I've been trying to set up an ubuntu desktop system. I'm trying to get something that I can use with FreeNX.

I started out with the base ubuntu 7.04 install.

Then I did an "apt-get install ubuntu-desktop". That brings down a ton of packages. Unfortunately, one of them, mvwire, hangs on its configuration. It's trying to detect modems, and it goes through a bunch of serial ports and hangs.

The system hangs pretty decisively -- I can't break out of the update, and other login windows die as well. I've had to reboot to recover, and even that takes a lot longer than normal.

The hanging is a known problem with this package that's been around for a long time, and doesn't seem to be likely to be fixed any time soon.

I'm not an apt wizard -- is it possible to tell the system to install all of ubuntu-desktop *except* mvwire? Or to tell the system not to configure it?

Perhaps you might try a KDE (http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/metap ... tu-desktop) or X (http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/metap ... tu-desktop) desktop install instead of ubuntu-desktop?

James

If mvwire is a package, you can edit /etc/apt/preferences (or create it if it doesn’t exist) and add the following (separated from any existing content by a blank line):

Package: mvwire
Pin: version 1.0*
Pin-Priority: 1001

_________________
/ Peter

Thanks... I probably should try KDE -- everyone says its better.

Thanks! That's exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to learn... I knew apt had to let you get around these problems.

The standard desktop stinks compared to KDE - I'm talking fish in the sun stinky, too. KDE rocks.

James

The /apt/preferences thing didn't work -- that technique would prevent an upgrade, but since the package hadn't been installed yet (I misidentified it here -- it's mvdial), ubuntu-desktop failed.

It turns out, though, that you can just press control-C when the package starts to configure, but before it hangs. The system moves to the next package.

It hung again when it tried to start CUPS, and I wasn't sure how to get around that.

KDE won't install either. It contains the same mvdial package, and hangs later on.

I'm falling back to an ugly strategy -- I'm going to do a clean ubuntu install on a physical box, disable whatever services look potentially troublesome (ie., connected to hardware that doesn't exist in UML), and upload the whole file system to my VPS.

This is undesirable mostly because the upload will be really slow, and I'm not confident it will work.

If that doesn't work, I'll have to get serious, and focus on getting an Ubuntu desktop up and running under UML at home.

Thanks to both of you guys for your help... if I get this to work, I'll post more about it.

This may help once you're ready to file it up to your Linode:

http://www.linode.com/wiki/index.php/Cu ... stribution

-Chris

Thanks... that would have definitely tripped me up.