Xubuntu

We’re preparing Xubuntu 13.10, the Saucy Salamander, for distribution in October 2013. With this early Alpha pre-release, you can see what we are trying out in preparation for our next version. We have some interesting things happening, so read on for highlights and information.

NOTE: This is an alpha pre-release. Xubuntu Pre-releases are NOT recommended for:

  • Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues
  • Anyone who needs a stable system
  • Anyone uncomfortable running a possibly frequently broken system
  • Anyone in a production environment with data or workflows that need to be reliable

Xubuntu Pre-releases ARE recommended for:

  • Regular users who want to help us test by finding, reporting, and/or fixing bugs
  • Xubuntu developers

Getting Xubuntu 13.10 Alpha 2

Download a Disk Image

Instructions for burning the image to a DVD or USB flash drive can be found on the Burning ISO Howto.

We recommend you learn how to check your image file so your pre-release is as it’s supposed to be. Compare your MD5 checksum with the correct ones found alongside the images.

Alpha 2 Highlights

Software Updates

  • Xubuntu is now shipping apt-offline in the default installation along with instructions on the documentation. This tools allows for easier access to package archives in bandwidth-constrained conditions as well as when a computer lacks an always-on connection to the Internet. Usage examples are part of the included documentation.

Infrastructure

Linux Kernel

The Alpha 2 Saucy Salamander snapshot includes the 3.9.0.7 Ubuntu Linux kernel which is based on the the upstream v3.9.7 Linux kernel.

Known Problems

Xubuntu Desktop

  • When you log out of the desktop, you can't access the settings and language menus for that user in the greeter. (1204486)

  • You can't add new users to the system with the Users and Groups GUI (users-admin). (1185396)

Installation

  • The desktop image installer cannot unlock existing encrypted (LUKS) volumes. If you need to make use of existing encrypted volumes during partitioning, then use the "Try Ubuntu without installing" boot option to start a live session, open the encrypted volumes (for example, by clicking on their icons in the Unity launcher), enter your password when prompted to unlock them, close them again, and run ubiquity to start the installer. (1066480)

  • ARM OMAP4 machines will sometimes boot to a black screen during installation. It's likely that the system has booted fine, but you will need to switch to another tty then back to tty7 (Ctrl+Alt+F1 and then Alt+F7) to get graphics. (1065902)

  • On a mac with an external display can not run in framebuffer mode error occurs on the 2nd reboot onwards. (1066883)

  • When using installer to upgrade or reinstall an existing installation with encrypted swap, the installer may fail to reuse the partition. A warning will be shown, however the installation can be completed. The installed system will not have swap activated and users are advised to recreate swap on their systems. Please see advice about adding and activating swap at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwapFaq (1172002)

  • Installs on very small memory systems may fail to start or exit without completing with no error. It is recommended that swap be created before install for such systems. Please see advice about adding and activating swap at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwapFaq (1172161)

  • In rare circumstances the 'Next' button on the installer 'Install Type' screen is non-functional. This is intermittent and may be resolved by hitting 'Back' and retrying. (1172572)

  • openvswitch based interfaces are not started in time during boot. (1084028)

Kernel

  • There are reports of non-functional HDMI audio on various machines, even with proprietary drivers. In some cases analog built-in audio is affected too. Typically the the audio device does not show up in sound settings at all. (1169984)

  • On some systems, when opening lid, there is a kerneloops with a suspend/resume failure message seen. (1054732)

Networking

  • In order to improve compatibility with other local nameserver packages, NetworkManager now assigns IP address 127.0.1.1 to the local nameserver process that it controls instead of 127.0.0.1. If the system's /etc/resolv.conf is absent or is a static file instead of the symbolic link to ../run/resolvconf/resolv.conf installed by default then this static file will have to be updated by the administrator in order to continue using the NetworkManager-controlled nameserver.

Feedback

Development of Xubuntu 13.10, the Saucy Salamander is ongoing and bugs are fixed every day. Before reporting bugs, please ensure your system is up to date. For verifying installation related bugs, updated disk images are available from Daily bootable images for standard PCs/laptops/netbooks.

Please feel free to contact us with feedback.

SaucySalamander/Alpha2/Xubuntu (last edited 2013-07-25 14:13:13 by skellat)