Installing Linux Lite 3.8 on eMMC flash memory

[pauloz]

Appreciate all the comments, I'll try Xubuntu 18.04 and maybe LL 4.0 Beta and report back. Most recently I used RUFUS to boot LL 3.8 to USB - this time it was recognised but still failed to boot. I'll output the results of my attempts. Many thanks for your time.

[firenice03]

which is leading me to believe 32-bit UEFI

I could be quite wrong, but 32bit UEFI seemed to be a specialty of Atom CPU devices (including my problematic Ideapad 100s) with 2GB or less RAM; devices with Celeron or Pentium labelled 64bit CPUs (which includes the N3350) with 4GB or more RAM seem to be normal 64bit UEFI nearly exclusively.


Normally I don't think you can even boot a 64bit only UEFI bootable medium from a 32bit UEFI BIOS, which fails to find the 32bit UEFI boot loader and ignores the medium.

Could be a specialty of Atom's dependant on age etc.. Usually one sees the 32-bit UEFI on tablets or those close in specs. You're correct 64-bit won't boot on 32-bit..
Most distro's if they support UEFI are 64-bit, hense why one needs to add the 32-bit boot file to allow UEFI to be reconized then install the 32-bit OS.. (If UEFI is the only option - no legacy)
Although I'm not 100% sure    - further googling or the link I provided for additional info on the 32-bit UEFI...

I understood that pauloz was able to at least boot LL3.8 from a USB stick, so his machine would appear to have Secure Boot disabled & Legacy BIOS support enabled?

I was under the assumption he had not.. 

I tried a live USB stick as well as the iso file burned on to a DVD to boot LL but in both cases, the devices were not recognised.

[WytWun]

which is leading me to believe 32-bit UEFI

I could be quite wrong, but 32bit UEFI seemed to be a specialty of Atom CPU devices (including my problematic Ideapad 100s) with 2GB or less RAM; devices with Celeron or Pentium labelled 64bit CPUs (which includes the N3350) with 4GB or more RAM seem to be normal 64bit UEFI nearly exclusively.

Normally I don't think you can even boot a 64bit only UEFI bootable medium from a 32bit UEFI BIOS, which fails to find the 32bit UEFI boot loader and ignores the medium.

I understood that pauloz was able to at least boot LL3.8 from a USB stick, so his machine would appear to have Secure Boot disabled & Legacy BIOS support enabled?

[firenice03]

2 things you need to look for within the BIOS..
SecureBoot - This needs disabled as the PC won't boot off any other drive...
UEFI/Legacy - UEFI needs disabled or Legacy enabled as LL will not install in UEFI mode.


Something else, if you have booted to back into Windows10 - disable FastBoot/Fast Start Up, this hibernates the W10 OS locking the drive, LL can't write to it during install. Since you moved W10 to the SSD it may not be an issue.
https://lifehacker.com/enable-this-setting-to-make-windows-10-boot-up-faster-1743697169


There's not much info on you laptop and could be minimal type build... Perhaps not having the additional Legacy BIOS option.. (Look thoroughly)
Therefore a UEFI only.. 
Is Win10 64-bit or 32-bit?


From the Mint site looks like same issues continue https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=267691
I believe Mint has an UEFI installer option for 64-bit OS's - which is leading me to believe 32-bit UEFI


If its a 32-bit UEFI its a bit of a hybrid of sorts and not the "standard" - you can find some tips/tricks here:
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/installing-linux-lite/install-linux-lite-on-dell-laptop-fails/

[WytWun]

I recently purchased a budget laptop for my personal studies only. It’s an Ollee ML130S 13.3" laptop with Intel Apollo Lake Celeron N3350, 32GB eMMC flash memory and 4GB RAM. It came with Windows 10 Home, which I need for both apps.

I suspect that your problem trying to install LL3.8 on this system is down to the kernel version on the LL installation media being too old to include the necessary drivers for these devices.  To evaluate this, you might want to try downloading the just released Xubuntu 18.04 live ISO and putting that on a USB flash drive to see whether it can detect the eMMC drive (any of the *buntu 18.04 live ISOs would do for testing but Xubuntu would be the closest to LL in feel).  If this works, LL 4 is anticipated being released in a couple of months time which would have the same kernel and thus device support.

As background, I have installed Xubuntu 16.04 on a machine with similar flash memory (though an Atom CPU and 2GB of RAM) using a specially compiled kernel installed into the installation media, and this setup had no trouble with the eMMC flash drive.  The special kernel version (and installation media!) was required to support the machine's WiFi chipset and audio drivers (though I don't think audio fully worked until an even later kernel) and the fact that the machine had a 32bit UEFI only BIOS   .

[justme2]

I don't have a definitive answer for you, but I have a netbook with only 8GB flash memory (soldered to the motherboard) with LL3.8 successfulled installed. Windows was never installed and I don't think EFI existed. Can legacy bios be enabled at all? Is it not possible to delete the EFI partition and reformat? This suggests you can https://www.easeus.com/partition-master/delete-efi-system-partition.html but I have no way of trying it. I never fully understood UEFI anyway!

EDIT: The specs indicate the presence of a micro-SD card reader slot. would it be possible to install LL3.8 to a 32GB class 10 SDHC and boot from it? I guess legacy bios would need to be enabled though. If that works you would have access to LL, leaving windows unaffected and ignoring the 32GB eMMC drive.

I don't understand why manufacturers build in such small drives for win10, when after a windows update it becomes full!

[pauloz]

With the lack of response, can I safely assume that installing LL is not possible? I am aware of programs e.g Easeus, Macrium that can move partitions to other drives but after reading as much as is possible on the subject, I believe the Recovery and EFI System partitions for Windows 10 on the eMMC drive (Disk 1) can not be moved, nor deleted no matter what is thrown at them

[pauloz]

I recently purchased a budget laptop for my personal studies only. It’s an Ollee ML130S 13.3" laptop with Intel Apollo Lake Celeron N3350, 32GB eMMC flash memory and 4GB RAM. It came with Windows 10 Home, which I need for both apps.
My problem is the 32GB “drive” rapidly got full, so I decided to install a 128GB 2242 M.2 SSD, which it has provision for. I managed to transfer Windows 10 over to this SSD and so far so good, except I don’t have any audio – no solution as yet found. However, that’s not what I’m here for.
I deleted the partition on the eMMC (now unallocated space) and would like to install LL on the eMMC and use that for browsing, emails etc.
After reading the little information on the internet about these eMMC devices, it appears they are a handful to try and boot into, probably because they are soldered to the motherboard? I tried a live USB stick as well as the iso file burned on to a DVD to boot LL but in both cases, the devices were not recognised. There are diverse comments about how to change BIOS settings therefore I’m not confident how to proceed. The other issue is the BIOS information is different to what I’m accustomed to e.g under Chipset, four subheadings are mentioned I.e “North Bridge”, “South Bridge”, “Uncore Configuration” and “South Cluster Configuration”.

The Recovery and EFI System partitions for Windows 10 are still on the eMMC drive (Disk 1) and Windows 10 is installed on the SSD (Disk 0). These partitions can not be moved or deleted from the eMMC drive and I want to install LL on the Unallocated partition of the eMMC drive. I tried attaching a JPG file of Disk Management in Windows 10 but it appears that's not possible. Appreciate any help.