Can't boot from USB on ASUS Eee PC 1215T

[st1led]

Hi everybody! I have an ASUS Eee PC 1215T that I can't boot from USB (a Sandisk Cruzer Micro 8GB). I googled a bit, but I really think I have done everything right. At the moment, the Eee PC does not have any OS installed, so the only thing I can do is create a bootable USB device (from another computer), and boot from the USB stick to install Ubuntu.

Here is what I did:


Downloaded Ubuntu 13.10 x64
Used Rufus (http://rufus.akeo.ie) to create a bootable USB by specifying in the options the ubuntu ISO.
Set up in the BIOS the following things:

Boot Device Priority: [Removable dev.] as 1st Boot Device
Boot Settings Configuration: Quiet Boot Disabled
OnBoard LAN Boot ROM: Disabled


To be even more sure that I'm really booting from the USB, I hit the ESC key when I read the POST message, and when the "Please select boot device:" popup appears, I select "USB: SanDisk Cruzer"


At this point, there is just the black screen with a blinking cursor on the second line from the top. No further input is possible.

Ideas?

[sudodus]

Welcome to the Ubuntu Forums :-)

1. Have you checked with md5sum, that the download was successful? See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuHashes

2. Try some other method to create the USB boot drive. See these links

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick

Ubuntu Forums tutorial "Howto make USB boot drives" (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1958073)

Do you intend to make a dual boot system or an Ubuntu only system?

[mörgæs]

Some of the Sandisks contain an annoying software package called U3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U3), which should be removed before using the stick. I have one of them which works fine after being liberated from U3.

[LukeMorrison]

Is the Asus a 64-bit machine? My guess is that you are trying to install a 64-bit operating system on a 32-bit machine, which as far as I know is not possible. Try the 32-bit .iso and see if you can boot from there.

Luke Morrison

[mörgæs]

If that were the problem the system would have given an explicit error message about 32/64 bit. It would not fail silently.

Boot options like NOMODESET might be necessary, though.

[LukeMorrison]

I don't mean to be contrary, but I have a 32-bit machine (no lm flag in /proc/cpuinfo) which if I run a 32-bit .iso loads up fine, whereas with a 64-bit .iso, it gives the exact same symptoms as the OP. It does not even give an option for nomodeset. I have been able to repeat this on two separate machines and I get the same behaviour with multiple .iso files. Maybe it is a bug, but it is repeatable.

[mörgæs]

That sounds strange. For testing I just tried to boot a 32 bit computer with a 64 bit ISO, and it gave me a

This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU. Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU.

Well, let's hear from original poster what happens with a 32 bit ISO. I don't expect it will make any difference (also because I believe the processor is a 64 bit AMD Neo which should be able to run everything).

It's an interesting problem, if it's repeatable. Please open a new thread about the missing error message for others to chip in.

[st1led]

Hi everybody, thank you for your support. Time for a bit of follow-up:


The iso download was succesful, as I checked the MD5 hash
One of the first thing I did when I got the stick, was removing the U3 bundle software. I hate it!
As I checked here (http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/Eee_PC_1215T/#specifications), the 1215T has a AMD® Athlon™ II Neo K125 processor, that supports (http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Athlon-II-Neo-K125-Notebook-Processor.33851.0.html) 64bit.
I also tried creating a bootable stick with the 32bit version, but with no luck. When I try to install Ubuntu, I have the same black screen with the cursor and no error message.


The good news is that in the end I made it work. Apparently the problem was in a combination of some bad blocks in the stick, and the procedure to burn the ISO. After many tries, some of which a bit mindless, the installation started. To be honest I can't exactly say what I did, but to everybody that might have a similar problem I would suggest to change USB stick or to check it for memory errors.

See you around!

[mörgæs]

Good, please mark the thread 'solved'.