Linux Lite boot USB stuck at GRUB

[marcocc]

Hallo,

when I try to boot Linux Lite from USB, the process gets stuck at GRUB, showing “GRUB loading” “Welcome to GRUB” and a blinking cursor. 

Here is some more information:
- USB: tried with 2 types: 16 GB USB 3.0 or 64 GB USB 3.2
- Linux Lite Version: tried with 7.8, 7.6 and 6.6 versions, sha256 sum always verified ok
- USB ISO burner: tried with Rufus 4.12 and 4.11 (trying ISO and DD image), Etcher 2.1.4 and Ventoy 1.1.10 on Windows 11
- PC: tried on two old notebooks:
  - HP Pavillon dv6-6b07ez: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5-2430M, 8 GB DDR3 Memory, AMD Radeon HD 6490M video graphics, Intel 6 Series/C200 Chipset, BIOS Insyde Version F.1C, no UEFI, no Secure Boot
  - Compaq Presario CQ61: 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 T6500, 4 GB Memory, Mobile Intel 4 Series Chipset Family, Default System BIOS, no UEFI, no Secure Boot.

BTW: On the HP Pavillon I could boot and install Linux Mint 22.2 Xfce without problems. So, I’m really wondering why GRUB doesn’t work in the Linux Lite distro?

Thank you very much in advance for any hint!
Best regards.
Marco

[stevef]

That's frustrating.
Maybe I've been lucky, but never had a problem when using either Etcher or Mintstick to copy the iso to the media.
I use old, slow (USB2), small and cheap USB drives for Live media.  If you can get hold of an older/smaller USB drive, it may be worth trying.

Edit - Also, quote from the wiki 'You MUST format the entire USB drive to Fat32' before.

Good luck.

[marcocc]

Dear Stevef,
thank you very much for your suggestions.

I can confirm that I format the entire USB drive to FAT32.

I tried with an older 4GB USB2 drive, using Etcher on Windows and Mintstick on Linux to copy the ISO to the media, without any problem.

Unfortunately, when booting from the USB drive it does not work, it shows “GRUB” and it gets stuck.

Then I tried usign the USB drive on a seven-year-old Dell Precision 5530 notebook, and it boots without problems!

So, it does not seem to be a problem with the USB drive.

On the older HP Pavillon dv6 and on the Compaq Presario CQ61 GRUB seems waiting for something and cannot proceed showing the boot menu.

Best regards.
Marco

[stevef]

It appears some combinations you've tried work, some don't - I don't see a pattern but there are so many variables.

It may be productive to focus on what works and applying it to scenarios that don't work systematically.
If the older/smaller LL stick boots the Dell, but not the Compaq or HP models, a close look at the BIOS boot options might be worthwhile.  If you still have the media that booted the HP with Mint, you could try comparing the two USB drives side by side checking for differences in set up related to boot, e.g. MBR versus GPT etc.
Good luck.