Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

berniz95 · 2017-05-02 16:40:26

Hi there,

I have followed the instructions for creating a bootable USB stick, but the PC won't boot on it. I've set the boot order to "USB" first but that step seems to be skipped and the boot always ends up by starting up the old Windows. No message is displayed. I downloaded the iso i386 file and created the bootable stick under Linux using "cp" (or "dd") but none work.
When I plug in the key, Nautilus doesn't show it whereas Gparted does :

extract from gparted

Does it look normal and what could I try ?

Once I easily installed a Hydrogen on a DELL laptop... (but not with the same stick).

The PC is a Toshiba Satellite A100-788.

(edit) of course I set Legacy USB on in the BIOS.

Last edited by berniz95 (2018-04-03 16:57:30)

iMBeCil · 2017-05-02 20:41:59

^Please post the exact command you used to create bootable USB stick.

For reference, it should be:

$ sudo dd if=downloaded-BL.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M;sync

(this one of the possible way).

Note: "/dev/sdX" is actually something like "/dev/sdb" or "/dev/sdc", and contaions no number at the end. Of course, it is the 'dev' of your stick.

BEWARE: specifying wrong "/dev/sdX" can erase your working system. If it is "/dev/sda", then it is probably wrong! Please, take care to ensure you know which "/dev/sdX" is your USB stick.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-05-02 20:43:09

Does the USB stick work on other computers?

Do other USB sticks work on that computer?

Julie8484 · 2017-05-02 20:49:05

I've got Toshiba and in mine case I press F12 (Boot Menu). After that on the bootom of the screen you will see entering boot menu.Select menu will appear and just chosee usb ;-)

https://www.desertcrystal.com/bootkeys - I think it is default for all Toshiba Laptops.

Last edited by Julie8484 (2017-05-02 20:50:54)

Julie8484 · 2017-05-02 20:54:48

Ps What Linux Distro you are using ?

iMBeCil · 2017-05-02 20:59:15

Julie8484 wrote:

Ps What Linux Distro you are using ?

If you are asking me: debian-like (sid). But the command should be the same across lrage spectrum of debians, or even linuxes (or linuces?)

Last edited by iMBeCil (2017-05-02 20:59:38)

Sector11 · 2017-05-02 21:15:17

How about a little HowTo: (gleefully swiped from the old #! Wiki .. with some updates)

Getting that ISO to a USB stick

EDIT: In it's own thread stickied!

Last edited by Sector11 (2017-05-02 23:47:44)

iMBeCil · 2017-05-02 21:58:10

^Great Sector!! Should be sticky somewhere in the forum ....

Last edited by iMBeCil (2017-05-02 21:58:28)

Sector11 · 2017-05-02 23:47:59

^ Like that?

berniz95 · 2017-05-03 10:30:32

iMBeCil: the command I used is the one you quote. I used the device name without a final figure, /dev/sdd or sdf depending on sessions, as told by Gparted.
Head_on_a_Stick: the stick works fine on a Packard Bell MS2273, at least the live session starts up using Julie8484's F12 key. F12 opens the boot menu on the Toshiba as well, but the live session doesn't start : Windows does.

(edit) checksum done: OK.
(edit) signature OK as well (once I used the right .sig file).

Julie8484: I'm trying to install bl-Hydrogen-i386_20160710.iso as specified on the Install page. I also tried the non-PAE version.
Given all that, I really suspect there's something specific to that Tosh, be it feature or bug...

(edit) Is there a way I could boot on LAN ? That seems to work, when I select it the boot sequence expects a connexion.

Last edited by berniz95 (2017-05-03 14:22:56)

iMBeCil · 2017-05-03 13:42:59

Sector11 wrote:

^ Like that?

Exactly!

PackRat · 2017-05-03 14:44:48

F12 opens the boot menu on the Toshiba as well, but the live session doesn't start : Windows does.

What version of Windows, and is this Toshiba uEFI capable? I couldn't locate the specs on Toshiba's site so I'm guessing it's an older laptop.

berniz95 · 2017-05-03 14:56:22

PackRat: Windows XP SP3. See http://www.toshiba.fr/discontinued-prod … -a100-788/ for instance.

I guess a recent uEFI would make booting on an USB stick impossible (il I understand the uEFI wikipedia page well). This PC was designed more than 10 years ago and obvioulsy has an option for booting on USB memory in its boot sequence, which doesn't work for some reason.

Last edited by berniz95 (2017-05-04 04:05:17)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-05-03 17:13:09

Have you ever been able to boot any sort of live ISO image on that device?

PCLinuxOS is probably the best distribution in respect of general hardware compatibility, does that work?

http://www.pclinuxos.com/

berniz95 · 2017-05-03 19:38:08

I just fell upon the fact that this although-quite-old Toshiba has a DVD writer. So I burnt the ISO image on a DVD, and booting on it was successful. Now I am merrily in the process of finalizing the installation (adding applications, switching everything to French aso). I will definitely try to boot a PCLinuxOS ISO image in a short moment.

(edit) downloaded, md5sum checked and copied on a stick the pclinuxos64-kde5-2017.04.iso image: more trouble ahead...

/dev/sdc contains GPT signatures, indicating that it has a GPT table.  However, it does not 
have a valid fake msdos partition table, as it should.  Perhaps it was corrupted -- possibly 
by a program that doesn't understand GPT partition tables.  Or perhaps you deleted the GPT 
table, and are now using an msdos partition table.  Is this a GPT partition table?

(I used dd bs=4M as before)

Last edited by berniz95 (2017-05-04 05:57:39)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-05-04 06:22:44

Try:

sudo apt install gdisk
sudo sgdisk --zap-all /dev/sdX

Replace X with the letter assigned to the drive, be very careful as you can wipe your main drive with this single command.

This will clear the GPT backup table and let you use the USB stick for ISO images again.

berniz95 · 2017-05-04 10:51:10

Head_on_a_Stick: once sgdisk applied (and a reboot) the stick is operational, although gparted says it is empty (100% not allocated). My Toshiba boots on it, and the PCLinuxOS live/install menu appears (even though I picked up a wrong architecture).
Two options: either PCLinuxOS images are more compatible than Bunsenlab's, or installing Hydrogen on my laptop improved something regarding the USB ports management during start up.
I don't need to investigate any further for myself, but feel free to ask more questions if you think there is something there to be understood... I have subsequent issues I will open other threads for later.

Last edited by berniz95 (2017-05-04 10:54:50)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-05-04 21:05:33

berniz95 wrote:

PCLinuxOS images are more compatible than Bunsenlab's

^ this; Texstar has us beat at that particular game

berniz95 · 2017-05-05 05:13:24

Let it beat ! I find BL more attractive. Finally I can run it on that Toshiba of mine. I had the wifi work (there was a tiny hidden switch on the right side). Last issue is make the Fn-F6 and F7 tune the brightness but I will open a different thread for that (or not - I read Phoenix BIOSes can't cope with ACPI. Forget it, I'll wear sunglasses). Subject closed.

Last edited by berniz95 (2017-05-05 05:14:58)

#1 2017-05-02 16:40:26

Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#2 2017-05-02 20:41:59

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#3 2017-05-02 20:43:09

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#4 2017-05-02 20:49:05

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#5 2017-05-02 20:54:48

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#6 2017-05-02 20:59:15

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#7 2017-05-02 21:15:17

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#8 2017-05-02 21:58:10

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#9 2017-05-02 23:47:59

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#10 2017-05-03 10:30:32

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#11 2017-05-03 13:42:59

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#12 2017-05-03 14:44:48

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#13 2017-05-03 14:56:22

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#14 2017-05-03 17:13:09

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#15 2017-05-03 19:38:08

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#16 2017-05-04 06:22:44

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#17 2017-05-04 10:51:10

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#18 2017-05-04 21:05:33

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

#19 2017-05-05 05:13:24

Re: Installing Hydrogen on a Toshiba laptop

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