[SOLVED] Install hangs *Ubuntu Mate 15.04 64bit EFI USB

Support & Help Requests Hardware
1

Hey all,

I am trying to install Ubuntu MATE 15.04 64-Bit and it freezes at the loading screen with the colored dots (right after selecting "Try without installing" or "Install Ubuntu"). Google offered no solutions other than maybe something about existing partitions on the hd causing issues.

I'm booting from a USB stick using EFI on an ASUS laptop.

here are the specs:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 8.1 with Bing
Version 6.3.9600 Build 9600
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name SLUG
System Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
System Model X453MA
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU ASUS-NotebookSKU
Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU N3540 @ 2.16GHz, 2159 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. X453MA.209, 7/9/2014
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

Cheers

2

I’ve also disabled SecureBoot and FastBoot to no avail. The check disk util in Grub says that it has found errors in 2 files, is this relevant?

3

Tried to install Linux Mint and OpenSuse and I encounter the same problem. The thing stalls at the loading screen. Is this a hardware compatibility issue? Any ideas?

Thanks

4

Perhaps look into doing a Frugal Install. You might want to research it a bit first as I do not know the issues ,if any, on a UEFI Windows 8 system.

In general you can make space on your C:\ drive first and then run UNetbootin to install the ISO image to the free space you made. You may experience the same result because of the UEFI Bios but it may be worth a try.
here is a link and a wiki that explains it a little better:


and
http://sourceforge.net/p/unetbootin/wiki/installmodes/
I hope it helps and if it does please come back and let us know :slight_smile: I was successful using this from windows 7 without a cd/dvd or usb drive. I am typing this from Ubuntu 15.04 full install on a dual boot windows 7 system

I wrote out the steps I took here: Installing from Win 7 desktop into a dual boot

5

@xtrchessreal

The UEFI issue is that you cannot boot into Linux from Windows boot menu as it is possible without UEFI. It does not matter whether it is Wubi, EasyBCD or another program which uses this method.

For Wubi, I found a solution. If you use UEFI, it creates an entry in UEFI boot menu instead of Windows boot menu. That works.

@Lucino_Veo

Try some boot options. That should help. Maybe “nomodeset” is successful.

6

Thanks @matewubi for that info about UEFI. I looked into this issue of installing Ubuntu in UEFI system. From what I read it is crucial to determine whether your Windows (Vista/7/8) was installed in UEFI and if so then Ubuntu must also be installed using UEFI. If it was installed in Bios legacy mode then you must install Ubuntu in legacy mode. There is a way to determine which method was used the details are listed here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI scroll down and read “Case when Ubuntu must be installed in UEFI mode” carefully. @Lucino_Veo It seems like you may know some or most of this info already but just in case it helps I thought I would post that link. There is a specific Ubuntu ISO image for EFI install Actually for me that whole page is a good read. I’m off to learn more about UEFI technology. Thanks again matewubi :slight_smile:

7

Hey thanks for all the leads guys.
@xtrchessreal
I’ve been trying the dual-boot option with UNetbootin but after following your steps closely I get an error screen from Windows Boot Manager saying Windows failed to start whenever I select UNetbooting at start up…

No clue what is happening.

8

@Lucino_Veo
This issue you are experiencing is well known and there are ways to get it to work. The trouble is very complex having to do with Microsoft mostly and the UEFI specification. If you haven’t yet you should really study that link I provided, read it thoroughly. At the bottom of that page there is another link Concerning installing Ubuntu onto a pre-installed windows 8 platform. Don’t just skip the whole page and go to the link at the bottom…read it all. If you are anything like me I don’t stop until I get what I want when it comes to my computer even if it means days and weeks of preparation. The key in your situation is patience, preparation, reading, studying, learning and then preparing a back up plan if it all goes south. Asus has a UEFI system that calls its legacy mode, Compatibility Support Module (CSM) instead of legacy mode. Anyway the link has a info on how to determine if Windows was installed in UEFI or Legacy and whatever way it is you have to install Ubuntu in the same mode. I hope this helps.

9

@Lucino_Veo: I found a bug report regarding your Asus X453MA.

10

@xtrchessreal
Thanks, I’ll definitely give it my best try and will report back.

@matewubi
I actually came across that report scouring the net for a solution the other day. Unfortunately it is way too technical for me. I’m very much a newbie when it comes to these things

11

Have you checked your bios to see if the USB is in legacy BIOS or compatibility mode? In some UEFI Spec BIOS systems each device can have a separate BIOS mode assigned. So, you need to be sure your USB is in EFI or UEFI mode not CSM or legacy mode since you say you are using an EFI USB stick. I assume that means you have a EFI ISO bootable image on a USB stick. It is possible you might not see the option you need until you change modes on a parent menu inside the UEFI spec BIOS. You may have checked this already, I am just trying to go through a troubleshoot in my mind. I also found an article about ASUS UEFI not being user friendly. Just remember the settings you have initially, either save them if possible or write them down by hand or both in case you need to reset everything to get Windows to boot. Also make sure you have everything backed up in case the worst case scenario happens. However in that case you could reinstall Windows in legacy mode and then Ubuntu should install without any issues also in legacy mode. Sorry its late and I am rambling…keep up the good fight.

12

Ok so I have gone through the whole procedure again. This time following the guidelines and advice given in the links you guys provided:

dual boot - How do I install Ubuntu alongside a pre-installed Windows with UEFI? - Ask Ubuntu

and

UEFI - Community Help Wiki

Repost for reference; very useful info for anyone wanting to install ubuntu on a windows 8 machine.

Uuuuunfortunately for me I still can't get the thing to work.

To reiterate:

Up to date BIOS (UEFI);
Disabled SecureBoot;
Enabled CSM (Legacy suport);
40GB unallocated space on HD;
ubuntu-mate-15.04-desktop-amd64.iso burned to a 8GB USB drive using UUI

I reboot Windows, select the "UEFI Kingston USB blablabla" from the device list. The system reboots and I get the grey and black welcome screen for ubuntu which confirms that I am loading into UEFI. So far so good.
Next I select the "Try without installing option" and the ubuntuMate loading scree appears. At this point the system locks up and I must do a hard reset...

13

Have you been trying the boot option “noapic” like the reporter of the bug report did ?

He said: “The only boot parameter that initialize the systems with the majority of functionalities is noapic.”

If you don’t know how to set boot options please follow my link. It is really easy.

14

Well the thing is my welcome screen looks nothing like that, it’s much more basic. (This has something to do with UEFI apparently)
I’ve found that if I hold down ESC as Grub is booting up I get a sort of command prompt.
I have no idea what this is and how to use it…

15

Ubuntu MATE 15.04 DVD should show you a menu like that one:

* Try Ubuntu MATE without installing
  Install Ubuntu MATE
  OEM install (for manufactures)
  Check disc for defects

Now you press “e” ! You should see another menu like this one:

setparams "Try Ubuntu MATE without installing"
     set gfxpayload=keep
     linux /casper/vmlinux.efi file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu-mate.seed boot=casper quiet splash ---
     initrd /casper/initrd.lz

Now you replace “quiet splash” with other boot options. e.g.

setparams "Try Ubuntu MATE without installing"
     set gfxpayload=keep
     linux /casper/vmlinux.efi file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu-mate.seed boot=casper noapic ---
     initrd /casper/initrd.lz

After that, press F10 to continue. That’s it. It is really easy, isn’t it ?

16

@Lucino_Veo try what @matewubi has suggested with the noapic — edit. That seems like it should work.

17

Well I seems my computer simply doesn't like Linux... or maybe it's the other way around.... In any case I tried the noapic mod and just as I thought things were finally happening I run into a lock-up again.

Console spat this up before dying :

[ 56.134715] MMI watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#1 stuck for 23s! [modprobe:1107]

18

There are some other boot options mentioned by the bug reporter:

acpi=off acpi_osi=Windows pci=noacpi

Maybe one of these options or the combination of these options is successful. The bug reporter didn't erase the boot options

quiet splash

That's possible but IMHO these two options are not really helpful for debugging. I read that

nomodeset

is a boot option that often works but it depends on the issue.

19

Ok guys,

Nomodeset works if it has an Nvidia graphics card (works on some AMD cards as well) But not sure that’s the issue here.

It’s worth a try though.

using the live usb stick to boot with.
when it comes to the boot up screen – hit the tab key - you will see a screen with several F key settings at the bottom. select F6 and the select nomodeset hit esc. key then hit enter.
does it boot up?

Lets start with that one.

20

Ok just tried nomodset with no success: system locks up again after coughing up a bunch of lines and numbers that don’t mean anything to me

I think I’ll just have to endure window$…