I tried to install Manjaro on my old laptop - HP Pavilion dv6. I burned ISO to USB as usual, everything is right. When I try to boot from USB, it outputs “Welcome to GRUB!” and it gets stuck forever. I waited for 10 minutes - nothing. Is this some kind of uncompability? How can I boot and install Manjaro (any desktop environment) on my old BIOS (no UEFI) laptop?
How exactly? How you determined “everything is right”? What ISO did you try? Checked the ISO? How exactly booted you the stick? This important to determine, was it BIOS or UEFI mode. Any technical/system info the the laptop available? Questions over questions…
I verified the ISO.
I dont have UEFI on laptop, only legacy BIOS. My laptop has 6GB RAM, Intel Core i7-2670QM 3.100 GHz.
I dont really know what to write when asking question, so its normal when my posts stay with questions. If needed more information, say.
After downloading or after burning to the stick? How exactly? Verified the checksum? Did you use dd or Ventoy or something else? The more info the better the help…
After downloading as well as after burning the USB. Verified with checksum and signature from official site. USB was created and checked by balenaetcher.
I’m not a fan of balenaetcher, tbh. Is it an option to try Ventoy or the direct method?
Please read my posts carefully, there are still questions unanswered.
I also don’t really like balenaetcher, using it only to verify the USB. I cant use Ventoy because it doesnt boot neither.
Are you burning the stick from Windoze?
No, never heard about that
I’m having a break here, until all questions are commented or answered.
I just dont know what to do. I have this problem for a long while. Is there really no way for it?
Which is strange - it should at least boot to show you the screen where you choose the iso that you have put on there.
Does it do that?
What method did you use?
How was the boot medium created?
When I try to boot Ventoy, it outputs “VT is loading…” and its stuck.
I burned the ISO with using balenaetcher and Linux Mint USB stick utility.
The machine seems to be very old - the CPU seems to be from ~2011.
Perhaps you can update the BIOS ?
I had (years ago) Laptops, which could not boot off of large USB drives - I needed to use a sufficiently small one.
I think the limit was 4 GB or even just 2 GB.
On these Machines I literally burned a boot CD sometimes.
Is that Laptop already running some other Linux - or is it on Windows still?
If Linux, try using the command line.
sudo cat isofile > /dev/sdx (your USB stick)
I already updated the BIOS this summer, but it’s still pretty much the same. I’m using Linux Mint now.
… and how did you create that boot medium, to install Mint?
Why not try the variant I just suggested?
Also, if you are using Mint, you can easily provide full hardware info.
inxi -vz8
or the tool “mintreport”, which gives you about the same
Some Linux distributions load just fine, some like Manjaro don’t.
Your command to provide full hardware didnt work.
There where two options: mintreport was one - but it may not be installed
It is for me, but perhaps I did install it myself and forgot about it.
and the other one was just written the wrong way:
inxi -zv8
instead of
inxi -vz8
This kind of basic info is all over the forum and in faq, btw.
sudo cat isofile > /dev/sdx
I tried this command and it burned ISO to USB. Its funny how the command for to output text files content could burn ISO.
… that is simply how that command works, it is what it does 
it also is less complicated to write as the often used dd command is
It writes one file to another - the “other” file in this case just happens to be the device file (your USB).