[Bug 930447] Re: Unable to start Ubuntu 12.04 live CD with syslinux loader on Pentium M x86 Laptop due to bug in PAE kernel, initramfs or syslinux

[sanmiguel9]

Based on oliver's instructions (thx a lot!! safed my a.. at work today)
I successfully installed Ubuntu 12.04 on a Pentium M laptop. The
official ubuntu-12.04-desktop-i386.iso file always triggered the PAE-
missing-error and failed to install.

As I am a newbie, it took me a while to figure out how exactly it needs
to be done, and besides there is a small error in the menuentry of
oliver's post. So here it is again for other beginners :-)

1.) Download the official ubuntu-12.04-desktop-i386.iso and use the "Startup Disk Creator" to make a LiveUSB installation on your favorite empty USB key (FYI, I used the option "Discarded on shutdown, unless you safe them elsewhere", just in case...)
2.) Copy the ubuntu-12.04-desktop-i386.iso to the USB key (not in a folder!)
3.) Unmount your USB key. I assume your USB key is the device /dev/sdb. Then remount it to /mnt (e.g. with "sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt" or similar)
4.) sudo grub-install --no-floppy --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sdb
5.) sudo grub-mkconfig |sudo tee /mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg
6.) sudo gedit /mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg and look for the "menuentry{ ... }" sections. Replace all of them with one single entry

menuentry "PAE kernel for Pentium M" {
   iso_path=/ubuntu-12.04-desktop-i386.iso
   export iso_path
   search --set --file $iso_path
   loopback loop $iso_path
   root=(loop)
   configfile /boot/grub/loopback.cfg
   loopback --delete loop
 }

7.) reboot and make sure your computer boots from the USB key
8.) send oliver a postcard :-)

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930447

Title:
  Unable to start Ubuntu 12.04 live CD with syslinux loader on Pentium M
  x86 Laptop due to bug in PAE kernel, initramfs or syslinux

Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
  Won't Fix
Status in “syslinux” package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in Baltix GNU/Linux:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Ubuntu 12.04 doesn't start from Desktop CD or USB with syslinux boot
  loader on Pentium M 1.6Ghz or faster Pentium M CPU - displays error
  message about missing PAE feature in CPU, but *the same* *Ubuntu
  12.04* Desktop CD/LiveUSB starts fine on *the same CPU* (and same PAE
  kernel) if GRUB boot loader is used, for example when WUBI or LiveUSB
  with GRUB boot loader, like Multisystem
  (http://liveusb.info/dotclear/index.php?pages/install ) is used!

  The error message is:
  "This kernel requires the following features not present on the CPU: pae.
  Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for you CPU."

  THIS IS AN IMPORTANT REGRESSION! People are able to install and successfully use Ubuntu 12.04 on such pretty new hardware, like IBM Thinkpad T42 laptop with Pentium M 1700Mhz processor, but the bug in syslinux (or something related) forbids Ubuntu 12.04 installation.
  This bug is reproducible on lots of computers, there are several log files and /proc/cpuinfo file attached to this bugreport, AFAIK it's enough to reopen this bug.

  ---
  ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
  Architecture: i386
  CurrentDmesg: Error: command ['sh', '-c', 'dmesg | comm -13 --nocheck-order /var/log/dmesg -'] failed with exit code 1: comm: /var/log/dmesg: Permission denied
  MachineType: IBM 2373PPU
  dmi.bios.date: 06/18/2007
  dmi.bios.vendor: IBM
  dmi.bios.version: 1RETDRWW (3.23 )
  dmi.board.name: 2373PPU
  dmi.board.vendor: IBM
  dmi.board.version: Not Available
  dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
  dmi.chassis.type: 10
  dmi.chassis.vendor: IBM
  dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1RETDRWW(3.23):bd06/18/2007:svnIBM:pn2373PPU:pvrThinkPadT42:rvnIBM:rn2373PPU:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
  dmi.product.name: 2373PPU
  dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T42
  dmi.sys.vendor: IBM

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