Help me install LL

[thoughtinstinct]

Hi all

I was trying to help a friend get rid of windows and install LL but i have encountered a problem. The laptop is a Toshiba with UEFI, i thought at first it will be easier to just install mint on it and all went alright till i saw what a mess it is ( can't believe i was using it just some 4 months back !).

On trying to install LL i chnaged from UEFI to CSM,i chose cd-rom as first boot choice and finally changed sata drivers(?) to AHCI mode. Tried installing LL and i see there is progress but the screen kept blinking right from start and i gave up after about 30 minutes. When i use a windows 7 cd it installs until it mentions something about automatically stopping the installation to prevent damage to my computer.

I need to also mention that the onboard keyboard is not working so i have to rely to an external keyboard and LL seems to have issues with that since i can not do F2 when booting. My question: What options do i have to install LL?

I saw Jerry has made available for a limited time LL that can me installed on UEFI machines. Can that be something worth trying? Thanks !

[torreydale]

It seems:

A) The computer had problems with Linux Mint
B) It will not accept Linux Lite
C) It will not install Windows 7

Which symptoms, besides the broken keyboard, make you confident you're not dealing with a hardware issue?

[thoughtinstinct]

Linux mint installed fine but i just didnt like the look of it/ UI.

It not accepting LL maybe has to do with me changing so much of the bios settings, i dont know at this point.

It starts installing wibdows xp until a point where i guess me changing SATA to AHCI becomes a problem.

For me this is an unchatered territory so im asking what you guys would have done in my situation.

Main thing right now accoarding to me is : Is there some magic software/distro or something that can help me restore bios settings to default?

Thanks torreydale !

[torreydale]

You can restore your BIOS/Setup to defaults.  There should be a setting for that.  If you have trouble getting to the BIOS/Setup, you can remove the hard drive, and it should boot directly to it.

I don't know if you made all of your changes at once, but yes, it is better to make one change at a time.  If you can get the laptop to disable Secure Boot and to use Legacy Boot, you should be able to install Linux Lite.  Otherwise, if it's a look you didn't like about Linux Mint, you could consider their XFCE edition instead of the standard Cinnamon and MATE editions.

[gold_finger]

I take it that the external keyboard was working with the <F2> key at first, but after you made various settings changes it stopped working during boot-up and now <F2> key no longer works.  Correct?  If so, try torreydale's suggestion to remove hard drive, forcing it to boot into UEFI/Bios settings menu.  Hopefully (and possibly after waiting a minute or two if needed once in Bios screen) the keyboard and mouse work then.  If so, look around in the settings menu and there should be a way listed there to restore to defaults.


Once defaults have been restored, only change three things:

1. Turn off Secure Boot
   
2. Enable CSM/(Legacy) boot mode -- if you want to install LL that way.  (If you want to try using the UEFI test ISO of LL, then keep UEFI mode on.)
   
3. Go to the Boot Priority list and put both the cd/dvd and usb ahead of the hard drive in boot priority.  (This step isn't completely necessary, but makes it a bit more convenient by automatically booting into any bootable cd/dvd/usb if one happens to be attached during bootup.  Otherwise, the easiest thing to do is use the per-session boot menu invoke with the <F12> key, which is what my non-uefi Toshiba uses for that.)
   

If keyboard did work before you made the changes, then above is all you probably need to do.  If not, then also look for something in there about enabling "Legacy USB support" and enable that too.


If even that doesn't work to get keyboard recognized on boot, go back into UEFI/Bios settings and disable "Fast Boot".  (That is not the same thing as "Fast Startup" in Windows 8-10.)


Assuming all is now working normally, boot your LL dvd/usb and open a terminal.  Enter this command to look at the hard drive partitions:

Code:

sudo parted --list

Look at the line for "Partition Table".  If you installed Mint in UEFI mode before, it should say it's a "gpt" partition table.  Assuming that is the case:

• Windows 7 can install to gpt partitions, but must be a 64-bit version of Windows and will end up installed in UEFI mode.
  
• Windows XP can not install to gpt disks.  (You would need to use GParted from live LL to change partition table back to "msdos" first; then XP would be able to install.)
  
• LL can be installed to gpt disk in either CSM/Legacy mode using regular ISO, or (for now) in UEFI mode using the special ISO Jerry released for testing.  (Download that a.s.a.p. if you think you want to try it.  I don't think he'll keep that active for long.)
  

If partition table = "msdos", then you installed Mint in Legacy mode and I have no idea why there were problems with either version of Windows trying to install.


For CSM/Legacy mode install of LL you can either keep partitions as GPT or use GParted from live LL to change the partition table to "msdos" to make the install more familiar for you.  (GParted -> Device -> Create Partition Table -> "msdos" -> OK.)  To install in Legacy mode to a GPT partitioned disk follow this tutorial:  https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/tutor...artitions/

[thoughtinstinct]

Thanks a lot torreydale and gold_finger, you guys are awesome and we do really appreciate you taking the time to answer our questions.

All is resolved now; i first created a mint 10 cd, installed it and magically F2 worked so first thing i did was restore BIOS to defaults. I then installed Mint 18 using USB and for now my friend has to contend with that. I will get myself another old laptop with UEFI to learn stuff on and try install LL.

Thank you !