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Bcrowes11
April 1st, 2011, 05:03 AM
I installed PLoP Boot Manager so I could boot from a usb flash drive. The problem is when I pick Install Ubuntu to Hard Drive it hangs at "Loading casper/vmlinuz..."

Why? :confused:and How do I fix this? PLEASE HELP!!!:(

Dutch70
April 1st, 2011, 10:54 AM
You should probably select "Try Ubuntu" first to make sure it's going to run.

Have you tried selecting "check" when you get to the screen where you choose to Try of Install?

Hakunka-Matata
April 1st, 2011, 10:56 AM
One way you can fix it is to reburn your usb stick using Unetbootin instead of PLOP.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Rubi1200
April 1st, 2011, 12:28 PM
Sounds like a problem with the way the image was put on the USB.

UNetbootin is an excellent recommendation.

Bcrowes11
April 1st, 2011, 01:17 PM
But I only have one usb drive and my mom's comp won't boot from usb without the help of plop...:(

Dutch70
April 1st, 2011, 02:15 PM
But I only have one usb drive and my mom's comp won't boot from usb without the help of plop...:(

So did you check it, according to this...
Installation CD Integrity Check (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/CDIntegrityCheck?action=show&redirect=CDIntegrityCheck)

Hedgehog1
April 1st, 2011, 06:10 PM
But I only have one usb drive and my mom's comp won't boot from usb without the help of plop...:(

I find myself wondering - does your mom's computer have a CD drive? If it doea you can boot using a LiveCD and do the 'TRY' and then 'Install' if things look good.

The Hedge

:KS

p.s. Your Mom is OK with you installing Ubuntu on her PC, right? :confused:

Bcrowes11
April 1st, 2011, 09:35 PM
Dodge70...would that be the same as check the memory?

Hedgehog...PLoP recognizes disk and says disk error.:(

Dutch70
April 1st, 2011, 11:37 PM
No, it's checking your usb even though it says cd, but if you're getting a disk error, that probably tell you what you need to know.

I've never used plop, but I would try completely clearing the disk & remaking it.
Check the md5sum of the downloaded .iso first.
HowToMD5SUM (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM)

Bcrowes11
April 3rd, 2011, 04:17 AM
I know how to check an md5sum. I did that. I had already loaded the distro on another computer. So I know it works. I can't clear the disk anyway because it's a cd-r. I just want to know why this thing won't load ubuntu...:(

Dutch70
April 3rd, 2011, 04:33 AM
a cd-r :confused: I thought we were talking about a usb stick.

Bcrowes11
April 3rd, 2011, 02:36 PM
Someone said to wipe the disk and reload it. This is not a cd-rw. I reloaded ubuntu on the usb drive more than once. If that's what you wanted to know.

ps...Hedgehog...My mom did give me the permission to do this...haha

Hakunka-Matata
April 4th, 2011, 12:40 PM
dude, are you still using PLOP on that USB stick? If so I reiterate, build the USB Install file using UNETBOOTIN and give it a try, sometimes, just doing it over 25million times works.

Have you changed your socks? did that help?

Bcrowes11
April 5th, 2011, 01:49 AM
I understand what you mean finally. I tried installing ubuntu on the flash drive with unetbootin and now nothing'll even load in the screen with all the options. What is going on? Please help me guys!:(

Hedgehog1
April 5th, 2011, 04:08 AM
ps...Hedgehog...My mom did give me the permission to do this...haha

Thanks for letting me know. Now and then we get a "I loaded Ubuntu on my Dads/Moms/Brothers/Sisters computer and it doesn't boot and I didn't have permission and they will be home in 20 minutes HELP!!!" post.

I didn't want you in that painful place :P

Now about your issue: Not all USB sticks will boot. They should, but some don't.

My I suggest you burn a CD from the ISO. Do not create a CD that just has the ISO file on it - the ISO files is really a whole CD 'compressed' into a single file. Use your CD burning software in the 'burn CD from ISO mode'. The will uncompress the ISO during the burn and give you a complete, bootable CD.

Then boot off off that CD. Report back when you have tried booting from the CD (as a note, if you do boot from the CD and you select 'TRY', you can get on the internet right from the CD and post here).

The Hedge

:KS

p.s. Hakunka-Matata: I changed my socks. I don't think it helped the boot process, but I smell better. :P

Hakunka-Matata
April 5th, 2011, 06:22 AM
I understand what you mean finally. I tried installing ubuntu on the flash drive with unetbootin and now nothing'll even load in the screen with all the options. What is going on? Please help me guys!:(




Do you mean that you get all the way to the screen where it's blue and you're presented with the choices of:

Try Ubuntu without installing?
Check disc
Install Ubuntu?
Imprecise representations of choices printed on screen, not verbatim i.e.
Etcetera?







If so, you may have not waited long enough after selecting your desired option and hitting THE ENTER Key,\
Make your selection, Hit Enter, and go make a cuppa... chill,
It sometimes takes a very long time, (in reality probably never had to wait more than a minute, but I have given up, gone off for a walk or something only to return to a nicely operating system).
Bon Lucky...........

Bcrowes11
April 6th, 2011, 01:05 AM
CD still not working...I'll try the flash drive and wait like hakuna suggested...time for :popcorn:

Bcrowes11
April 6th, 2011, 01:29 PM
I tried booting from the thumb...it didn't work. (shocker) So what's next?

Bcrowes11
April 6th, 2011, 11:01 PM
bump

Hakunka-Matata
April 8th, 2011, 11:41 AM
bump

Please supply thorough description of what the problem is.


What fails
Where in the failing boot process does the machine choke?

Hakunka-Matata
April 8th, 2011, 12:10 PM
bump

Please supply thorough description of what the problem is.

I posted some command line stuff, but it is pre-mature, you need to get the OS installed first. Are you attempting a 32 bit install?, or the .amd64 version?

Bcrowes11
April 8th, 2011, 12:13 PM
I boot from the usb. It loads vmlinuz. I says it's loading initrd.gz, but it'll hang there for hours and not do anything. It hangs at loading from the usb from any distro I've tried. I'm not running ubuntu...I'm running ***dows.

Bcrowes11
April 8th, 2011, 12:31 PM
I"m attempting a 32 bit instal.

Hakunka-Matata
April 8th, 2011, 12:39 PM
What, you're installing in a Virtual machine?

Bcrowes11
April 8th, 2011, 12:43 PM
No...I'm attempting a complete erasing of windows. I want to Get rid of windows and replace it with ubuntu. At startup of the computer I choose to boot from usb. I get as far as "loading vmlinuz........
Loading initrd.gz........."
Then nothing ever happens. It stays there forever. 5 hours later it was still there. IT hadn't done anything.

LostFarmer
April 8th, 2011, 01:08 PM
Your comp may be to old for Ubuntu, give make/model, amount of ram , what MS windows is now installed, size of hdd.

Bcrowes11
April 8th, 2011, 01:17 PM
eMachines, 256 megs of ram, the processor is capable of ubuntu, I looked it up, it's like ten years old. XP Professional SP3.

Hakunka-Matata
April 8th, 2011, 04:57 PM
eMachines, 256 megs of ram, the processor is capable of ubuntu, I looked it up, it's like ten years old. XP Professional SP3.

256RAM may indeed be a problem, What kind of RAM does it require?

What follows applies to your setup with at LEAST 500MB RAM.

Me thinks a good approach would be to massage the HDD first.


The HDD has no data on it you care about, correct?
If that is true, you can now attempt to format it, correct?
I think your computer may be able to run Ubuntu Desktop.
You need to get a USB stick with a basic OS on it, enough to run GParted.

Who can help this guy get a bootable USB stick that has GParted ed on it?

I'll look myself, you'll get it going, nothing like positive energy to grease the gears.

Bcrowes11
April 8th, 2011, 05:37 PM
So you're gonna help me find the right distro?

Hakunka-Matata
April 8th, 2011, 05:51 PM
Sure, any distro, they all work when you provide them with what they need to operate. You know, like MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. YOU NEED SOME MORE RAM DUDE!

Dutch70
April 8th, 2011, 05:54 PM
I believe Lubuntu would be ideal.
http://lubuntu.net/ (http://lubuntu.net/)
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Systems/Linux-Distributions/Lubuntu-50492.shtml (http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Systems/Linux-Distributions/Lubuntu-50492.shtml)
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu)

You could always give Xubuntu a shot too. I think it runs better with 512mb of RAM though.
http://www.xubuntu.org/getubuntu (http://www.xubuntu.org/getubuntu)

Bcrowes11
April 8th, 2011, 05:56 PM
Well, I thought I had the min. requirements to run ubuntu. What do you need to know to help me now?

Bcrowes11
April 8th, 2011, 06:23 PM
Lubuntu hangs at "Loading initrd.lz........" WHY? I tried Slax, DSL, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, WHY WON"T THEY WORK?

Hakunka-Matata
April 8th, 2011, 07:30 PM
I quit.

Bcrowes11
April 8th, 2011, 08:02 PM
Please no! I need helpz!!!

debd
April 8th, 2011, 09:33 PM
One way you can fix it is to reburn your usb stick using Unetbootin instead of PLOP.


I used both.
made an bootable usb drive for installation with Unetbootin ; then installed plop from windows.
the 'disk2' in the plop boot menu(as far as I remember) took me in the Unetbootin drive's(usb) ubuntu menu.
but remember, once U get ubuntu installed, do not install PLOP again as that would remove the grub mbr.

Bcrowes11
April 9th, 2011, 01:36 AM
I've tried running Ubuntu by writing the unetbootin version, running it from PLoP. It did NOT work. I'm sorry. Does ANYone know what could be wrong?:(:confused:

debd
April 9th, 2011, 06:55 AM
Bcrowes11, you might want to see tis thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1710718

Bcrowes11
April 9th, 2011, 07:18 PM
I tried that. I saw it yesterday, it didn't work.

Hakunka-Matata
April 11th, 2011, 05:11 AM
OP, I already told you you most likely need more RAM. Why don't you do what is suggested, or state plainly that you do not intend to buy and install more RAM.
Tell me your intentions, and I will decide what to do next. Most likely leave this thread because you are acting childish, or impertinent, or defensive, or just plain stubborn. What will it be?

You know they say Ubuntu will run on almost anything, but the "anything" has to be some sort of computer that meets MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS. Ubuntu for instance will not boot a bicycle, no matter how hard you try.

Bcrowes11
April 11th, 2011, 05:24 AM
But it DID meet minimum requirements. And no, I can't afford to get some more ram. Please don't take me as rude, or offensive. I'm not trying to be. I just need some help, please.

Dutch70
April 11th, 2011, 09:32 AM
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements)

LostFarmer
April 11th, 2011, 02:17 PM
The listed min. requirements is some what odd. I am on Ubuntu and have only 512 M ram Output of 'lshw'
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 36
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 512MiB

*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz


I did not make any modifications during setup and used the normal install. I'm not that smart.
Maybe I just lucked out. I am just a simple user and not a gamer or other high resource user.

Bcrowes11: You mention trying both a CD and USB flash drive, do both give same error ?
1) you are using PloP on the hdd so you can select USB drive to boot.
2) you have UNETBOOTIN installed on the USB drive to boot linux.
What is the menu entire on unetbootin for Ubuntu install? Post the complete menu entire. (Likely menu.lst, I have not used unetbootin)

using Plop on internial hdd , How ? web site link you used
installed unetbootin on usb drive , How ? web site link you used
loaded ubuntu on the usb drive , HOW ? web site link you used.
Make and Model on comp ? give web site for its manual.
If I have time and you give me all links, will try to help . I will not try to find the links.

Run a memory test from MS Windows, before preceding.

Should try a different linux as link by Dutch70 (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=595401) says your comp does not meet min. requirements and may be the problems

Dutch70
April 11th, 2011, 03:35 PM
The listed min. requirements is some what odd. I am on Ubuntu and have only 512 M ram Output of 'lshw'

Should try a different linux as link by Dutch70 (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=595401) says your comp does not meet min. requirements and may be the problems

Notice on that link it says, "recommended" minimum requirements, so you can run Ubuntu with less, it just won't run to it's full potential.
He's tried the lighter desktops & seems to have the same problem. I still think he should stick with the a trying with a lighter desktop, because even if he gets Ubuntu installed, it will not be usable.
*click on firefox, go make coffee
*click on a website, go take a shower
*click on email, go do your grocery shopping
*click on updates, go on vacation

Something like Puppy, or Macpup may be a better solution.

LostFarmer
April 11th, 2011, 06:23 PM
Dutch70-- I will totally agree with you that a different linux might be a better pick. I do remember trying to boot Mepis 8.5 live cd , likely same requirements and it would not boot if it did not find my 2 swap partitions. One swap was mounted I think selinux and the other swap. That will lead me to say Ubuntu will also need at least a swap if not 2, to load with the below memory requirements. His comp may have more ram allotted to the display in the bios setup.

I will try out the 2 linuxs that you listed.

Just to say I have no problems with Ubuntu but I only use it for the net.

Bcrowes11
April 11th, 2011, 06:35 PM
ok, they changed it. I guess I have 256 mb of ram.

Dutch70
April 11th, 2011, 11:41 PM
Xubuntu System Requirements (http://www.xubuntu.org/get)
Lubuntu System Requirements (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu#System%20requirements)

I'd tell you more if I could, but that's about all I've got. :)

Bcrowes11
April 11th, 2011, 11:55 PM
thanks...I'll try this

Dutch70
April 12th, 2011, 01:45 AM
You may want to check this too.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/DocumentationHelp/MinimalInstall (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/DocumentationHelp/MinimalInstall)

You may be surprised how nice Lubuntu is.

Just curious if you've ever been able to run a gparted live cd/usb. If so and you can get your hdd partitioned ahead of time. LostFarmer may be onto something with it using your swap partition as extra memory so to speak. Otherwise, you may just have to wait until you can buy more RAM like Hakunka said.

Bcrowes11
April 12th, 2011, 03:02 PM
lubuntu will not work. I'm getting a new used computer today or tomorrow, will try that.

Dutch70
April 12th, 2011, 04:53 PM
Great! If you can get it installed on the computer you're getting, then maybe you can move your hdd from the one you have to the one you're getting, install Lubuntu & move it back. Then you'll have 2 working systems.

Bcrowes11
April 12th, 2011, 04:59 PM
Sweet. I'll Try that, although you're gonna have to explain, or give me a demo on how to do that. I kinda don't know how to do so.

Hakunka-Matata
April 17th, 2011, 06:15 AM
Bump

Bcrowes11
April 17th, 2011, 10:02 PM
Turns out I'm NOT getting that computer. I'm at a loss...BUMP:confused:

Dutch70
April 17th, 2011, 10:06 PM
Sorry to hear that. I can't remember all the details here, but check to make sure your usb stick doesn't have U3 software on it.
http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/usb

Or, try a different usb stick.

Bcrowes11
April 17th, 2011, 10:31 PM
I think it's the computer, because I DID try another one.