Eee pc won't boot - os system

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#70473 24-Oct-2010 17:44

Hey guys
I have an asus Eee pc 701 .
It had no operating system so I decided to put ubuntu 8.10 on it.
The Eee has a tiny ssd 4gb, and ubuntu was quite large once it had extracted and had an error saying insufficient disk space.
Ubuntu still worked, just some things didn't open because they were lost during install due to insufficient disk space.
I have a version of windows xp that is 600mb, so I wanted to install that over ubuntu.
Now I only has USB ports, so I made a bootable USB with Bart pe. Once in the Bart pe interface, I went to type in the install command and it returned a blue screen of death.
So I used unetbootin And made a bootable USB with redhat (small distro that would fit on 4th ssd)
When I go into bios, I set first boot device to my USB drive and the operating system toggle, to start.
After saving bios settings , I'm faced with a black screen with the white flashing underscore.
Now, I'm not a noob :)
But my USB is no longer bootable (tried my laptop And desktop)
Even though I followed same procedures with unetbootin and bios settings.
Now I tried to "zero" my USB and have reformatted... But it still isn't bootable.
So I gAve up on unetbootin and used ultra iso with my windows xp disk.
Followed all the guides and everything, USB still isn't booting.
It seems my only way is to get a USB external DVD drive...
Anyone else hAve any ideas or things to try ???
Ps: I'll be downloading more distros and trying unetbootin over next weekend.
Thanks for your time

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26 posts

Geek

#395321 24-Oct-2010 19:47

Hey,

I just tested this on my Eeepc 701 4G. Used Unetbootin to create a usb drive with a Ubuntu 10.04 ISO I set Removable drive to boot first in bios but this didn't work. I then tried pressing Esc on boot and this brought up a menu where I was able to select the USB drive (instead of the Eeepc's SSD) and it booted into the USB drive ok.

So if those steps don't work for you perhaps a problem with the USB drive? As a side note I can recommend Jolicloud OS which I have running on my 701 and am really happy with (http://www.jolicloud.com/).

Cheers,
ewen

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#395325 24-Oct-2010 20:07

yea i have came across that menu also :D

thanks for your reply, ill be downloading jolicloud first thing when my data resets (27th).

ill let you know how i get on

CruciasNZ

879 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#395701 26-Oct-2010 09:32

UNetbootin requires you to make the USB bootable before using it for some BIOS

this application is suggested by Canonical (who make Ubuntu) and does not require preperation. It runs on windows though.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/downloads/Universal-USB-Installer/Universal-USB-Installer.exe

I had an eee PC 701 and i put Ubuntu on it with this

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#395951 26-Oct-2010 18:57

thanks minaith !
it worked fine !
best application i have used.
hey man my next problem, the hard drive is a 4gb SSD drive.
while booting ubuntu it asks me to set all the partitions, there is only 500mb available (ubuntu says) i want to format the SSD and install ubuntu, sadly the install starts and then comes up with insufficient space -.-
the format box has been clicked when i was setting up partitions.
so how can i format the SSD?
or should i install a smaller linux distro and format it with that?
cheers man

CruciasNZ

879 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#395978 26-Oct-2010 20:13

Start again from scratch and wipe the whole disk, then select custom partitions.

Make 1 "Logical Partition" of 256 MB

Make the res ext4

Install to ext4 partition.

Purchase 2GB of RAM for the eee PC and put it inside, simply open the back panel.

You should have plenty of room after that

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#396019 26-Oct-2010 22:04

Sadly I have spent half my life installing ram.
I think the Eee is ok on 512mb. I put a 2gb in and it had a fuss in the bios.
Anyway,
You say just wipe the disk... How?
It only asks for time And keyboard settings.
For the partitioning I still get 487mb free space and the error box saying insufficient space.
I am using ubuntu 8.04 so that may be the problem?
I'll get the latest tomorrow.
I'll also try xandros (the one Eee had first). If I can find a download for it.

Thanks for your help so far

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#396097 27-Oct-2010 08:05

hi again i managed to install and get "Lucid Puppy" on my eee pc.

the thing i want to end up with is windows xp.
i have tried bart pe and wintoflash. but the problem is i need to format the entire hard drive (4gb ssd)

how can i do that in Lucid Puppy?

in the partitioner it only can see the free space allocated to puppy. (500mb)
its like the rest of the hard drive is in a hidden partition somewhere.

prob got the old OS on it...

any ideas on how i can format the complete drive? not just the 500mb for puppy.

i tried gparted and pdisk from the menu

cheers

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

CruciasNZ

879 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#396138 27-Oct-2010 10:00

Im sorry but that is Puppy Linux. It's a very basic linux with little compatability with other things. I specialize in Ubuntu, i can help you with Ubuntu but no other Linux.

I will point out if you do as i said with the custom format and upgrade the RAM then you will have no problem putting Ubuntu on an eee 701 4G. I did that and gave it to my grandmother, it worked brilliantly.

This is the official Puppy Linux forum, i suggest you try asking there

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/

Sorry i can't help on this one,

Crucias

PS As for the hidden partition, i would suggest you make a live USB of Ubuntu and use it to full format your HDD. Also would like to point out Puppy is more of a sometimes OS you keep on a USB than a fulltime OS. If you intend to use it often then do not get it. Also note that SD cards are cheap on trademe, you can buy a 4Gb, 8Gb, 16gb, 32Gb SD card and install Ubuntu to that if you wanted (you do have an SD slot)

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#396401 27-Oct-2010 17:32

hey there

fair enough, ill boot up ubuntu now.
i have clicked format , but during installation is errors at insufficient space.

ill try it again though, brb

thanks

CruciasNZ

879 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#396404 27-Oct-2010 17:39

If you do not tell it what partitions to make it will make a large logical drive which you do not want. You need to make custom ones during the install.

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#396410 27-Oct-2010 17:53

ok ill make the custom ones like you outlined. i understand that.
@c71931f mine came with xandros >.< !!!

i dont see how it formats the whole 4gb drive. mine only seems to format the 500mb remaining :S

CruciasNZ

879 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#396415 27-Oct-2010 18:00

No idea whats going on there. But the 701 generation all came with eee-Xandros not XP.

Good luck, ill check back after dinner and see how you went

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CruciasNZ

879 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#396443 27-Oct-2010 18:44

Hmm i've honestly never seen the 4GB version with XP preinstalled before. I had XP on it and it didn't work very well >>

Ubuntu was much better, but you had to watch the updates. It doesn't remove all old things when it updates, slowly choking the SSD. My advise is install, run the intial updates then disable update notification

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#396463 27-Oct-2010 19:37

hi there
i have downloaded ubuntu 10.10 i386
as i ran it ogg my flash drive it all went well. until it hit busy box.
the reason it ran busy box was because it says a file was missing...
now thats silly since i freshly downloaded it.
so now im downloading ubuntu notebook 10.10 and hoping it will work..

CruciasNZ

879 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#396504 27-Oct-2010 20:49

Hmm weird remember to check the MD5 Sum.

I have an exam tomorrow morning and afternoon so will check back in the evening

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