Certainly. Let me find a comprehensive guide.
Don't think this guide is viable anymore. At least not for Zorin latest release.
It doesn't even matter if the NIC is connected to LAN or not, it just needs to be connected. I'll look into it a bit more later, but if anyone is able to figure out how to spoof a NIC during boot or create a boot patch, it would likely solve my issue as well as everyone else with the same problem.
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I did find another guide at
Was able to successfully create using this method, but it didn't seem to persist during the boot sequence.
Try here,
Thanks for the link. Tried it, but again it's not a working solution. It'll need to persist through a reboot as well as be visible to the system as a Physical Ethernet NIC during boot. I'm not sure at exactly what stage of boot the system is requiring there to be an available "eth0" or similar device. Wireless NIC works fine with no issues, but am still unable to boot without the dongle.
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I was beginning to think this was a case of the x-y problem.
But the more I read, it looks like you are on the right track:
I realize that is an Elitebook and the issue is slightly different. However, the principle of how the NIC is interacting with the boot process is the same.
It is not alone and we already noted the BIOS bug and other boot issues:
This is a frustrating issue. And I am not trying to discourage you in any way.
AN acknowledgement of the facts: HP built this for Windows without any concern or thought toward Unix-Like systems... and it shows. All over the place.
The Linux developers (Whether the kernel team, Canonical team, Debian teams or Zorin Team) are the ones left scrambling to try to fit Linux to work with what HP Built.
Some other distros may happen to boot just fine. Some may not - and we may never really solve the mystery as to what enabled it if they did...
But it may be worth trying some other distros to find out, too. The goal is to get your system working, not to demand brand loyalty.
And you can install Zorin Themes to have a similar look and feel of Zorin on another distro.
I mention this because some posts I read on the web suggested that they got Suse to work and so on.
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The more I look into it, the more I feel like @Aravisian is correct with it being a systemd type issue, but all the suggested fixes seem to point to files that don't exist on my install. If I had any additional suggestion on where to go or how to disable the wait service(s) that might be causing it I would definitely check it out.
Again, the fact that it seems to be dependent on having a physical ethernet adapter connected and not even live definitely helps to narrow the scope of the problem. Especially when this holds just as true for booting from a USB as well as after install.
While I definitely agree that trying different distros isn't a bad thing, I hate not being able to solve a problem. Even more so when I know the cause of the problem.
I tried installing Mint Cinnamon with success, but had some issue that slowed it down and basically prevented boot a couple days afterwards.
Also, I like the ease of use of having Zorin Connect to transfer files between all my devices. While I'm sure it could be set up on another distro, I'm kind of stubborn, lol.
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I have always had this issue on Mint, yet Cinnamon runs strong and smooth On Zorin OS.
Since Zorin OS Lite does not include Zorin Connect (Which is a Gnome Extension), I use KDE Connect to the exact same effect. So, at least you have the option... if needed.
I understand this 100%...
Hold on...
So it needs to be Plugged in... But does not need to connect to the net?
If this is the case, that suggest that the networkd wait service is less likely, as it would demand an active net connection.
That service is specific for use as a server.
Which is why the average Ubuntu or derivative user can just disable it if it gets pesky.
Correct it only needs to be present in available system devices, but does not require that it's connected to the LAN
The system itself has no physical ethernet adapter, but when I plug in my gigabit ethernet adapter everything works fine, even without plugging in the wire.
I'm thinking a faulty usb port or firmware or usb stick?
Do you have another usb port to test?
Try installing via dvd.
Update firmware. ( If recently done, maybe backdate to prior? )
Not sure if it may help, Pre-install has a " Check Installation Media for Defects " try running this, record any errors.
Not sure if you need to install with ( safe graphics ) but maybe a good idea, then update things after..
Thanks, but install media tested fine on 2 other systems. All system ports work fine. It's simply a matter of it hangs when there's no physical ethernet NIC present.
Basically identical to the one pictured, just the Amazon Basics version and USB-C
This is an Older Post:
Hey scorbett, I had the same problem as you recently. My solution was to enable network boot in the BIOS, then put the network on top of the hard drive in the boot sequence (meaning, make the BIOS try to boot from the network first before making it try to boot from the hard drive). I'm sorry if I can't be any clearer, I'm not that good with computers, and I'm not sure if my BIOS and your BIOS are the same. But I do hope this helps.
Thank you very much. It solves my wifes problem on Acer Aspire One 722 with Ubuntu 11.10.
These are workarounds - for when you cannot just leave the thing plugged in.
Thanks for the links, but again neither are viable solutions. The "enabling network boot" solution has no effect (likely because it requires an ethernet adapter to be present and the latter solution requires that an ethernet cable be connected, which is not required to solve my problem.
My only known solution is to have a physical ethernet adapter connected during boot. The biggest thing that bothers me regarding this is the fact that it wasn't a problem on earlier releases of Zorin.
Which earlier versions? I am wondering if that information may help us find the clues we need, here.
A vexing problem, this one. It's a weird one.
Just to be sure, isn't it that in boot order there's an entry about the wired device? Because removing it from that list maybe the problem is fixed, just to say, if works this way.
@Aravisian
If I remember right it wasn't an issue on Core 15 but. I had setup a usb 3.0 drive with an install last year for a portable install. Didn't have any issues until after doing some system updates then it wouldn't work on my laptop at all. At the time I thought perhaps my portable install was broken, but it had no problems loading on an older HP laptop or my desktop. Knowing what I know now, I would figure it is the same problem.
@Luca_Pavan
The boot order has no bearing on the issue, at least as far as the BIOS goes. If there's something in Zorin boot sequence specifically calling for it (which i believe is what the problem is) I don't personally have a clue where to look. It's 100% verifiable on my end that I have zero issues with any system that has an integrated/onboard ethernet adapter. This statistic is given my immediate access to 3 different systems.
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To help verify version I downloaded an old Zorin OS 15.3 Core. Worked with no problems other than the "invalid argument" issue where USB Stick needs to be removed then reinserted, after that it loaded just fine.
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