Lenovo z500 problem installing elementary os

Kezar21

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Hello people,
i am new in the game, i face a strange problem i own lenovo z500 with windows 10 ( with ssd).
i follow all the steps starting from usb creation, i went to boot from usb but lenovo gives me a loop in start ( showing lenovo logo restart lenovo logo again and again) in result i cant boot to start the installation. any idea?
i have already tried secure boot off legacy etc. ( usb is formated fat32 )
 


Hi @Kezar21, and welcome!

You didn't say what Linux distro you have on USB... but some of them will work with Secure Boot enabled and no need to go to Legacy mode. But important thing is that you got into your BIOS/UEFI settings.... while in there, you may can put your USB to be first in the Boot Order. That is one way.

Another way is while the computer begins to boot that you hit some special F-key to interrupt the boot and give you some options. One of the options is usually to enter the BIOS/UEFI setup, but you should have also a Boot Menu that will let you choose the USB if you select that.

I just want to double-check that you did the USB creation properly too. You must use some special software to put the Linux .iso file on the USB flash drive.... you cannot just copy it to the USB or else it will not be bootable. The special software for creating the bootable USB should also format the flash drive to FAT32, and it will erase anything else that is on the drive.

When you get it to boot your computer, it will be good to test it out in "live mode" and just check out Linux on the USB before installing. But you will want to be careful if/when you try to install to your hard drive. Be sure to save anything important on your Windows side before beginning in case things go wrong.

Cheers
 
Well I tried to make with unit bootable and with rufus but nothing works
I already got image for my win10 so I am safe :)
Lenovo has a special key on the left side of the laptop which gives u the menu for normal boot
Boot menu
Recovery etc. I caNt get threw this when I power on my laptop
 
D'oh! Sorry... didn't even read the title well enough to see the distro! :eek::D

I'll go read the instructions you're following and see if I can help figure out anything.
 
Thank you mate. Notice that I am new to this kind of software and I hope elementary will be a good guide for me.i still have a lot to learn about linux
 
Well, elementary is actually just that... elementary (basic). It does not include LibreOffice like most other distros, but you can install it later. It is quite popular, from what I read, but I tend to encourage most new users to try Linux Mint. They say elementary is a bit more like a Mac, but Mint is a bit more like Windows. But neither one should be that difficult to use once you get it going.

Now.... that's the problem! You've got to get it going before you can do anything. Whatever is stopping elementary would also be stopping Mint. And this boils down to either Windows 10 affecting the boot process, or Lenovo itself. I have a Lenovo Yoga, and I have one of those special little buttons on the side too (called a Novo button).... and using it to boot the computer instead of the regular power button does work to give me BIOS and Boot options, and the Boot option will let me boot on a USB.

In my case, I have to hold in that Novo button for awhile (until I see the Lenovo logo).... and sometimes it doesn't work the first time and I have to try it again. I think this is probably where you need to concentrate.... to use that button (with the USB flash drive already plugged in.... and work with it to get it to boot on the USB.

There are some things about Windows 10 that may be a problem.... mostly, it is that it does not really shut down when you tell it to. Instead it goes into a "hibernate" mode so it will boot back up faster. This is a Microsoft trick to make you think it is so much faster than older Windows. But this is probably not stopping you from booting.

There are some things about the instructions you're following for elementary that I might do differently. But before going into that, let's just get you booting on the USB. When you do get it to boot... just choose to "Try Elementary" and not try to go forward with installing it yet.

You might also consider installing VirtualBox in your Windows 10, and then installing 2 or 3 (or more) different Linux distros as "virtual machines" to try them out before picking one to be the one that you install to the hard drive. This can be very helpful, and it also postpones the need to boot on your USB.
 
Also meant to say that Rufus is an excellent tool to make the USB. If you didn't get any errors from it, you are probably okay. But if you still have the elementary .iso file you downloaded, there is another test you can make on it to be sure that your downloaded file was complete and not corrupted. A bad download could also be the reason you cannot boot it up.
 
The same download I use it for vm already so I can test it. There is something wrong with boot usb I guess.
 
Btw I press.novo button with usb plugged in and just lenovo logo loops all the time.nothing happen.
 
Well, I think the Novo button is the way you will need to boot on USB (if BIOS boot order can't be set to boot USB first).

Your instructions say that elementary is okay for Secure Boot and UEFI mode (not Legacy mode).... so you might want to change those back and try again. Linux Mint is also capable of Secure Boot and UEFI mode, so if you want to give that a try you would not have to keep changing those settings, but some other distros would require changing them again.

While in BIOS setup, you might also disable Fast Boot, if you see it.

If you want to disable hibernation in Windows 10 and force it to do a "real shutdown"... you can open a CMD prompt as Administrator and give these commands (these follow instuctions from here):
Code:
powercfg -h off
# and then this below will shut Windows down immediately
shutdown /s /t 0

I don't think Windows is stopping your boot though, but it is something to try. The link also shows how to turn hibernation back on if you want to return to that setting.
 
Hmmm, another setting in BIOS that you may find is something like "OS Optimized Defaults" which should be changed to "Other OS" if you have this setting. This comes from Lenovo support here.

Another Lenovo support article (here) has a video that says another method of accessing the Boot Menu is to continually tap the F12 key when starting up. But I don't see which computer models this works for, it only says for Windows 10, so maybe it will work for you instead of the Novo button. The video is about using a Windows Recovery USB, but once you get the Boot Menu, it really would not matter... if it recognizes your Linux USB it should let you boot on that.
 
My system doesn't boot with f12.
I haven't tried yet the hibernate option I will do it and return for feedback
OS option in bios is already other OS.

Atm I am at work when I will return I will try.but I was thinking now.i use 16gb usb stick with fat32 system. Sometimes in the past with this style I was facing problem with other os.i am thinking to try with 4gb stick and fat32
 
Guess what. 1st try I just create a 4gb usb bootable and just work.the most nonsense reason.hahah
 
Already installed and laptop going very fast.
The only problem is network isnt working.
I have it connected to the wifi already got IP but cant search or download anything
 
Do you have access to an Ethernet cable ?

Plug it into the Lenovo, then open Terminal ....and type in : sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

Copy and paste it for accuracy.
 
I did what you told me this morning and I got at the end an error about module I will tell u later exactly what I saw. Even in the ethernet the loading and downloading is very slow
 
Do you have access to an Ethernet cable ?

Plug it into the Lenovo, then open Terminal ....and type in : sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

Copy and paste it for accuracy.
I did it again or says is in last version but is very slow
 

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