5 Posts
0
998
Old Dell won’t boot any OS.
Inspiron 17R N7110
My uncle bought back in 2011 a Dell Inspiron N7110 made in May of 2010. He gave it to me today because he didn’t need it. The laptop came with windows 7 pre installed but he had upgraded all the way to windows 10. The first thing I did, after I got the laptop and backed up his data in case he needs them in the feature, was to install fedora 37 (my OS of choice). Trying to boot the USB resulted in an error message saying “Operation system not found”. After trying changing some BIOS settings, I decided to try the same but this time burning the ISO with rufus using ISO mode. It booted and installed just fine. Rebooting the computer resulted in the same error message, this time booting from the internal hard drive.
I have tried 8 different Linux distros and windows 10 but everything resulted in the same issue.
I also tried updating the BIOS from A08 to A13 using FreeDOS.
What I find interesting is that the computer won’t boot and give this error message every time unless I’ve created the USB using Rufus.
Any ideas? I’ve already changed a ton of BIOS settings, used different USB flash drives, used different ports.
Thank you in advance!
papasfilms
5 Posts
0
January 3rd, 2023 05:00
So I found the issue. Most modern operating system like windows and Linux, when on legacy computers, they use the GPT partition table with a compatibility layer called BIOS BOOT that emulates the Master Boot Record partition table. This works perfectly fine on most computers except this. The solution was to force Linux to install using the MBR partition table and for grub to only install legacy support and not EFI. That also explains why only Rufus USB flash drives were booting.
papasfilms
5 Posts
0
January 2nd, 2023 14:00
I’ll try it tomorrow since it’s after midnight and I will tell you the results.
I don’t think there is an issue with the drive since Linux can see and read it during the live mode and so does the BIOS. What I find odd is how my usb won’t boot and will give the same error unless I’ve made it using Rufus.
ejn63
10 Elder
10 Elder
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23.5K Posts
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January 2nd, 2023 14:00
If you haven't run a thorough diagnostic on the hard drive, that's next (F12 at powerup to access -- run the extended, not just the 10 minute quick -- test).
ejn63
10 Elder
10 Elder
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23.5K Posts
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January 2nd, 2023 16:00
This is why you need to do a complete surface test of the drive. If the boot sector is written to a part of the drive that has developed bad sectors, exactly what you've described will be the result.
papasfilms
5 Posts
0
January 3rd, 2023 02:00
I’ll do that now.
But if that’s the issue, then why won’t it boot any OS on any USB I’ve flashed?
papasfilms
5 Posts
0
January 3rd, 2023 02:00
The diagnostics have finished and they have reported 0 issues.
sbbloom69
1 Message
0
January 17th, 2023 14:00
I had the same problem: N7110, clobbered WIN7. PO tried to install a 32bit Linux. No passwords. I tried to install a new 64bit Linux (I tried Linux Lite, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, and several others). I had to create the bootable USB drives using RUFUS. Etcher NEVER worked on my Windows 10 machine. It always clobbered and disabled my USB drives (4 different ones). I was able the repartition, reformat and fix the drives from my MAC using diskutil. Windows wouldn't touch it. I was able to get 6 different Linux OS's to boot the Dell LIVE, but all failed to make the HD bootable EXCEPT and older 32bit Linux Lite I had laying around. It successfully installed and booted from the HD.
I read many threads on many sites. Here's what I'm convinced happened. The N7110 is NOT a UEFI / GPT BIOS. It is a Legacy or MBR BIOS. I have the original A03 BIOS. I can't install any of the newer ones from Dell because they are Windows Executables. I have no Windows to run them (I might later with WINE). All of the newest Linux Live / Installable distro's want to be GPT / UEFI and insist on making the HD partition GPT and installing the EFI partition. This never boots. I finally started to look on how to FORCE the Linux Live installers to partition and format the HD with MBR or as my installer labeled it "MS-DOS". I started by using the "try something else" in the partition formatter and make just a /boot, /root, and a SWAP partitions. That didn't work either, but is how I finally got it to work.
After the last failed HD installation, I rebooted LIVE and opened the GPARTED or in my case the KDE Partition manage. Low-and-behold, the main hard drive PROPERTIES said the drive was GPT and not MBR or MSDOS.
Here's what I did:
After a Live USB boot, I went into the partition manager and deleted all of the partitions and formated one big partition with ext4. Next I went into the Device tab and found where the HD was setup as GPT. I changed this to MSDOS. I again repartitioned and reformated this as one partition with ext4. MAKE SURE to click the "reformat" check boxes. I applied the changes. I rebooted into the LIVE session. I went back into the partition manager and thankfully, the device properties said it was MSDOS.
Finally, I went into installer partition menu and clicked the "try something else" option. I clicked on New Partition Table. I created a 3 partitions: /boot at 500MB; /linuxswap at 20GB (I have 12GB RAM); and the rest as / or root. /boot and / (-root) were formatted ext4. I then ran the installation.
Voila! I now have a clean, fully HD bootable Linux on my Dell Inspiron N7110 (650GB and 12GB ram). I used a custom Linux Distro called DragonOS. This Distro is customized for Ham Radio operations with lots of dedicated Ham Radio programs. The machine now boots fine and runs the programs nicely.
My MB battery must be dead because if I try to boot from battery, I get the clock boot error and have to reset. That's next. I also ordered a new battery. I got the Dell for free. It sat for 2 years. It's in great shape otherwise and will now have a new lease on life as my Ham Radio computer.
I hope this helps someone else. I tried off and on for a week to find the solution. I probably did way more than I needed to, but my machine works.
Stu
Los Alamos, NM.
ewongsmx
176 Posts
0
January 17th, 2023 16:00
One possible solution would be to try and repair the bootloader using a bootable USB with a Windows or Linux repair tool. If that doesn't work, you can try to recover the bootloader by reinstalling the OS on the internal hard drive.
Another option would be to check if there is any legacy/legacy first option in the BIOS, sometimes this option is used to boot from the USB drive.