Zorin virgin needs help running live from USB

Hello all, and my many thanks in advance for any and all help in getting me off ground with Zorin. (And if you can, please be gentle - I'm not much of a geek )

After looking around a bit it seems the easiest way to get into the Linux world is Zorin, so I downloaded (from here) the zorin-os-6.1-core-32.iso, saved it to my HDD, ran WinMD5 checksum matched, and tried to burn it to an external 80 Gigabyte USB hard drive with unetbootin, and then with LILI (No DVD burner available and yes I formatted the target drive FAT32). After having no success with either (the system won't load in live mode at all - I get a background and a mouse cursor but that's all folks.) I picked up an 8 GB flash drive and tried again, but got the same results.

In frustration I disconnected my main HDD and tried to do a direct full install from the Unetbootin screen to the external USB HDD from the 8 Gig FDD, which didn't work either...

Then I tried the 6.2 Lite version on the same 8 gig USB drive (wiped it first) and the LITE does boot up in live mode but freezes up after just a few min - REALLY??? I'm pulling my hair out of my head and I can't really afford to do that if you know what I mean

The only luck I had was zorin-os-2-live-32.iso, that actually ran from the external HDD. (But of course it's not even close to ver 6 right?)

My system is an old Dell Optiplex GX260 desktop running Win XP Pro with a P4 @ 2.4 GHz with 1.0 GB RAM on a 40 GB HDD ~7 gig free space
I have updated the BIOS to Ver A09 which allows booting from USB.
It does seem a bit odd though as the "Boot Sequence" doesn't have an option for USB, only:
1. Diskette Drive
2. IDE CD-ROM Device
3. Hard-Disk Drive C:

But in "Hard-Disk Drive Sequence" there is
1. System BIOS Boot Devices
2. USB Device
As shown it boots into Win, unless I hit F12 upon boot then I get the option to select USB
If I move USB to the 1st position it will boot directly to the Unetbootin screen

The Display Adapter is an Intel 82845G (Which I just recently updated the driver for to the "Intel Extreme Graphics" using the SlimDrivers pgm. All seems well in Windoze.
The flash drive is a cheap Kingston 8 GB "DataTraveler 101G2"
The external HDD is an old 80 GB IDE in a "Connectland" enclosure.

I really thought this would be easier. What the #%$^ am I doing wrong???

P.S. I also tried the zorin-os-6.0-core-32.iso from cnet.com with the same results.

Hi. Try again with universal USB installer.
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal- ... -as-1-2-3/

Thanks madvinegar, gotta love that handle - and that's how I feel right about now since the pendrive tool gave me the same results...

And thank you swarfendor437, I did see that (and saved it too) whilst I was poking around for answers before I posted. (Also saved the Linux Format / New To Linux pdf.)

And spyware on cnet? I guess I've been lucky, never had a problem. (I never use the "cnet downloader" which is full of adware. (Spyware?))

So what's a newbie to do when he can't even run a live version???

I'm sorry, I don't know. There didn't seem to be any options with any of the the USB creators. When I tried to do the direct install I had removed the main HDD so I just let the pgm go auto. It took over the whole 80 gig HDD.

I would like to run it live for a bit but the goal is to get it installed on the 80 GB drive, place that drive in the 1st position in the machine and just leave XP untouched on the 40 - hopefully being able to boot from either if necessary.

We will worry about the installation of the grub after we suceed in booting the live USB.

I suspect that probably there is a problem with your laptop's GPU (graphics card) combined with your laptop's specs (P4, 1GB ram).

So for starters, please work only on preparing a live USB of Zorin Lite (and don't bother with Zorin Core as it would be too slow on your computer).

What GPU card do you have?

Try this.
1. As I said, prepare a live USB of Zorin Lite.
2. When the USB boots and you get to the screen with the options whether to try Zorin or install Zorin etc, press TAB.
3. You will see at the bottom of the screen a command line. Navigate your cursor on this line and in front of the words "quiet splash" add the word "nomodeset". (without the quote marks). So that it becomes "quiet splash nomodeset".
4. Choose from the menu the 1st option ("try Zorin") and see if that helped.

Hi, I'm a bit surprised this machine is having trouble running the non-lite Zorin, as it seems way beyond the system requirements:

For the GNOME based versions (non Lite):
700 MHz x86 processor
3GB of Hard Drive space
376 MB of system memory (RAM)
Graphics card capable of 640x480 resolution
Sound card

My machine:

Dell Optiplex GX260 (Desktop)
2.4 GHz Pentium 4 Processor
~7GB Free on the main (40GB) HDD / 80GB USB External HDD / 8GB USB FDD
1.0GB DDR RAM @ 266MHz ((2) 512MB Cards)
Intel 82845G GPU (Capable of 1680x1050, current setting: 1280x1024@60Hz)
Dell 22" LCD P-N-P Monitor
SoundMAX Digital Audio

Under Display Properties > Settings > Advanced > General Tab I did have the DPI set to Large (120%), could this have thrown a monkey wrench in the works?
I'll set it back to Normal and will try and reboot into Zorin one more time...
Maybe the 12th time's a charm? lol

Did you try 5.2Core?

Hi frits, no I haven't, but it did occur to me to try the last version release as well - but where would I find it?

For now I'll try madviginars suggestions with a 6.2 lite iso.

BTW, the 80 gig drive with the "full install" on it is no longer visible at all in windows - when I pwr it up I get the "Bank of America" sound of it connecting and being acknowledged, but it is not there in my computer. Is that because the whole volume is in a file format not recognizable by windows?

I'll be back...

On the Zorin website there was the possibility to download older versions. Maybe they are not there anymore. Maybe one of the mods can help you.

Hooper Looky Here !!!
This ScreenShot will tell you as to what your Computer is capable of doing !!!!
Dell OPTIPLEX GX620
Zorin OS 6 Ultimate 64-bit
Running Dual Monitors.
Sometimes a ScreenShot can answer a 1000 questions without saying a single word !!!!

datek1 wrote:Hooper Looky Here !!!
This ScreenShot will tell you as to what your Computer is capable of doing !!!!
Dell OPTIPLEX GX620
Zorin OS 6 Ultimate 64-bit
Running Dual Monitors.
Sometimes a ScreenShot can answer a 1000 questions without saying a single word !!!!

Now that I've had a real chance to look up your Specs on my chart.
With what you have going for you > Zorin OS 6.2 Lite < is the way to go.
Your computer will work with Zorin OS Core 32-bit.
The Comparison between the two, pointed more towards the > Zorin OS 6.2 Lite. > For Best Purformance ! ! !
At least you know what you can do with the computer with a little upgrading. > $$$ <

Thanks for the input folks!

After reformatting the 8GB FDD (again) thru windoze, then using the Pendrive UUI and checking the Format Fat32 box on there as well, I seem to have a successful 6.2 OS Lite running Live w/Persistence. (Which I set to ~500MB in the UUI)
No clue as to why it didn't take the last time?

So far I have copied a jpg pic from my 40GB NTFS drive to the /home/live/pictures folder and made it my desktop background.
I installed Opera (On which I am typing this) from the Zorin web browser manager and uninstalled Chrome - I detest anything Google! LOL I wanted to install Firefox but am getting an error...

These changes have held over re-boots so, so far so good.

OK, what am I missing with the system performance parameters?
Both my processor and RAM are ~3x the listed requirement for the full 6.1 core - Why won't this run well on my hardware???
(And what would I need to upgrade to have it run nice?)
This isn't like M$ saying XP will run on a 300MHz processor w/128MB ram is it? (Run? It would be lucky to crawl! )

I was actually looking forward to the full Zorin, with the Win-7 / XP layout and the nice assortment of apps right out of the box.
I was also looking forward to reviving an even older machine. (OK, stop laughing!) A Dell Dimension 4100 with a P3, 733MHz and 512MB RAM, win98se installed on a 20GB HDD. Will this even be able to run the Lite version? Or would I need to go to PuppyLinux?

And if there's no support for the older versions I guess I'll skip on that.