Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon

In the middle of it....

Okay, I'm in the middle of doing an update via the Ubuntu software update. Are the above posts saying that it can't be done seamlessly via Parallels?

 

I'm also getting 'The display server has been shut down about 6 times in the last 90 seconds. It is likely that something bad is going on. Waiting for 2 minutes before trying again on display :0.'

I have a similar machine to those of the others who have posted with this problem.

 

I have a MB Pro 2.16 Core Duo with 2GB of ram. I have set up a standard VM and have had this same problem ever since alpha 6 of Gutsy Gibbon. Has parallels addressed this issue with 5162?

 

Installed 7.10 using alternate ubuntu-7.10-alternate-i386.iso

Mac Pro Dual 2.66
2GB Ram
10.4.10
Paralels build 5160

1. Installed using all defaults.
2. Reboot and started from CD again.
3. Started in Rescue mode.
4. At command prompt: vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf
5. Added line at top: Option "LVDSBiosNativeMode" "false"
6. Restarted into ubuntu

Now I have a 800x600 Ubuntu 7.10 installed. Still trying to figure out how so increase the resolution.

-Peter

 

peter you should be able to run: sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and then run through the setup when you get to the screen resolutions uncheck all the screen resolution except for what your mac uses.

 

Working yet

Hey everyone,

I am having the same problems. I have used the alertnative cd. I have good resolution 1280x800, but I don't think the tools are installed correctly. I tried to change to the "medium" visual effects and I can't. Plus, I still see the option to install the tools. I have booted into recovery mode to run the tools install and it seem to install just fine, but then when I reboot, it seems like nothing changed.

How do you know if tools are installed and has anybody really got this working? I also added the Option to the drives section of the Video card.

Thanks
Ben

 

Its really a serious shame on Parallels. there is NO support from them for Unix. its as if Microsoft has said thay can do windows virtualization with no trouble from them as long as they never support any version of Linux. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS PARALLELS. I WANT to support and recommend parallels, but I can't as long as the support for Linux is not there. I am VERY VERY FUSTRATED.

 

please post step by stop instructions to get this running. I have 604 running OK, but no matter which way I try, 710 gets stuck witht he display server error.

 

Working

I downloaded the Feisty Fawn version of Ubuntu the night before Gutsy Gibbon. I installed it without problem on build 5160 of Parallels, and followed a tutorial to install Tools. Today I, after making a snapshot of my working version of Ubuntu, I used the built in automatic upgrade within Ubuntu to download the new release. Everything went fine, although the download was awfully slow. And Tools is still installed, and functioning properly. The new release has a Preference menu item called Appearance. I was hoping to be able to use the awesome animated desktop features, but I could not. Still, it's working just fine, so I can't complain.

Macbook 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB Ram

 

Upgrade needs repartitioning - how?

I'm trying to upgrade from Feisty to Gutsy via the update tool in Ubuntu, but am discovering that I didn't make my Ubuntu partition large enough when I first installed it. Is there any way in Parallels that I can increase the size of this virtual partition?

Thanks.

 

Workaround

I had the problem with 'The display server has been shut down about 6 times in the last 90 seconds' and managed to find a workaround that let me install from the CD without having to do an online upgrade from Feisty. It isn't fun, but here are the steps. Maybe these details will help someone figure out how to fix it for real.

A key issue seems to be the one peterp100 mentioned, but he missed a step:

That led to an error from xorg. You have to put the line inside the Device section.

The steps I followed were:

1. Boot the install CD. When the menu screen comes up press F6 for boot options before it starts the install

2. Delete the 'splash' option and press the Return key to start up the installation. This will prevent the terminal window from being hidden by a splash screen so you can do the next steps.

3. The install system will begin to boot and the display server will die as before. However now it will go back and forth between the graphic display window and the terminal window. During the moments that it is in the terminal window you can type to the command shell. If it comes up with the window that says 'The display server has been shut down about 6 times in the last 90 seconds' go ahead and type Return to select the OK and you will again get the terminal window and in a few minutes get the dying display server again. Persevere and you can keep typing thing in the terminal window.

4. First type ctrl-c to kill the script and get you a shell prompt. Then using vi or pico as you prefer, edit xorg.conf as root:

sudo pico /etc/X11/xorg.conf

5. Scroll down to the Device section (not Input Device), and insert inside it the line

Option "LVDSBiosNativeMode" "false"
then save the file and exit the editor.

6. Start up the display server again by typing the command

startx

This will bring up a window filled with a grey pattern. Have patience and wait, and in a minute or two you will get a real Ubuntu desktop with an Install icon on it. Double-click the Install icon to start up the install process.

7. The display server error will keep happening, but the install continues anyway. Whenever you get the 'The display server has been shut down about 6 times in the last 90 seconds' window you have to type Return again to get back to the install window. It is really annoying having to do that every few minutes, but eventually the install is completed.

8. However you are not yet done. If you reboot after the installation (remember to disconnect the install CD) you will still get that display server death problem. The next steps are to get rid of that:

9. Reboot the virtual machine and when it says to press ESC to get the boot menu, quickly press ESC to get the boot menu, scroll down, and boot in recovery mode. That gives you a root shell prompt in a terminal window.

10. Type the appropriate keys to get your mouse back and in Parallels' Actions menu select Install Parallels Tools. That will show you instructions on how to install the tools, and will connect the tools CDROM image.

11. At the root shell prompt, type the commands that you were shown to install the tools

mount /media/cdrom
cd /media/cdrom
sh parallels-tools.run
shutdown -r now

12. That last command reboots the virtual machine. When it comes back you should have a working Ubuntu 7.10

 

Thanks Sidney. I got stuck after step 6. I kept getting a dialpog that said there was already an x running on :0 and did I want to use that or use another window. I finally gave up and installed a new install from the alternate CD. I now have it running. I will be more confident tomorrow, because it worked oK the first time, but the next day decided it wanted to give me the bad video dialog. Hope everyone gets their Ubuntu 7.10 running

 

More on repartitioning

Well, I tried using the Parallels Image Tool, but after a few minutes, it said it could not recognize the .hdd file (even though it's working just fine.) Using previous instructions (and a previous version of Parallels) , I had configured this Ubuntu install as an "othersolaris" type. Might that be the problem? I'm just trying to increase the virtual disk size from 3GB to 6GB - I'd even be happy with 5GB.

I'd appreciate any help with this issue because I need the extra space to install the Ubuntu Gutsy upgrade.

Thanks.

 

Oh, sorry, with all that went on I forgot about that dialog. When you get it you can answer either yes or no and the dialog goes away and the install continues. The dialog may come back less often if you select one or the other, but I didn't want to experiment enough times to know which if any is better.

 

So far, so good. However, my screen keeps resetting (flashing) every few seconds to few minutes. Do you know if it will stabilize at some point?

Parallels tools are working (Yea!), all all is well in the world - except the occassionally desktop flashing and then a few moments of stability...

 

I have no advice about that -- I haven't determined the cause of the problem, only what I did that worked for me. Once I installed Parallels Tools and rebooted the virtual machine the problem went away. You can see from the messages here that different people are getting different results, some people not having to do anything special to get a good install, some having success with the Alternate CD, and some total failure. For reference, I have a first generation MacBook with 2GB RAM.

 

Once I restarted the VM, all worked perfectly! Great advice... you should start a separate thread with the title HOW I GOT UBUNTO 7.10 TO WORK and summarize all your directions, as it is perfect!

 

...or maybe Parallels should just fix the problem In the meantime, yes, everyone's posts have been very helpful. I personally got it installed (not working perfectly) with the alternate iso.

 

I finally got it installed by using the alternate image and hand-selecting the screen resolutions my Mac monitor can use. Actually I was peeved that the actual fix for this was so simple.

 

How does everyone know if Parallel tools was installed successfully? I have installed it and everything says it is ok, but again, it still shows up in the menu to install it. Even before I tried to install tools, my screen did not flash (except when I tried to not use the alternative cd).

Does everyone elses menu show that Parallel tools is installed or does it still say "Install Parallel Tools"?