[ SOLVED ] Trouble installing LL 6.6 on 64 bit laptop

[JanetBiggar]

I’m going to mark this as SOLVED as I feel the now shorter steps the end user will need to do are very workable AND it allows me to have an accessible LL 6.6 OSZ on this laptop which was my goal.

My guess is that it is an mSATA drive, but this is only based on the boot option list giving it as an option so I could be wrong.

I do seem to remember having a similar problem with the initial loading of LL 5.0, however I really can’t say what I unknowingly did to then make it work…very likely I did switch it to legacy mode.

I’m going to quit while I’m ahead as I’m pleased with this end point albeit not perfect.

[stevef]

I hope it goes ok for the end user.  I have a dual boot machine which necessitates pressing a few keys to get it booted.  At first it seems a bit awkward, but soon it becomes automatic.

Just a couple of things about your last post.

Is the SSD an mSATA device?
The note in workaround 1.1.2 seems to imply that the first workaround 1.1.1 (Customized Boot) does not work. it would help us if it give details, but it says

If you are trying to boot on a the mSATA port (m.2 SSD), this is the only working method.

Don't know how 5.x might be different to 6.x.
I thought your initial post suggested that there were problems with 5.x on this laptop a couple of years ago as well though you couldn't recall the specific fix.  The fact that you got 5.x working on this machine suggests either your Elitebook UEFI is not preset to only to boot Windows or what you did with 5.x solved the problem a different way.

Edit - Having thought about this a bit more, if 5.x was installed in legacy mode, it might be that when the laptop UEFI emulates BIOS it can't enforce the boot restrictions which it appears to be doing in UEFI mode. If this is the case, a new install of 6.x under legacy mode might be made to work albeit at the expense of the restrictions involved in using BIOS/MBR.

I think the lesson is to be prepared for a challenge when putting Linux on some models of HP Business Class laptops.

[JanetBiggar]

I appreciate your sleuthing Steve. Interesting article.

I probably don’t know enough to have done it properly, but I gave it a try and put custom boot first and added the exact same path it gave at the link as in one of my screen shots it was the grubx64.efi that I chose at the end previously so simply typed that in when it asked for the custom boot name.

It still didn’t boot into the LL 6.6 OS and when I clicked on F9 boot options I believe it went up one more choice for boot options than last time.

I’ve made a short video for a student who would use this laptop so I will leave it at that for now.

What still doesn’t make sense is that it booted into LL 5.0 without any problem in the past…

[stevef]

After a bit of digging around, found this article
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/HP_EliteBook_840_G1

Though the article is about ArchLinux, it states

Even if UEFI, Arch Linux and (e.g.) GRUB are correctly configured and with the correct UEFI NVRAM variables set, the system will not boot from the HDD/SSD. The problem is that HP hard coded the paths for the OS boot manager in their UEFI boot manager to \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi to boot Microsoft Windows, regardless of how the UEFI NVRAM variables are changed

If correct and your hardware is an Elitebook 840 or has similar UEFI (it has 'Customized Boot' listed in the screenshots) it may be worth looking at the workarounds in the article.

[stevef]

OK, I guessing a bit here, but it seems the boot choices you are offered are aligned to the checked Boot options.
It is not clear which boot option equates to 'ubuntu' nor can I see a way to get the UEFI to 'remember' to boot ubuntu each time.

If I understand correctly, you currently have these checked Boot Options
1 USB device boot
2 mSATA Drive boot
3 HP Application

And get offered these choices to boot from
1 Notebook mSATA Drive (UEFI)
2 Boot from EFI file
3 ubuntu

I'm assuming there is no Live Media connected. 

In your situation, I'd be tempted to experiment a bit more.  Uncheck 'mSATA Drive boot' and 'HP Application' like you did with the Network and custom options. Leave USB device boot checked.  Save, reboot and see what happens. If the choices you are presented with change it may help narrow things down further.

If the system won't boot, go back to the options put a check mark against 'mSATA Drive boot' then save and retry.
If the system won't boot then, go back and remove the check from 'mSATA Drive boot' and put one against 'HP Application', then save and retry.

The aim being to remove options leaving only 'USB device' and the one that equates to 'ubuntu'

[JanetBiggar]

So I went in and did what you suggested and now I’m down to only three choices once I click on F9 boot options (see last pic in the link below) one of them being “ubuntu”. Like previously clicking on this it then boots into LL 6.6

Interestingly the PXE Internal NIC boot is greyed out (and checked) so not sure what I need to change to allow that option to be UNCHECKED…

Nonetheless, I unchecked sd car, floppy plus the 2 Network Ethernet IPVs and also custom boot.

I took pics of the screen so you could see the items listed.

https://imgur.com/a/9MlISlr

[stevef]

That's a bit better but it isn't really solved.

The suggestion to move USB Generic device up the list was because I wasn't sure if your system would consider your Live Media device as a USB HD or a USB Generic device.  If the Live Media booted with only USB HD promoted up the list, then no need to promote USB Generic.

I'd hope there will be something in the UEFI Boot Option settings that will avoid the need to go through the boot options screen at all.  We are looking to reduce the choices to just one.

I'd suggest going into UEFI set up and unchecking the following in Boot Options
PXE Internal NIC Boot
You can also uncheck
SD Card Boot
Floppy Boot

Then try booting to see if Notebook Ethernet IP options have been removed from the choices list.
If they have, then it is a bit more progress and suggests you are on the right track.

Your screenshot suggests there may be other choices which can be selected/deselected.  Is there anything below 'HP Applications' ?

[JanetBiggar]

Good clear directions, thanks.

So prior to seeing your most recent suggestion I decided to try reinstalling and I did the three items you suggested:
Boot mode UEFI native (without CSM)
Secure boot OFF (I also UNCHECKED fast boot as it seems that might also affect what devices would be accessible in booting)
Placed USB HD first, BUT DID NOT put generic USB next on the list.

*would having NOT moved the generic USB second on the list cause it to not reboot normally?


RESULTS:
The install went fine, I shut it down and rebooted and while it did NOT give the error message it went straight to the flashing blue circle HP logo with the option to hit the esc key to enter BIOS.

I hit the F9 key for boot options and the ONLY thing that was different is that the boot options (in the previous posted images had a fifth option of ubuntu after the other four:
Notebook mSATA Drive (UEFI)
Notebook Ethernet IPV4
Notebook Ethernet IPV6
Boot from EFI File
ubuntu

I clicked on ubuntu which then allowed LL 6.6 to load.

At least it requires fewer steps than what I posted earlier so this makes it a bit smoother for a student.

UNLESS moving the generic USB UP the list might prove to be a significant factor I think I will leave it as is and manage since I have already done the updates.

I’m a bit unsure if I should mark this solved in case someone comes up with the perfect fix…however I’m content to do so if that is best.

[stevef]

If I've understood your posts correctly, you've tried booting in both Legacy and UEFI Native modes.
One of these should have worked so I think something has got mixed up along the line.

In your position, I would start afresh.  Use a different SSD/HDD if you want, but it doesn't matter.
Boot the machine and enter set up straight away.

Ensure the following are set

Boot mode - UEFI Native (without CSM)
SecureBoot - unchecked
UEFI boot order adjusted to put USB Hard Drive and Generic USB devices above netbook mSATA Drive

Save the settings and reboot with the Live Media and install Linux Lite.

If there is still a problem let us know.

[JanetBiggar]

Okay thanks for the clarification/confirmation Steve. I may see if it would be easy enough to switch out the SSD/HDD with another one and try a new install setting things as you indicated. I’m guessing I’d set it to UEFI native (?) plus the other things you mentioned.

[stevef]

As I read it, the manual suggests the UEFI settings should be set before installation, so that's why I suggested it.
Assuming a fairly current machine with UEFI, the manual recommends setting Secure Boot - off, UEFI mode - on and the boot order set for USB/DVD drive before hard disk.

All done before the install.

I'm guessing what may be behind the problem, but as described, the symptom of having installed in BIOS legacy mode and then the machine failing to boot despite having the files on the disk suggests there is a problem with the laptop UEFI/BIOS settings pointing to the right process to start Linux and requiring intervention to get grub involved..

I don't have a wide range of hardware to experiment with and I may just have been lucky but I've not had many install problems and those I did have were self inflicted.

I have read that some HP Business class laptops originally built with Windows may have enhanced pre-boot and boot-up protection - but nothing that should prevent installing Linux if the measures are turned off.

[JanetBiggar]

Thanks for your thoughts Steve. When I next turn this laptop on I will check to see if UEFI is enabled.

I am a bit confused though as I had no problems installing the LL 6.6 on the laptop and I can tell it IS on the drive. The issue is that it simply isn’t booting up directly to the existing LL 6.6 OS.

Are you suggesting that not having the various items you mentioned “set” BEFORE installing has perhaps created my issue..?

[stevef]

Without having the same device as you, it is really difficult to provide specific help.

The manual does suggest the following

Start your computer, and go into your system BIOS and check that the boot order is set so that DVD and USB devices are set to boot first. This varies from BIOS to BIOS. Refer to your motherboard documentation for more information.

You are advised to disable Secure Boot and make sure UEFI is set to Enabled in your BIOS. See here for more information before proceeding if you need any more clarification.

Once you are happy with your BIOS set up, insert the DVD disc or USB stick into your computer and reboot your computer. You'll be greeted with the following screen. Let the timer run down if you want to boot to the Live session.

The implied sequence is that the BIOS/UEFI should be set before the install, with USB/DVD set as a higher priority to boot than the hard disk so that the Live Media will boot allowing installation.  Don't know if this will be better for your scenario.

[JanetBiggar]

So I'm getting somewhere! 

Last night I did what Steve suggested and changed to UEFI native, however it still didn't boot in to the LL OS that I KNOW is on the SSD (I think it's an SSD).  All it produced was a intermittent flashing blue circle with the HP logo and despite waiting it out nothing else occurred so I turned the laptop off.

This morning I went directly into BIOS with the intent to change it back to legacy, however decided to try other options.  So I only started to take photos towards the end where I knew I wouldn't be able to recall my steps:

I tried Network boot, but it said I needed to choose something.  I forget what the next screen was, but I clicked on something that seemed to make sense and worked through the various screens.  Here are pics of the last three screens which I chose and lo-and-behold after I saved and exited from the last screen LL 6.6 BOOTED UP as usual 

here's a link to what these last three screen shots showed I did:
https://imgur.com/a/kKuqvxd

So I'm 99% confident I will remember what to do thus I am currently updating LL 6.6 then my plan is to:
1) shut it down per the menu.
2) turn it back on and wait to see if LL 6.6 loads normally.
3) if it doesn't then I will turn it off and restart it going directly into BIOS and then go through the SAME steps with the ADDITION of taking pics from the beginning.

So, I did the above steps I planned to do and LL 6.6 didn't pull up.  What I got was the flashing blue HP circle logo whereby I pressed ESC to get into bios.  I then took pics of the following choices I did:
1) At first I tried F12 network boot and got Boot error message.
2) I returned to the BIOS options and chose F9 Boot Device Options.
3) I selected Boot from EFI File.
4) I selected the only file system showing (Thank GOD there was only one!).
5) I clicked on EFI.
6) Clicked on ubuntu.
7) Clicked on grubx64.efi

then TA-DA LL 6.6 booted up.

Here are the screen shots:
https://imgur.com/a/J1HPlHM

So my follow up question is:
Does anyone know what I need to tweak such that LL 6.6 loads properly as I'd prefer that a student doesn't have to go through all these steps each time they turn on the laptop..?

[JanetBiggar]

No, when I set it to that and boot then it comes on showing a black screen with a flashing blue circle and hp logo inside. Just keeps flashing periodically.