I have an old Toshiba Satellite Pro and have tried to install Linux using at least one CD which my desktop PC recognized and from which I installed Ubuntu, The laptop, however, tells me to insert a boot disk.


Do I have to use another disk or is there probably some fault with the computer ? Can I use a USB stick ?

Thankyou.

First some obvious stuff...

Go into your BIOS:

Does your system recognize that you have a CD drive?
Does your system recognize your hard drive?
Do you have the Boot device order set properly?
Did you run a checksum on your ISO before you burned it to disk?

Hello Harlin.


How do I get into the BIOS ?

Not that I know much how to set it up, but on the desktop PC you go into the BIOS by pressing F1. That does not work on the laptop. When I start up, it just says "Invalid system disk", even though there is no disk of any type in sight, except for the harddisk. Previously, I had Windows loaded on and it did recognize the hard disk and the CD drive. At that time, I tried to load Linux, but it ignored the CD at boot up time. To be honest, I got a little impatient and wondered whether it would make any difference if I just wiped Windows off, so that is what I did by formatting the harddisk. That may not have been very sensible, but now it asks me to insert a system disk.

Thanks.

It sounds like the boot order is just wrong, ie it isn't checking the CD drive but the Hard Drive first, because you have formatted that it is asking you for a boot disk alternative.

you need to get into the BIOS and change the boot order to CDROM 1st. "Usually" on a toshiba Laptop it's "Esc" that does it, start pressing it pretty much straight away until it either enters the BIOS or prompts you to press another key.

Other keys to try if that doesn't work are "Tab" "F1" "Del"


Malc

ppp,

You should hit the ESC (escape) key to get in on a Toshiba laptop (this usually works for those).

If you were getting the "Invalid System Disk", it is possible the MBR may have gotten borked especially if you've had no problems before when you only had Windows on it. I don't know how easy Ubuntu is to set up(Ubuntu fans forgive me, I mean no harm here ), but you could have missed an opportunity during install setup to set up the boot manager. I advise using something like Mandriva (Mandrake) for Linux distro if you are a novice.

Please make an entry here if you're making progress or if you're having problems.

Thanks

Brilliant!!!

Okay, so at least it recognizes the CD now. I tried to load Ubuntu, and it started working, until it got stuck. Never mind; it only has 32 MB RAM which I guess is probably not enough for Ubuntu.

What I would like to load is something like DamnSmallLinux or ZipSlack. Is it possible to do it by a direct cable link from the desktop even if there is no OS on the Laptop ? I did start to load Mandriva onto the Laptop, just out of curiosity, and it got to a point where it asked me whether I wanted to use FTP or HTTP etc.. to load ? Can I stick the Mandriva CD in the Laptop and then when it gets to that point, load up DSL from the desktop by a direct cable link ?

Also, the reason why Mandriva gave me that option was because it said that there was no CD-Rom, which I did not understand as it had just been reading from the CD ?!??

Thankyou for your help; it is really great to be able to make progress, even if it is at a slow pace.

If it's ok to ask... what are your plans for this box if you do get something installed?

I will use it as a really basic Laptop. First I will load on AbiWord (I think), assuming there is enough memory. Then I would load a small spreadsheet, if there is one and if there is enough room, a web-browser.

Should be ok for that but performance will be limited as I'm sure you know.