Crashed installer trying to install Xubuntu 16.04 on ThinkPad E420

[crazybasenji]

Everything was going fine -- I was installing from a usb stick -- and then I got an error message that the install failed and (something-something) about the hard drive and maybe (something-something) needing a cooler environment?:confused:

Then a window popped up saying something about "after you close this window you can file a bug report..." but I couldn't close the window. I finally had to just turn off the machine. I let it "cool off" for a while but when I turned it back on, it wouldn't go past the ThinkPad screen. I unplugged, removed battery, put everything back, same result. I have not tried standing on my head.

I had Trusty 14.04 installed, but wanted to switch to Xubuntu and just use the laptop with a LAMP installed to design WordPress sites and do some writing.

Assume I know very little more than the greenest noob.

[grahammechanical]

The something something messages indicate two possible problems. 1) the machine overheating. 2) the hard drive failing. The two situations might be related. But you can physically examine the machine to see if the ventilation grills are blocked in some way. Are the fans still working? Can you load into the BIOS utility and check the temperatures?

Regards.

[crazybasenji]

The fans still work, but I can't get into BIOS. I can press and hold the Enter key or tap it several times in succession with no results. I had moved a lot of files from my laptop onto a 32G flash drive, but not all at once. Still, it could have gotten pretty hot then. Maybe I should have waited longer before trying to install. Now I'm stuck.

[X-RED_Tech]

It's never with Enter... DEL, F12, F11, F2, etc., etc. or even a special key. I think Lenovos have it.

[crazybasenji]

The line on the ThinkPad screen says, "To interrupt normal startup, press Enter." I've also tried other keys and key combinations, including the ones you suggested, but nothing budges. I can hear the fans running and feel heat coming out the vents, but no other sounds. It seems like something must be going on for it to heat up as fast as it does, but it's apparently doing nothing constructive.

The way the keyboard is set up on this thing, I have to press an extra key to activate the function keys. If I press that one along with Ctrl/Alt/Delete, the screen blacks out for a few seconds, then returns to the ThinkPad screen. And just sits there. For whatever that's worth.