ONE of my computers won't boot Ubuntu 19.04 (only) thumb drives

[kht-lists]

For what it might be worth... I use the "disks" utility (gnome-disks) on Linux to burn images to usb drives and MicroSD cards (for the Raspberry Pi). Recently I was burning a LOT of MicroSD cards while trying various distros on the Pi. Long story short... some of the images would not boot... UNLESS I formatted the MicroSD card first. This in theory should not be necessary as the iso image SHOULD overwrite the boot sector of the target device. But that is the theory.  I would suggest formatting a flash drive and then using your preferred method to transfer the image. Perhaps the BIOS in one of the machines is just a little strange.

One other suggestion - although it is a bit of a pain on a netbook or laptop - Shut the thing down, disconnect it from everything external, remove the battery pack and open it up to get to the button battery or coin cell which keeps the BIOS active. Remove or unplug the tiny battery and let the BIOS clear. (Or look at the manuals - there may be a way to do a BIOS reset without opening it up - might try that first.) I have cleared up some of the most bizarre errors with this technique.

Ken

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‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Monday, April 15, 2019 2:20 PM, A. Richard Miller <TheMillers at millermicro.com> wrote:

> Hi, All:
>
> Perhaps this SHOULD be a worry before Thursday's release. Please advise...
>
> For years, I've used UNetBootIn to burn draft Ubuntu .iso files and test or install them on our computers at MMS, for our client Ubuntu users, and at our monthly FOSS User Group meetings in Natick, Massachusetts, USA.
>
> That worked for draft desktop Ubuntu 19.04, too - until about two months ago. It still works on two of the three computers on which I test. But since SOMETHING changed, I get a black screen, or repeating attempts to read the thumb drive, on a Dell Inspiron 11-3157 netbook. (One of the working computers is a near-identical Dell 11-3147 netbook!) I can still boot and install successfully on the balky netbook, too, with Ubuntu earlier than 19.04 using the same thumb drive or any other.
>
> Newer .iso downloads and burns don't help. Other burner programs (Startup Disk Creator, MultiWriter) don't help. Burning on a different computer doesn't help. Burning onto other thumb drives* doesn't help. (Although they ALL work on other computers.)
>
> *- I've seen ONE exception. Less than two weeks ago, a friend burned the daily .iso using his current Fedora and its default burning app, and that thumb drive DID work on my netbook. (Sorry; I don't have it, and don't know which app.)
>
> Any ideas? Might this affect other users out there?
>
> Thanks, from
> --Dick Miller, Partner, MMS <TheMillers at millermicro.com>
>
>	Co-Leader, [FOSS User Group at Natick Community-Senior Center](http://millermicro.com/FOSSUserGroupNatick.html)
>
> --
> | A. Richard & Jill A. Miller            | MILLER MICROCOMPUTER SERVICES |
> | Mailto:TheMillers at millermicro.com      | 61 Lake Shore Road            |
> | Web: http://www.millermicro.com/       | Natick, MA 01760-2099, USA    |
> | Voice: 508/653-6136, 9AM-9PM -0400(EDT)| NMEA N 42.29993°, W 71.36558° |
>
> On 4/11/19 5:00 PM, Adam Conrad wrote:
>
>> As of seventeen seconds ago, disco has entered the Final Freeze period
>> in preparation for the final release of Ubuntu 19.04 next week.
>>
>> The current uploads in the queue will be reviewed and either accepted
>> or rejected as appropriate by pre-freeze standards, but anything from
>> here on should fit two broad categories:
>>
>> 1)
>>
>> Release critical bugs that affect ISOs, installers, or otherwise
>>    can't be fixed easily post-release.
>>
>> 2) Bug fixes that would be suitable for post-release SRUs, which we
>>    may choose to accept, reject, or shunt to -updates for 0-day SRUs
>>    on a case-by-case basis.
>>
>> For unseeded packages that aren't on any media or in any supported
>> sets, it's still more or less a free-for-all, but do take care not to
>> upload changes that you can't readily validate before release.  That
>> is, ask yourself if the current state is "good enough", compared to
>> the burden of trying to fix all the bugs you might accidentally be
>> introducing with your shiny new upload.
>>
>> We will shut down cronjobs and spin some RC images late Friday or early
>> Saturday once the archive and proposed-migration have settled a bit,
>> and we expect everyone with a vested interest in a flavour (or two) and
>> a few spare hours here and there to get to testing to make sure we have
>> another uneventful release next week.  Last minute panic is never fun.
>>
>> On behalf of the Ubuntu Release Team,
>>
>> ... Adam Conrad
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