Ubuntu

live cd will not load on t23 thinkpad

Asked by otto_a

I am currently running a t23 thinkpad duel boot windows xp and suse 9.1.
i am trying to switch to ubuntu but the live cd will not load. it hangs an a black screen for a few moments then skips to my suse grub loader and the system boots up as it normally would.
i have already switched to ubuntu on my desktop without any issues and would like to make the switch on my laptop as well. any ideas what may be going on?

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Vassilis Pandis
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Vassilis Pandis (pandisv) said : 		#1

Can you please provide more information as to where exactly in the bootup process the system hangs? Do you even get to the boot menu (where it asks you if you want to start/install Ubuntu, check cd for defects etc. ) ? Are you sure the CD has been burned correctly? Try the "Check CD for defects" option in the boot menu. If not even this works, try burning the CD again at a lower speed (try 4x to make sure).

Before burning it, make sure the ISO you have downloaded is not corrupt, by following the instructions at http://wiki.ubuntu.com/VerifyIsoHowto (or http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/answers/LQ_ISO/Checking_the_md5sum_in_Windows if you want to do it through Windows. )

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otto_a (verden-ns) said : 		#2

i don't get the option to start/install. the cd is a ubuntu live distrobution. installed fine on my desktop.

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Vassilis Pandis (pandisv) said : 		#3

I was referring to the bootup screen. When you insert the CD, before getting to your desktop you get to a menu (just after the CD boots) that lists various options.

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otto_a (verden-ns) said : 		#4

no. i get nothing it goes straight from my boot device list to a black screen. then to my blue suse screen where i pick which os i want to load.

i get no ubunu options at all. i can not browse the cd at all in linux or windows.
i got the disc from ubuntu through the mail.
like i said. i have already made the move to ubuntu on my desktop. so far it has performed no less than perfect.
the only problem i have is on my laptop getting the ubuntu live to load so i can install.
the cd never boots.
i did check my drive with my suse disc to make sure it was booting and it did with no issue.

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otto_a (verden-ns) said : 		#5

the only thing i can think that may be causing it is not enough ram. i have 256 installed but in bios only 254 shows up.. that small of a difference wouldn't keep it from booting would it?

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Vassilis Pandis (pandisv) said : 		#6

If you can't browse the CD through Linux/Windows, then it's likely to be damaged. Sometimes this happens even with Shipit CDs. Try reordering or downloading the ISO and burning it to a cd (preferably at a low speed).

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otto_a (verden-ns) said : 		#7

i should have mentioned i can browse the cd on my desktop. also, i got five discs in the mail and have the same result from all five only on my laptop.
i've considered making a boot floppy and going from there. at this point it's not a real big issue switching over on my laptop as i can still run suse and windows xp.
i will try a downloaded iso just for the process of elimination. by the way, thanks for the help thus far.

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otto_a (verden-ns) said : 		#8

i'm giving up on this for now. i will close this request.

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organic brian (organic-brian) said : 		#9

I had similar trouble running any Ubuntu / Kubuntu / Xubuntu CD on my T23. I added more RAM (it had only 256 installed) which didn't help much. At times I got to the live CD desktop, but the system crapped out when either running the CD verification check or installing. It turned out, I had burned the CD at too high a speed. When I tried some CD's that I had burned but selecting 8x as the write speed, they always worked flawlessly. The DVD-ROM drive I have installed in the T23 just didn't read the discs as well as my other computer which has a much newer drive.

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Dom Ostrowski (dom-gglz) said : 		#10

Very similar problems to above descriptions, but I had 512mb ram throughout.

1. I had to use smartboot (via a usb floppy) to get going on the t23.
2. I had a cdrw that I had burned the iso to on another machine (and then used that cdrw to install to that machine successfully).
3. This cdrw would start the live distro on my t23, but only if I used my dvd drive, but *not* my 8x dvd drive.
4. If I selected hdd install immediately rather than live distro, this would fail immediately with cd unreadable.
5. If I booted the live distro, then attempted a hdd install, it would bomb out on the hdd install part-way through, always at the same point during copying data.
6. I burnt a new cdrw - identical behaviour.
7. I burnt a cdr, this too would bomb out with cd unreadable if I attempted a hdd install directly - *however* if live distro was first booted, followed by a hdd install, this was successful. (also identical problem of not reading from 8x dvd, must use slower drive).

I did not try a lower burn rate for creating cdrw's/cdr's.

I initially put the above behaviour down to physical differences between the drive used to burn and the t23 drive - however the oddly consistent pattern of failure suggests a hardware timing issue.

Recommendation - try different combinations of slower hardware/burns/reads, and boot the live distro before trying a hdd install.