Linux help needed

I have two problems. One is on my desktop that has an AMD Athlon 64 bit 2.8 Ghz processor and 8 Gb of ram. I have Ubuntu 13.04 loaded on it. Have no idea what size the swap are is. When I copy files it freezes and/or becomes extremely slow. I have tried a couple of solutions from my research but nothing works. According to computer requirements for this, my computer should work. It is dual booted with Windows 7. I am completely new to Linux. Basically I have to be told what to do like I am a child or something.

My second problem is trying to install this on a laptop with preloaded Windows 8. I can't get it to load after install if I do the install from inside Windows. If I reboot and install from the DVD from outside Windows, I can boot from Ubuntu but not from Windows 8. I tried every tool and trick I know to fix this, but no such luck. I am guessing my lack of knowledge on Linux is the big issue here.

I am doing all of this so I can learn Linux to help me with my technology knolwege. I feel like a complete idiot having to ask because computer stuff usually comes easily to me, and here I am talking like a complete noob.

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Comments

UnixGuy

Your laptop is good! I'm currently running Ubuntu 12.10 on 8 GB Ram as well, the performance is excellent! How's Ubuntu 13.04? I didn't want to jump into it quickly.

To know the size of the swap, use this command:

free -m

I don't know what's the cause of your problem. You said you're copying files, what files? and what's the source/destination of the files?

For the second problem, you mean you are unable to install Ubuntu at all? or do you want dual boot? I never do dual boot so I don't know what the problem is if it's dual boot issue.

Don't feel like an idiot, you are using it to learn, we all started off knowing nothing. Good thing about Ubuntu is that almost every problem you will run into, you will find the solution online

Chantel

On my desktop, I am able to dual boot with Windows 7 and Ubuntu. I have also been able to get a triple boot with Windows 8, Ubuntu, and Windows 7. But it is the one where I can't copy files. I tried copying files from my internal hard drive to an external hard drive. I also tried copying files from an external hard drive to my internal hard drive. This causes the computer to lock up or get slow. If the file is very small, there isn't much of a problem, but if there are a lot of files or a large file, the computer acts up. This is the computer with the AMD Athlon 64 bit processor and 8 gigs of ram.

I am wondering if the problem with my desktop is that Ubuntu 13.04 is new and still has bugs. 13.04 is great except for the copy files issue. Installing software is easier than I expected with the software "market" application. I wonder if I should try 12.04 and hope I like it as much. I like the launcher on the side of the screen, except if I have too many things on it, and have to scroll to see them all. This can be solved by adding some of the stuff to the desktop rather than having it all on the launcher. Another thing I can't figure out is the app playonlinux. I like to play Sims 3, but it is a pain to switch operating systems just to play it. For one, I have to restart and two starting Sims 3 and exiting Sims 3 takes so long that I just prefer to leave it open and save occasionally. This means I am unlikely to ever restart into Ubuntu. I have the download version of the game, so it is very difficult to try and install it using an app in Ubuntu to get it working.

On my laptop, I have a better specs except RAM which is the same. It is a Toshiba with no way to just install Windows 8, I have to use their method of install. No matter how I try to dual boot, it won't work. Doing a dual boot isn't usually difficult. I could do it, if I used the copy of Windows 8 that I bought (while it was a great price during launch...wish I had bought two licenses), but then I can't use it on my desktop. I figure the Toshiba software is causing this issue.

Chantel

Oops, I lied by accident. I was using 12.04 nor 13.04. For some reason I thought I had chosen 13.04 (I did this while studying for my certs so my memory wasn't great).

UnixGuy

Well, as I understand you are trying to copy some files from internal disk to an external disk, that's when the problem happen?

Let's try to do some troubleshooting

Try to create some files on the internal disk, and copy them to the external disk using the command line. For example, do this:

# touch hello{1..10}
# cp hello* /media/{external hard disk path}

The example above creates 11 empty files called "hello1 hello2 hello3 ,...", and then copies them to the external hard disk. Now to get the name of the hard disk, do this command:

# df -h

you should see the external hard disk mounted as something like this: /media/{something here}

I'm sorry if the example is simplistic but I don't know what you're trying to do. Now if the process above is successful, try to repeat it using the "time" command, like this:

# time cp hello* /media/{path here}

See the actual time it took to copy.

Also, did you check the swap space? If during installation you accepted default setting, I reckon it should be adequate, but check it just in case.

One more thing, try this command :

# top

See if the CPU is busy or something.

As for the games and launcher, I don't use these things that much, and ubuntu is the only OS on my desktop.(I'm using 12.10 not 12.04)

But there are things that you should do after the installation, specially installing the Ubuntu extras packages, see this post is very helpful:

20 Things I did After Installing Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal | Tech Drive-in

Since you finished the installation, maybe you start learning some system administration stuff? have you thought about doing a certification like LPIC1 ?

Explore and learn

Chantel

UnixGuy wrote: »
Well, as I understand you are trying to copy some files from internal disk to an external disk, that's when the problem happen?

Let's try to do some troubleshooting

Try to create some files on the internal disk, and copy them to the external disk using the command line. For example, do this:
# touch hello{1..10}
# cp hello* /media/{external hard disk path}
The example above creates 11 empty files called "hello1 hello2 hello3 ,...", and then copies them to the external hard disk. Now to get the name of the hard disk, do this command:
# df -h
you should see the external hard disk mounted as something like this: /media/{something here}

I'm sorry if the example is simplistic but I don't know what you're trying to do. Now if the process above is successful, try to repeat it using the "time" command, like this:
# time cp hello* /media/{path here}
See the actual time it took to copy.

Also, did you check the swap space? If during installation you accepted default setting, I reckon it should be adequate, but check it just in case.

One more thing, try this command :
# top
See if the CPU is busy or something.

As for the games and launcher, I don't use these things that much, and ubuntu is the only OS on my desktop.(I'm using 12.10 not 12.04)

But there are things that you should do after the installation, specially installing the Ubuntu extras packages, see this post is very helpful:

20 Things I did After Installing Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal | Tech Drive-in

Since you finished the installation, maybe you start learning some system administration stuff? have you thought about doing a certification like LPIC1 ?

Explore and learn

I haven't planned to get any Linux based certs. Currently I am working on trying to get into the IT field so I am focusing on things like A+ and CCNA. I am not even sure how to learn administration stuff. For now, I think learning anything I can is helpful.

I wish I knew how to explain what I am trying to do. I will give a theoretical example. Lets say I have a 1 gig movie file on my external hard drive. I want to move it to my internal drive that holds the OS. While transferring this large file, my computer goes crazy. It locks up and/or becomes very slow. Or lets say I downloaded a 1 gig movie file from the internet. I don't want it on my internal drive to save space. So I transfer it to my external hard drive. During the transfer, my computer becomes slow and freezes periodically. Or lets say I have 500 documents I want to transfer from my internal drive to my external drive for long time storage. The file sizes are not big. The same things happen during transfer in either direction. If the file size is small, or there are only a few small files, there is no problem. The problem only shows it self if the file size is large, or if there are a lot of files. My motherboard is new, so I don't think anything is failing with it. The only thing I have not tried is a different external drive to see if that is the problem.

Bryzey

I'm not sure about the desktop file transfer lock up issue your having.

Is the windows 8 laptop new? I've read about Linux distributions having problems with the uefi and secure boot/fast boot and I believe needs some bios options disabled for Ubuntu installation to work? Google Ubuntu uefi for the documentation.

UnixGuy

Ok now I think I understood the problem. I agree with you, the problem might very well be the external hard drive itself, although it's a weird problem.

There's one thing to keep in mind, when you copy from the external drive to the internal drive, make sure that there's an adequate space available on the internal hard drive because in linux if the root file system is full then yes it might freeze or cause some problem (although this is more of a problem with old distros!). So make sure that there's enough space available in the internal drive. What's the output of this command:

# df -h

^^ this command gives you the percentage of thespace available in the filesystem (both internal and external), so you can know that the space is not full.

Other than that, I don't know, It could be the external hard disk itself...or a bug. I'm not really sure.

As for learning linux administration stuff and tting into IT, I recommend you start with CompTIA Linux+, it's a good cert but it's not an easy one. If you put in the hard work and practice then you can pass, and it will help greatly in landing a job in Linux. The job market for Linux has never been better these days, in fact Linux today is doing much better than it did in the past so there's a good chance for you to find a job. Pick up a good Linux+ book and start. There's a good online documentation as well, so anything you don't understand in the books I'm 100% sure that you will find step by step explanation online. You can always ask here in the forums

Chantel

I have downloaded the 12.10 version. I don't know what is different about it from the 12.04 version, but I figure I will give it a try.

Chantel

So far 12.10 seems to be going better, but I got a few error messages that I was too busy to pay attention to. If they come up again, I will try to pay better attention. I have updated it, but have yet to go through that website to do all the after install things.

W Stewart

Just a thought. It could be an issue with a usb module in linux. The xhci_hcd(usb 3.0) module seems to freak out in arch linux and has caused my entire desktop to hard lock up when trying to tether on a usb 3.0 port. You could always try to disable that module if you have it loaded.

UnixGuy

@Chantel: That's good! now make sure to do the things in this link:
20 Things I did After Installing Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal | Tech Drive-in

I hope it fixes the problem