[SOLVED] Zorin 6 Won't Boot in Mint 13-MATE

First off, my Linux knowledge is extremely limited, I've only been using it for a couple weeks. I've tried various distros and like Zorin the best. I created a USB stick, and it acts completely different on 4 different systems (2 laptops, 2 PCs) Right now, I'm only concerned about 1 of the PCs:

HP d330 uT (built to run Windows XP)
Pentium 4 @ 2.4 Ghz
2.3 Gig of RAM
Pentium Integrated Graphics (whatever that means, something about ICH4 or 5??)

I have LinuxMint 13-MATE installed on it as the only OS. When I plug in my USB stick with Zorin 6 (32 bit), or any other OS, it just won't boot, I also tried a DVD and that won't boot either.

My USB stick works on my HP Slimline, which runs Vista. Not sure of the specs, wifey is sleeping right now, can edit later or reply when I can get them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I've been all over this forum.

Wolfman???

Thanks,
Nepo

Hi nepo,

are you trying the installer directly or have you tried "boot in safe graphics mode" which is the 2nd option, if it is booting on another rig, then you know that the USB is okay!!, do you have any form of security on the HP PC??.

Regards Wolfman

Hi nepo
Sounds like you need to have your Bios set to have DVD and USB to boot before the HD. On startup hold down F2 or F8 or (it varies on all computers) to access the Bios, carefully follow the instructions and set your boot order.

Cheers Auldyin

I don't get any options, and no, there is no security software. We decided to recycle all of our "old" computers at work, so I snagged a couple and brought them home. I took the 2 and used the best parts to make 1, I was thinking it was a good time to try out Linux

Also, it's not just Zorin 6, I've tried some other distros and they won't boot either, on the HP running Mint, that is. I got a post on the Mint forums as well, and will be checking that here in a bit to see what they say about this situation.

I can see the ISO file that I burnt onto the dvd, if that matters.


Regards,
Nepo

Auldyin wrote:Sounds like you need to have your Bios set to have DVD and USB to boot before the HD.

I have that set already, it goes:

USB-First
CD/DVD-Second
HD #2-Third (40 gig with nothing on it)
HD-Fourth (100 gig, that only has Mint 13)
Network-Fifth

The names aren't exact, but you get the idea.

Regards,
Nepo

Here's an interesting thing that happened, I decided to pull out the HD with Mint and leave in the blank 40 gig and just install to that, but I got this message:

BOOTMGR Missing
Ctrl+Alt+Del to Restart

Happened with both the dvd and USB, but they will both boot on my PC running Vista.

Regards,
Nepo

PS, there's been no reply over at the Mint forums

Hi Nepo,

Swarf has already pointed out that you may simply have copied the ISO file to a disk but not burnt it, you must create a disk from the ISO in order to install it!!.

The reason you are getting that message is that there is no OS to boot into!!.

See this link:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1955

And also:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

Regards Wolfman

I forgot to put in my last post that I did burn the dvd, 2 now. I followed the directions on this site to the letter, and still nothing works, it always goes straight into Mint. Also, isn't GRUB supposed to be handling the booting?

I can't even erase or reformat the drive, because windows doesn't recognize it (I have a USB adapter for HD's) and Parted Magic won't boot (just like any other OS). I even unplugged both drives, I read somewhere that a guy got his to work that way, but then I get a "No Operating System..." message.

By the way, the specs of my other PC, that everything works fine on:

HP Slimline (Running Windows Vista)
AMD Athlon @ 2.5 Ghz
1 Gig RAM
Nvidia GeForce 6150SE nForce 430

Thanks,
Nepo

Yes, it does. And, I appreciate you folks taking the time to help, I really do.

Thanks,
Nepo

PS. If I'd just found Zorin first, we probably wouldn't be going through this

Success!!

Turns out it was my burning software. After searching everywhere, I couldn't find any 3.5" floppies. So I decided to burn plop boot to a dvd, that's when I noticed it said "copying file", instead of burning. When I put it in the HP, again, I could see the .iso file and plop boot wouldn't work either.

So, I used NTI Media Maker (didn't even know I had it on my laptop) and made yet another dvd.

Now I'm running Zorin 6 and got rid of Mint.

Thanks for all the help guys,
Nepo