I lost my os and can't do a fresh install.
 

I had Xubuntu on my tiny D505 Latitude laptop but Xubuntu was too big for it. So I tried (using Unetbootin) to install something else but in the process I lost the Xubuntu. So the laptop now has no OS.

So I put in a usb drive with an OS on it (that I made using Unetbootin) but the laptop without the OS doesn't recognize the usb drive.

I have installed a OS before but I get mixed up about how to do it. As far as I can tell, you have to have a OS to begin with. Then you choose either the linux or windows Unetbootin. Put an OS on the Unetbootin and then reboot the computer and there you have it.

When I hit F12 key repeatedly starting the laptop up it does give me the screen (I'm still pretty newbie here--and I'm not sure it's the BIOS screen or not) that reads:

--Diskette Drive
--Internal HDD
--Cardbus NIC
--Onboard NIC
--Diagnostics

I was hoping the USB would show up there too but I tried repeatedly and no luck.

Any ideas as to how I can get this done? Thanks.

A bootable USB stick may well show up as an HDD so it's worth looking at that option to see whether you can choose the HDD it boots from. Obviously you do need a bootable USB stick which can only be prepared from a computer with an OS installed.

Hi Gregg...

Take a look in the BIOS and see where the option to boot from USB is located in the boot order. Change it to boot before the hard drive. :)

Regards...

My netbooks has 2 hot keys.

One to access bios > ESC

The other to pick boot order when a pen drive is inserted > F12

http://tech.madcatsden.com/Resources.../D505/BIOS.htm

See? Google can be your pardner if you let it.

PS. My netbooks are more rare and exotic vs a big corp. like Dell is.

Edit: reading up on yours. You might need to borrow a external usb cdrom/dvdrom drive and boot off of that. I have a older ide dvdrw drive that works for that called a EZ DUB Liteon. It is built like a tank.

2nd edit: reading some more

So I do not know what to think.

AntiX fits on cd. Debian and Ubuntu Netinstall (if you know how) fits on cd.

Salix 32 bit fits on cd. Slackel 32 bit fits on cd.

Just more research

3rd edit. Try a different usb drive and use dd like I did in my salix intro intro thread I showed you. All modern iso's are pretty much hybrid isos and take to using dd OK. Just not damn small linux just to name a few.

Thanks 273. I actually had tried (in my desperation) the HDD. No luck.

But see, yeah, like you said, that's the thing as I understand it--a bootable USB stick can only be prepared with an OS installed.

So I'm pretty out of luck, then? Just pitch the laptop?

Thanks ardvark. The USB doesn't show up anywhere in that BIO page. Only what I listed in my OP.

P.S. Happy Easter! (belated)

Thanks rokytnji. I don't know how to "use dd" like you did. I looked at that salix intro thread and as far as I could tell I'd have to be in the terminal to use that dd and I can't get in the terminal. (I'm sure I'm missing something.)

I guess the bottom line is you've got to be real careful not to screw up when you do a new install. It's an ancient little laptop so it's not the end of the world. It'll be a good lesson for the future though.

P.S. Yes, the Dell site is cool. (And looks like it was hard to find!)

Hmm, doesn't your laptop have a CD-ROM drive? You could just install Xubuntu using that, unless there's something I'm not understanding. :confused:

Thank you! Hope you and your family had a nice Easter. :)

Regards...

Ah ah ah. Thanks ardvark. Hmm. See, I didn't think the laptop had a CD drive because the CD drive didn't show up in the BIOS. But now I was just looking at the laptop and althouogh it doesn't have a CD drive it has a removable Diskette drive (which showed up in the BIOS) and so I can put a (I've got an identical laptop that has a CD drive) CD drive in there and try it from there.

So use Unetbootin to burn whatever iso I'll be trying onto a CD on my regular computer (even though it asks for a reboot as if it's on the computer the install is going on?), then plop the CD into the OS-less laptop and see what happens?

Hi...

It's worth a try, although I don't understand why the computer that you're burning The .iso on would ask for a reboot. :confused:

just make sure you go into the BIOS on the laptop in question and make sure that the swapped CD-ROM drive is recognized and that its assigned place in the boot order is before the hard drive. :)

Regards...

Ardvark, Whenever I make a usb drive in Unetbootin at the end of the process it asks if I'm ready to reboot. I'm not knowledgeable about the whole burning process and if a usb drive (or CD) is "bootable" or "live" or not. Even now I'm looking at potential distros and some file downloads say they're for CDs, some say they're "live" some don't. It's confusing.

Hi Gregg...

You don't need and/or use unetbootin to burn a disk with. You can use other software like Brasero or Xfburn. I've always had good results with Brasero. To burn an .iso, click the option to "burn an image" with whatever program you use. :)

Regards...

At this stage you might be better off with a USB image that you know is designed for that. It seems you have another machine with which to create the USB sticks so what OS is it running? You can usually dd a lot of recent .iso files to a USB stick under Linux and they will work -- unetbootin is a useful and necessary tool but not without problems.

Okay. I burned the .iso (lina-1.2-non-pae.iso) in K3b. Went smoothly. Fit on CD. The iso is Puppy Linux (the lina) and I got it from here:

http://smokey01.com/carolina/isos/non-pae/

Put it in the CD drive of the laptop. Powered on. F12. Got BIOS. Chose the CD drive and nothing happened.

And I don't know how to switch the order of the BIOS, which you were suggesting.

Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks 273. This laptop is not recognizing the USB so that's out. And yes, I have another machine. It's running Xubuntu 15.10.