Laptop Installation Problem

Chris19911210

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May 24, 2011
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18,510
Hi, I have a problem with my HP Pavilion DV3. I'd like to install a Linux distro such as Linux Mint or Ubuntu but I'm having a problem getting them to install properly. The only operating system that the laptop will let me install without any problems is Windows 7. All other operating systems either freeze before the installation process can start or wont load at all. I successfully installed Ubuntu on my hard drive by putting the hard drive in another laptop. When I put the hard drive back in the HP laptop it freezes on the splash screen. The only way to get around this is to take out the bios battery for an hour every time I want to turn the laptop on then It successfully boots. Linux mint however wont install at all, I've downloaded the ISO many times and I get the same problem.

I get the error:

'Loading ISOLinux: Disk error 04, AX 42BD, drive FE'

Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to fix this problem.
 

Chris19911210

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May 24, 2011
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18,510
Yea I've tried creating a new partition, I reformatted the hard drive using another laptop and a dock and then created two partitions, one for the OS and a 10 15GB one to store my backup data. With Live CD's I get the same problem as before. It would either sometimes not load at all or sometimes crash on the ubuntu logo screen. One thing that I forgot to mention before is that when it crashes on the ubuntu screen a lot of the time the screen will go black like the brightness has been turned down, when this happens I can sometimes increase the brightness again so I can see the ubuntu logo.
 

malici0usc0de

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Sep 27, 2004
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Look for different SATA modes in your BIOS. Check and see if it is set to use a PNP OS and the ACPI setting and such. I know most HP laptops don't let you configure much in the BIOS but see what is there and report back.

Also try the alternate installer media just for the hell of it.

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/alternative-download

As for using another machine to install it on the hard drive that will almost never work very well.