Ubuntu 9.04 Alpha 3 + Ext 4

[mmesantos1]

Well it is time again to test the new upcoming Ubuntu and with the new Alpha OS and the new ext 4 file system. So far I have seen some bugs with Emerald and Avant as well as Compiz but that isexpected. But they are includeing the proprietary driver sooner than before. This time around I was able to install it via the hardware drivers program. In 8.10 it was not available until the Beta if I remeber correctly. After uninstalling Emerald I did not have quite as many issues. I am now running a new PC this time around so it may not be quite the comparison as the last release. To compare between the two I had an ATI video card for the previous version of Ubuntu and this time around I have a Nvidia card. Well in the end they are still at the Alpha stage. All in all I think this will be another easy transition for Mint from 8.10 to 9.04. I will continue testing and reporting bugs I find to help assure Mint turns out to be another great release for Mint 7.

[mmesantos1]

Here are some scrrenshots of what I have done with this alpha.

[exploder]

mmesantos1, those are some awesome screen shots! I just read that Ubuntu is going back to the volume control used in Intrepid...

[knuckles]

@exploder
I can you post the link where you have read this?? because in the alpha4 there were the 2 Volume bar's, but in the last daily-live there is only the new Volume-controle. (but since some updates i can't get a clean sound in jaunty from virtualbox)

[exploder]

I read it here.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1062561&page=2

Look at the 4th post down.

[mmesantos1]

mmesantos1, those are some awesome screen shots! I just read that Ubuntu is going back to the volume control used in Intrepid...

Thank you Exploder and thanks for the info I was not aware Ubuntu was going back to the volume control in intrepid. Good info.

[mmesantos1]

Testing Kubuntu 9.04 Alpha 4 now. Working well, some minor crashes but working well for Alpha.

[knuckles]

do you only test the official alpha version?

I test everytime the daily-live version. I download it one time a week and make for every new download a clean install.
And I'm very impressed from the actual performance speed of Jaunty.

P.S. in the version from today (13.02.2009) there is the new volume-controle

[mmesantos1]

do you only test the official alpha version?

I test everytime the daily-live version. I download it one time a week and make for every new download a clean install.
And I'm very impressed from the actual performance speed of Jaunty.

P.S. in the version from today (13.02.2009) there is the new volume-controle

I just download the New Alpha or Beta release then do a fresh install. So until they change to the next alpha or beta I just update as normal. I have been installing with the EXT4 file system and have noticed some speed improvements. Though I do not know for sure if it is the EXT4 or just the way Jaunty runs. In either case I like what they are doing so far. No major issues just minor ones thus far at least for me. I try to run it like I would a final release. And thanks for the heads up on the new volume-controle.

[mmesantos1]

Ok I am now on Ubuntu Gnome Alpha 5. Some regression in Audio, when loging in to Ubuntu the Audio Crackles. I install Avant and unable to install Awn Manager due to missing python dependency. I am sure this will be fixed. Had some issues installing new themes. When draging new theme into theme window the window would close. I have experienced the same issue in Ubuntu 8.10 so it seems to be a carry over issue from 8.10. So at this point nothing major. Here is a screen shot.

[exploder]

I checked out alpha 5 on Sunday. I have to agree with you that there are some regressions. It is still in the alpha stage and hopefully things improve. The crackling audio problem is being addressed and should be resolved before the final release. Did you notice that the screen saver bug is still present! You still can not move the mouse to make the screen saver go off. So much for Ubuntu's new quality team....

[mmesantos1]

I checked out alpha 5 on Sunday. I have to agree with you that there are some regressions. It is still in the alpha stage and hopefully things improve. The crackling audio problem is being addressed and should be resolved before the final release. Did you notice that the screen saver bug is still present! You still can not move the mouse to make the screen saver go off. So much for Ubuntu's new quality team....

Yes I have had some issues with the screensaver. I have had times when only part of the screen saver would show on my Monitor and the other issue you have mentioned as well. I will continue to beta test so I can post my findings, hopefully this will help Mint 7. I have been submiting all these bugs to Ubuntu.

[mmesantos1]

Ok I have been running the Beta since release and it is looking good. Nothing major that I have run into so far. I am waiting for the RC and will post if I see any regressions. Wow this boots quick. I installed with Ext 3 this time but still runs fast. Compiz, Awn and Emerald all running well so far. Useing Version: 180.44 Nvidia Proprietary driver.

[exploder]

The release candidate looks good but there is still major problems with the graphics sub system. Full screen flash with Hulu nearly crashes Firefox and is choppy as all heck. I can watch programs on Hulu as long as I do not use full screen. DVD playback requires a little help to get going too, they will play but I have to click play a couple of times to get things going. I have on board Intel graphics and it has always worked well until now.... Hulu is my main source of entertainment so if these problems are not addressed it is a show stopper for me.

[AK Dave]

Jaunty Beta w/ ext4 is fine.
My netbook (Mini-9) has it installed w/ encrypted home as such:
256mb /boot
2gb swap
8gb /
22gb /home

My experience with Hulu (esp fullscreen) is that choppiness has as much (or more) to do with bandwidth and buffering. Load the video fully and it plays better. Choppiness is commonplace with Hulu, and more obvious with fullscreen. So its not that you get choppy with fullscreen, but its always a little choppy and easier to spot with fullscreen.

[exploder]

My experience with Hulu (esp fullscreen) is that choppiness has as much (or more) to do with bandwidth and buffering. Load the video fully and it plays better. Choppiness is commonplace with Hulu, and more obvious with fullscreen. So its not that you get choppy with fullscreen, but its always a little choppy and easier to spot with fullscreen

Full screen flash playback with Hulu always worked fine before. I have a high speed internet connection so bandwidth is not a problem. I will check out a newer daily build and see if things have improved. Flash with Hulu looked out of sync, choppy and would bring Firefox almost to the point of crashing.

[exploder]

I installed Kubuntu Jaunty to see how KDE 4 was doing and to my surprise it is running very well! I have Flash installed and Hulu works in full screen! So far I like KDE 4, the eye candy is nice and KMail is a heck of a lot better than Evolution! There has been so much buzz lately about KDE 4.2.2 being stable that I just had to find out for myself, so far I have not had any problems. The 8.10 base gave me nothing but problems, I had to boot in recovery mode every time to get to the desktop. The 9.04 base seems better in every respect, faster boot, no crashes, (so far...) and the KDM fills the screen on my wide screen. This should make a solid base for Mint 7 KDE CE.

[AK Dave]

Thats good to hear, exploder. I'll give it a shot also.

I prefer KDE to Gnome, but dumped KDE until it could be brought stable. So now I'm used to Gnome again. My experience with Kubuntu-vs-Ubuntu is that Kubuntu was sluggish and slow by comparison, but Mint KDE (Daryna) was as fast or better than the Gnome version. So I chalked that up to Kubuntu not KDE.

The same "old workhorse" laptop currently running Jaunty-64 has a spare test partition sitting unused right now (last used for Daryna KDE, still functional but hasn't been touched for many months).

I have, thus far, plenty of good to say about Jaunty. I look forward to echoing that sentiment with K-aunty.

As for fullscreen flash and Hulu, it occurs to me that the switch to Xorg 1.6 and the resultant driver changes that imposed on a lot of people, combined with the fact that in Jaunty you're stuck with flash-nonfree instead of adobe-flash packages (the adobe version working much better), might not be the problem. I know for my "old workhorse", Jaunty means no suspend and no hibernate, because I'm stuck with radeonfb instead of fglrx for video. I've lost ACPI support, and my openGL support is down the tubes compared with fglrx. Hulu is choppy both windowed and fullscreen, but fullscreen makes it much more obvious. I pretty much can't stand to watch anything on Hulu other than cartoons, which is all I usually watch on Hulu anyways, but I also notice similar choppiness with Youtube (esp HD, esp fullscreen). Bandwidth (and buffering) are obviously additional factors. But I'm left with the conclusion that the problem is solvable and that the solution is probably in the pipeline already and will likely appear on or before the end of this month with Jaunty's full release.

[FedoraRefugee]

I'm glad to hear it also. It seems to me that, in an overall perspective, Linux in general has had a bad run for over a year now. I know Ubuntu has had problems and Fedora is being reworked. I believe this is just due to the many basic changes in the air and I think that things are going to get good again. By all accounts F11 Beta 1 is looking great too, so maybe we are heading into a new era of desktop Linux.

[mmesantos1]

Well I have run several sites with flash but have not had it crash Firefox. I will try hulu and see what I get. I do not use hulu often but I will report what i see from my end.