Problem with USB install of Ubuntu netbook

[whatthefunk]

Hi all,
I'm trying to install Ubuntu Netbook on an older Sony Vaio laptop. I've prepared a USB drive with the Ubuntu files on it as directed by the instructions. At startup, I go to alter the BIOS and I move "removable media" up to the top but it still wont boot from the USB.
What should I do now? Ive tried to install a couple different boot managers, but my DOS skills are rather sucky and I havent managed to accomplish anything.
Any help would be appreciated.
whatthefunk

[C.S.Cameron]

What are the specs on your laptop? does it have at least 500MB RAM?
If you can run Bootscript and post the results it would be a big help:

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

[sikander3786]

I've prepared a USB drive with the Ubuntu files on it as directed by the instructions

I hope you did that properly and just not copied the ISO to your USB drive?

You can use unetbootin to create a new disk.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net

And it would also be worth checking the image for defects before burning.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM

PS: Under some system Bios, USB drives tend to appear under the HDD menu instead. Check it and if it is found there, bring it to the top of that list.

[whatthefunk]

I hope you did that properly and just not copied the ISO to your USB drive?


Yes. I unetbootin and a couple other similar programs to load the ISO onto my USB. It didnt work. I did the MD5sum on the files and they all checked out.


What are the specs on your laptop? does it have at least 500MB RAM?


Pentium III processor, 256MB RAM, 15 GB harddrive.

It is a little under the system recommendations, but it runs Win XP with little trouble.

So, a bit of an update. I gave up completely on the USB method and dug out an old external CD drive to try to do it that way. I first tried with the standard Ubuntu Live CD, but it froze up and the CD stopped spinning. Thinking that my little laptop may not be able to handle Ubuntu, I tried Xubuntu and got slightly further along, but it frooze up after I selected the language. I then tried Kubuntu and had the same problem. Then I figured that maybe it was the graphic heavy installation program and downloaded the Kubuntu Alternate Cd file. At around 2 am last night, in the first steps of installation, it couldn't find a couple dozen files and I gave up for the night. This morning I went out and bought some new CD-RWs and am trying again.

So far all that Linux has proven to be a royal pain in the ***....

[sikander3786]

Rather than Ubuntu, Kubuntu or Xubuntu, I would suggest Lubuntu after seeing your system specs.

http://lubuntu.org

[whatthefunk]

Rather than Ubuntu, Kubuntu or Xubuntu, I would suggest Lubuntu after seeing your system specs.

http://lubuntu.org

Hmmm....interesting. Im doing a Alternate CD install of Ubuntu at the moment and (*shock*) its working. If it runs slow I may try the Lubuntu. Thanks.