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Toshiba WT8-A netbook does not detect any bootable linux USB

Hello, everyone. I found my old Toshiba WT8-A netbook and decided to install linux on it. Unfortunately, when I try to plug in the USB, the netbook does not detect it and does not show it in the boot menu. It is also not possible to start USB from Windows as I have done a full reset mistakenly. Do you have any idea how I can install Linux and recover this device?

Edit: Forgot to say that it can detect Windows installation USBs.

Looks like a tablet rather than a proper netbook. To have a machine boot from USB, it has to be the first boot device. This is normally achieved via the BIOS or UEFI.

You're right, it looks like a tablet. But I thought it would be better to call it a netbook because it contains Intel Atom. :)

There is no Boot list where I can move up the USB option in the BIOS settings of the device. However, there is a separate boot menu, but unfortunately when I click on the USB option while Linux USB plugged in, it says that there is no bootable device. Turning off the secure boot setting from the Bios menu also didn't work.

But the device can somehow detect bootable Windows USBs.

Is there any indication that this device can boot from USB sticks at all?
Maybe it can boot from a microSD card slot?
Have you checked the BIOS?
Maybe you also need to disable secure boot or some such stuff.

Those Atoms have a goofy loader issue. It's a 32bit/64bit deal.

Hi,

What jefro means by this is (I think).. The tablet has a 64bit cpu (probably a SOC.. also probably very close to a Bay Trail/Cherry Trail SOC) and a 32bit UEFI firmware/Bios.

It is possible to install a 64bit Linux onto a machine with a 32bit UEFI firmware.. but you'll have to use a 32bit Grub & boot .efi executables.
I spent some time a few years ago doing just this for the Linx 7, 8 & 10 tablets. I did supply a full write up to a tablet forum but this has now been deleted.

I would suggest creating a bootable flashdrive that is configured to boot an Linux installation iso file directly.

If you are interested then I'll send you my notes from this time..

One thing I would strongly recommend getting is a powered USB hub.. Just about anything will work. You only need this while you are getting your flashdrive iso boot working...

Bodge99.

Quote:

What jefro means by this is (I think).. The tablet has a 64bit cpu (probably a SOC.. also probably very close to a Bay Trail/Cherry Trail SOC) and a 32bit UEFI firmware/Bios.

Wow, thanks. I didn't know that a device can contain both 64-bit CPU and 32-bit BIOS/UEFI at the same time. :)

Quote:

but you'll have to use a 32bit Grub & boot .efi executables.

Can you tell me how will I do it?

Quote:

If you are interested then I'll send you my notes from this time..

Of course I am interested. I would be glad if you send it. :)

Quote:

One thing I would strongly recommend getting is a powered USB hub.. Just about anything will work. You only need this while you are getting your flashdrive iso boot working...

I ordered two cheap and small USB hubs some time ago, but for some reason they didn't work when I plugged in multiple USB...
I know it's off topic, but can the USB hubs I bought be fake?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plasma0000 (Post 6138043)

I ordered two cheap and small USB hubs some time ago, but for some reason they didn't work when I plugged in multiple USB...
I know it's off topic, but can the USB hubs I bought be fake?

During installation of the OS you should not use those hubs.

Quote:

During installation of the OS you should not use those hubs.

Oh, okay. Thank you. :)

Hi,

Actually, with a Bay Trail tablet, it's much more reliable to use a powered USB hub during installation as the USB controller tends to reinitialise
somewhat "randomly". The controller is fine in normal use but can be a little "flaky" at other times.
I've seen this behaviour on tablets as well as Bay Trail based streaming media devices.

I'll dig out my notes..

Bodge99

Hi,

I've been having a think about this one.. there are a couple of ways to proceed..

Whatever method you decide on, you'll need to end up with something that allows you to boot the tablet from Linux.

1.) Iso boot a flashdrive and perform a clean install using the distro installation tools.

2.) Install Linux to a flashdrive, an SD-card (assuming the tablet has a card slot.) or an external USB HDD using another machine .
With these, you'll need a second copy of the complete system. You can either copy the EFI and system partitions (or partition contents) to another device (or directory, assuming that you have the space). You would then either:-

Boot the tablet from this flashdrive and either manually create partitions on the tablet's eMMC drive, then copy the flashdrive/card files across. Small alterations would be needed in /etc/fstab etc.

Or, mirror the partitions from the flashdrive/card to the eMMC drive. Next resize the tablet partitions as required using something like gparted.

You'll have to manually add 32bit Grub & a 32bit efi boot executable.

The advantage of using an externally created installation is that you can fully update it and add any tools and other software that you want to it before you even boot the tablet.

Q. Does your tablet have a built in EFI shell? or have a firmware setting such as "boot external shell from device" ?

You'll need a USB keyboard & mouse/trackball/touchpad etc. If performing a clean install, then you may find a USB wifi adapter/dongle useful.
This depends on if your tablet wifi hardware is supported by the installation kernel version/available firmware etc.

Bodge99

Flashdrive Isoboot for 32 & 64 Bit EFI Systems.

I have tested this configuration on a Linx 10 tablet (32 bit UEFI firmware). It boots as expected.

This is adapted from a series of posts that I wrote for a windows tablet forum a few years ago.
I've updated the software links and removed the "windows centric" aspects from the writeup.

This will allow a Linux ISO to be booted for just about any system that has a 32 or 64 bit UEFI Firmware/Bios.
I'm going to use the Linux Mint XFCE ISO as a worked example. Just about any ISO can be used, with minor modifications to the grub.cfg file.
I'll also cover the external EFI shell for those who don't have a firmware based version.
The use of this can help with those firmwares that are particularly buggy and/or don't support external booting properly.

Bootloader: I use Grub2. As quite a few folk don't, I'll cover using the relevant files as obtained from an Ubuntu repo and the installation ISO.
You probably don't want to and certainly don't need to install these files onto your main system, so I'll extract the contents manually. The relevant files are then copied to your flashdrive.

Grub Modules: 64 & 32 bit versions are used. This will allow the flashdrive to be tested on a 64 bit UEFI machine before any attempt is made to boot your 32 bit UEFI tablet. Older versions of the 32 bit modules are used here. These are needed for compatibility reasons with the .efi executable.

Grub EFI executables: The 32 bit version is downloaded. The 64bit version is just extracted from the Mint ISO file.
NOTE: It is possible to compile your own 32 & 64 bit Grub modules & efi executables from source code.. You may not wish to go down this particular "rabbit hole"...

EFI shell: Details are given for both the 32 & 64 bit versions. Please see the EFI shell notes below for specific naming variations.

Download the following and place the files in a temporary working directory:-

Grub 32-bit EFI Binary:
https://github.com/hirotakaster/bayt...ive/master.zip

Grub modules for 32-bit UEFI:
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/poo...u8.15_i386.deb
These are slightly older modules which are required to work with the above specified .efi executable.

Grub 64-bit EFI Binary:
Just extract this directly from the Linux Mint iso file. Utilities such as Midnight Commander are capable of extracting this file. Simply browse to the iso file with 'mc', press 'enter' and then browse to and extract "grubx64.efi".
ISO internal location: "\EFI\BOOT\grubx64.efi" . As soon as you have extracted this file, rename it to "bootx64.efi" (no quotes).
Note: There is a file named "bootx64.efi" within the Iso.. We don't want this specific file. Just rename the extracted "grubx64.efi" file

Grub modules for 64-bit UEFI:
As above, extract the directory & file contents from the iso.
ISO internal location: "/boot/grub/x86_64-efi/"

UEFI shell: (Not required if your machine has a firmware based internal shell.)
64 bit: https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/bl.../X64/Shell.efi
NOTE: Rename the downloaded file as '64shell.efi'.
32 bit: https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/bl...Ia32/Shell.efi
NOTE: Rename the downloaded file as '32shell.efi'. Please see "UEFI Shell Naming Conventions" below.
I use these particular file names as I found I was sometimes getting confused as to which "shell.efi" file was which..

Linux Mint 20 XFCE Iso: See https://linuxmint.com/download.php
Download Linux Mint XFCE edition. The current version is 20.0. It is highly recommended that you verify your ISO.
See https://linuxmint.com/verify.php for details. Place the file in your temporary directory, renamed as "mint.iso".

Extract/Prepare Files In Your Temporary Directory:
Most Linux distros have tools which can be used to either extract the contents from a .deb file directly or can convert a .deb file to a more standard archive type.
I use 'deb2targz'. In a terminal, move to your temporary directory, and run:

Code:

deb2targz grub-efi-ia32-bin_2.02-2ubuntu8.15_i386.deb

This will create a .tar.gz archive which is easily accessible using standard tools.

Extract the contents of the .tar.gz archive and the "baytail-bootia32.efi-master.zip".

Copy Files To The Flashdrive:

From the .deb file (or from the extracted contents), copy everything in "/usr/lib/grub/i386-efi" to "{flashdrive}/boot/grub/i386-efi/"

Now copy "bootia32.efi" and "bootx64.efi" from your temporary directory to "{flashdrive}/efi/boot"
If required, copy "32shell.efi", named as "shell.efi" to "{flashdrive}/". See "UEFI Shell Naming Conventions" below.
Copy "mint.iso" to "{flashdrive}/".

Flashdrive directory & file tree:

Code:

./

├── boot

│    └── grub

│        ├── grub.cfg

│        ├── i386-efi

│        │    ├── acpi.mod

│        │    ├── adler32.mod

│        │    ├── affs.mod

│        │    ........{ listing truncated here }

│        │    ├── zfsmod.mod

│        │    ├── zfscrypt.mod

│        │    └── zfsinfo.mod

│        │  

│        └── x86_64-efi

│            ├── acpi.mod

│            ├── adler32.mod

│            ├── affs.mod

│            ........{ listing truncated here }

│            ├── zfscrypt.mod

│            ├── zfsinfo.mod

│            └── zstd.mod

├── efi

│    └──── boot  

│          ├── bootia32.efi

│          └── bootx64.efi

├── shell.efi

└── mint.iso

Create a "grub.cfg" file (with any text editor). Copy & paste the following into this file. Now place this file at "{flashdrive}/boot/grub/"

Code:

 menuentry 'Mint 64bit Bay Trail' {

    insmod loopback

    insmod normal

    insmod iso9660

    insmod udf

    set isofile="/mint.iso"

    loopback loop (hd0,msdos1)$isofile

    linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=$isofile noprompt noeject noefi nomodeset irqpoll clocksource=tsc reboot=pci,force  intel_idle.max_cstate=1

    initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz

    }

menuentry 'Mint 64bit' {

    rmmod tpm

    insmod loopback

    insmod normal

    insmod iso9660

    insmod udf

    set isofile="/mint.iso"

    loopback loop (hd0,msdos1)$isofile

    linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=$isofile

    initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz

    }

The above "grub.cfg" will show two entries at boot time. The first entry contains the last known (by me) required Bay Trail kernel parameters. Newer kernels may not need these parameters.. I'll let you experiment here..

NOTE: There is a known bug with the current Grub2 version (2.04) which affects loopback booting of ISO files. The workaround is shown in the "grub.cfg" above.
Simply unload the tpm module as indicated by "rmmod tpm". If you do not want to use this workaround, then you'll need an earlier version of the 64 bit Grub modules and .efi file. This is easily obtained from any EFI based ISO e.g. any Linux Mint 19.3 ISO.
If you select 'Mint 64bit' when booting a 32 bit UEFI device, then you'll see a warning on the Grub boot screen "module not present". Ignore this as the ISO will boot correctly.

UEFI Shell Naming Conventions:
Most of the UEFI machines that I've worked with (that don't have an internal firmware based shell) have a hard coded external shell requirement named as "shell.efi".
I've seen a couple of tablets that use "shellia32.efi". If your external shell will not start, try placing a second copy of "shell.efi" named as "shellia32.efi" in the same location.
I have also seen one 64 bit UEFI machine that requires the 64 bit shell file named as "shellx64.efi".

More on the tablet installation later..

NOTE: Most folk won't need the "shell.efi" at all.. This is only useful here if your device won't directly boot a flashdrive properly. Shell usage will allow an .efi file to be executed directly.

Bodge99

Linux Mint 20 Installation On A 32 bit UEFI Tablet:

I've now performed a Mint 20 installation onto a Linx 10 tablet. No extra kernel parameters were required for a stable boot.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the system was correctly set up with 32 bit EFI booting. No further manual alterations were required to be made within the EFI partition.

Boot the tablet using a flashdrive prepared as per the previous post.

Double click on the "Install Linux Mint" icon.

Follow the on screen prompts until you see the dialogue box message:
"The installer has detected that the following disks have mounted partitions:
/dev/sda
..."

Select "No" to **not** attempt to dismount this partition. This is your flashdrive.. It is obviously still required.
Select "Erase disk and install Linux Mint".
Select "autologin".. This makes things slightly easier until you have set up an on-screen keyboard.

If you are using another distro and it doesn't automatically support 32 bit Grub, then just copy the "bootia32.efi" and the"i386-efi" directory (and contents) to the EFI partition.
This will allow your distro to boot using it's default "grub.cfg"

Bodge99

Hi,

Re: USB hubs on Bay Trail kit.

Recent experience (over the last two days) has indicated to me that Linux distros (with later kernels) now don't actually need powered USB hubs on Bay Trail kit in quite the same way as my earlier work indicated. My latest installation onto a Linx 10 Bay Tail SOC based tablet only needed a (port powered) 4 port USB hub. Obviously devices such as an external (spinning rust) drive will still require external power.

If your USB hub works on your main Linux machine, then it should work on your tablet. You may need to ensure that your USB port(s) is/are enabled in your firmware at boot time. How you actually do this is highly machine dependant.

Bodge99

Hi, I'm hoping this reply, or rather question/s, makes its way to @Bodge99.

Would this solution work for a WT8-B-tablet, please? According to the control panel, the tablet has: "Windows edition 8.1 with Bing", and later: "system type: 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor".

If it would, could you recommend, please, how/from where I can download a 'safe' deb2targz', please? I have found some places that seem to be offering downloads but I really don;t have the computer nous to analyse whether they're 'safe' or otherwise. Full disclosure: I am USELESS with tech stuff; I really, really, really try not to be but it really is - usually - beyond me.

Thanks,
A