Problem With Unetbootin (Or, Perhaps, Me)

Question

As I mentioned before, I'm having a lot of stability issues on Lubuntu 13, so I'm trying to upgrade to the alternate install of Lubuntu 14.04, as my computer has about 500MB RAM.

I went to UNetbootin as I usually do, but this time around in creating the USB, I got a strange screen that said "UNetbootin", and within the box was a statement saying "Hit tab to edit options" or something like that.

The weird part is that on the bottom there was a timer ticking down when it'll automatically reboot, but every time it reaches zero it simply starts over again, indefinitely. If I do hit tab, it puts me in a "boot:" prompt, I think, and whatever I enter, it simply says it can't kind the kernel image.

I've never had this kind of trouble with UNetbootin, so I don't know what to make of it. So far I've tried:

• Reformatting the USB and making sure it's FAT
• Upgrading to the latest version of UNetbootin
• Doing an md5sum on the .iso to verify that it's not broken (it isn't)
• Fooling with the memory value on the UNetbootin command box, to see if having a value originally set at zero was the problem

I've spent quite some hours deleting files, rebooting over and over again, and so on, so right now I'm at a loss as to how to progress further.

Any input would be much appreciated.

EDIT: I also must mention that due to connection problems, I had to get a friend put the alternate .iso on a flashdrive for me, so I'm pretty much stuck with installing it or of getting an ultra-small system like Puppy Linux. It's just not feasible for me to download another .iso. Plus, I'd like to stick with the alternate install, for while my computer might be able to handle the standard edition, due to all the screwups, CPU freezes, and whatnot I'd just like to try a hardware friendlier version.

EDIT2: I'm exploring, doing trial and error, and whathave you, and I'd also like to mention that I did do an md5sum (if I wrote that correctly) to verify that the file is complete and not corrupted.

Solution 1

I've given up on unetbootin. I download the .iso to my home directory and use dd.

In a terminal window, you'd type sudo dd if=inputfile.iso of=/dev/sd* bs=1M where inputfile.iso is your lubuntu iso, /dev/sdc is the usb thumb drive and /dev/sdc is the device your usb thumb drive is. Get the if and of right, because dd will overwrite stuff in a flash.

Solution 2

The issue is that you're trying to use the alternate install ISO - UNetbootin only supports creating bootable USBs of the standard (-desktop) ISO at this time. 500MB is enough RAM to boot and install from the standard Lubuntu ISO.

Solution 3

This is a known bug.

The fix is to update from ppa:gezakovacs/ppa.

It appears that this might not always work for Ubuntu 18.04.
In that case the fix is to run it like this:

sudo QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1 unetbootin

Comments

[Benjamin]

I'm trying to opt for an alternate version because, for whatever reason, the standard version of Lubuntu 14 is becoming increasingly unstable, to the point of being nearly unusable. Plus, I'd just like to make the most of the hardware I have that I'm able.

[Benjamin]

So that'll make the USB bootable by that means, then?

[Benjamin]

Okay, I just tried your method. It successfully got onto the flash drive, but when I tried booting from it I got a screen that said things like "linuxiso.bin missing or corrupted" and "Exiting PXE ROM". There wasn't much data, and it seemed to linger on that screen indefinitely.

[Benjamin]

I installed the YUMI Multiboot USB Creator, but now I can't find it or figure out how to use it. The website itself doesn't seem to say anything about the Linux version, and searching through the menus yield nothing.

[Benjamin]

Oh! I think I got it! I looked up the .bin problem, and it turns out I mistakenly typed sdb1 instead of sdb, which edited up partitioning the flash drive. I'm able to boot up the .iso now, though I'll install it later since I don't have time to tend to it, right now. But I think your method worked! Thank you!

[Benjamin]

Fully installed! The method worked.