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 flash drive, which the laptop sees and recognizes, both in Windows and in BIOS (Boot Menu). I have tried making it into a bootable USB flash drive 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 flash drive to be delivered, in hopes that using a smaller capacity USB flash drive 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.
