Compatibility

OK, I'm running out now... but if you are confident about the instructions to flash the BIOS, and you're absolutely sure it is the right update for your motherboard... then flashing it may let Ubuntu boot again from the hard drive installation. No promises, but it would be great if that is the fix for it. I don't think I've ever encountered a Linux install that needed a BIOS update, but who knows. Updates can't hurt usually though, as long as you get through it okay!

Cheers
 


Yeah thanks Stan (@atanere ) for dropping me in it. :confused: My reputation precedes me and sometimes exceeds my ability. :p

But I'm good at Googling and run 60 - 70 Linux at a time.

Me at #2 was 9:15 last night for me, headed for the sack (DownUnder) so regrets if it seemed short.

I had seen when exiting, but had not stopped to read, your 2nd thread, will read it soon.

We have an autocomplete for Members' handles, so typing @wiz.. will bring up my handle, but you can call me Wizard, Wiz or Chris - anything but late for dinner.

I am in and out a bit this morning, but by afternoon I can take a look at "Who's who & what's what" as my dear departed Mum used to say, regarding that error.

I suggest you go to top right-hand side (if you have not already done so) where your avatar and userid are shown click and check to show online status, and let me know your time zone, so we can best coordinate our efforts?

Cheers for now, and back soon with plenty, I hope.

Wizard
BTW - my usual invite applies, to my brethren and sistren... if anyone knows more than my stumbling efforts, please get your hands dirty, and I am happy to sit back and watch and learn, and just contribute as required. :D
 
Let's start at the very beginning (Julie Andrews)

What Ubuntu did you download? And did you verify it?

Let's take those one at a time:

What Ubuntu did you download?

eg ubuntu studio 16.04.3 LTS 64-bit, aka ubuntu studio 'Xenial Xerus', and its .iso you downloaded is named ubuntustudio-16.04.3-dvd-amd64.iso and it is 2.7GB in size.

And did you verify it?

The shasums for that example above are as follows:

sha1sum -
5533d8da65401c37567cf4ccdf6067c593ba1bb0

sha256sum -
2ce8329fde545eb9c13f5aedafc833b4ea2731d27c0d01c450487706e436b006

If you have not heard of md5, sha1, sha256 &c, you are not alone.

See how you go with those to begin with, and I can help you further from there.

BTW if you have downloaded a 17.10 of Ubuntu itself, there may be a bug there that I expect launchpad will be looking into sooner or later, but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

Gotcha on the timezone, ta.

Wizard
 
Updating myself, this from launchpad, with a similar if not identical bug being looked into 18 - 26 October with Ubuntu 17.10:

I was testing Ubuntu 17.10 live ISO. Probably this latest ucode does not get loaded.

Yes probably not from a live cd. However for an installed system, you should install intel-microcode and reboot, if your CPU firmware is buggy.

The alternative is to get your motherboard's latest BIOS/firmware, which sometimes includes CPU microcode updates (but, not always).

So I'll leave it with you for tonight, and let us know what you can.

Wiz
 
@wizardfromoz
I downloaded 17.10 and followed the steps on the website. I created a USB using Etcher.
I did just download 16.04.3 and I will give that one a try today just to see whats up.

As for verifying it.... I have no idea what that means. I'll do some searching on how to verify the download and try some stuff out.

Update: There was a update for my MSI board on the MSI website. I did update the bios.

I'll try these things out and let you know how I make out.

Cody
 
@wizardfromoz @atanere

So 17.10 is verified and wont run. 16.04.3 is verified and wont run.
I've also tried a few others, all dont work, but I would rather use Ubuntu.

I was getting a microcode update needed (see pic in earlier post). So I did some digging and found this:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/microcode#TOC-Intel-processors

Thoughts?

Digging is good, and you can often find your own solutions. And I also like the site that you've quoted... I have found a lot of good info there. But I'm already a bit skeptical that the Synaptic Package Manager will hold a more recent microcode than what you've just downloaded with your BIOS update. Still, it's worth checking the dates to find out! But be sure to follow the advice not to install if it is older than that now in your BIOS. And even if it is newer, maybe pause a bit and think about it a little more first.

In your present state, you'll have to run Synaptic from the USB (the article also says you have to install Synaptic first)... and the article sounds a bit more like it is being done from a bare-metal install. That seems a bit odd because you aren't able to run your bare-metal install... but maybe there are other weird conditions that nudge people into updating the microcode than the trouble you're having.

As the article says, if the Synaptic microcode is older, don't use that. But it also links to Debian repositories where there are even newer versions of the microcode. Here's where I am especially nervous. It may well be newer now than your BIOS update.... but this is the kind of thing that could seriously hose up your computer. I am confused over the many different filenames that are available... how that might apply to your computer. (But don't let the amd64 part fool you, that will be what you want if you get one... the i386 is for 32-bit systems.) Let @wizardfromoz (and/or others) give us his thoughts on this before you try the Debian files.

By telling us "verified" on both Ubuntu versions, I take it you found a program that checks the MD5SUM or SHA256SUM. Good job! You should always check Linux .iso files, and really any program that provides a checksum to compare. When you are running Linux, there is a built-in program to check your downloads from the command line. It's easy.

I'll poke Google a little more also to see if anything else comes up quickly.
 
Ya. besides updating the CPU microcode (its an intel pentium G4600 LGA1151 btw), i can't find anything else as to why this is being a problem.

Ive tried loading Ubuntu 16.04.3 Bupkis. No go. But I can run it from the stick. o_O
So if multiple linux types are not working, it must be the microcode?? Or maybe i royally buggered my pc.:eek:
Ugh. I really dont want to use windows 10. :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

This is also a ground up install. everything new. no OS of any kind.
 
Ya. besides updating the CPU microcode (its an intel pentium G4600 LGA1151 btw), i can't find anything else as to why this is being a problem.

Ive tried loading Ubuntu 16.04.3 Bupkis. No go. But I can run it from the stick. o_O
So if multiple linux types are not working, it must be the microcode?? Or maybe i royally buggered my pc.:eek:
Ugh. I really dont want to use windows 10. :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

This is also a ground up install. everything new. no OS of any kind.

No, we won't make you use Windows 10! LOL! :eek::eek::D

I have high confidence the computer is fine. Think about it... it still boots properly on the USB. So, one way of looking at this is that Ubuntu on USB has built-in or is using a suitable microcode... or it is booting in a manner that doesn't need that microcode. This is partly what makes me reluctant for you to try to install any of those Debian microcode files until we all learn some more about this issue. Those files "seem like" a firmware update, and they may, in fact, change your firmware. But if you choose the wrong file, then what? How can we recover back to your factory installed firmware? Maybe flashing the BIOS would restore it, but if not.... uh-oh. Since you've installed your latest BIOS firmware from the manufacturer, and that didn't fix the microcode... it also might not recover the old one.

I've read some, and of course we need to learn even more. I've found people complaining of this issue also with Fedora and with openSUSE. Both of those distros are very distinct and different from Ubuntu (which is based on Debian). But... that doesn't mean that they will affect YOU with the same problem. This is something to attempt... install one or both... and see if one will work at all. Both of them offer a version with the LXDE desktop which is fast and a simple design. I believe openSUSE has you pick the LXDE desktop during the install process, but Fedora is available as a "spin" by their community members (https://spins.fedoraproject.org/lxde/).

If you want to try a couple of wild hair-brained ideas first... I have a couple. But they depend on you seeing the GRUB boot screen before your system crashes. With a single-user, you probably don't see the GRUB screen, but you may can call it by holding down the Shift key as the system boots.... that is, after your see any manufacturer splash screen, but BEFORE you see the Ubuntu screen. The GRUB bootloader screen is a very boring text screen with just a couple of options. So, I won't detail my hair-brained ideas until we can confirm you can access this. And if you'd rather pursue downloading and installing one of the above versions, that's fine too.
 
ok. so it wont boot from the stick anymore. and no grub screen.
all i did was go out for groceries.

now it wants me to install a proper boot device. but i loaded 16.04 blah blah blah
 
Don't mind me, just sipping my 4th coffee for the morning and then I'll be human :rolleyes:

Just an FYI ... if on the USB stick you go to Terminal (Ctrl-Alt-t) and type in and enter

Code:
sudo apt-get install synaptic

(make sure you have a working internet connection first)

... and follow the prompts, it will install Synaptic Package Manager, which will last only as long as your session lasts (unless you burn a stick with Persistence enabled, but Etcher does not do that yet, but Unetbootin will).

This, I should say, on the Ubuntu 16.04.3 stick.

When you have SPM installed, open it and search on intel-microcode. You should have one entry appear with that, and likely, below, one with iucode-tool.

iucode-tool is

iucode_tool is a program to manipulate Intel® X86 and X86-64 processor microcode collections, and to use the kernel facilities to upgrade the microcode on Intel system processors.

It can load microcode data files in text and binary format, sort, list and filter the microcodes contained in these files, write selected microcodes to a new file in binary format, or upload them to the kernel.

It operates on non-free microcode data downloaded directly from Intel or installed by the intel-microcode package.

They go hand-in-hand. If they are on the stick, they should be on the installed version.

I'll fire off a couple of questions but please follow Stan first while I tinker, I can see where he is headed with Grub, I think, and does good voodoo ;)
  1. I take it the Ubuntu 16 is the Unity desktop, that is, "Dash" at top left corner, launcher defaults to left-hand side?
  2. "I've also tried a few others, all dont work" - can you tell us those?
Back when I can, and I'll catch up with Posts that have come in while I was typing

Cheers

Wizard
 
fedora and mint.

this is all greek to me, sorry. you totally lost me. im just trying to install an operating system. There is nothing on the stick, at all. Plug into computer, load onto the thing. nothing on stick anymore. windows computer shows nothing, but somehow there is only 2MG left on a 4G stick???

and the boot up screen wont show up unless i restart it 3 times. its a tv, so its just blue and says "no signal"
 
Ah, it takes some time... we know. Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, Mint... all are Linux "distros" (distributions).... all are complete operating systems based on a Linux kernel. There are about 300 active distros, but we won't trouble you that much!

I have trouble sometimes with USB sticks too (one reason I burn a lot of DVD's). I'd say stick with the program you used when you try to burn another distro to the stick. I think you said Etcher. Sometimes it takes more effort to recover the stick's capacity... but hopefully the program will fix those issues that it created. I've never figured out if it's the burning software or the distro that gives me trouble.
 
Um, re-reading a little... How did you go from "boots on USB stick" in your Post #29 to "doesn't boot on USB stick" in your Post #31? What kind of groceries were you installing??? :confused::D:D

So, take a deep breath and give us a current status report. If you can't boot the USB stick, you can't follow Wizard's instructions (and the article you linked to) to look at what version of microcode is available via Synaptic.

In Post #27, you said you've tried Ubuntu 17.10 and 16.04.03... "and a few others." (Which others?) I'm not real familiar with Etcher, but these programs usually do a full erase before installing a new one. I'm wondering if maybe this is a problem though and the USB is full. Just thinking out loud until we figure it out. It seems that Windows is not able to see the data that is on the USB.

Cheers
 
Ah, it takes some time... we know. Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, Mint... all are Linux "distros" (distributions).... all are complete operating systems based on a Linux kernel. There are about 300 active distros, but we won't trouble you that much!

I have trouble sometimes with USB sticks too (one reason I burn a lot of DVD's). I'd say stick with the program you used when you try to burn another distro to the stick. I think you said Etcher. Sometimes it takes more effort to recover the stick's capacity... but hopefully the program will fix those issues that it created. I've never figured out if it's the burning software or the distro that gives me trouble.

Yes.. I was lost on the synaptic part. And I still am. I can't get the computer to boot up anymore so I don't know how to do the synaptic step because it doesn't boot.
 
Um, re-reading a little... How did you go from "boots on USB stick" in your Post #29 to "doesn't boot on USB stick" in your Post #31? What kind of groceries were you installing??? :confused::D:D

So, take a deep breath and give us a current status report. If you can't boot the USB stick, you can't follow Wizard's instructions (and the article you linked to) to look at what version of microcode is available via Synaptic.

In Post #27, you said you've tried Ubuntu 17.10 and 16.04.03... "and a few others." (Which others?) I'm not real familiar with Etcher, but these programs usually do a full erase before installing a new one. I'm wondering if maybe this is a problem though and the USB is full. Just thinking out loud until we figure it out. It seems that Windows is not able to see the data that is on the USB.

Cheers

See 36.
I tied mint and Fedora. And the 2 Ubuntu I mentioned.
I literally left for 40 min to buy groceries. It booted up before I left. I came back and now my computer will turn on but it will not boot from the stick. Screen is black and It just says to install a proper I forget. I mentioned it earlier.
Any who, that happens only when I've restarted the computer 3 times. Until then it won't even send a signal to my tv.

I think I buggered it up pretty good.
 
OK, let's slow down a bit. Your USB may be hosed up, but we can probably fix it. But the steps I know use Linux, so let's see about another approach.

Can you burn Linux .iso files to DVD instead? And does the problem computer have a DVD drive (or do you have an external drive to plug into USB) that you can try that instead? Or else another spare USB stick that you may corrupt? :eek:
 
See 36.
I tied mint and Fedora. And the 2 Ubuntu I mentioned.
I literally left for 40 min to buy groceries. It booted up before I left. I came back and now my computer will turn on but it will not boot from the stick. Screen is black and It just says to install a proper I forget. I mentioned it earlier.
Any who, that happens only when I've restarted the computer 3 times. Until then it won't even send a signal to my tv.

I think I buggered it up pretty good.

Okay, in Post #33. I was wondering how Mint got into the conversation. I had suggested Fedora and openSUSE, not Mint, in Post #30. But Mint is a good one... I would have tried it too, except that it is based on Ubuntu, and I was trying to steer you into non-Ubuntu distros.
 

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