Zorin install: Connection to bus cannot be made

This guide does seem helpful for the majority of people. I, however, am running into issues just to load up the welcome screen to try/install ZorinOS. My graphics card is Radeon based, so I don’t know if that’s one of the reasons why I’m facing issues like “a connection to the bus can’t be made” and other things like the need to use modprobe fuse. I’ve recently received a more recent machine (64-bit) that currently has Windows 10 on it and would like to install ZorinOS alongside it. I know I can edit the command line before selecting an option from the boot welcome screen, but don’t know where to begin. Any help is appreciated! :slight_smile:

Hi NextGen8KGaming and welcome to the forum! The problem with AMD graphics is that AMD stopped directly supporting Linux a while back - most AMD drivers are part of the Linux Kernel these days and it might be that your card is not compatible with what is present in the Linux kernel.
As for Windows 10 dual-booting and you are wanting to install alongside it, the first question to ask is will it have an HDD or SSD for the OS and HDD for Data?
If you have a machine that has Windows 10 on SSD then I would not dual boot on the Windows 10 SSD. I would shrink your Data drive to accommodate Zorin OS using Windows Disk Management in Windows 10. Then once you have done that remove the SSD from the machine or if new machine just disable the drive in the BIOS so you can work on the Data drive independently. My preference if you have a 1TB drive for Data would be to split it so you have 512 Gb for Zorin OS and create:
If you need to create an EFI install, then you will need to create a 50 Mb ESP/EFI partition formatted to FAT32, then,

  1. Create a 2Gb ‘/boot’ partition at the start of the new space, formatted to Ext4 - this is where I would install GRUB to.
  2. Primary Partition, formatted to Ext4 and marked as ‘/’ (root file sysem) - from experience in other Linux I would make this 50 Gb in size.
  3. Create an Extended Partition of what is left then start by creating a swap area at the END of the Extended Partition and make it double the amount of RAM you have installed.
  4. Whatever is left in front of the swap area you should format to Ext4 and mark as ‘/home’.
    If Windows 10 uses GPT bootloader instead of mbr then the process might be different which is beyond my experience. I’ve played with Windows 10 and installed it on work machines that are no longer on the network for staff to use at home but I will never use Windows 10 - I did play with it for games but nothing else. I prefer PS4 for gaming now. Also I had an issue whilst working from home using LibreOffice - if I saved as .docx it would not open correctly in MS Office 2019 - only if exported to pdf would it look correctly. I now use SoftMaker Office 2021 for Linux to prepare work at home that correctly saves in .docx format.

My graphics card is Radeon based, so I don’t know if that’s one of the reasons why I’m facing issues like “a connection to the bus can’t be made” and other things like the need to use modprobe fuse.

You may try:
When in the booting up screen of the LiveCD, press the F6 key and from the menu, select "nomodeset"

These are very helpful suggestions and pointers. Maybe I was using nomodeset wrong previously, but I keep getting a black screen (black as in my monitor is basically turned off). Back then, I just edited the command line for the normal boot mode of ZorinOS and added nomodeset after quiet splash. For storage, I only have a 1 TB HDD (no other internal storage, including SSDs). My PC unit originally started with Windows 7 on it (I upgraded it to 10 during the free upgrade period), so I’m not sure if it’s UEFI capable.

Back then, I just edited the command line for the normal boot mode of ZorinOS and added nomodeset after quiet splash.

That is correct for an installed version. The pointer I gave above is for use with the LiveCD Demo that is not yet installed.

My PC unit originally started with Windows 7 on it (I upgraded it to 10 during the free upgrade period), so I’m not sure if it’s UEFI capable.

Am I understanding you correctly that the LiveCD (USB) does not load or boot at all and results in a blank screen?

I see. It’s either a blank screen (if nomodeset is used) or I get some errors displayed if I just select try/install ZorinOS without doing anything else.

Is Windows currently loaded on the machine you are installing on?

Yes. It is. The most recent build of Windows 10, 64-bit.

Is fast boot, secure boot disabled (they must be disabled, first.) Fast boot Locks the Hard Drive which prevents any changes being made to it.

I think it should be. I’ll have to verify that.

Yes, please. If you did not actively disable it, then it would be enabled.
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1031533/

I just checked my BIOS settings. There’s no option for Fast/Secure boot. I am on an HP-branded PC.

I just grabbed the first hit which was an Asus site, but the instructions for Windows are the same.

If no secure boot in bios, you may go ahead and check if booting in Legacy works.

Ah, I see. I didn’t know Windows 10 itself had a fast startup option. I was only thinking about the BIOS options back then. Let me see what happens when I uncheck the setting in the OS itself.

Okay, so I was able to disable Fast Boot in Windows 10 itself. So, what should I consider next?

Try booting up Zorin as before. If no go, try booting Zorin up after changing BIOS to Legacy instead of EUFI.
The F6 for “nomodeset” could be worth trying on each, too, just to be sure.

I have installed Zorin on several machines with AMD Radeon graphics cards without any trouble, so there is plenty of room for hope.

Okay. Also, when would I be able to use the F6 key for things like adding nomodeset? Do I just do that when I see the Zorin logo?

Up until now, I’ve been playing around with the various startup parameters using the command line triggered by the Tab key.

I believe at the screen in which you see the “Try Zorin” “install Zorin” and other options on the advanced start up page. I have never done it, myself…

EDIT: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

The Ubuntu Option was only in 12 - it does not exist in Zorin 15 sadly (It is still present in Ubuntu 20.04 - you would need to edit the GRUB boot parameters by pressing E and adding for example at the end of the line starting ‘Linux’ with having entered a space, ‘nomodeset’ - you could add another space and try ‘xforcevesa’ to force the video to work. The other item you need to disable in Windows 10 are the hidden advanced Power Settings which leaves the HDD in sleep mode - it will also be (coupled with ‘Fast Boot’ or ‘Windows Boot Manager’ in the BIOS) responsible for you being (that is it can be on some rigs) for not even being able to boot from a bootable device with Linux on it. :wink:

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