Problems Installing on HP Laptop

Installing Zorin OS
22

No, not at all. Didn't even know I could set up Secure Boot support in Ventoy. But I did NOT disable Secure Boot (Fast Boot is disabled). It was the same settings in Ventoy, so I'm wondering what made the difference for one to load and not Zorin?

23

This is all sometimes a bit ... back and forward. A bit Tinkering here and there. what works for System/OS A doesn't have to work for B. and You named Zorin Solus and Cachy. These are 3 different Systems. That Solus and cachy are more up-to-date can be a Point, too.

1 Like
24

Well, I'm back at it, wanting to load Zorin 18 onto my HP Spectre laptop.

I disabled Fast Startup, Secure Boot, and TPM. I also cleared the TPM.

I used a dedicated USB by Rufus with only Z18 on it. I ended up with the same error message as above, "Oh no! Something has gone wrong..."

Any more suggestions? Or what settings do I need to check?

25

Did You checked if the BIOS is in UEFI or Legacy Mode and choosed based on that GPT or MBR in Rufus?

26

I don't know.

What I hear in your question is that I need to recreate the USB Z18 with Rufus based on my BIOS settings. If Legacy, then choose MBR in Rufus. If UEFI then GPT in Rufus.

Is this correct?

27

Yes, that is right. If you are sure that it was set correctly in Rufus, then you don’t need to recreate the stick.

28

Yes, that is right.

29

@ldkuch Something basic that may have been overlooked. Did you test the ZorinOS .iso SHA256 checksum against the published value?

30

Yes, I do check the iso checksum when I download them. Good question, though.
EDIT: ...and double EDIT:

I found the checksum at

and confirmed my copy checks out. Strange the checksums aren't on the download page, though.

31

Since I will recreate the bootable Z18 USB to be more intentional in its settings, is there a preference between using Legacy vs UEFI?

32

At the end of that help site you find the checksums:

1 Like
33

When possible use UEFI. That should work better. Of Course when Your BIOS doesn't have UEFI then use Legacy. More important is, that You use the fitting Partition Sheme to the Mode.

1 Like
34

Hi there, just noting that I never did get my HP Omen 17 [ i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz 2.59 GHz] laptop working properly, last year, after jumping through many of the same hoops as above.
And I don't think its a Zorin issue.
cheers CD

35

Update.
I recreated my USB Z-18.1 with Rufus (latest updated version), MBR, confirmed BIOS has Legacy disabled.

I tried with TPM enabled & disabled. I tried with Secure Boot disabled AND enabled. Still get the sad face "ain't working" error message when trying to boot into Z18 from the USB. (OS Win10)

Not sure what else to do. I really want to switch this laptop to Zorin before the October Win10 Kill Switch.

I'm willing to go the Zorin Pro route if I can be assured the HP Spectre x360 will actually load Zorin...

36

Pro version does add in more support but all the stuff it has you can just download getting pro is a way to support the community which you can do at any time

and with MBR as the way your installing it legacy needs to be enabled unless you installing it uefi them your usb will need to be redone for GPT partition

37

When Legacy is disabled, You should use GPT.

GPT=> UEFI BIOS
MBR=> Legacy BIOS

38

That will not help. Pro is essentially Core plus extra desktop layouts and extra pre-installed apps.

1 Like
39

Right, but it offers a Installation Support. Maybe that could help. But if not, it would be wasted Money.

40

Yep, I did that, and considered it a donation to the dev's, in the end, since there was no solution for this particular laptop model.

1 Like
41

Here an other Zorin OS Installation problem solved on HP Spectre X360 here in the Zorin Forum:

Maybe this helps. Also seems to be a HP security key which might be a problem.

Here also what Brave AI means about it:

Installing Zorin OS on an HP Spectre x360 is often problematic due to specific hardware and firmware conflicts, with the main sources of error being ACPI BIOS errors, TPM configurations, and graphics drivers.

Common Problems and Solutions

BIOS and TPM Configuration Many users report ACPI BIOS errors that block the installation. A proven solution is to disable TPM and delete the HP security keys in the BIOS before starting the installation. Additionally, Secure Boot and Fast Boot should be disabled, while Legacy Support (or CSME) can be enabled. After successful installation, TPM can be re-enabled, although this often requires a complete system reinstallation to avoid Windows dual-boot corruption.

Graphics drivers and boot hangs If the system does not get past the boot screen ("HP ZORIN") after installation, this is often due to incompatibilities with the graphics drivers.

  • Select Safe Graphics from the GRUB menu.
  • Add the parameter nomodeset to the Linux boot line to bypass graphical initialization and allow installation.
  • After starting, manually install the appropriate proprietary drivers (e.g., for NVIDIA).

Audio Problems (No Sound / Dummy Output) On models with Broadwell-U Audio Controller or RT286 chips, Zorin OS often does not correctly recognize the sound card ("Dummy Output").

  • Open the terminal and run sudo alsa force-reload to often solve the problem immediately.
  • To permanently fix this, a startup script can be created that executes this command at boot time, or the snd-soc-rt286 module can be loaded manually.

Recommended installation procedure

  1. Create the installation USB stick using Popsicle (under Linux) or Rufus (under Windows), as other tools like Balena Etcher often produce faulty images.
  2. Check the integrity of the SHA256 hash values ​​of the ISO file.
  3. Disable TPM and Secure Boot in the BIOS.
  4. Perform the installation in Safe Graphics mode.
  5. After the first boot, install all system updates and drivers.