New User -- Lenovo FLEX4-1130 bad eMMC Ubuntu 16.04LTS?

[mrpuzzl3]

Hi... I'm trying to resurrect a Lenovo FLEX4-1130 which has a bad eMMC (internal SSD, soldered on). So far:
1. Can boot Ubuntu from USB (Try Ubuntu) with UEFI DISABLED
2. Can't boot ANYTHING from UEFI (Black screen with not blinking cursor, top left)
3. Can run LIVE Ubuntu (Legacy Mode) flawlessly off any USB (yay! I like it!)
4. Can INSTALL from USB to OTHER USB, see GRUB (select anything boots to black screen)
5. Running boot-repair to make UEFI gives error (CAN'T FIX UEFI IN LEGACY MODE)

:( This computer was free, so I'm not OUT anything if I only have to keep using LIVE mode but I really want to be able to install and use Ubuntu with drivers, etc...

http://paste.ubuntu.com/p/GrsQvyXmsY/

Thanks to anyone who's willing to help sort this ugly mess!

[mörgæs]

Hi, welcome to the fora.

If the eMMC is gone then your best option is to install from one USB stick to another (permanently attached) USB stick like you have tried in step 4. Did you install GRUB onto the USB stick?

[mrpuzzl3]

I used the live usb to install 16.04lts(internet connected, download updates and install drivers) on to the other usb. Once the install completed, I shut off the laptop, removed the live usb and booted from the installed one. I see the screen to select Ubuntu or terminal, and I can edit commands. I changed quiet splash to nomodeset but I still boot to a black screen, no cursor, nothing.

[mörgæs]

Let's see the hardware details. From a live boot please copy
sudo lshw -sanitize > lshw.txt and paste it into the command line, run it and post lshw.txt here in CODE tags.

[mrpuzzl3]

computer
description: Notebook
product: 80U3 (LENOVO_MT_80U3_BU_idea_FM_Lenovo ideapad FLEX 4-1130)
vendor: LENOVO
version: Lenovo ideapad FLEX 4-1130
serial: [REMOVED]
width: 64 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.8 dmi-2.8 vsyscall32
configuration: administrator_password=enabled boot=normal chassis=notebook family=ideapad frontpanel_password=disabled keyboard_password=disabled power-on_password=disabled sku=LENOVO_MT_80U3_BU_idea_FM_Lenovo ideapad FLEX 4-1130 uuid=[REMOVED]
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: Sofia-F
vendor: LENOVO
physical id: 0
version: SDK0J91204WIN
serial: [REMOVED]
slot: Board Chassis Location
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: LENOVO
physical id: 0
version: 2MCN23WW
date: 09/27/2016
size: 64KiB
capacity: 3008KiB
capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect edd int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb zipboot biosbootspecification netboot
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N3350 @ 1.10GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 4
bus info: cpu@0
version: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N3350 @ 1.10GHz
serial: [REMOVED]
slot: U3E1
size: 2361MHz
capacity: 2400MHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 100MHz
capabilities: x86-64 fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave rdrand lahf_lm 3dnowprefetch intel_pt tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase tsc_adjust smep erms mpx rdseed smap clflushopt sha_ni xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves dtherm ida arat pln pts cpufreq
configuration: cores=2 enabledcores=2 threads=2
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: 6
slot: L1 Cache
size: 32KiB
capacity: 32KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back instruction
configuration: level=1
*-cache:1
description: L2 cache
physical id: 7
slot: L2 Cache
size: 1MiB
capacity: 1MiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back unified
configuration: level=2
*-cache
description: L1 cache
physical id: 5
slot: L1 Cache
size: 24KiB
capacity: 24KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back data
configuration: level=1
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 23
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 2GiB
*-bank
description: DIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1600 MHz (0.6 ns)
vendor: 0000
physical id: 0
serial: [REMOVED]
slot: ChannelA-DIMM0
size: 2GiB
width: 8 bits
clock: 1600MHz (0.6ns)
*-pci
description: Host bridge
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 0a
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
*-generic:0
description: Signal processing controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.1
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=proc_thermal latency=0
resources: irq:24 memory:91410000-91417fff
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
resources: irq:370 memory:90000000-90ffffff memory:80000000-8fffffff ioport:2000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff
*-multimedia
description: Audio device
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: e
bus info: pci@0000:00:0e.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
resources: irq:372 memory:91418000-9141bfff memory:91200000-912fffff
*-communication:0
description: Communication controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: f
bus info: pci@0000:00:0f.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=mei_me latency=0
resources: irq:371 memory:91420000-91420fff
*-communication:1 UNCLAIMED
description: Communication controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: f.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:0f.1
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:91421000-91421fff
*-communication:2 UNCLAIMED
description: Communication controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: f.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:0f.2
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:91422000-91422fff
*-generic:1 UNCLAIMED
description: Unclassified device
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 11
bus info: pci@0000:00:11.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:9141c000-9141dfff memory:91423000-91423fff
*-storage
description: SATA controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 12
bus info: pci@0000:00:12.0
version: 0a
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: storage msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
resources: irq:368 memory:9141e000-9141ffff memory:91430000-914300ff ioport:2080(size=8) ioport:2088(size=4) ioport:2060(size=32) memory:9142e000-9142e7ff
*-pci:0
description: PCI bridge
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 13
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.0
version: fa
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:120 memory:91000000-911fffff
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: Qualcomm Atheros
vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
logical name: wlp1s0
version: 31
serial: [REMOVED]
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath10k_pci driverversion=4.8.0-36-generic firmware=WLAN.TF.1.0-00267-1 ip=[REMOVED] latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
resources: irq:373 memory:91000000-911fffff
*-pci:1
description: PCI bridge
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 13.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.2
version: fa
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:121 ioport:1000(size=4096) memory:91300000-913fffff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
logical name: enp2s0
version: 15
serial: [REMOVED]
size: 10Mbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half firmware=rtl8168h-2_0.0.2 02/26/15 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII speed=10Mbit/s
resources: irq:369 ioport:1000(size=256) memory:91304000-91304fff memory:91300000-91303fff
*-usb
description: USB controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 15
bus info: pci@0000:00:15.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi xhci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=xhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:122 memory:91400000-9140ffff
*-usbhost:0
product: xHCI Host Controller
vendor: Linux 4.8.0-36-generic xhci-hcd
physical id: 0
bus info: usb@1
logical name: usb1
version: 4.08
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=8 speed=480Mbit/s
*-usb:0
description: Mass storage device
product: USB 2.0 FD
vendor: PNY Technologies
physical id: 2
bus info: usb@1:2
logical name: scsi1
version: 1.10
serial: [REMOVED]
capabilities: usb-2.00 scsi emulated scsi-host
configuration: driver=usb-storage maxpower=300mA speed=480Mbit/s
*-disk
description: SCSI Disk
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
size: 29GiB (31GB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512 signature=0790d2d7
*-volume
description: Windows FAT volume
vendor: SYSLINUX
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sda1
logical name: /cdrom
version: FAT32
serial: [REMOVED]
size: 29GiB
capacity: 29GiB
capabilities: primary bootable fat initialized
configuration: FATs=2 filesystem=fat label=LUBUNTU 16_ mount.fstype=vfat mount.options=ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,cod epage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro state=mounted
*-usb:1
description: Bluetooth wireless interface
vendor: Atheros Communications, Inc.
physical id: 5
bus info: usb@1:5
version: 0.01
capabilities: bluetooth usb-2.01
configuration: driver=btusb maxpower=100mA speed=12Mbit/s
*-usb:2
description: Video
product: EasyCamera
vendor: SunplusIT Inc
physical id: 6
bus info: usb@1:6
version: 53.09
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=uvcvideo maxpower=500mA speed=480Mbit/s
*-usbhost:1
product: xHCI Host Controller
vendor: Linux 4.8.0-36-generic xhci-hcd
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@2
logical name: usb2
version: 4.08
capabilities: usb-3.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=7 speed=5000Mbit/s
*-generic:2
description: Signal processing controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 16
bus info: pci@0000:00:16.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=intel-lpss latency=0
resources: irq:27 memory:91424000-91424fff memory:91425000-91425fff
*-generic:3
description: Signal processing controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 16.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:16.3
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=intel-lpss latency=0
resources: irq:30 memory:91426000-91426fff memory:91427000-91427fff
*-generic:4
description: Signal processing controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 17
bus info: pci@0000:00:17.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=intel-lpss latency=0
resources: irq:31 memory:91428000-91428fff memory:91429000-91429fff
*-generic:5
description: SD Host controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1b
bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=sdhci-pci latency=0
resources: irq:3 memory:9142a000-9142afff memory:9142b000-9142bfff
*-generic:6
description: SD Host controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=sdhci-pci latency=0
resources: irq:39 memory:9142c000-9142cfff memory:9142d000-9142dfff
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
version: 0a
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: isa bus_master
configuration: latency=0
*-serial UNCLAIMED
description: SMBus
product: Broxton SMBus Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.1
version: 0a
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:9142f000-9142f0ff ioport:2040(size=32)
*-battery
description: Lithium Ion Battery
product: SR Real Battery
vendor: Intel SR 1
physical id: 1
version: Date
serial: [REMOVED]
slot: I2C2
configuration: voltage=3.8V
*-power UNCLAIMED
description: OEM Define 1
product: OEM Define 5
vendor: OEM Define 2
physical id: 2
version: OEM Define 6
serial: [REMOVED]
capacity: 75mWh

[mörgæs]

The N3350 is a fairly new processor. Does it work differently with 17.10.1?

[mrpuzzl3]

Nope. I originally started with 17.10 but switched to 16.04lts upon reading that it provided greater stability and support. 17.10 exhibits the same behavior.

[mörgæs]

Choosing a Buntu release is always a trade-off between stability and hardware support. It's difficult to get both.

Anyway, it didn't change anything here. Does this help?
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Linux-Discussion/Installing-linux-via-usb-with-uefi-on-lenovo-flex-14/m-p/1393241#M5578

[mrpuzzl3]

No. BUT! Having BOTH USB sticks in at the same time allows me to boot into Ubuntu... Go figure?!? I tried using
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=64K conv=noerror,sync and it seems to have copied my drive(Install location, SanDisk Cruzer) to my other USB (PNY) but I can only boot off of the original install drive (SanDisk Cruzer). I'm able to get to boot screens on both USB drives, but it goes back to the original problem of booting to a black screen. As soon as the PNY AND the SanDisk are in place, and selecting the SanDisk as the boot device, I can get into Ubuntu. In fact, I'm in Ubuntu now using the problem computer to reply to this thread. What are my next steps to make it so that I don't need to have BOTH drives in place to be able to boot?

[mörgæs]

I don't have any further ideas. Isn't it an option to carry on with the system as it is, that is with two USB sticks attached?