cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/30548063
I have an old hp pavilion dv6 and I installed windows 7. Then i tried installing Ubuntu 24.04 and the USB wouldn’t boot, it just showed “GRUB” in the top left of the screen. I tried with another USB and the same issue emerged.
I would look at BIOS secyre boot/boot mode options. And depending on the age of the PC whether it supports UEFI or you need a legacy boot.
I suggest you flash via etcher and try again. That’s usually either a bad flash or secure boot making your life miserable.
It is not the etcher’s fault. I tried it w/ another device and it worked just fine.
I’d try other (lightweight) distros for that case. Since your PC is old, it may not fulfil the latest Ubuntu’s system requirements.
A solution: Install Ubuntu 22.04 instead and upgrade to 24.04. I had the exact same problem with my gfs dv6. No matter what I tried, I could not get the laptop to boot successfully from the Ubuntu 24.04 USB stick.