[Solved] usb install - nothing happens

catch22 · 2016-07-22 22:11:36

On an old laptop I installed BL via a DVD where I put the "bl-Hydrogen-i386+NonPAE_20160710.iso" and it works.
I wanted to also install on an old netbook via usb, using exactly the same iso I had used for the laptop, so I did:

dd bs=4M if=/media/ludo/08C8CAC6C8CAB16C/Torrents/bl-Hydrogen-i386+NonPAE_20160710.iso of=/dev/sdc && sync
168+1 records in
168+1 records out
706740224 bytes (707 MB) copied, 173,89 s, 4,1 MB/s

When I look in Gparted it says it has Debian Jessie on there, so I guess all is well, but inserting the usb (netbook set to boot from usb of course) nothing happens except a blinking "-" for ages...
I tried formatting and dd-ing again - tried the whole process once more as root - nothing works.

Last edited by catch22 (2016-07-23 10:22:33)

Horizon_Brave · 2016-07-22 23:43:46

Was the USB drive set with an MBR? What's the details with the USB itself? Was it a clean install? Or are you installing it on a certain partition on the usb?

johnraff · 2016-07-23 02:33:20

Not all old computers are able to boot from a usb stick. Even if yours is, you might have to look in the BIOS settings and tweak something.

catch22 · 2016-07-23 08:41:58

Horizon_Brave wrote:

Was the USB drive set with an MBR? What's the details with the USB itself? Was it a clean install? Or are you installing it on a certain partition on the usb?

Opening it in Gparted to see, this time (meaning, after the last time I did the dd-job as root) I get the message

Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sdc

and the whole thing is "unallocated".
I had formatted it as FAT32 and used the whole stick. To the rest of your questions I don't know the answer.
It doesn't automount on my desktop for some reason.

The netbook I'm trying it on has Waldorf on it (at that time also installed with usb - so that's not the problem), which I would wipe, using the whole disk.

I guess now I'd better try another usb-stick that doesn't give the above error - I'll be back when that's done with or without success.
EDIT - the usb is ok after all; I inserted another one that looks 100% alike (still need more coffee to wake up)
So the right usb says in Gparted:

Debian jessie 20160709-23:38 673,97 MiB boot, hidden

Last edited by catch22 (2016-07-23 08:52:50)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-07-23 10:08:01

catch22 wrote:

inserting the usb (netbook set to boot from usb of course) nothing happens except a blinking "-" for ages...

I think you need to disable Kernel mode setting for your graphics card.

Press "e" with the GRUB (boot) menu entry highlighted then add this to the end of the line that starts with "linux":

nomodeset

Then press <Ctrl>+x (at the same time) to boot the modified entry.

If you have an NVIDIA card, you may have to add this instead:

nomodeset nouveau.modeset=0

If you have an Optimus device, use:

nomodeset nouveau.modeset=0 i915.modeset=0

This should allow the session to start.

To add the parameters permanently, edit the file at /etc/default/grub (as root!) in the installed system and add the needed parameters between the quotation marks on the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line then save the file and update your GRUB configuration with:

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

catch22 · 2016-07-23 10:21:59

johnraff wrote:

Not all old computers are able to boot from a usb stick. Even if yours is, you might have to look in the BIOS settings and tweak something.

That was spot on I took a look in the old #!forums - vaguely remembering that there was an issue back then with my Asus eee1005, and indeed a strange way of getting the BIOS to work with usb is described there: http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=3954
All is good now - in graphic mode checking, and installing after that

catch22 · 2016-07-23 10:24:54

Thanks Head_on_a_Stick, I saw your reply only just after I marked Solved.

#1 2016-07-22 22:11:36

[Solved] usb install - nothing happens

#2 2016-07-22 23:43:46

Re: [Solved] usb install - nothing happens

#3 2016-07-23 02:33:20

Re: [Solved] usb install - nothing happens

#4 2016-07-23 08:41:58

Re: [Solved] usb install - nothing happens

#5 2016-07-23 10:08:01

Re: [Solved] usb install - nothing happens

#6 2016-07-23 10:21:59

Re: [Solved] usb install - nothing happens

#7 2016-07-23 10:24:54

Re: [Solved] usb install - nothing happens

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