I have an old HP Pro Tablet 408 G1 that's still running Windows 8.1. It does show it's age with mere 2GB of RAM, a 2 cores 4 threads Atom CPU and 16GB of internal storage so I tried installing Zorin OS 17 Lite on it to prolong it's usefulness (I hate throwing working electronics out).
The install went smoothly - I wiped the drive before installing Zorin to give it as much space as possible. However - after a reboot the tablet doesn't boot to Zorin - it states that there is no bootable media. BIOS shows that there is an ubuntu partition so in theory it should just be good to go. I tried reinstalling it, but to no avail, so for now I switched back to W8.1, but I really want to put a Linux distro on this thing to give it more breathing room and to work more smoothly (and I'm sure it would fare better than Windows).
I'm kinda new to Linux altogether - I only use another install on my laptop to watch youtube or browse web in general, but I want to learn it more and potentially switch to Zorin altogether on all my devices.
If this is an Boot Entry set it at the first Position.
Another Thing: Are Secure Boot and Fast Boot in the BIOS turned off? If not, turn it off and try it again. Is Your BIOS in UEFI or Legacy Mode? And what Tool did You use for creating the bootable USB Stick?
Is this the Space that You want to use for Zorin Lite or the complete Size of the internal Drive? Because this isn't really much.
Are Secure Boot and Fast Boot in the BIOS turned off?
Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be able to even start an install.
Is Your BIOS in UEFI or Legacy Mode?
Not sure if there was an option to switch modes, if I'm honest.
And what Tool did You use for creating the bootable USB Stick?
I don't know what difference does it make, but I tried both Rufus and Etcher.
Is this the Space that You want to use for Zorin Lite or the complete Size of the internal Drive? Because this isn't really much.
That's the complete size - I know it isn't much but if I could just have an OS and a web browser on it, then I can use my microSD card for everything else. Unless using the card is an option for an OS? I doubt it would be wise to install an OS on a microSD card, though...
If You can switch wouldn't be an Issue. It would be good to knoe which Mode it has. That relates to:
Rufus is a good Tool. I used that a lot in the Past. a Point on this is that You with Rufus can decide which Partition Sheme You can use. There are 2 Options: GPT and MBR.
GPT is better for UEFI BIOS and MBR for Legacy BIOS. That is the reason why I asked that.
Well, the System doesn't come alone. That is the Point. It comes with preinstalled Programs. So, it could be a bit ... tight. We could ask other User's, who are using Zorin Lite for the Size of a fresh Installation.
I looked around the BIOS but there isn't an option to choose a mode, so I think it's stuck with one of those.
Regarding the storage, Lite version requires minimum 10GB and I won't be installing anything unnecessary - the tablet should be used only for web browsing and e-books or comics, maybe for playing something off of my Plex server. And I could always install additional apps on the microSD card.
And about the boot entry - when I was playing with my install I did move it to 1st position but it still wasn't recognised
This may be a mixed bit-depth issue: your tablet may have a 32bit EFI even if the CPU is 64bit and Zorin (because of its Ubuntu base) does not support 32bit any more. Unfortunately, the process of making bootable linux USB drives often includes a 32bit bootloader, which then hands over to the 64bit Zorin live environment and lets you install it.
After trying to follow a bunch of tutorials and forum threads I couldn't get to work, I ended up installing a different linux distro that does still support 32bit, specifically Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), first to get its 32bit grub installed and then manually install Zorin next to it while carefully selecting the EFI partition - the last bit is important, as it means Zorin just adds its own config instead of actually trying to install / replace grub with a 64bit version.
That said, I had notably more space than your tablet. I'm not sure if this method works if you install Zorin over LMDE instead of next to it, but I'd say it's worth a try.
At one point, I also ran into the tablet claiming there was no bootable drive at all. To fix that, I actually tried reinstalling Windows and after confirming that booted I then went back to install LMDE and finally Zorin, successfully.
This... is convoluted, so say the least But I'll give it a try, just have to find the tablet
EDIT: I wasn't sure about it's internal memory and I'm glad I checked - it has 32GB, not 16GB, so I do have some breathing room. Nonetheless, I will still try to install LMDE and then Zorin on top of it, instead of next to it.
Unfortunately it didn't work The boot device is still not being found, and if I manually try to boot from "ubuntu" partition" I get "The selected boot device failed" error.
I guess this tablet is stuck with W8.1...
EDIT: I might try using older version of Zorin which should still have 32-bit support.
That's for Pro 608 g1, that's a newer model. Not a big deal, but a shame nonetheless. If I'll have to install W8.1 again on it, I'll just try trimming it down to make is as lightweight as possible.
You could try MX Linux which offers a 32bit Version with the xfce Desktop. It is based on Debian. You can download it here: https://mxlinux.org/download-links/
But I'll give it a try, just have to find the tablet