Today I tested the current daily Lubuntu Noble iso file. The live systems works and I installed Lubuntu in BIOS mode (CSM alias legacy mode) and after that I installed Lubuntu into the same SSD in UEFI mode.
Things worked but there were two obstacles.
The touchpad in my Toshiba from 2013 no longer works. I have used it since it was new, but in Noble the touchpad is dead. However, a standard USB mouse works. The computer is more than 10 years old, so I’m asking here, if it would be meaningful to report it as a bug, or if the computer’s age makes this a “won’t fix” issue.
Maybe more problematic: After installing in BIOS mode there was an MSDOS partition table with a single partition. When trying to install in UEFI mode, the only option was ‘Manual partitioning’. I exited from Calamares and wiped the first mibibyte. After that I started Calamares again, and it could use the whole drive and create an installed system. This can be an obstacle, at least for beginners, who want to use an old HDD or SSD. Would it be meaningful to report it as a bug, or is it a “won’t fix” issue?
From the iso testing tracker:
Cloned daily ISO, “main.py” file was edited before install as a fix for bug 2054795. Toshiba Satellite Pro c850-19w, Intel i5-3210M CPU+GPU. Ethernet, BIOS mode (CSM, legacy), no encryption, full disk, normal install, Swedish locale. It works as expected. Comment: The touchpad does not work, but a standard USB mouse works. This is a new problem (in previous versions of Lubuntu the touchpad used to work (was identified and provided with a suitable driver). The computer was bought 2013, and I leave it as a comment because the computer is more than 10 years old.
Cloned daily ISO, “main.py” file was edited before install as a fix for bug 2054795. Toshiba Satellite Pro c850-19w, Intel i5-3210M CPU+GPU. Ethernet, UEFI mode, no encryption, full disk, normal install, Swedish locale. It works as expected. Comment 1: The touchpad does not work, but a standard USB mouse works. Comment 2: Only manual partitioning was available after installing in BIOS mode, so I wiped the first mibibyte and after that Calamares was able to ‘use the whole drive’ (and make a complete installation with a GPT, an EFI system partition and the root partition).
Most importantly, I’d say steer clear of Noble for the time being. If you don’t already know why:
If you really have to use the ISO for some reason, I’d make sure it has no access to the Internet just for safety’s sake.
That said, here is a more general response to your inquiries:
Touchpads are not managed by any of the core packages the Lubuntu Developers maintain. In general, this is likely to be an issue with libinput. If the touchpad works fine in all the other flavors, it might be an lxqt-config-input issue, but I see that as unlikely. Certainly file a bug if that’s the case, though!
I would expect a consistent experience from Calamares, meaning I would expect different variations to provide similar options. In particular, I would say, between boot modes. Specifically, if you have a drive in a given state, regardless of whether you used it in a machine booting in BIOS mode or one using UEFI mode, Calamares should provide the same options. If you see discrepancies here, please file bugs against either the calamares package, or, if you can determine this is in some way due to how we have configured (or not configured) things, the calamares-settings-ubuntu package (pro tip: the upstream configuration files are essentially the configuration documentation).
That said, consider this: you finish the installation, uncheck “Restart now” to close Calamares cleanly, and run the installer again, it won’t work because the drive is still mounted on /tmp. Remember how swaps are automounted by default and so you have to unmount them for the drive to show up in the installer? Same deal. Similarly, if you forcibly closed Calamares and started the installer again, same problem as above.
Thanks for that. The more I think about it, the more I think a clean shutdown should result in unmounting. In fact, we do use the unmount module, although it doesn’t have a configuration file. I’m not sure if that means it shouldn’t work at all or if it just uses the defaults. Assuming it uses the defaults, it doesn’t seem to work based on what I said. So there may be something to be done with either calamares, calamares-settings-ubuntu, or both.
Maybe we should run the unmount module before the partitioning one. That could help with this.
It is worth trying (to do automatically in Calamares): unmounting partitions on the target drive ‘always’, or unmounting partitions and wiping the first mibibyte on the target drive after decision to use the whole drive, whatever is necessary for the option to be available and to work.
