[ale] Dell Mini 12 Ubuntu problems

[Ken Cochran]

See interspersed...

> Date: Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:05:54 -0500
> From: Brian Pitts <brian at polibyte.com>
> To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!" <ale at ale.org>
> Subject: Re: [ale] Dell Mini 12 Ubuntu problems
>
> On 12/01/2009 04:43 PM, Ken Cochran wrote:
> > Hey folks, I have a misbehaving Dell Mini 12.
> > It runs Ubuntu, I think 8.0.4 (can't tell where to find the
> > version) with uname -a reporting kernel 2.6.24-19.
>
> 'lsb_release -d' should show it. 2.6.24 is 8.04

Ubuntu 8.04.1

> > Trying to start the web browser (firefox?), it appears to load
> > (on the taskbar) but it shuts down & never displays anything.
> > I get the same thing when trying to access any system help.
>
> Yeah, Yelp (GNOME's help viewer) uses the gecko rendering engine just
> like Firefox.
>
> > The OS appears to be up to date when checking & fetching the
> > package info.
>
> I don't think this is true unless you're purposely booting an older
> kernel. The latest in 8.04 is 2.6.24-24. Did you run 'apt-get update'
> and 'apt-get dist-upgrade' from a terminal?

Nope, I clicked on the little taskbar icon that appears to be
its version of (barf) Windows Update.  It appears to pull a
package-info list/database & then scans that.  (?)  Where is
info on what 'apt-get {update,dist-upgrade}' do?  In other
words, will those commands bring v8 current or will they take
the "packaging" to v9?  At this point I'm not keen on moving
the system to v9.  (It's not mine but a friend's and I don't
have any way (yet) to reinstall an OS on it unless I could
fetch something that could install from a USB thumb drive.)

> >  If I try running firefox from a terminal window I
> > get a message about incompatible GRE.  I'm not finding anything
> > unusual/useful in /var/log/syslog or Xorg.0.log.
>
> What's the output of 'xulrunner --gre-version'? What files are in
> /etc/gre.d/?

xulrunner says "command not found"; whereis only shows
  /usr/lib/xulrunner/plugins
which has "flashplugin-alternative.so" which is symlinked to
  /etc/alternatives/xulrunner-flashplugin

/etc/gre.d/
  1.9.0.5.system.conf
  1.9.0.8.system.conf.dpkg-new

> > Where can I find some troubleshooting hints/FAQs for this setup?
>
> Google. ;-)

Well, so far I haven't hit on the "right" search; I guess I'm
looking for some kind of howto for maintaining Ubuntu on a
Dell Mini.

> Once you're certain your system is up to date, I'd try 'apt-get install
> --reinstall xulrunner-1.9'.
>
> > So far, the only thing I can make work is terminal.
> > Would also like to make sure such things as Java and Adobe
> > bits are up to date too.
>
> If you installed the from the Ubuntu repositories (sun-java6-plugin and
> flashplugin-nonfree) you keep them up-to-date like anything else.

Which is how?  (Sorry to appear to dumb; I'm definitely an Ubuntu newbie.)

> --
> All the best,
> Brian Pitts

Thanks for the tips - I know practically nothing about
Ubuntu so far; most all my actual Linux experience is with
<geezer>Slackware</geezer>.  :)

-kc