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View Full Version : [ubuntu] Messed up fresh installation of 8.04



hevdaze
June 23rd, 2009, 06:24 PM
I own a dell mini 10v, and I was trying to do a fresh installation of 8.04 with a CD I created using the .iso file I downloaded from the Ubuntu site. I am using an external iomega cd drive, which connects via usb. I started the mini and booted with the cd, and all went well. then, as the system was installing, I minimized the installation progress window and could not get it back. Soon after, the mouse froze, so I held down the power key to turn it off. Thinking i could simply restart the installation as I had before, I turned on the computer and selected CD drive from the boot options list. However, instead of getting the Ubuntu installation screen as I had before, I now get MBR: FA. I tried pressing A and then 1, however, that did not work. I am afraid my Mini 10v is just going to become a block. Is there any way to get Ubuntu back up and running??

mk1w86
June 24th, 2009, 02:51 PM
Make sure your computer is set to boot from the CD first.

hevdaze
June 24th, 2009, 09:32 PM
I made sure I selected boot from CD/RW on the boot menu, however, the screen still shows the MBR:FA command.

starcannon
June 24th, 2009, 11:33 PM
I think it may still be attempting to boot from the hdd/ssd, I would likely unplug, pull the battery, push the power button with battery out and power disconnected, wait 5 minutes, reboot, go into boot order screen (generally rapid firing Esc on most computers right after you turn it on) Choose the External USB Device your using, and try again.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6974386

I'll do some more googling, but I don't think your bricked, maybe a tedious solve, but I think your mini10 will be fine in the end.

Edit:
I'll continue to add more links on this here:
http://stezz.blogspot.com/2007/11/debian-etch-on-thinkpad-x31-via-usb.html

From:http://www.entropicblur.com/dectop/guide.html


The Installation Process

Installing Xubuntu to the decTOP is much like installing on any other PC and the process is much simpler under 7.10 than under 7.04, but there's still one quirk to work around. This is explained below.
After the decTOP completes its self-tests, you'll see this prompt:
MBR FA:Press the "a" key and the prompt will change to:
MBR 1234F:Press the "1" key and the system should boot into the text-based installer.
Follow the prompts to start the installation. The process is fairly self-explanatory and the Ubuntu team has good documentation available here (https://help.ubuntu.com/7.04/installation-guide/i386/). Everything should go smoothly up until the kernel installation stage.
Eventually, the installer will complain that "No installable kernel was found in the defined APT sources" and will ask if you want to continue without a kernel. Instead of answering the prompt, press Alt+F2 to switch to a console. Press Enter to activate the console, and then:
chroot /target
apt-get install linux-genericOnce the kernel installation is complete, exit twice, once to leave the chroot and again to leave the console. Press Alt+F1 to switch back to the installer. Answer "Yes" to the "Continue without installing a kernel?" question. The installer picks up where it left off and eventually gives you the option of installing the Xubuntu desktop package; go ahead and install it.
The rest of the installation is smooth sailing; just sit back and wait until the installer tells you to reboot. Be sure to disconnect the flash drive so the system starts up from the hard drive.
Okay after reading a bunch of posts on the subject, I think its not recognizing the CD, and then attempting to boot the next in line; in this case, the failed install from the hdd/ssd. My advice is to rinse repeat until the media in the external CDdrive is recognized, or build a bootable USB Key; I've personally got 2 computers that can be a bit finicky about booting from an External USB CD/DVD drive, though they always seem to boot from a bootable USB Key, go figure.

hevdaze
June 25th, 2009, 06:24 PM
Thank you for all you help. However, none of this seems to be working. I created a usb boot key with the .iso file from the Ubuntu website, however, the Mini will not boot from it, it says operating system not found. I also tried removing the battery, waiting, and then trying again with the cd, but that is not working. I have made some short videos which hopefully will explain my situation in better detail. They are posted to this blog, and it may be better to view thm from bottom to top: http://www.fixmymini.blogspot.com (http://www.fixmymini.blogspot.com/)
Hopefully these videos help will explain my situation

starcannon
June 25th, 2009, 08:13 PM
When you made your usb key, did you first format it to fat16? I do that by default for mine now, results may be identical with fat32. Have you tried burning another CD? Perhaps the one you've been using has an imperceptible defect, allowing it to boot intermittently. I think getting the no OS found error was actually a sign of stepping in the right direction.

philcamlin
June 25th, 2009, 08:15 PM
usb keys can be tricky when holding os'es like ubuntu

mine didnt want to boot for its life but then i used unetbootin :popcorn:

hevdaze
June 25th, 2009, 09:05 PM
It is no longer saying no OS found when i use my usb. My only other machine is a mac, from which I cannot use unetbootin. I have used the diskutil method on my mac for creating the bootable usb drive. Now, it says the drive is read-only and I cannot erase or restore it.

hevdaze
July 1st, 2009, 08:27 PM
Ok, so now I think I may have messed up the partitioning of the hard drive. When I first tried to do my fresh installation, I selected the option to use the entire hard drive for the new installation. I had no important data on the drive, and I was planning on wiping it and freshly installing Ubuntu. However, now it will not boot from a cd or usb drive. I am going to try burning another boot cd to see if that works. If that doesn't work, I don't know what I'll do.