Score:1

Unetbootin - a bootable usb that boots on one pc but not another

us flag

I used Unetbootin to create an ubuntu18.04 image. When tested on one laptop, it boots to the Unetbootin menu. But on another, this does not work. I am sure i selected the usb device, but the booting process says

Boot Device not found
Please install an operating system on your hard disk
Hard disk - (3f0)
f2 system diagnostics
for more information please visit www.hp.com....

What could be the problem and what should I do?

UPDATE

Laptop is Hp Elitebook 840 G4 Bios version is P78 ver 01.08 10/17/2017

ok so this seems to be a bios problem but i dont know how to configure it properly. I am using an HP laptop, and I have made sure I selected 'legacy support enabled and secureboot disabled', but the boot menu cannot find the usb. I know this because I see the same screen in the boot menu, when either the usb is inserted, or not.

The boot menu looks like below

enter image description here

And my bios config

enter image description here

Thanks

UPDATE 2

I am trying to do a BIOS update but that needs cable connection. however, my laptop does not have the standard cable socket. Now even that is not possible... can anyone tell me what converter/cable I need to do this:

enter image description here

sudodus avatar
jp flag
1. Please tell us more about the computer: Which model is it? 2. Have you checked if the UEFI/BIOS system is up to date (the newest stable version)? 3. Please try some other tool to create a bootable USB drive. I would suggest a cloning tool, for example the Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator (in 16.04 LTS or newer), Disks (alias gnome-disks) or [mkusb](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb).
us flag
thanks i have updated the post adding some info about the laptop and bios. i am now trying to do a bios update using the network option....
sudodus avatar
jp flag
According to my experience of HP Elitebooks Ubuntu should work well, but I have no direct experience of your particular model. It should work to boot from a USB drive **cloned** from the **Ubuntu Desktop 20.04.2 LTS** iso file both in UEFI mode and BIOS (legacy) mode, at least with the newest version of the UEFI/BIOS system. Please check at an HP web page that you have the newest version of UEFI/BIOS. Finally, there might be problems with older versions of Ubuntu.
us flag
@sudodus thanks. I tried to do an update of bios but it needs network, and my laptop does not ave the standard socket. i wonder if you know anything about this (post updated)? thanks
sudodus avatar
jp flag
I have a Lenovo of approximately the same generation, and it it possible to plug in a standard ethernet plug (RJ-45) into it (the bottom part can move downwards). Please try that :-)
sudodus avatar
jp flag
By the way, Unetbootin does not clone. Have you tried with a cloned USB drive yet?
us flag
oh thanks i didnt realise that about the socket, well not a kind of design that i like tbh :) i am now updating the bios... I did not try a cloned usb, but the one that done by unetbootin managed to boot my lenovo laptop, not the hp one. hence I wondered if it was the bios problem rather than the usb...
sudodus avatar
jp flag
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/127279/discussion-between-sudodus-and-ziqi).
C.S.Cameron avatar
cn flag
On my EliteBook I press F9 to select boot drive. I have had best luck using **mkusb** to create Persistent USB's. You can install mkusb to the drive you made with UNetbootin. I much prefer mkusb to UNetbootin.
mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.