Trouble installing Linux Lite on a Windows XP computer, 32 bit

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Welcome to Linux Lite. I'm glad you were able to get your installation issues resolved! As for myself, I'm about to start work installing an Windows 7/XP/LL triple boot on an on old Sony VAIO laptop that I expanded to 1 GB RAM, its maximum. It uses USB 1.1, and the BIOS does not support booting from USB without Plop Boot Manager. This should be an interesting project!

I hope to set it up to work with an HP LaserJet 3100 printer, which only works on XP or below. It's one of the few HP printers that is NOT supported by HPLIP...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[AZ]

Thanks for the welcome bitsnpcs.

AZ

[bitsnpcs]

Hello AZ,

Welcome to the forum and LL community.

[AZ]

Thanks you very much gold_finger. After I installed LL alongside Windows, I no longer had any problems. LL boots up in it's normal mode. I did not have to install any drivers. I did the updates and everything seems to be working fine. Thanks again.

AZ

[gold_finger]

Update: I can now boot up LL in the safe mode using my DVD. I haven't tried installing LL on my computer yet, as I just wanted to try LL before I try installing it. I still do not know why it will not boot up in the normal mode, I just get a black blank screen when trying to boot up in the normal mode.

It looks like it just needs an Nvidia driver installed to solve the blank screen boot problem, so everything should be fine after installing LL and running the "Install Drivers" program.

Assuming that Windows is currently using the entire hard drive, the best way to proceed would be:

1.  Boot into Windows and defragment the hard drive.

2.  Go to Windows Disk Management and make a note of how much space is "used" and "unused" on the drive.  Eg.  Your "C: drive" partition may take up 100GB on the hard drive, but Windows files have only used 50GB of the available space.  That would mean that you have 50GB space not used that can be used for Linux.  In situation like that, best NOT to use all of the available space -- better to leave room for Windows to expand -- so you might want to use only 30-35GB of that for Linux.

3.  Reboot computer with live LL DVD/USB and run the installer.

4.  Follow instructions shown in Help Manual for installing "Alongside" Windows.  That will bring you to a screen where you can tell installer how much room to dedicate to Linux.  Keep in mind what you learned above when setting the amount of space for LL.

5.  Finish installation, reboot into your installed Linux Lite.  (When you boot computer you will now have a "grub" menu showing the choice to boot into either Windows or Linux.)  You might need to boot in "Safe mode" / "Compatibility mode" still, which is fine for now.

6.  In LL, go to Menu -> Install Updates to update the system first.  During that process you will be asked at some point whether to replace a couple of configuration files on the system with new ones.  Answer "NO" to those questions -- you do not want to replace those.

7.  After installing updates is complete, go to Menu -> Settings -> Install Drivers.  Program will take some time to evaluate your computer before showing any drivers available for installation.  Then it should show you one or more Nvidia drivers to choose from.  Pick the one shown as "Recommended" and install it.  That will take a number of minutes to complete, so be patient.

8.  After Nvidia driver installed, reboot computer to have it take effect and you should be able to boot normally now.

If you still have any problem booting after that, post details of exactly what happens at which stage in boot process to best of your ability.  Chances are very good that the problem will be easily fixable with a minor tweak to boot options, so don't give up.

[AZ]

Update: I can now boot up LL in the safe mode using my DVD. I haven't tried installing LL on my computer yet, as I just wanted to try LL before I try installing it. I still do not know why it will not boot up in the normal mode, I just get a black blank screen when trying to boot up in the normal mode.

[AZ]

I've already tried two different DVD's  that I made of LL. When I pressed enter after it started counting down and I pressed "start Linux Lite" I still got a black blank screen with a small white window inside of it. The help manual told me to hold down the "shift key" while booting and I should get a window that is not blank where I would need to make a selection. However, I don't get this window, I still just get a blank black window. I cannot boot to the desktop. Any ideas. Thanks. Below are the specs on my computer:
Operating System
   Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3
CPU
   AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+   35 °C
   Windsor 90nm Technology
RAM
   2.00GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 200MHz (4-4-4-12)
Motherboard
   ASUSTek Computer INC. NODUSM3 (Socket AM2 )   40 °C
Graphics
   SyncMaster (1024x768@60Hz)
   NVIDIA video (HP)
Storage
   232GB Western Digital WDC WD2500JS-60NCB1 (SATA)   42 °C
Optical Drives
   TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H652L
Audio
   Realtek High Definition Audio

[sonic]

They are two different operating systems so there is no problem. Windows XP will not be affected. You can install graphics drivers from inside Linux Lite after the installation. If you don't get to the desktop after booting from the CD you can't do this.

First of all try and burn the ISO again or check its consistency. Also (that's my opinion) when you see the countdown press Enter and the menu will show up to make a choice. Just press Enter again to "Start Linux Lite".

[AZ]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the link to the help manual. I've looked at the section regarding black screen when booting. It looks like my problem may be I need to install the correct graphics drivers. I would like to use my XP computer has a dual boot system, XP & LL. If I install the correct graphics driver for LL will I still be able to use my computer as a windows computer or would I need to reinstall the graphics drivers for XP? Thanks.

AZ

[gold_finger]

If Scott(0)'s info doesn't do the trick, post back with exact model of your computer, type of CPU in it, type of Graphics card it has and how much RAM you have installed?  If you have general idea of how old computer is, tell us that too.

If not sure how to find that info, try using this program in Windows:  https://www.piriform.com/speccy.

[Scott]

Hi AZ,

Welcome to Linux Lite.

Take a look at the LL Help Manual here

(http://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/hardware.html#booting)

This is the section on Booting Issues - Black screen while trying to boot.

~Scott

[AZ]

I downloaded Linux Lite from the website "www.linuxliteos.com". I burned the OS onto a DVD using Sonic. After trying to boot up using the DVD, I get  Linux Lite on the screen and its says it will automatically boot and it counts down from 10 seconds to 1 second and then I get a blank black screen with a white window inside of the black screen. I cannot get past this point. Any ideas what the problem may be. Thanks.