Fix the boot of a linux disk

Hello,

Not sure this will help you in this case, but I found this about Ventoy. It installs on the USB drive and then you just copy the ISOs, depending on the capacity of the drive, and at restart, it offers you the different ISOs copied on it. I found it really handy not to have to restart the PC every time, burn a new ISO, etc.

Hello,

You need to approach the problem from the beginning. What did you use to create this key? It's probably at that point that something went wrong.

Making a new key from scratch properly seems simpler to me than trying to "fix" this one.

Regards.

Hello T3chN0g3n.

Thank you for your response. I created the installation key using Rufus. There aren't many settings to adjust. You choose the ISO file, Rufus takes care of everything, and all that's left is to click the button to create the key. I've downloaded several distributions. Every time I attempted an installation, I had the same result. I even tried using Yumi to create the installation key... still the same result.

On the Linux forum, the person who gave me the instructions hinted that the problem was with the hard drive and not with the installation key. I think the problem does come from the boot sector of the hard drive. I checked it with CrystalDiskInfo, and it tells me it's OK.

I tried again by changing the key and checking "Add compatibility options for older Bios" in Rufus. When booting from the key to attempt the installation, the message was different. Instead of "error: unknown filesystem," I received "error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found," and the installation did not proceed.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can find a solution and to those who tried to help me.

,

Hello

I want to install a lightweight Linux distribution on an old computer...

And was this PC functional?

How old is the HDD?

Hello,

Rufus (therefore Windows) is not the preferred tool for creating a bootable Linux USB drive.

However, it seems that it needs to be created in MBR FAT32.

https://lecrabeinfo.net/creer-cle-usb-installation-bootable-live-cd-linux-ubuntu-debian.html

Hello,

If I understood correctly, it’s when you boot from your USB stick that you get this message.

If that's the case, it has nothing to do with the PC's hard drive; you can even boot on a PC that doesn't have a hard drive! It’s either the USB stick that has a problem or you are booting from this stick in the wrong mode.

Go to the boot menu by pressing the key that allows you to access it (usually it is briefly displayed on the screen at the moment of powering on).

You will see a list of bootable devices among which you will find 2 lines corresponding to your USB stick. One with the mention UEFI in the name and the other with the same name but without mention. You need to choose the line with the UEFI mention if your PC boots in UEFI, and the other if it boots in legacy BIOS mode.

Given the message displayed, the reference to grub seems to indicate that you are booting from your USB stick in UEFI mode (because it’s syslinux and not grub that handles booting in BIOS mode), so try to boot your stick in BIOS mode. You mentioned that the PC is old, so that would be consistent.

Hello everyone and thank you for your information.

The PC is functional. It booted perfectly under Windows XP. Since it's no longer supported, I want to switch it to Linux so I can continue to use it occasionally.

I will make a new USB drive from a computer running Linux. The problem is that current computers are 64-bit and tend to create USB drives for this type of computer and not for 32-bit BIOS.

Regarding Rufus, which works on Windows but also on Mac and Linux, even Ubuntu offers it on its site to create an installation USB drive.

I will check the BIOS, create a new USB drive, and attempt a new installation. I will keep you updated on the result. Thank you all.

Hello,

I don't think the error is related to the architecture of the microprocessor because I believe you would get another error message if that were really the problem. That said, jns55 is right, if your microprocessor only supports 32-bit, make sure to install a 32-bit distribution (x86). Otherwise, install a 64-bit distribution (amd64).

In your case, the error seems to indicate that grub is not installed correctly (some grub modules are not found). A boot menu like Grub is necessary to launch Linux. It relies on a number of modules. Under Linux, it's /boot that contains them. If the partition that contains /boot was incorrectly referenced when deploying grub, that could explain your problem. In your case, /boot should be on your USB stick. Generally, /boot is just a folder of /, so it resides in the / partition, but some install /boot in a dedicated partition (this is decided at the time of partitioning).

Moreover, some things seem strange to me. Let's assume that /dev/sda is your hard drive (which contains, let's say, Windows) and that your USB stick is /dev/sdb (which contains your Linux live). At the time of installing GRUB, it references (depending on how it is configured in /etc/default/grub) the system(s) on /dev/sda and /dev/sdb. However, GRUB requires that all referenced systems be accessible. So if by misfortune you install GRUB on /dev/sda and it references Windows and Linux, but the USB stick containing Linux is not plugged in, then grub will fail. In this example, it should be installed on /dev/sdb.

To avoid this problem, you need to install GRUB on the header of the USB stick and only reference the Linux system on the USB stick (default behavior, defined in /etc/default/grub).

• If you have enough USB ports and USB sticks, one strategy could be to prepare one USB stick to install Linux, and use the second USB stick as a "hard drive" (which leads back to a classic installation where there is no need to use rufus or unetbootin).
• If you only have one USB stick or one USB port, you need to use a tool like rufus or unetbootin. If you're a beginner, it would be ideal to follow a tutorial that explains how to prepare a live CD and ensure that you do not "pollute" your hard drive.

Good luck

Hello.

To respond to Quentin2121, I went to the Unetbootin website. Nowhere does it specify that it is specifically designed for Linux. It also creates USB drives for Windows or Mac. The main difference between it and Rufus or Tiny is that there is no portable version. Therefore, you have to install it and then uninstall it after creating the USB drive since you don't create them every day. But why not...

To respond to jns55, I downloaded the 32-bit versions of AntiX, Q4os, Void, Puppy, and Emmabuntus. I tried them from two different USB drives and I always get the same result, with a variation sometimes on the third line. Instead of "error: unknown filesystem", I get "error: file ‘/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod’ not found"

I admit I don't know what else to try. On a help site dedicated to Linux Mint, I posted my problem. In response, I was simply told that generally, it means the boot sector is poorly or not installed. Two command lines followed that I suppose are supposed to solve the problem:

sudo update-grub
sudo grub-install /dev/sda

With the note: (if booting from /dev/sda)

They just forgot to mention where I should type these command lines. Certainly not from the USB drive since I have no access to anything.

If anyone has any ideas, I’m all ears. In any case, thank you for your help and have a nice day.

Change your USB key, it's probably the one that's faulty.

In my opinion, Unetbootin should be avoided as this program has not been maintained for several years (https://github.com/unetbootin/unetbootin).

Balena Etcher or Rufus do the job perfectly.

Hello.

While reading the comment from repiere, I imagined it would be wonderful to create a USB key containing the ISO images of several Linux distributions, to boot from such a key, to test the distributions, and to install the one that suits us best. Unfortunately, it was just a dream.

The key can be easily created except that the version of Ventoy that was suggested to me and that I was able to download from another computer, was only offered to boot in EFI. I don't know if there is a version that would boot in MBR but in any case, I can't do anything with the Ventoy key on the old computer.

Thank you nonetheless for the info and have a nice day.

Hello jns55

The computer is from 2007. Although the UEFI is a bit earlier, I can certify that it works with a 32-bit BIOS and a 32-bit Intel processor. As for the BIOS, there's hardly anything we can modify except the date and the boot order.

I keep looking, and I will eventually find something.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Hello.

To respond to repierre and mamiemando, when I attempt to install a distribution, I do it using 3 different USB drives. Additionally, Rufus offers to mark potentially faulty sectors during the creation of the USB drive so as not to use them. It also proposes to verify the result obtained after the creation of the USB drive. It's longer but safer.

To respond to jns55, as mentioned in a previous message, I downloaded the ISOs of 5 distributions that are all in 32 bits.

Thank you for looking for solutions to my problem and have a good day.

Hello mamiemando.

After many attempts with several USB drives, multiple distributions, and various key creation software, I managed to install Lubuntu on the computer.

During one attempt, I got a boot menu that was different from the previous ones. It offered me more options to boot. After some thought, I wondered if my problem was coming from the BIOS rather than the USB drive. The BIOS was configured to boot first from the hard drive and then from the USB drive. Just to remind you, the hard drive didn't even have a partition. Logically, the booting should have happened solely from the one bootable drive: the USB drive.

This morning, I tried reversing the boot order and Miracle!!! the installation began. By noon, Lubuntu was installed and configured.

I've been trying to install Linux on this computer for nearly two months, without success. I always hit the same wall without being able to install anything. I had researched on 4 forums and on the internet without finding any answers.

Not being able to install Linux wasn't a big deal in itself; what I wanted was to understand. The problem is solved and thank you for being concerned about it.

Have a great day.

Hello mamiemando.

I don't have the RESOLVED button, so I can't mark the topic as such.

Have a nice day