Acer laptop displays Acer --> Zorin --> Acer logos but doesn't boot up

Hardware Support
21

Hi Bourne, Thanks for weighing in. My problem is that whilst Zorin can be installed into the harddrive, when I then try to boot it up, it displays Acer logo, then Zorin logo and then Acer logo and then stops.

So StarTrekker had suggested I get into the GRUB menu but couldn't get in using LEFT SHIFT key, so he suggested ESC key and that worked.

Now that I got into the GRUB page what do I do to solve by unable to launch Zorin Lite 15.3? The GRUB page is a black screen with GRUB> prompt. There is no items to select.

22

Now things have gotten weird. Reinstall Zorin 15.3 Lite through safe mode. All done. Press "Restart" and a whole bunch of items saying "sd 4:0:0:0 [sdb] tag#0 access beyond end of device". This line is new, never seen it before.

At the bottom it then says "SQUASHFS error: sqyash_read_data failed to read block 0x7be498c3" and 2 other SQUASHFS errors which says "unable to read metadata cache entry [7be498c3]" and "unable to read inode 0x34741ac8".

Then it says "Remove installation medium, then press enter".
So I removed medium and pressed enter.
Then the BIOS blue screen displayed something MOK, and I selected "Boot".

Now it has gone into the Zorin desktop page. I wonder if it will reboot if I shut down the laptop.

Well I restarted and it managed to boot up. Landed on the Zorin desktop page.

The only thing I did differently is not set up the wi-fi connections during installation.

So really no idea what to do to solve the problem if it happens again.

23

I can't see anyone answering your question, but it is fdisk -l (letter not number), i.e. "-l" for list option.

24

maybe he need install sudo apt install fdisk.
I have also the same command before not installed.
When I started grub with live usb or recovery i go to grub. then I edit grub with command sudo nano /etc/default/grub
Maybe it could help him also edit file grub
(or open to check what he have them wrote)
to main hard disk where he can also edit this file on main hard disk.

25

Thanks zabadabadoo. i will remember that.

1 Like
26

Do you have nomodeset in grub?
The grub parameter nomodeset delays activation of the Nvidia graphics, booting with the base Intel Graphics until init can fully run Nvidia.

27

I haven't checked if I have nomodeset in grub. Having installed zorin 15.3 without enabling the wifi, it now works. However it now ask me to install a large update/package 500MB which includes nvidia applications/etc. I am concern that if I do, the problem will recur. Should I install the update or just ignore it for now.

28

If you don't use your Nvidia GPU for anything that requires 3D acceleration, I say, don't download and install Nvidia stuff. But if the tasks that you do requires 3D acceleration, like gaming for example, then your going to need those drivers.

At the end of the day, if your really worried, the logical thing to do, would be to backup your computer before you run the updates. So that way if something goes wrong, you can restore.

29

I followed Aravisian's advice/suggestion and managed to update the grub cmdline "quiet splash" and then updated grub itself. This was done after I installed ZORIN without enabling the wifi during setup stage. This helps have the OS install and I can start up the machine and get to the ZORIN desktop. Also manage to download and install Google chrome, Freeoffice but couldn't use the zorin function to find and install Okular. Managed to install via terminal using sudo etc command.

Didn't reboot yet but decided to download install Zorin 500MB update with all those NVIDIA drivers & applications. It asks to create Secure Boot password which I did.

I restarted the laptop, it goes into bluescreen with MOK + I selected Key and reboot after.

Now it is still at the ACER logo screen.

30

I think that is the best advice StarTrekker. This laptop and OS is meant for school kids (I am donating it to them for their use). I don't think they ought to be playing 3D games etc on the machine. So I am gonna try reinstalling without nvidia.

31

Yep, you know how kids are. It all begins with Solitaire, next thing you know it, the kids are playing Doom Eternal, slaying Pinkies with shotguns, while the teacher comes in, finding all the students surrounding 1-desk as spectators, when they are supposed to be doing an essay on economics.

32

Hahaha, that's true. Maybe that is why better not to have those nvidia drivers installed. Am reinstalling ZORIN in safe drivers mode.

33

It is doing this because you are running Zorin OS with Secure Boot enabled in EFI settings of the Motherboard. Are you dual booting Windows?

34

When I attempted to reboot and it did not work, I managed to get into the BIOS and change the Secure Boot from enable to disable. This allowed me to run the ZORIN installation.

However after restarting the problem still persist. I checked the BIOS and secure boot is disabled.

What can I do to solve this problem. It is really frustrating as I haven't come across this problem before.

35

Looking at your computer SPECS, I am going to have to really recommend switching to LITE. I am sure Aravisian would agree with me.

1.7GHZ CPU
4GB RAM

Yeah, @Aravisian maybe you should convert Julian to XFCE LITE.

36

I am installing ZORIN Lite (but it is version 15.3). :thinking:

I guess the moral of my story is that once you get it to work, don't install the NVIDIA updates as it causes all sorts of other problems to be unresolved. :frowning:

I checked online and xfce lite is not zorin lite. :face_with_hand_over_mouth: my bad.

37

I have managed to boot up ZORIN OS. I will write down what I did and how the system reacted. Hopefully this may help others in the same predicament as I was.

38

I will set out what I did (as best as I can retrace my steps), as it seems to have solved my problem with the ACER E5-571G which had a NVIDIA 830m.

== start message ==

  1. Before installing ZORIN OS, access the BIOS and change the Secure Boot setting from “ENABLED” to “DISABLED”. This will allow you to install the OS.

  2. When installing ZORIN OS, I selected the normal installation and DID NOT enable the wifi, when asked. Once the OS was installed, I did not restart but shut down the system. During the shutdown the system will ask to remove the installation drive and press ENTER. Just follow this instruction.

  3. On restarting I, first, entered the BIOS and changed Secure Boot setting in BIOS from “disabled” to “enabled” and after pressing F10, the Acer laptop allowed me to boot up to the zorin desktop page.

  4. The Acer restarted and the OS works. It will boot up to the zorin desktop page.

  5. I noticed that when you try installing other applications (e.g. Freeoffice) you’d get this message << “Unable to download updates from “ords.gnome.org”: [///source/ords/] failed to download ... SSL handshake failed” >> but don’t worry, it will still download and install the application.

  6. I also tried to install OKULAR, which usually you can find it in the software shop app that comes with ZORIN (on the taskbar). However because I did not install with wifi enabled, this software shop app can’t launch and even when it did launch, it could not find OKULAR. So I used Terminal and followed instructions on line to download OKULAR. After updating repositories, I keyed in sudo apt install okular and it was installed.

  7. Then the Software Updates pops up and displays “update to be installed”. I displayed the details and unchecked all updates where “nvidia” is mentioned. So no nvidia is installed. It is now downloading the updates I selected.

However I noticed it asked for password to be created for Secure Boot, and also that the nvidia apps/software appeared to be downloaded. However when the OS download was completed, it did display the nvidia software that were not installed. I also created the Secure Boot password and installation proceeded.

  1. Restarted the system and a blue screen appeared with a few selected commands - I chose “Continue to Boot”, (don't chose any other command) and it booted to the ZORIN desktop page and all my apps (Freeoffice, Google Chorme and Simplenote) are displayed on the desktop. Now the software shop app can work. I can find OKULAR app.

I shut down the laptop, waited for a while and restarted it. The zorin os booted up fine and no problem, no blue screen nothing. Like how it should be.

Trying for a 3rd time to restart the laptop, without being connected and using battery. It restarted and no problem. In fact I noticed that it booted up really fast (faster than previously).
== end message ==

I think this managed to solve my issue. Many thanks to StarTrekker, Bourne, zabadabadoo and Aravisian for your help. Hopefully this can help others just to get their old laptops to work if NVIDIA graphics is not important.

Thanks

P.S. I used the same method with Dell Inspiron 15 which has a NVIDIA GeForce 820m, and apparently the problem I encountered with the Acer is limited to that Acer only. The Dell booted up fine once the ZORIN Lite was installed. Didn't have to go to BIOS to change Secure Boot to "ENABLED" from "DISABLED". So maybe this is limited to ACER E5-571G laptops.

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