Thinkpad 390X won't boot from floppy or anything

[beelissa]

I'm brand new to this forum and new to Linux. I was trying to set up Ubuntu as a dual boot on a Thinkpad 390X that had Windows XP Pro installed on it. I messed it up, and now the computer won't boot.

I followed instructions here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SmartBootManagerHowto

to get the computer to boot up and run from the Ubuntu CD. I am pretty sure I did everything right, and that the problem is that the computer isn't trying to read the floppy when it tries to boot.

What happens when I boot is that I get a message that says:
"Error 1 loading OS. This may be due to a virus.
1. Shutdown.
2. Boot from floppy.
3. Run ONTRACK Disk Manager.
4. Select "Upgrade from Advanced Options."

But it doesn't let me do anything. I hit "2" because I want to boot from the floppy, but nothing happens. After I hit a key several times (doesn't seem to matter which key or keys I hit) I get a beeping noise, you know the one that says "don't bother hitting any keys, I'm not responding to anything you do."

I tried going into the BIOS. When I do so, I get this message:

"ERROR
0210:Stuck Key 3B"

It still lets me enter the bios though I'm unsure what I can do in there to fix this problem. In the bios, I can use the various keys to move around and exit.

Also, before I tried to install Ubuntu, the computer worked fine in Windows XP. I didn't see any evidence of any hardware problems, and especially no stuck keys.

I'm stumped. What I intended to do once I messed up the Windows dual boot (and I don't have any windows disks -- I got the computer secondhand) was to just install Ubuntu by itself, but if I can't get it to boot from the floppy or the CD, I don't know what to do. I came here rather than the Ubuntu forums because I wondered if ThinkPad users would know more about what specifically is going on with this computer, but if you feel I'd get better help from Ubuntu people, let me know.

I appreciate any help anyone can give.

[Harryc]

It's been a long time since I messed around in a 390 BIOS, but basically you have to go into BIOS and change the boot order (might be in the 'startup' category) so that your floppy drive is first in the boot order.

[beelissa]

Hi, thanks for writing. This is my "hobby" computer, I thought it would be fun to put Linux on this old laptop but I'm alternately tearing my hair out and ignoring it completely.

As per your suggestion I managed to get it to boot from the CD. I have 2 CDs, one is Ubuntu and the other is Edubuntu. I can boot both of them from the CD and it works fine that way, but I can't install Ubuntu. It hangs in the part of the installation where it is working on the partitions. I thought since I messed up the partitions when I was trying to get it to dual boot, if I just told it to reformat the whole hard drive, it would wipe out the Windows partition and I'd have a clean Ubuntu installation. But it doesn't seem to be working. I tried the Edubuntu CD just to check (after trying Ubuntu and watching it hang at the same place 4 different times). It does essentially the same thing.

I've tried to read about hard drive partitions. I an nowhere near an expert but I thought I'd read enough to take a stab at it. Now I'm wondering where I can read up on them and whether there's something specific about the setup of my ThinkPad that is resisting the way Ubuntu's installer wants to partition the drive or if I just am not knowledgeable enough about this to do it right. Anyone have any idea where I should turn for help?