LL 6.4 Won't Install on Old HP Laptops.

[Ean]

I've been trying to install LL 6.2 on old HP laptops, and it won't install. I tried Mint 21.1 xfce and that doesn't work either. The installation process seems to work normally, but when I reboot I get Disk Error: No System Disk, or something similar. Both distros work fine on a generic desktop, 3.3GHz, dual core CPU, 4GHz DD3 RAM. Yet I've installed LL 5.4 on the HP laptops and various desktops with complete success.

The laptop models are: Hp7630s 2GHz 2 core CPU and 3GHz RAM, HP6930p 2.2GHz 2 core CPU and 4GHz RAM, and HP455a 2.6GHz 2core CPU and 8GHz RAM. This has been incredibly frustrating, I've done some 15 to 20 installations over the last 2 days. At first I thought the bootable USB thumb drives were corrupted, but they install perfectly on the above generic desktop as a dual boot, LL6.2 first, Mint 21.1 second. I can't find Secure Boot, or anything with similar wording, in the laptop BIOS's.

I was hoping that I would be able to "save" the HP laptops, (and all my PC's) with Linux. I was intending to use Windows 10 for offline use only, and not to bother with W11 at all. Over the years, I've collected a library of W10 applications that install and work without the Internet. I have a PC that has been working with W10 offline for about 3 1/2 years. LL has been my daily driver for just over two years, and I'm most impressed.

One possibility, if I'm desparate, would be to make bootable USB thumb drives with persistence, assuming that's possible.

I believe there's something in the latest LL and Mint distros that is incompatible with old HP laptops, having tried three, dating from 2008 to 2013. Pity, as there are a lot of old HP laptops around.

Queries:

1. Is there a fix for using LL Series 6 with old HP laptops?

2.a. Can I make a bootable USB thumb drive with persistence for LL6.x?

2.b. If so, will a persistent USB allow me to get rid of Chrome, install Firefox or Falkon browser, install other packages and change and keep any settings made in browsers on the thumb drive?

[trinidad]

Well the 6930p was available with Suse Linux OEM so I'm not sure what's going on with that. Should have a secure and fast boot setting in the BIOS. Should work fine. 445a is not a model number that I could find. Was it a scientific model from agilent or some instrument manufacturer? If so may only boot systems from a serial console, or black screen prompt with some Linux and a BIOS password. You transposed the numbers on the first model so I'd guess 6730s which is DDR2 and may not work well with Linux Lite 6, run too slow probably.

TC

[Ean]

Apologies with my errors with type numbers; I'm a bit dyslexic. The full Model number for the HP 455 is: HP ProBook 455 G1 Notebook PC. Thank you for doing the research on this. I looked under Security section and through all the BIOS and couldn't find secure or fast boot, but I will try again. The RAM in the 6930p is DDR2. Thing is, the installed OS doesn't seem to "see" the HDD. The problem may well be in the BIOS. A very long shot - I'm using USB 3 memsticks in USB 2.0 ports on the HP's, although I successfully installed LL 6.4 on a desktop as stated.

EDIT:  On checking the BIOS's for the laptops, only the HP 455G1 had Secure Boot, which was inactive. I think the laptops should run LL, as they run Windows 10.