Lenovo IdeaPad 120S-141AP and ArcaOS 5.0.7?

[BigGoofyGuy]

I have an Lenovo IdeaPad 120S-141AP that I am trying to get ArcaOS to install on. I was able to get the .iso onto an USB flash drive. I was able - after many attempts and checking online - to get to the BIOS. I changed the it for UEFI to Legacy. I had the USB drive as the first one to boot from. It still doesn't install ArcaOS onto it. I am still working on it. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

update: I just checked again. It was set for legacy at boot but the UEFI was listed first to boot. It has been changed to legacy being first to boot.

[BigGoofyGuy]

https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/arcaos/obtaining-arcaos/#burn-win
'Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, and Windows Server 2008r2, 2012, 2016, and 2019
It should be sufficient to put a writable DVD in your DVD drive. Then right-click on the ArcaOS ISO file in Windows Explorer and select the menu option Burn disc image'

since I am able to get into the bias; I will give this a try.

[BigGoofyGuy]

I tried the USB optical drive again; since I changed the bios to legacy. It got to a certain point then stopped. There isn't an error message. It just stopped. I will try again.

I miss laptops having built in optical drives. I think this might be easier with one on my laptop.

[Martin Iturbide]

Hello BigGoofyGuy

I just checked your machine and I think it is Lenovo IdeaPad 120S-14IAP. (With I).
Here it is a BIOS Simulation for your machine: https://download.lenovo.com/bsco/index.html#/textsimulator/IdeaPad%20120S-14IAP%20(81A5)

Since you are using ArcaOS 5.0.7 the only chance to make it work is changing to: "Boot Mode: Legacy Support"
But I will highly recommend you to use an USB Memory flash, it is faster than the DVD. When the machine boot check if by pressing F12 or F9 you can select the boot device.

Check the instructions for the bootable USB. And also if  you have a different machine around, check also if it boots to the installation menu (without installing ArcaOS), just to be sure the USB Flash is working.

On "arcaos-5.0.7-en-usb-2021-12-05.zip" it says:

Code: [Select]

4.1.   on OS/2 / eCS / ArcaOS:

       dfsanos2.exe -q run aosboot.dfs <Enter>

4.2.   on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10 (and variants) as Administrator as:

       .\dfsanwin.exe -q run aosboot.dfs <Enter>

       TIP: To get to the Command prompt, or Power Shell prompt in later
       versions of Windows, display the directory in Windows, then click File,
       and select to open Command Prompt or Power Shell, then select the
       option to open in administrator mode.
Follow carefully the instruction on the readme file...

and

6.0.   Copy arcaos-5.0.x-en.iso (where x is the downloaded realease) to:

       <USB stick>\ARCA_ISO\ARCAINST.ISO

       or, on Linux or Mac:

       <USB stick device>/ARCA_ISO/ARCAINST.ISO

       ** CAUTION **

       On operating systems which are case sensitive and/or VFAT-capable,
       ensure that the ISO filename is specified in UPPER CASE.

It is very important to copy the file as "ARCAINST.ISO"

Regards

[Rich Walsh]

I tried the USB optical drive again

ArcaOS can NOT be installed using a USB DVD drive. You must create a USB boot stick using ".\dfsanwin.exe -q run aosboot.dfs" from Win if you don't have an existing OS/2 installation. However...

All this effort may be for naught. I looked at the BIOS simulator that Martin linked to. It suggests that the machine has an EMMC drive (typical for tablets) and not a conventional hard drive. If so, this machine is not supported. AOS has drivers for PATA, SATA, and NVME drives but not EMMC.

[Martin Iturbide]

Hello

I didn't noticed the eMMC drive. It seems that Rich is right and this machine has this kind of drive.
- https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/Lenovo_Laptops/ideapad_120S_14/ideapad_120S_14_Spec.PDF

Storage
- Some: 32GB or 64GB eMMC
- Some: 128GB or 256GB M.2 SSD, SATA 6.0Gb/s

BigGoofyGuy, please double check the storage device that your model has.

My doubt is what should be the ArcaOS error shown here trying to install it on this kind of unsupported storage (eMMC drive)? ArcaOS should freeze on boot, or should get into the installer and show no hard drive?

Regards

[BigGoofyGuy]

I have used the USB DVD drive. It does freeze after it gets to a certain point.

I have tried the USB flash drive that I made using the free program. the computer just ignores it and goes to what is on the drive. I will check to see what kind of drive it is.

I have tried ./dfsanwin.exe -q run aosboot.dfs but I just get an error. I have a flash drive. How do I get it to install onto the flash drive? I might try it on my other HP EliteBook 803 G3 laptop (see other post).

[Martin Iturbide]

Hi

The best way first to create the ArcaOS 5.0.7 USB flash memory drive. Try to get a couple of 16MB flash drives to test it.

If you using "dfsanwin.exe" (On windows) it is very important that you read the readme file and follow it, because it asks to connect and disconnect the drive a couple of times, and if the Windows desktop ask you to format the drive, you don't have to do it.

Regards

Update: I just made this quick video on how I created the ArcaOS 5.0.7 USB Boot Flash Drive from Windows 10: https://youtu.be/CgV9ihPECpo

[Dave Yeo]

It should be mentioned that flash drives do die, often in weird ways. I have one that seems fine but won't boot. Had another that failed to install AOS, though I forget what the error was. They need to be powered up every few years as well. Always good to test with a different stick and sometimes with a different USB port.

[Hajo]

I don't know if ArcaOS ISO is working with ventoy, but it's worth a try if you have a windows machine to prepare the stick.

h**ps://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

After preparing the USB-Stick you can put ISO files on it and choose from which ISO you will boot.

Regards

Hajo

[Dave Yeo]

I don't know if ArcaOS ISO is working with ventoy, but it's worth a try if you have a windows machine to prepare the stick.

h**ps://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

After preparing the USB-Stick you can put ISO files on it and choose from which ISO you will boot.

Regards

Hajo

It won't work. The problem is that the USB drivers load too high in the boot process. What the boot stick does is create a ram disk, boot OS/2 from the ram disk and start the install using that.

[Martin Iturbide]

I don't know if ArcaOS ISO is working with ventoy, but it's worth a try if you have a windows machine to prepare the stick.

h**ps://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

After preparing the USB-Stick you can put ISO files on it and choose from which ISO you will boot.

Regards

Hajo

It won't work. The problem is that the USB drivers load too high in the boot process. What the boot stick does is create a ram disk, boot OS/2 from the ram disk and start the install using that.

Yes, it does not work. Ventoy looked interesting to me, but when I run the .ISO I get the "Insert ArcaOS installation media and press any key".

Regards

[Dave Yeo]

Yea, most of these programs just basically write the ISO, perhaps with a boot sector, to the stick. This works fine with Linux and I assume Windows as the USB drivers are loaded early in the boot and can handle the stick. We'd need a basedev that handles USB at least to do similar.