10.4-Unable to find a medium containing a live file system

[judyblue]

I have searched everywhere and tried everything I could read on this topic, but I cannot install Kubuntu (or Unbuntu) 10.4 on my husband's computer. I have spent 5 hours on this and cannot get anywhere. I am deeply frustrated. The iso I burned to CD is good (works on 2 other computers). His computer will not boot from USB, no matter what I do to the drive order in BIOS.
After loading the blue screen with the Kubuntu logo on it (and the blue-white dots), the screen changes to black and shows the following text:

BusyBox v1.13.3 (Ubuntu 1:1.13.3-1ubuntu11) built-in shell (ash)
(initrafs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system.

Please help me. He really needs to get rid of WinXP. Kubuntu is what I have on my computer (and love it!).
Here is some info about his computer:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer SYX
System Model snc302eeh
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~3006 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 4/15/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.2
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 502.31 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.95 GB
Page File Space 2.40 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

[confused57]

This "may" help:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick

[judyblue]

Thank you, confused57, but i already tried the suggested methods to create a USB install stick, and my husband's desktop refuses to boot from the stick.
Short of getting a new computer, how can I get Linux on it? Would wiping the hard drive solve the cd boot problem or just make it worse?

[confused57]

Thank you, confused57, but i already tried the suggested methods to create a USB install stick, and my husband's desktop refuses to boot from the stick.
Short of getting a new computer, how can I get Linux on it? Would wiping the hard drive solve the cd boot problem or just make it worse?
If you're getting the initial screen with a stick figure & keyboard, try pressing shift(or any key) as soon as the screen appears. If this works, select your language, then press F6, then see if there is an option to edit the boot options(maybe press "Esc"). Then in the kernel line boot options, remove quiet & splash, then add:

cdrom-detect/try-usb=true
I think you press Enter to boot?

May not work, but worth a try.

[judyblue]

I tried your suggestion. I started out with the boot disk in the cdrom drive and the usb stick in one of the usb ports.
I got to the selection page, and I edited the boot instructions as you suggested.
The next few images give an idea of what happened next. (Please let me know if you do not see the images, and I will try to make them available some other way). Things moved by fast, but I think I captured most of the action. In the end, the computer endlessly tried to read the various media ports, without detecting anything. I pressed Esc, and the screen went back to the blue Kubuntu screen with the flashing dots and never went anywhere else. (sorry about the flash in the first shot).
Thank you for your help with this, and your patience. I don't know that much about linux really, just enough to get myself into trouble.

[confused57]

Would wiping the hard drive solve the cd boot problem or just make it worse?
The hard drive shouldn't have any effect on booting the live cd/usb. What kind of problems are you having with XP on the computer?


I started out with the boot disk in the cdrom drive and the usb stick in one of the usb ports.
Does the computer have a working cdrom drive? I'm not sure what you mean by "boot disk in the cdrom drive", as well as a usb stick inserted.

More info on the computer would probably help in finding a solution, such as the brand name(Dell, HP, etc), model, hardware, etc. A google search of the model might show any problems with running Linux.

I've never personally encountered the problem you're having and a Google search didn't really reveal a definitive cause or solution. It could be a hardware compatibility problem & it might be possible to add some other boot parameters to the kernel(e.g. all_generic_ide) or change settings in bios concerning the drives. Trying another distro may work?

I'll out of town for a couple of days(not sure if I could be of much assistance anyway), but any additional info you could provide about the pc could help someone give you some ideas on things to try.

Good Luck.

[judyblue]

Does the computer have a working cdrom drive? I'm not sure what you mean by "boot disk in the cdrom drive", as well as a usb stick inserted.

Yes, the computer has a working cdrom drive. What I was trying to say was that I had the bootable Kubuntu disk (from which I should be able to try and/or install Kubuntu 10.4) in the cdrom drive, as well as having a bootable USB flash drive (also with Kubuntu 10.4 on it) in the computer, both at the same time. With both of those media in the computer, I tried to alter the boot instructions as you recommended (eliminating 'quiet' and 'splash', etc.) but that only produced the screens of text you see in my previous post. If I try to boot with only the bootable USB flash drive in one of the USB ports, the computer completely ignores the USB flash drive, even when I change the boot order of the drives in the BIOS to make the USB drive the first drive to look for. And, if I try to boot from the CD disk of Kubuntu 10.4, I get only so far before running into the error that I described in my opening post.

I will try to find out more information about the computer. Right now, I can say that it is a 5-6 year old Systemax Venture with Windows XP home edition on it. A quick Google search did not reveal any issues with loading linux on Systemax computers, but I will keep looking. The fact is, my computer is a Systemax Venture, too, and I had no problem eliminating XP from it using a bootable Kubuntu install CD about 1 year ago.

We want to get rid of XP on my husband's computer because it intermittently produces the blue screen of death for no reason we can discern, and because updating the various programs on it either costs too much money or causes unpredictable instabilities. Maintaining my husband's "XP" computer in working order clearly takes more time than my "Kubuntu" computer.

I want to thank you for taking the time to suggest solutions. I will try a few other distros, but if they don't work either, I will assume that there is some hardware issue, as you suggest.

[confused57]

Some cd drives have problems with live cd's. What I'd try is to download Plop boot manager:
http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html
Here's the section you'd be interested in:
http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html#download

You'll need to download & extract the zip file...there's an .iso for creating a Plop boot cd, and an .img file for creating a Plop boot manager floppy. Whichever one you decide to use, boot it with the live usb inserted also, then select boot from usb. It's possible that the pc will boot the live cd from usb. Plop boot manager is an excellent tool for booting to usb flash drives in computers that don't have the option in bios. If you haven't already done so, you might want to check that the live usb boots OK. You "may" have better results by inserting the usb into one of the ports at the back of the computer.

You can check out other distros at Distrowatch:
http://distrowatch.com/

Another excellent distro is PCLinxOS(kde version), that you might want to try.

The only hardware issue may be the cd drive, which could need cleaning:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/p17.html#Clean_your_optical_drive_lens

[judyblue]

Thank you for your excellent suggestions, confused57.
There were problems with the cd drive, which required its replacement. This was followed by a problem with the power supply. I have to wonder what else is mechanically wrong with this computer. If I can't succeed after trying all your suggestions, then we may just have to get a new machine.
I will try to let you know how this gets resolved.
Judyblue