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Emp avatar Ubuntu

How to get Bootable x86 install on HDD Partition beside Win XP

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Emp

Short story: Installed xUbuntu beside Win XP on an new partition - cant get a boot to linux in the BIOS or

Background: I have an old HP Lenovo S10 Ideapad that I want to make into a Linux 'netbook'.

I downloaded Xubuntu 18.04.5 LTS, set up a boot USB, changed the Boot order to boot from USB, booted it up in Xubuntu, tried it out. Looked ok, albeit a little slow, which I figured was mostly the read time from the USB, and decided to give the install to HDD a go. The wifi wasn't working either, but one thing at a time. I chose to install beside the existing XP installation (which was and is still working).

First time around it just seemed to hang so after leaving it for 24 hrs I shut it down and tried again. I discovered the HDD had been partitioned with some free space, but nothing beyond that. Trying again, but this time with a lan connection to the router I directed the install into the free space, and it all seemed to go well, progressing through to the point where the installer asks to re-start to boot from the HDD. Which I chose to do - (removing the USB stick to allow the boot order to bypass the USB).

This is where I found the PC still wants to Boot to the XP installation (actually it pauses to ask which XP I want, there being two, but I'll solve that problem later), and gives no option to boot to Linux. I re-booted to the USB and looked at the new partition, and the Linux files seem to be there.

I can't find anything on line specific to an installation beside Windows XP, on an i386, and using using newer versions of Linux. All the posts seem to be at least 5 years old and deal with issues that may have since been de-bugged. Nothing looks exactly like the issue I have.

So my question is- what's the next step? How do I get it to display the Linux partition as a boot option?

  Vital Statistics:
PC:
   1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor.
   1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz.
   Windows XP Home Edition (SP3)
   160GB 5400rpm hard drive.
Partitions (as shown in GParted):
   /dev/sda1 fat32 87 GB (this is original Windows XP Boot, 32 GB free)
   /dev/sda3 extended
     /dev/sda6 ext4  /media/xubuntu/[lots after this]  16.6 GB (This is the linux, 10.4GB free)
     /dev/sda5 nfts 30.4 GB (this is existing user data 15GB free)
   unallocated 1.7 GB
   /dev/sda4 nfts  14.75GB (This is the XP recovery partition)

BIOS:
Bios Version 14CN3944
Boot order: 1: USB key, 2 USB FDD, 3 USB HDD, 4 HDD Hitachi HT(xxx)-(S, 5 USB CDROM, 6 LAN 

OS Choices:
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Home Edition
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guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
windows XP reached EOL long ago and no-one has admitted to wanting to use it since at least 2014 as it's unsafe unless used off-line. The specs of your device remind me of an asus eeepc (`asus eepc 1000HE (intel atom n270, 1gb, intel mobile 945gse integrated), wireless RT2790`) that was used to test up to Lubuntu/Xubuntu 19.04; and nothing is different now as was the case in 2014 that I'm aware of (*i386 anyway*). When you install; the bootloader goes to your hdd (/dev/sda on my eeepc) and `grub` then handles boot (I think mine still has xp-home on it too)
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Emp avatar
us flag
Emp
Yep I've kept it offline. I use used it for mostly a music sever, but it also has a full legit permanent license of Office 2010 which the kids can use for school work. I'm not sure if you're making a comment or suggesting a solution, if you are it's too subtle for me to implement. ? Thanks.
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oldfred avatar
cn flag
oldfred
Old BIOS systems only boot from MBR. So if booting XP, you still have Windows boot loader in MBR, not grub2's boot loader. The old FAT32 partition may have confused it as new systems with UEFI, use FAT32 as ESP. But it should not have installed in UEFI mode as you cannot boot in UEFI mode with an old system. Lets see details, use ppa version with your live installer (2nd option), not Boot-Repair ISO: Please copy & paste the pastebin link to the Boot-info summary report ( do not post report), do not run the auto fix till reviewed. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair
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Emp avatar
us flag
Emp
Thank you all. While trying to learn what was going on things slowly seemed to get worse with the XP boot (kept re-scanning the disc on start-up, operating even slower than normal..), until eventually it just wouldn't boot at all. Fortunately I had planned for this, and I have now wiped the PC clean and re-installed Linux as the sole system, and everything works. So, problem no longer exists - (but not really ever solved - at least for me).
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