Trouble with Installation on Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 14. "Kernel panic - not syncing: IO-APIC + timer doesn't work"

Question

I recently bought a new laptop (Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 14) and wanted to install Ubuntu (14.04.3) on it. I put it on a USB following this guide: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows

I erased Windows 10 and installed Ubuntu. I honestly don't remember how the installation initially went as I have been trying to fix this issue for over 12 hours, I know it didn't go too smoothly, as I remember the screen showed a few errors during installation but it eventually loaded, and other than the touch pad not working, it seemed fine.

On the reboot however, I was unable to even log in.

BOOT MODE: LEGACY

If I have the boot mode set to Legacy, it takes me to a GNU Grub thing if my hard drive is highest priority in boot order, listing a few options (see the picture bellow).

If I select Ubuntu, that is when I get the messed up screen and "Kernel panic - not syncing: IO-APIC + timer doesn't work" error.

If I have USB as highest priority (again in Legacy mode) it takes me to the installation menu, though I suspect it doesn't look the way it is suppose to, but that's how it looked when I first installed it, the difference now is, whether I select install Ubuntu or try without installing, I get the same kernel panic error I mentioned earlier.

BOOT MODE: UEFI

If I run it in UEFI mode, it says "No bootable device" whether my hard drive (or whatever the equivalent is on this laptop) or USB is priority.

I believe I installed Ubuntu in Legacy mode by accident, which maybe caused this issue?

I have been searching online for many hours, but could not find an issue that was close enough to mine, and already tried many of the solutions of problems that were similar. Like disabling secure boot, trying different boot modes, and nothing is listed if I try to select a trusted UEFI file when hard drive is priority, if USB is priority, it just lists files that are on the USB, none of which can be selected.

Laptop Specs:

Intel® Celeron® N3050 processor Dual-core 1.60 GHz
Intel® HD Graphics with Shared Memory
2 GB, DDR3L SDRAM
32 GB Flash Memory

Solution

Assuming you have booted in legacy mode, installed via USB, and are now trying to boot up your freshly installed Ubuntu 14.04. then:

The correct boot alteration as detailed here in the Arch wiki

Is to add the following parameters to the file /etc/default/grub in the line that begins GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="quiet edd=off noapic modprobe.blacklist=pinctrl_cherryview" 

After changing this file, to make the changes effective, run

sudo update-grub

This worked for installing Ubuntu 14.04

If having trouble booting up initially, press e at the boot options (GRUB) menu and add the parameters at the end of the line with quiet splash:

edd=off noapic modprobe.blacklist=pinctrl_cherryview

I have bought the Acer Cloudbook 14 and installed Ubuntu 14.04 on it.

Comments

[Rod Smith]

If Windows is installed in EFI/UEFI mode, you should not install Ubuntu in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode. I recommend you disable the CSM (aka "legacy boot support" or a similar phrase) in the firmware and re-install. That said, the problem you're reporting is most likely not caused by BIOS-mode vs. EFI-mode issues; it's most likely caused by driver problems. It might be fixed by using a more recent kernel, which in the case of Ubuntu, means a more recent release. Try 14.04.4 or even a 16.04 beta instead of 14.04.3.

[elb]

Thank you for the reply. I am downloading 14.04.4 now and will try to install that. Not sure how I am going to do it out of legacy mode though, as my computer cannot seem to read the USB if it is not in legacy mode, and my laptop doesn't have a disk drive, so can't use a CD. Any ideas? I will try to figure it out in the mean time, hopefully it reads the USB now, not expecting it to, but I sure am hoping. I'll let you know what happens.

[elb]

Well it was able to boot from the USB. It takes me to a black screen with the following options: 1) Try Ubuntu w/o installing 2) Install Ubuntu 3) OEM Install 4) Check Disc for Defects. When I enter install Ubuntu the screen just stays black. I am now researching how to fix that, already tried adding nomodset after quiet splash in 'commands before booting'