which is only a couple of times and the prior times were with RedHat) that I've tried to use a later version of Linux, either to do a fresh install of software or to update the O/S on a machine with existing software -- the new O/S version breaks everything!

At least for now I've got the system up and running on 14.04.5. I'm not looking forward to the hell that will be unleashed when I finally HAVE to update to a later version, but hopefully by that time enough people (who know a hell of a lot more than me about Linux) will have fought the battle that I can find the steps I need to patch things up and get them to work.

As for USB -- that's an issue in and of itself. If I plug a USB thumb drive into one of the machines on the DoD network it will be detected and my Ethernet port will be shut down immediately. So I have to jump through a bunch of extra hoops to do something like that. Also, as a result, finding a USB thumb drive around here is like pulling teeth because the are officially forbidden. I was able to track down two 1 GB drives and that was it. The Ubuntu site said that 2 GB was the minimum.
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
I was willing to use 16.04.3 and installed it. But as soon as I tried to install the software for the robot it had nothing but problems with it complaining about dependencies that aren't going to be installed and that I'm holding a broken package.

I tried booting from the 16.04.2 DVD and it wouldn't boot from there, either (despite the fact that it HAD booted from there less than an hour before). Looking through the BIOS gave me the impression that it might be getting mixed up because of the LAN connection (even though the LAN has been connected all along). So on a hunch I disconnected the LAN cable and now it booted from the 14.04.5 DVD just fine and I managed to get it installed.

I've since installed all the software without any problems.

This is a problem I've had every time (which is only a couple of times and the prior times were with RedHat) that I've tried to use a later version of Linux, either to do a fresh install of software or to update the O/S on a machine with existing software -- the new O/S version breaks everything!

At least for now I've got the system up and running on 14.04.5. I'm not looking forward to the hell that will be unleashed when I finally HAVE to update to a later version, but hopefully by that time enough people (who know a hell of a lot more than me about Linux) will have fought the battle that I can find the steps I need to patch things up and get them to work.

As for USB -- that's an issue in and of itself. If I plug a USB thumb drive into one of the machines on the DoD network it will be detected and my Ethernet port will be shut down immediately. So I have to jump through a bunch of extra hoops to do something like that. Also, as a result, finding a USB thumb drive around here is like pulling teeth because the are officially forbidden. I was able to track down two 1 GB drives and that was it. The Ubuntu site said that 2 GB was the minimum.
What's the software you are attempting to run? Is it pubic? Do you have a download link? I can probably figure out what needs to be done to fix the dependency issue.
 

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
What's the software you are attempting to run? Is it pubic? Do you have a download link? I can probably figure out what needs to be done to fix the dependency issue.
It's ROS (Robot Operating System) which is then used for the Baxter robot from Rethink Robotics.

http://sdk.rethinkrobotics.com/wiki/Workstation_Setup

When I tried to install the ROS Indigo Desktop Full is when all hell broke lose.

I thought maybe the "sources list" was the problem and changed "trusty" to "xenial" but that just gave be different error messages.

It's low priority now. I just successfully connected to the robot and can control it from the laptop, so life is finally good.
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
Sorry to say this, @WBahn, but you are experiencing an ID 10-T error.

You were trying to install an old verison of ROS that was never built against Ubuntu 16.04.

The latest version is ROS Lunar, and installs fine on 16.04.
 

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
I have no idea what an ID 10-T error is. If you're trying to say that I don't know what I'm doing with Linux, then I absolutely agree with you. But all I have to go on is what is on the installation guides for the software I am trying to install. Let's say that I install ROS Lunar or ROS Kinetic (which I have no idea how to even get, but can probably figure that out if I know it's what I need), then how do I know that the rest of the software that I need to install will work under either of those when it states very explicitly, "You must use ROS Indigo to use RSDK 1.2.0."?

And this still begs the question of what is going to happen when we finally do upgrade the machines from 14.04 to 16.04? Is it going to break all of the software on the machines and then we are going to have to figure out which packages we have to upgrade to ones that run under 16.04 and then get into a situation in which we HAVE to run ROS Kinetic but other software will ONLY run under ROS Indigo?
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
I have no idea what an ID 10-T error is.
It's a Information Systems Support joke: ID 10-T -- ID10T -- IDIOT... Get it? No offense intended.

But all I have to go on is what is on the installation guides for the software I am trying to install.
The guides you are using are old. They haven't been updated in a number of years. Software changes and gets improved and updated. This is inevitable and unavoidable. Learn to read the docs and roll with the punches. The links I provided are up-to-date for the current releases.

Let's say that I install ROS Lunar or ROS Kinetic (which I have no idea how to even get, but can probably figure that out if I know it's what I need),
The instructions are provided in the above-mentioned links.

then how do I know that the rest of the software that I need to install will work under either of those when it states very explicitly, "You must use ROS Indigo to use RSDK 1.2.0."?
My guess is everything will continue to work fine. ROS appears to be exceptionally well maintained. I imagine they strive to ensure backward compatibility with legacy applications.

And this still begs the question of what is going to happen when we finally do upgrade the machines from 14.04 to 16.04? Is it going to break all of the software on the machines and then we are going to have to figure out which packages we have to upgrade to ones that run under 16.04 and then get into a situation in which we HAVE to run ROS Kinetic but other software will ONLY run under ROS Indigo?
No. At worst, you simply uninstall the old version and reinstall the new one. They likely have an upgrade procedure, but I didn't look that hard in my investigation. I can help you at that time.
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
Fun with Linux.
Reminds me why I stay with Windows. :rolleyes:
Further, just this past weekend, I built two boxes: an Ubuntu 16.04.3 box, and a Win 7 box. The Ubuntu box took me all of 1/2 hour to install and update the OS and install all of the applications I needed.

The Win 7 box took 2 days just to install the OS and apply the updates.

Fun with Windows.
Reminds me why I stay with Linux. :rolleyes:
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
Here is a suggestion for you, @WBahn. On your 14.04 box, install Virtualbox (sudo apt-get install virtualbox). Then, create a virtual machine with 16.04.3. This way, you can test a Kinetic install and ensure it works properly prior to upgrading your system.
 
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