Issues with Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Upgrades

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat has been released. The popular Linux based operating system adds a couple of new features from its previous release known as Ununtu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. The Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat release is an interim 6 month release from the previous long term release of Lucid Lynx. Lucid Lynx offers a more stable operating system and should integrate well with more personal computer hardware. Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat brings more "cutting edge" features to your computer, and may have issues that need to be resolved.

The Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat upgrade process should go smoothly for most computer. You can upgrade directly from Ubuntu 10.04 to Ubuntu 10.10 if you have a fast internet connection using the upgrade manager. If you want to upgrade simply go to "System --> Administration --> Update Manager." Then select setting and make sure the "Normal Releases" is selected under the "ReleaseUpgrade" tab. Once back at the main update window, select the "Check" button once more, and you will be given the chance to upgrade to the latest version of Ubuntu 10.10 Marverick Meerkat.

If you use this upgrade method, be prepared for the download of the new files to take a while. Once the files are downloaded then it will take a little longer for the system to install the Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat files. It all depends on how fast your Internet and computer processor can crunch the new files and information being saved onto your hard drive.

Reasons why Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Update Fails
There are some caveats you should be aware of when updating from Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx to Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. Every new software release has its share of problems and despite the effort of thousands of programmers across the world, bugs and issues are still prevalent in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. Here is a listing of just a few that you should be aware of:

Older Nvidia Cards (Nvidia-96) do not work with Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat...Yet
The X server that runs the graphical interface in Ubuntu 10.10 runs version 1.9. Nvidia has yet to issue an update to drivers for the older set of video cards for the new X server. An update has been sent for Nvidia-173, and Nvidia developers have stated the new drivers for the Nvidia 96 cards are in development. If you are using an older Nvidia video card, then you may want to hold off doing the upgrade until the new drivers are released. Here are some of the cards that still use this older driver: GeForce 6800 Ultra, GeForce 6800, GeForce 6800 XE, Quadro4 580 XGL, Quadro NVS with AGP8X, Quadro4 380 XGL, Quadro NVS 50 PCI, GeForce2 Integrated GPU, GeForce 7300 LE, Quadro NVS 110M.

These are just a few of the cards that run Nvidia-96 drivers. It is a little bit of a shame that there could not be better coordination between vendors that provide drivers for hardware. But this is what you get when dealing with closed source operators like Nvidia.

Some Wubi Installs do not work with Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.
If you are using Ubuntu on Windows as a Wubi application, then you may find that the install fails if you are using Wubi on a different partition than then Windows partition. You may also have problems with the Wubi installer not being able to open the Windows boot configuration storage files.

Hibernation May not work with automatic partitioning
Hibernation is still a problem for many computer systems in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. It works with most new hardware. One reason it failes is that the automatic partitioner does not calculate the correct amount of swap space needed for hibernation during the install.

EXT4 file systems may be slower.
There have been reports that systems running ext4 may be slower in the latest release of Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. If you decide to upgrade to 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, and wrk in a live production environment, then you should consider running benchmarks on a test system to see if there will be slower performance under the new Ubuntu release.