Undoing A Mess

It was so simple to do and now it is broken.

I tried to update the installed programs on this Linpus system in the same way as I do with Ubuntu. I right-clicked on the desktop and selected System/ and whatever the Update Programs menu title is (I can't even read this menu now). The Repository list was downloaded and then it worked through the Dependencies, but it stopped at the same point each time. The updater didn't like something on the SSD and I could find no way around it.

As far as I can tell (and certainly don't take my word for this, and I am writing this based on my memory), when FireFox was installed, something called gecko-libs or something related to gecko-libs was also installed. I think the updater trips over this because the updater can't find a source for updating it. Now, my guess is that if FireFox was deleted and then reinstalled, I might have been able to eliminate this problem entirely. Maybe not... Anyway, I told an Acer tech person about this problem, so I hope they look into it. If they do resolve the interference to proper updating, then maybe I will have helped others avoid this system/update problem in the future.

Acer does not support us using the normal Linux menu system for things like updating. They only support using the Linpus GUI updater, but I am pretty sure this updater doesn't have a clue as to what really needs updating. I used the Linpus updater and it was satisfied that everything was up-to-date, but the Linux System/Updater found something like 150 pending updates to do, maybe more.

So, what was I to do? I then learned that yum could possibly remove the obstacle and, since I had my RecoveryCD in hand, I thought "What harm could I do if I removed this blockage?" Well, I found out - I can lose the Linpus GUI and any ability to use the One! Now, I can't even bring up the Linux menu system.

So, I went through the process of having to make a recovery disc. (OK, in hindsight, I should have made this disc first.) Well, in their little recovery manual, there are two ways of doing this. One is with a USB optical drive, which I didn't have. The other is with a USB memory stick 1Gb or larger, which I did have. The problem is that the process to make a USB recovery device ALSO doesn't work. It kept on failing at the same point, somewhere around the 3.5 minutes remaining mark. So, I called Acer tech support again and was told Acer does not support using the USB method of recovery device making, even though it is written up in their own manual. Say WHAT? The tech support person was kind enough to offer sending me a recovery CD through the mail, but I think I will end up with the same CD I already have, so it is a cold comfort. It may take a week to get here from the US, too, but it is on its way. The good thing is that the One recognises a USB memory stick is plugged into a port! I think this will be my only salvation, if I can ever get a recovery system onto it. (What is installed on the USB device now won't start a recovery, though.)

Today, I bought our first USB optical drive, a DVD/CD writer. Now, I get to describe another problem created when I deleted something I shouldn't have done. When I go to use the F12 key when booting, to bring up the booting device menu, there is no optical drive recognised, only the SSD1800 (yay) and the Network Boot Legacy device (I don't know what this is yet). The BIOS does not recognise the DVD writer! Did I buy the wrong device?

So, when I attempt to use F2 at the boot menu, I now get an "Enter CURRENT Password:?" prompt. I have used every password I could possibly have used with this computer to get past this block, but I think I might have to call Eric Wang, to find out his password. (Yes, that can pass for a bit of humour.) Is there ANY sort of common or standard Linux/Linpus password that will let me get beyond this prompt? As it is now, all I get is a "System will halt!! Press any key" message and I can only power the One down.

That is my tale of woe. I am stuck when I turn in any direction. I accept my responsibility for this mess, but I feel that, without a bit of help, I will have to spend a chunk of money to return the unit for a new SSD or something. I am not getting much love from Acer tech support and I am appealing for some ideas from more knowledgeable/helpful folks here. I can't imagine that the store where I bought it will help much, either, but I will contact them tomorrow about making a recovery USB memory device.

PS: Don't do what I did. It doesn't solve the problem.
PPS: I won't do this again, I promise.

 

Bios password is UPPERCASE, even if you didn't type it that way.

Try building the recovery usb on a different PC - I tried over six machines, then used a cd/dvd drive connected to the One.

 

This worked, thank you.
I can now set the USB CD drive as #1 in the list, but after saving the boot menu changes with F10, the One still boots off of the SSD. The drive gets active, but the computer does not boot from it.

The menu item for the CD drive is blank, if this means anything.
No device is identified even though it is plugged in.

Were you able to make a USB recovery device?

I can try another PC later today and I may have access to one more.

 

What size USB stick did you try, most 1GB sticks aren't quite big enough to fit the recovery image on to, when I tried it with a 1GB MicroSD card + reader it didn't work but didn't give any errors during creation either, so that may not be the cause of your problem.

 

I used a 2Gb stick. Their manual states "a minimum capacity of 1 Gb".

 

Did you try hitting F12 upon boot (you would hit this at the some point you hit F2) to choose what device to boot from?

 

Yes, with the results posted in the top message.

 

It took me two tries to get a recovery USB key to write properly. It took 4 or 5 tries to get one to work with the EEE. Do not despair if the stick doesn't work, just try creating it again. If you check the recovery subsection of the linux part of this forum, you will see many threads about problems creating USB recovery sticks as well as problems with USB optical drives not being recognized at boot.

 

Oops. I scanned your initial post too quickly.

You can also try formatting an SD card to boot. It uses a different mechanism to boot. I would question if the recovery system can run from the setup, then.

Just google "booting from SD card".

 

Yes I made it by using a cd/dvd drive connected to the One.

I used loads of different USB sticks....
see here:

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1310#p8750

This may be useful:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=540

 

Sometimes, the cdrom drive connected via USB doesn't power up in time for the F12 key to detect it.
(found this out trying to run my gparted live cd)

So, try hitting F2, go into bios, check boot devices. If usb isn't there, re-connect, reboot (CTRL-ALT-DEL) and check again.

if it is there, then exit bios, hit F12 - and it should be selectable.

 

OK, I resolved my mess by returning the Aspire One to Acer and let them reinstall.
At least it works now, but I am certainly not impressed with their updating system.

The update dependency conflicts still exist, so I searched a bit for help at updating FireFox to version 3, but what I read is not encouraging. Someone reported problems with the Linpus updater. For those who kept Linpus and updated FF, did you just delete v2 (which I presume they installed because it is smaller) and install v3?

I tried to turn on FF updating in about:config, but I was unsuccessful - Check for updates is still greyed out.