After a few attempts, my Acer SW3-016 still refuses to find a bootable device, why is this the case?
Jeff7899
Member Posts: 80
Tinkerer
Windows was running quite horribly beforehand, so I decided to try install Linux on it, of which from my experience has held the upper hand when it comes to perfomance on lower end devices, however, I was dismayed to see that despite following the same steps on other brand desktops/laptops to install Linux, it didn't work properly, as after the OS installation, I was slammed with a "No Bootable Device" error. I tried numerous things, like resetting to the default config file and setting files to become executable to no avail, despite what I did, getting my hopes up, it always came up with the same error. I had previously made post about this quite a while back, and I'd appreciate any help on what to do to avoid this error.
I am attempting to install Linux Lite, and I did it via Balena Etcher because Rufus isn't available on Linux.
I am attempting to install Linux Lite, and I did it via Balena Etcher because Rufus isn't available on Linux.
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Best Answers
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We need to take a look at the emmc chip with a bootable gparted usb stick. Gparted is a parttion editor with a straightforward graphical interface that can handle both Win & Lin file systems. Go to this link to prepare it by one of the methods you're comfortable with. Then boot from it and post a screenshot of what graphical menu it boots into. Then we'll go from there.
Jack E/NJ
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You must tap F12 on startup to see the bootable USB stick.
Jack E/NJ
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The USB installation iso boot stick must use GPT partitioning FAT32 format and prepared to install Linux for UEFI bootstrap and GPT partitioned, (not MBR) emmc drive. MBR partitioned emmc will NOT be recognized as a bootable device by UEFI bootstrap. If you can't find a Windows machine to prepare the stick with Rufus or do this with Balena, you should use the DD command in Linux terminal
Jack E/NJ
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Do you have a guide on how to use the DD command? I'm not the most professional with stuff like this0
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Plug the stick into the USB port. Then enter the following commands one by one in the terminal.sudo fdisk -l (This should identify the emmc drive and usb stick probably as /dev/sda and /dev/sdb or sdc respectively)
umount /dev/sdc1 (if the usb stick is identified as sdc)
sudo dd if=filename.iso of=/dev/sdc bs=4M
sync
sudo eject /dev/sdcFor your particular machine, I strongly recommend downloading the 32-bit Q4os Linux centaurus trinity iso because it will have the same look, feel, function of the classic Windows gui but be much faster. You should also download and use the FireFox ESR browser since it's usually much more reliable than the default Konqueror browser
Jack E/NJ
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Nevermind... I found a guide0
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Thank you so much anyway, the guide didn't work0
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Should I configure secure boot?0
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Still no difference, I followed the steps and although it successfully installed (I configured secure boot) there was no difference in the result0
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In stubborn cases like this, you first have to set and save a BIOS supervisor password. Then re-enter the BIOS with the password to disable secure boot. Then install Linux. From then on, you leave the BIOS as-is with the supervisor password enabled and secure boot disabled. Don't try to change anything back.A word of caution. Many Linux installers aren't that good if you choose a default express instead of a custom install. What installation distros have you tried so far besides LinuxLite? You should try to pick those with halfway decent support forums like Q4os. I'm not sure how good the LinuxLite forums are but you might want to sign up at this link and find out.
Jack E/NJ
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Q4OS has been a little stubborn for me, refuses to live boot so later on I may try install the ISO again, the Linux forum is decent so I may ask over there too, I would’ve tried Xubuntu but I feared that would cause the same issue as my current one0
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When you say to disable secure boot, my BIOS brings up several options, should I disable the secure boot check or? At the moment it shows me these options0
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Here is the picture sorry for the quality
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Check the BIOS MAIN tab (NOT SECURITY tab) to see if password set option is available.
Jack E/NJ
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The thing is, when this happened a few months ago I set a supervisor password, but I kind of forgot it after neglecting this laptop until now, any way to reset it?0
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>>> I kind of forgot it>>>Aye!!! You'll have to find a way to kind of unforget it somehow. Do this before you try to make any further BIOS changes or you seriously risk not being able to even access the BIOS menu any more.
Jack E/NJ
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Alrighty, I’ll try.0
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Good news, I managed to regain the supervisor password and I changed it to something more memorable. How do I disable the secure boot? When I go on the main page there is no option0
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Also, when you say for me to not change it at all afterwards, does that mean I should disable secure boot configuration during the installation process?0
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>>>I should disable secure boot configuration during the installation process? >>>No unless the distro installation has that option. Most light versions don't. Check the BIOS Security tab for secure boot option.
Jack E/NJ
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Alright then, I'll try change it0
