I've been installing kubuntu 7.10 on some machines in Australia recently. This is annoying at the moment because it seems the Aus mirror is down. This causes the install the freeze for a long time "scanning the mirror". It seems that I'm not the first to have a problem like this (see bugs #162865 #95335 and even #103825).
There are two problems here:
i) the mirror is failing (this is what is reported in the bugs listed above),
ii) There is no nice fallback from i) (This is what I'm reporting in this bug).
The particular fallback that springs to mind is being able to select the mirror to install from in the installer. At the moment the mirror is selected automatically from your location, and this isn't always the best choice.
There are two current work-arounds:
i) Unplug the network while installing. This causes the installer to use the CD by itself. You can then plug in the network, switch mirrors, and update on the first boot. This seems messy.
ii) I could probably use the Alternate install CD. This works ok for me (although I'd prefer a nice option in the gui installer), but is awful for other people in Aus I'm trying to encourage to use Kubunutu.
What I would like to see: The install works as it currently does. However, if the mirror doesn't respond, or responds very slowly, then a dialog is displayed (much like the one in Adept) that allows the user to choose another mirror (hopefully starting with the ones in the user's country).
Be well,
Will :-}
8.04 should be much better in terms of delays. I agree that there is some call for a little more control here, although definitely optional.