Ubuntu OS issue or hardware issues??

[bamalynn]

I've been told by a Dell rep that the system issues I'm having are related to my operating system, Ubuntu 8.04. Here is the "short list" of what all is going wrong with my new system. I have had this netbook for a month, and from day one it has not been 100% functional.



First, my Bluetooth Dell notebook mouse is not operating. I have verified that it is finding the MAC address and I am getting an OBEX error, which I'm told shouldn't be a mouse error message. The Bluetooth preferences shows the Dell BT Travel Mouse as a bonded device, but it is not working.

Secondly, my battery light doesn't come on when I plug in my laptop to charge. I have depleted the battery on purpose to verify that the battery needs to charge, and still nothing. I only get the solid white light when the unit is on or it blinking when in standby mode.

Third, my default-installed screensaver program is now choppy when playing. It used to be very smooth when displaying, and now it is cutting out and just showing still images every 5 seconds or so. It then freezes up after about 5 minutes of use.

Fourth, my system is booting up much more slowly then when I first got it. I have not installed any outside software, just an HP printer, and it feels like it is congested with no available memory. I ordered this with 1 Gig of RAM & 8 GB of HD so that shouldn't be the issue.

Fifth, I have no sound at any volume. Upon startup/shutdown or in any program. I cannot listen to music or listen to videos. I have tried to find every adjustable volume control, and they all show at full level, 100% for the ALSA mixer. None are muted for Front or PCM.



If anyone can help, please do so. I fear that my only option is to reinstall the software, and how fun that will be to have to start completely over with my wifi and printer install. That alone took me two days!

[Rubberman]

What about updating to Ubuntu 9.04? I installed it on my Dell D630 Latitude and it handles the bluetooth (I am only using a headset w/ skype) very well, along with the wireless, power management - much better on all counts than my last test with Ubuntu 8.10. Also, get the dell diagnostics and make sure that the system isn't fubar in some electro-mechanical sense.

[bamalynn]

What about updating to Ubuntu 9.04? I installed it on my Dell D630 Latitude and it handles the bluetooth (I am only using a headset w/ skype) very well, along with the wireless, power management - much better on all counts than my last test with Ubuntu 8.10. Also, get the dell diagnostics and make sure that the system isn't fubar in some electro-mechanical sense.

where do I get the diagnostic tool for Dell? I've been all over their website and back again with absolutely no help from them. I am told that since it has Ubuntu, I have to get my help from the forum sites! I've thought about ubdating to the newer version, but I've only had this thing for a month and am just starting to get used to it.

[Rubberman]

Do you have your Service Tag (found on the bottom of the computer, along with the S/N)? Then go into your account, pull up your service tag, go to downloads, and get the diagnostics. They have self-booting diagnostics to run when the OS won't boot. I you still cannot find the diagnostics package, go into support chat and tell them that your Windows won't boot, and you need to run diagnostics an external diagnostics. Don't tell them about the Linux installation - not their concern here. For example, for my D630 Latitude laptop, this is what the diagnostics download page says - you might need to set up the diagnostics in either a Windows VM, or a system that has Windows on it.

File Formats: Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics (Graphical User Interface version)
Description: Dell Diagnostics are designed to verify proper operation of the hardware in your system outside of a high level operating system environment. The packages in this release are designed to create bootable media from which to run these diagnostics.
.
.
.
Hard-Drive
CW1337A0.exe
Description: This file contains a compressed (or zipped) set of files. Download the file to a folder on your hard drive, and then run (double-click) it to unzip the set of files. Follow the instructions to complete the installation.

Note that is says that it will create a bootable media from which to run the diagnostics. As I recall, that can be a bootable USB thumb drive. In fact, Dell used to ship 64MB thumb drives with their workstations for just this purpose. I still have one from an 8400 Dimension workstation I gifted to my daughter last year that I got about 4 years ago.

[bamalynn]

Do you have your Service Tag (found on the bottom of the computer, along with the S/N)? Then go into your account, pull up your service tag, go to downloads, and get the diagnostics. They have self-booting diagnostics to run when the OS won't boot. I you still cannot find the diagnostics package, go into support chat and tell them that your Windows won't boot, and you need to run diagnostics an external diagnostics. Don't tell them about the Linux installation - not their concern here. For example, for my D630 Latitude laptop, this is what the diagnostics download page says - you might need to set up the diagnostics in either a Windows VM, or a system that has Windows on it.
Note that is says that it will create a bootable media from which to run the diagnostics. As I recall, that can be a bootable USB thumb drive. In fact, Dell used to ship 64MB thumb drives with their workstations for just this purpose. I still have one from an 8400 Dimension workstation I gifted to my daughter last year that I got about 4 years ago.

Yeah, I found the diagnostic tool, found the wording for the Linux version, downloaded both the exe file and the bin file and neither will open. The exe file asks what I want to open it with and the bin file says that I don't have the application installed for this file type. Now what?

My other laptop is also a Dell Inspiron, but it has Windows XP as the OS, so I guess I could copy the exe file onto a thumb drive on that machine? This is getting entirely too not my cup of tea! I just want this damn thing to work right out of the box, and it has been nothing but right. I'm not asking for it to drive a car or anything difficult, and it seems like no matter what I try to fix, something else is sacrificed in the process. Let me tell ya, no sound sucks! You don't realize how much you miss that feature until you don't have it!

[windowsblows]

I would take and load the live cd of 9.04 and see how it works I would then upgrade your OLDER version of Ubuntu and see if that helps. First, this OS is not for the faint of heart but you need to remember if you have 8.04 and a newer machine maybe that could be the problem. Second, if it is not working after that I would then complain to dell that they should have configured the system better if they are the ones that sold you the computer with Ubuntu loaded on there.

[Rubberman]

Yeah, I found the diagnostic tool, found the wording for the Linux version, downloaded both the exe file and the bin file and neither will open. The exe file asks what I want to open it with and the bin file says that I don't have the application installed for this file type. Now what?

My other laptop is also a Dell Inspiron, but it has Windows XP as the OS, so I guess I could copy the exe file onto a thumb drive on that machine? This is getting entirely too not my cup of tea! I just want this damn thing to work right out of the box, and it has been nothing but right. I'm not asking for it to drive a car or anything difficult, and it seems like no matter what I try to fix, something else is sacrificed in the process. Let me tell ya, no sound sucks! You don't realize how much you miss that feature until you don't have it!

That's what I'd do - install it on a thumb drive on the XP box, and then boot the one you need to check out with the thumb drive.