Ubuntu won't load; fiancee is angry with me

[inyourcorner]

I have two problems:

I recently converted an older dell laptop from windows to ubuntu. It's been working great since the install - until recently. I must have updated something with a patch - when I go to start up the laptop it fails to boot the user interface and keeps repeating [XX.XXXXXX] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known. Unkonown key released (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0). I can't seem to get to the OS and I can't load just a shell to get to anything whatsoever. That's problem 1.

Problem 2 is that this laptop had the wedding list for our wedding and I now have angry fiancee disease because of it. She's looking at me right now... not happy.

I'm in trouble my friends - any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Freston]

Welcome to the forums!

I don't recognize the error message... but a quick fix might be that you insert the Ubuntu live/install CD, boot the machine from that and put all your files on a USB stick, if available.

That's the easiest way to get back all your data Real Fast.

As for your fiancee, the best advice I can give is the advice Douglas Adams gave us, and which is widely regarded the best piece of advice anyone can ever get: Don't Panic

[inyourcorner]

Thanks, Freston, for your advice. I have the original Ubuntu distro installation disk, but what's the best way to boot with it? I tried putting the disk in and restarting the lappy but it doesn't seem to see it / run it before hitting the same errors. I'd give more about the top-level errors, but I can't read them before they start flashing off the screen with the error I detailed in my original post. Thanks, in advance, for any additional help on this.

[MikeTbob]

Check your BIOS, make sure the machine is set to boot from CD/DVD first. Give wife a nervous laugh and ask for a glass of beer.

[inyourcorner]

Hi MikeTbob - thanks for the insight there: I was able to get it to boot from the installer after changing the BIOS. However, it seems to be a blank white screen that I now see, no cursor and no pictures/words. I tried the old turn it off turn it on trick a couple times, but it seems to come right up to white screen pretty quickly, after I see an image of a keyboard and the person inside a circle. I was hoping that it would be enough if I could connect a internet cable between that lappy and my other one, but I can't get the Ubuntu-Laptop to show up. Any other ideas?

[rokytnji]

Any other ideas?

I recently converted an older dell laptop

This might be a hardware fail issue maybe? Having to do with inverter, video cable? Have you tried booting with external monitor running live cd?

Just a wild guess though since I don't know the age of the Dell.

[TaZMAniac]

That code means an unknown key combination is being pressed.
2 things can cause that.

1) A sticking key or keys.
2) A bios bug in older Dells. To fix that issue you can remove the battery from the motherboard for a few minutes then reinsert. Boot back up into bios and set the date and time.

And a bit of hindsight advice. Back up your info.
Keeps your significant other from stabbing you to death with their eyes.

[sgosnell]

[XX.XXXXXX] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known. Unkonown key released (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0)

Sounds to me like a defective keyboard. You might be able to fix it by blowing compressed air into the keyboard, but that's a long shot. It's the cheapest and quickest thing to try, though. Barring that, you may be able to get a new keyboard for not a lot of money off ebay. Maybe at an electronics store like Fry's, but it will cost more, although it may be worth it to get it fixed quicker. Replacing keyboards isn't rocket science, but I've never done it on a Dell. You may also be able to remove the HDD and put it in another computer long enough to get the data off it.

One more reminder to make regular backups. If you had a backup of your data, you wouldn't be in such a fix. External USB drives are relatively cheap, and USB flash drives are very cheap and more reliable than magnetic drives. As a last resort, get some DVD recordable disks.

[inyourcorner]

Thanks for all the great ideas here. And I appreciate the reminders to back up, unfortunately I got bit this time around because of a lack of one.

I'm going to try the keyboard idea, and if that doesn't work, pull the harddrive out of the thing entirely and hook it to another computer as an external. Your inputs are/were much appreciated everyone!

[rcgreen]

Try plugging an external keyboard. It should override the
internal one.