can't boot from live usb lubuntu 14.04 LTS

[John Hupp]

On 1/21/2015 3:45 PM, Linda wrote:
> On 01/21/2015 12:53 PM, John Hupp wrote:
>> On 1/21/2015 1:25 PM, Nio Wiklund wrote:
>>> Den 2015-01-21 19:16, Linda skrev:
>>>> I am trying to boot an old HP Pavillion a1230 n with an AMD Alhlon 64
>>>> processor and 2 GB RAM from a live usb  with a view to intstalling
>>>> lubuntu on the machine
>>>> When I boot it hangs on the splash screen. I tried booting with quiet
>>>> splash removed and I have a infinite loop of the following error 
>>>> message
>>>>
>>>> ata1.00 status: {DRDY}
>>>> ata1.00 hard resetting link
>>>>              configured for UDMA/33
>>>>              Device reported invalid CHS sector 0
>>>>              EH complete
>>>>              lost interrupt
>>>>              exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
>>>>              failed command READ DMA
>>>>
>>>> There were a few other lines but these seems to give the gist of 
>>>> what is
>>>> going on.  Any ideas on how I can get this to work.
>>>>                     Thanks
>>>>                      Linda
>>>>
>>> Hi Linda,
>>>
>>> - Did you check with md5sum that the download was good?
>>>
>>> - Please tell us which tool you used to make the USB boot drive.
>>>
>>> - Did you try if another computer can boot from the USB boot drive?
>>>
>>> Best regards
>>> Nio
>>>
>>
>> I'm grasping at straws a bit for the meaning of the errors, but I 
>> wonder if the live usb is tripping over a problem with the hard 
>> drive.  I would try temporarily disconnecting the hard drive or 
>> setting the hard drive to None in the BIOS setup.
>>
>> You could also try booting any other bootable CD that you have, just 
>> for comparison.
>>
> When I boot from usb with hard drive connected i get the screen asking 
> me what language and the menu asking if you want to try, memory test etc
> When I disconnect the hard drive I get a blinking cursorer
>                 Linda

What happens before the blinking cursor -- HP splash screen, Lubuntu 
startup messages of any sort, other .....?