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View Full Version : [ubuntu] Install Problem: Can't find medium



GearHead27
September 1st, 2010, 10:29 PM
I just pulled out my old XPS M1710 laptop and fired her up. The screen read no bootable devices so I figured the hard drive had been erased and what better time then now to try out Linux.

I burned Ubuntu 10.04 to a CD-R and tried to boot. I got a "init error. Try passing init= bootarg" I searched around on google and tried one solution of burning the image to another CD. This time I used a blank DVD.

I booted up and got to the purple screen that said Ubuntu and had the ascending red and white lights on it. It would stay there for a bit before throwing me into busybox and giving me the "Unable to find a medium containing a live file system" error.

My only guess is since the computer is old (5-6 years) the hard drive died on me, but I also read that the problem could be a bad CD drive. I don't believe it's the CD drive since I got so far into the installation. I'm debating dropping some money into a new hard drive from Newegg, but I want to know what \you guys think?

Other Notes:
-I ran the DVD on my desktop and it runs perfectly
-I tried using a USB to boot but the laptop doesn't see it (even after changing my BIOS to boot only from the USB
-I tried the 64 bit version and the computer said it can't support it

garyedwardjohnston
September 2nd, 2010, 12:37 AM
whenever a piece of hardware is on the blink i open it up and check all connections...even remove them and replug. sometimes doing this you see something or the connections reestablish themselves. this is easier on a desktop but...

GearHead27
September 2nd, 2010, 09:47 PM
whenever a piece of hardware is on the blink i open it up and check all connections...even remove them and replug. sometimes doing this you see something or the connections reestablish themselves. this is easier on a desktop but...

I pulled out the CD drive and the hard drive. I then blew out any dust that was inside and went over the contacts with a q-tip. I still get the message: "Unable to find a medium containing a live file system."