Can't boot any live usb, can't boot Linux (Acer Aspire 1)

Hello everyone,

I just bought an Aspire 1, model A114 - 61 - S1A7. I'm trying to install Linux Mint but it is very problematic. I decided to write here after reading lots of post on Ubuntu/Linux forums and in this forum too. I have read also this post https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/598047/ but nothing helps.
I disabled Secure boot.
I set a Supervisor password.
I enabled F12 boot option.
I can't change from UEFI to Legacy mode, it's not an option.
I can't change the boot hierarchy simply because Win Boot Manager is the only oprion.
After creating a Live usb with Linux, I did it with Rufus on Windows making sure I selected GPT and FAT32, still not working.

Simply any Live bootable usb won't show up.

I am very close to give this laptop to my parents and seek to buy another one.

Any help is truly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/vd/xb6no9bnmy65.jpeg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/y5/bwixjp25vxjd.jpeg

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Accepted answers

billsey

Your Aspire A114-61 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and a Kryo CPU. Do you know if that combo has a kernel compiled for it in Mint? It's not as if you are booting up an Intel based Windows laptop. There is no need with any modern OS to use Legacy boot, that was only used with early Windows 7 systems and prior. By the Windows 8 release all new computers used UEFI instead, and pretty much any Linux distro from that era or later also uses UEFI. You don't have to worry about iRST or Optane, your laptop only shipped with eMMC drives soldered to the MB, so no need for caching data from a HDD, which is what Optane does. Intel Rapid Storage Technology isn't available for Qualcomm chipsets, for some reason.

I believe all the suggestions above assume you are running on an Intel based system...

I'd take for your next step a trip to the Mint forums to see if the developers have done anything toward porting the OS to a Snapdragon chipset...

All comments

William_mk2

pasilankaveri

Kindly go through the details from the link

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/607762/installing-linux-on-my-new-aspire-5-a515-55

Go to the main tab, press ctrl + s and change the sata mode to ahci.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/74/4nfl5ee15uve.jpg

pasilankaveri

William_mk2 said:

pasilankaveri

Kindly go through the details from the link

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/607762/installing-linux-on-my-new-aspire-5-a515-55

Go to the main tab, press ctrl + s and change the sata mode to ahci.

Hi, I don't have this option in BIOS. What you see in the picture is what I have and can work on. Staff marked in Black (rather than Blue) life Boot Mode [UEFI] can not be changed.

William_mk2

pasilankaveri

Can you try using a different flash drive and check..

Kindly go through the details from link

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/646069/best-and-recommended-way-to-install-linux-from-bootable-pendrive-in-acer-laptops
https://michaelb.org/ubuntu-18-04-on-acer-aspire-1/
https://michaelb.org/installing-ubuntu-17-10-linux-on-acer-aspire-1/
https://www.linux.org/threads/need-help-putting-linux-on-acer-aspire-one.6744/

pasilankaveri

William_mk2 said:

pasilankaveri

Can you try using a different flash drive and check..

Kindly go through the details from link

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/646069/best-and-recommended-way-to-install-linux-from-bootable-pendrive-in-acer-laptops
https://michaelb.org/ubuntu-18-04-on-acer-aspire-1/
https://michaelb.org/installing-ubuntu-17-10-linux-on-acer-aspire-1/
https://www.linux.org/threads/need-help-putting-linux-on-acer-aspire-one.6744/

Going through the different links:

1) "Linux and Ubuntu based distros must be installed in ACHI mode. So, if your BIOS has the option to change from RST-Optane to ACHI, do it.
After installation and Linux up and running, changing it back to RST-Optane is O.K., if you really want to, but I don't bother to change it back."

Have no option to change this.

2) & 3) I went through Michael B instructions already before, my BIOS is very different from the one of his computers. Somehow, I don't know why.

4) I am not on that level of understanding how to boot Linux with USB. I have been doing that a lot as I have been using Linux for the past 7y. The problem is much serious: can't access Boot options on this BIOS happily like in other BIOS, and the Microsoft's UEFI doesn't allow me changes.

I'll tell you what I have been doing:

I followed all the instruction in this post community.acer (external website) but it wasn't helpful. I really made sure to create correctly the live USB with Rufus on Windows, GPT and FAT32.
Any USB will not show to boot. I also went to "Advanced Start-up" > "Use a device" and click USB HDD: "USB flash drive" (which recognize the brand) but won't boot.
In Win I installed EasyBCD to see if I can add another boot entry and change the order, but the program isn't allowed by the computer to touch there:

Code: Select all

EasyBCD has detected that your machine is booting in EFI mode. Due to limitations set by Microsoft, 
many of easybcd's multi-booting features cannot be used in EFI mode and have been disabled.

billsey

Your Aspire A114-61 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and a Kryo CPU. Do you know if that combo has a kernel compiled for it in Mint? It's not as if you are booting up an Intel based Windows laptop. There is no need with any modern OS to use Legacy boot, that was only used with early Windows 7 systems and prior. By the Windows 8 release all new computers used UEFI instead, and pretty much any Linux distro from that era or later also uses UEFI. You don't have to worry about iRST or Optane, your laptop only shipped with eMMC drives soldered to the MB, so no need for caching data from a HDD, which is what Optane does. Intel Rapid Storage Technology isn't available for Qualcomm chipsets, for some reason.

I believe all the suggestions above assume you are running on an Intel based system...

I'd take for your next step a trip to the Mint forums to see if the developers have done anything toward porting the OS to a Snapdragon chipset...

pasilankaveri

billsey said:

Your Aspire A114-61 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and a Kryo CPU. Do you know if that combo has a kernel compiled for it in Mint? It's not as if you are booting up an Intel based Windows laptop. There is no need with any modern OS to use Legacy boot, that was only used with early Windows 7 systems and prior. By the Windows 8 release all new computers used UEFI instead, and pretty much any Linux distro from that era or later also uses UEFI. You don't have to worry about iRST or Optane, your laptop only shipped with eMMC drives soldered to the MB, so no need for caching data from a HDD, which is what Optane does. Intel Rapid Storage Technology isn't available for Qualcomm chipsets, for some reason. I believe all the suggestions above assume you are running on an Intel based system...
I'd take for your next step a trip to the Mint forums to see if the developers have done anything toward porting the OS to a Snapdragon chipset...

Indeed. We found out here: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=361902&p=2099795#p2099795
Thanks for your attention

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