Can't boot from a new Ubuntu 20.04 USB drive

[pme 72]

Thank you ml9104, I show all those files and a couple of others.

BIOS is not showing any available USB ports. My hard drives and DVD drive are listed but the other three ports show "Not Detected".

To verify I downloaded CorePlus-current, a tiny, 230.6 MB, boot-able distribution and wrote it to a USB drive. The PC booted directly to GRUB, the USB was not recognized. Written to a DVD it booted up with out error.

I thought to write the USB to a DVD. The three programs I tried all recognized the USB as a potential disk to write to, but none would accept the USB drive as a Source Disk image. I fear the image has been corrupted.

[CelticWarrior]

You don't burn a DVD from a USB... You use the exact same ISO file.

Regarding your problem booting from USB... Have you by any chance disabled "legacy USB support"? Not to be confused with Legacy/CSM in UEFI.

[rbmorse]

I looked this thing up. They're charging $14 USD for a small form factor USB key drive with Ubuntu 20.04 preinstalled. Sold as a plug and play system. No way to know how the Ubuntu installation was created.

My guess is it's a UEFI mode install.

I ordered one just because I'm curious about it and to see if there's any "bonus" features they aren't advertising.

[pme 72]

Thank you, CelticWarrior, news to me, good to know!

None of the write to USB programs would recognize the ISO file as an appropriate medium either. However, the file name is now UBUNTU 20_0. I did get an error message when I ran dmesg after an unsuccessful attempt to boot from the USB:

[ 141.819339] FAT-fs (sdg1): Volume was not properly unmounted. Some data may be corrupt. Please run fsck.

[CelticWarrior]

The ISO is here https://ubuntu.com/#download as well as tutorials for burning into a DVD or USB.

[pme 72]

rbmorse,
Thanks for your input. That's basically why I ordered it, that, and the need for another $13+ for free Amazon shipping on something I really did need. I hope you'll share your results.

[pme 72]

CelticWarrior,

I have searched the BIOS options and so far have not found any "legacy USB support" options. Boot is BIOS based not UEFI.

The fellow who rebuilt my PC gave me the Motherboard User Guide. I've not found any mention of legacy USB support in those pages.

[CelticWarrior]

CelticWarrior,

I have searched the BIOS options and so far have not found any "legacy USB support" options. Boot is BIOS based not UEFI.

The fellow who rebuilt my PC gave me the Motherboard User Guide. I've not found any mention of legacy USB support in those pages.

It's under Advanced > USB configuration and mentioned in Chapter 2, page 16 of your user's manual (added bold for the relevant part):

Legacy USB Support [Auto]
Allows you to enable or disable support for Legacy USB storage devices, including USB flash
drives and USB hard drives. Setting to Auto allows the system to detect the presence of USB
devices at startup. If detected, the USB controller legacy mode is enabled. If no USB device
is detected, the legacy USB support is disabled. Configuration options: [Disabled] [Enabled]
[Auto]

The user's manual isn't the same as the quick setup guide.

And I hope that by now you understood how to do your own USB installation media instead of ordering an expensive one from Amazon or whatever. Also a preinstalled Ubuntu is NOT the same as installation media. I agree with rbmorse above that what you bought is probably an installation in UEFI mode. If so it obviously won't and can't work in your old BIOS system, it only boots in modern UEFI systems. In summary, a waste of money. For the same price you could have bought a few USB sticks.

[pme 72]

CelticWarrior, Thank you, I am eternally grateful.

Just checked, Legacy USB Support was set to [Auto] but sounds like it didn't matter. When the time comes I'll find out how advanced my USB installation skills are.

Thanks again, I hope someone upstairs grants you and yours a joyous Christmas holiday!