I am trying to install Arch Linux on a very old laptop. It’s a Sony VAIO, made at about 2006, with a NAPA motherboard, an Intel Celeron M 440 CPU, and an extended (by a previous owner) RAM of 1024 MB – 2 sticks of 512 MB from different makers.Using an ArchLinux32-i686 image, since the CPU is so old.
I set BIOS to “Enable boot from USB”, set USB to the top of the Boot sequence, and am able to open Boot Menu.
I have a modern 128 GB USB stick, which the laptop sees and recognizes, both in Windows and in BIOS (Boot Menu). I have tried making it into a bootable USB via several methods, which all failed with different results.
Ventoy (MBR, secure boot off): Black screen with “VT” at the top, have to forcibly reboot.
Rufus (MBR, ISO mode): Goes into VAIO recovery menu, both on it’s own and when USB is selected from Boot Menu manually.
Rufus (MBR, dd mode): “iso linux” or something similar flashes momentarily on a black screen, then goes into “Booting Windows in safe mode” menu.
dd command on Linux Mint: same as Rufus dd mode
I am currently waiting for a second-hand 8 GB USB to be delivered, in hopes that using a smaller capacity USB helps.I have tried removing one of the RAM sticks, thinking, that, perhaps, since they are different, it is causing some kind of memory problem, however, the results are the same.
