9.04 Installation Help Please!

[Blazin Spades]

I recently came across an older IBM laptop that has an installation of xp on it that no longer boots. since i dont have discs for the XP install to restore it, i figured i would install ubuntu to replace it.

I burned the .iso image to a cd, checked to make sure that it works in my current desktop, then tried loading it during boot.

it doesnt work...

ive made sure that my cd drive is the first item in the boot list but it still wont even recognize the cd and load the install program.

anyone have any good insights as to how to make this work.

please remember that i cannot access any other function other then the BIOS menus on this computer due to XP boot errors.

[peaceofourlord]

The impression I have is that you need to modify the bootloader files. If you can boot linux from a cd-rom, then you should be able to do that.

I have the same problem with my Toshiba Satellite. I've read on a few forum sites that older laptops may not be able to operate ubuntu due to processor or motherboard compatibility problems.

[chipyoung]

Blazin...

I have a couple of items that you could check.

1) Make sure your bios is up to date (last one). It sounds like you have another computer so you should be able to check this.

2) I have found that some older computers will not boot the latest version of Ubuntu. You might try down loading an older version of Ubuntu and trying it.

3) Could it be your CD drive is bad. Make sure your bios recognizes the drive and it's functioning properly. If you are still seeing XP boot errors then your CD drive is not loading first.

Hope this helps.

Chip

[Blazin Spades]

Ok thanks for the ideas, ill have to give those a try once i get home again. if anyone else has any ideas then they would be greatly appriciated.