[ubuntu-uk] Two questions: 64bit live USB problem and dual boot with recovery partition

Tue Aug 16 14:15:54 UTC 2011

Hi Neil,

Thanks for the response.

>> Wanting to repartition my HDD (using GParted) so that i can dual boot,
>> i 'Try Ubuntu without Installing', at which point the screen goes
>> blank and nothing happens. I am then forced into a hard reboot. I get
>> the exact same result when i 'Check the disk'.
>
> That sounds like a video driver issue. I think when the menu is
> displayed it mentions pressing different F-keys across the bottom of the
> screen. IIRC, one offers a failsafe video option. Use that and see if
> you get further. The other thing to try is to edit the boot entry and
> remove the 'quiet' option at the end - this will hopefully display a
> more-helpful error message than a blank screen! Let us know if you need
> help with how to do that...

When i get to the GRUB screen i can't seem to see any F-keys listed at
the bottom. All i have is the following;
"Use the  (up arrow) and (down arrow) keys to select which entry is
highlighted. Press enter to boot the selected OS, 'e' to edit the
commands before booting or 'c' for a command line."

I am not sure what to do with this, i am guessing that possibility of
editing command lines is the one you were referring to in terms of the
'quiet' option. I have no idea how to do this so if you think it would
be useful, some instructions would be great.

>> I then tried a live USB with 32 bit ubuntu and the live USB works fine
>> - i am sending this email from this live instance. The same can be
>> said for a 32 bit Mint live usb.
>
> On your new hardware?

Yes, both 32 bit live USBs work on the new hardware. It is just the 64
bit ones that don't.

> If you don't have more than 4Gb of RAM on the new laptop, you won't get
> much (any?) benefit running the 64-bit version. Even if you have more
> than 4Gb of RAM, the installer will install a special "PAE" kernel that
> will use the extra RAM - each process will be limited however. Other
> than that, the 32-bit version will do what most people need, even on
> 64-bit hardware.

At the moment i have 4GB of RAM installed, but space for another 4GB,
which i will likely buy in time. So i would like, at some stage, to
get the 64 bit version working even if i have to install the 32 bit
for the next while - until video driver issues get sorted.

>> 2. If not would i do well to install ubuntu between the windows and
>> recovery partition, and how do i do this since the 'install into
>> largest continuous space' option seems to have been replaced by the
>> 'install alongside windows' option in the installer. Will the
>> alongside option put the install in the right place?
>
> I don't know.
>
> However, if you select the Advanced or Manual partitioning option, you
> can make the changes you want and then select the partition into which
> Ubuntu will be installed.

Thanks for the advice, i'll hopefully get onto that when i can get a
live instance running.

It would be great to get this working. Do let me know if you have any
other ideas about editing the commands, or sorting the video driver.

Thanks,

j

On 16 August 2011 14:24, Neil Greenwood <neil.greenwood.lug at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 16.08.11 13:03, James Morrissey wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I have just received my new laptop. Its a Thinkpad x121e, with Intel (Core i3).
>>
>> I am trying to put ubuntu on it, but i am having some problems with
>> the 64 bit live USB.
>>
>> When i run the USB i get i get a GRUB-looking screen, with options to:
>> 1. Try Ubuntu without installing
>> 2. Install Ubuntu
>> 3. Check the disk
>
> That means it's booted OK as far as GRUB.
>
>> Wanting to repartition my HDD (using GParted) so that i can dual boot,
>> i 'Try Ubuntu without Installing', at which point the screen goes
>> blank and nothing happens. I am then forced into a hard reboot. I get
>> the exact same result when i 'Check the disk'.
>
> That sounds like a video driver issue. I think when the menu is
> displayed it mentions pressing different F-keys across the bottom of the
> screen. IIRC, one offers a failsafe video option. Use that and see if
> you get further. The other thing to try is to edit the boot entry and
> remove the 'quiet' option at the end - this will hopefully display a
> more-helpful error message than a blank screen! Let us know if you need
> help with how to do that...
>
>> To check the USB, i tried it on my old laptop (32bit, Celeron M). When
>> i did so i got a purple screen with an image of what looks like a
>> keyboard and a man, and then a message telling me to try a kernel
>> which matches with my machined architecture.
>
> That's expected behaviour when booting a 64-bit live 'disk' on 32-bit
> hardware. The purple screen probably briefly appears for the 64-bit
> laptop too.
>
>> I then tried a live USB with 32 bit ubuntu and the live USB works fine
>> - i am sending this email from this live instance. The same can be
>> said for a 32 bit Mint live usb.
>
> On your new hardware?
>
> If you don't have more than 4Gb of RAM on the new laptop, you won't get
> much (any?) benefit running the 64-bit version. Even if you have more
> than 4Gb of RAM, the installer will install a special "PAE" kernel that
> will use the extra RAM - each process will be limited however. Other
> than that, the 32-bit version will do what most people need, even on
> 64-bit hardware.
>
>> So i am not sure what is going on. If anyone could tell me why the
>> 64bit install is not working, it would be great as i'd like to get it
>> up and running. The only thing i could think of was that i have
>> downloaded the amd64.iso, and this is an intel machine, but all the
>> sites on the web suggest that this shouldn't make a difference (if it
>> does, where might i get an 64 bit version for intel). In addition i am
>> not sure why, if this was the problem, my old celeron laptop brings up
>> the error message while the new machine just hangs.
>
> amd64 is the correct image. The reason for the name is that there was an
> earlier, non-compatible, Intel 64-bit architecture, codenamed Itanium.
> This is only used for servers.
>
> amd64 will work on 64-bit AMD, Intel and other desktop processors.
>
>> One more question i have is about dual booting and maintaining my
>> recovery partition (something i have not had to do before). From
>> GParted i see that the recovery partition is located at the end of the
>> hard drive. I am wondering two things:
>> 1. If i resize the windows partition will the recovery partition move
>> next to it?
>
> Not by default, no.
>
>> 2. If not would i do well to install ubuntu between the windows and
>> recovery partition, and how do i do this since the 'install into
>> largest continuous space' option seems to have been replaced by the
>> 'install alongside windows' option in the installer. Will the
>> alongside option put the install in the right place?
>
> I don't know.
>
> However, if you select the Advanced or Manual partitioning option, you
> can make the changes you want and then select the partition into which
> Ubuntu will be installed.
>
>> As always, any and all help is very much appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> James.
>>
>
>
> Cofion/Regards,
> Neil.
>
> --
> ubuntu-uk at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
>