Ubuntu
ubiquity package

Can't boot 10.04-netbook from USB on eeePC

Asked by bobeaston

My eeePC 701 currently has eeebuntu-3.0 (9.04) installed on the HDD. My goal is to try 10.04 UNR from USB.

1) I used the Universal USB Unstaller to fetch ubuntu-10.04-netbook-i386.iso on a SanDisk Cruzer 2GB USB stick. Yes, I used the format option.
2) I went into BIOS setup on the eeePC 701 and
  a) made sure the USB device was recognized as a disk drive
  b) set the USB device to be the first boot drive.
3) On next boot, is boots the HDD installed eeebuntu-3.0.
4) Booting again and hittin ESC to select the boot device, I select the USB ... and it still boots eeebuntu-3.0 from the HDD.
5) I went back into the BIOS and disabled the HDD, leaving the USB as the only device.
6) It now asks for a bootable device ... doesn't recognize the image on the USB.

I have recreated the USB image several times with both the Universal USB installer and the Unetbootin installer.

No joy. Suggestions?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Did you MD5 test the ISO you downloaded?
Have you tested your RAM for errors?
Have you tested the USB for consistancy?

I suggest you manually download the img file yourself and MD5 test it so you know its good.

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bobeaston (bob-bob-easton) said : 		#2

There's an MD5 test built into the Universal USB installer and two different downloads (one manual, the other form the installer) pass that test.

RAM is clean. USB was freshly formatted, once via Windows and second via the Universal USB Installer, both of which I assume do consistencty checks as part of formatting.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

I suggest you try unetbooting with the manually downloaded ISO (MD5 tested of course).

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bobeaston (bob-bob-easton) said : 		#4

Did that already, as mentioned in the first posting. I used USB images created by both Universal USB Installer and by unetbootin.

Unetbootin has a built-in md5 check. I've done manual md5 checks as well. the iso is good.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#5

Good, not sure then. Maybe some boot options are needed:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

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bobeaston (bob-bob-easton) said : 		#6

Solved!

Seeing that the system couldn't find a bootable image on the USB, and knowing that the ISO was good, I went back to basics.

I used Windows to do a low level FAT format of the USB. The USB tools use a quick format, that apparently wasn't just right. A low level format plus an ISO install using Unetbootin produced a good bootable stick.

THANKS actionparsnip for your suggestions, While not a direct hit, they kept me trying other options.

Now, to see if 10.4 is worth the effort to upgrade...