I installed Lubuntu 15.04 on an old machine. When booting up, immediately after selecting Ubuntu on GRUB, I get a black screen (backlighting working). I cannot access the terminal at this stage, so I assume it crashes completely. I was able to boot in through recovery mode, though. I ran all software updates hoping that would fix the issue. It didn't. Just choosing the Ubuntu option like before crashes just like earlier and under the advanced section I can now choose between 2 different kernels and their recovery: 3.19.0-25-generic and 3.19.0-15-generic. No matter which I choose, the result is the same:
Loading Linux 3.19.0-15(or 25, depending on which i chose)-generic ...
Loading Initial Ramdisk ...
And then it crashes. Both recovery modes let me in just fine though. I tried repairing GRUB but that didn't change anything.
Specs of this old hunk o' junk:
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
512MB DDR1
Samsung 160GB laptop HDD
Onboard graphics chip by SiS (don't know the exact model)
TP-Link TL-WN781ND wireless card
Absolutely no idea about the motherboard
It is a pretty low spec machine by todays standards, especially on memory and I expect the onboard graphics is taking some of that too. The only advice I can offer is try the LTS (14.04) version or have a look on Distrowatch for something that may be more compatible with your hardware.
Do you have extra memory slots?
Link: http://distrowatch.com/
I'm with Geoff, use 14.04.
depending on what your planning on using this system for, I'd go a step further and say if you can not install the gui, at least initially, go that route. You'll also learn allot about Linux commands in the process. ;)
I would try making a new cd or usb installer i have had them corrupt and do weird things. if that dose not work try a different hdd. I have got lubuntu to run on similar hardware (AMD athlon XP 3000+ system with 512mb ram).
Was off the grid for a few days.
It does have another memory slot, but using more than 512MB proved problematic, just didn't POST, no matter how I persuaded it. (tried it a while back) The low specs are one of the reasons I chose Lubuntu as it is very lightweight.
After reinstalling with a new USB installer today, it started booting. Sort of. Seemed like luck of the draw: 80% chance it won't, 20% that it will. That's strange I know.
Might try 14.04 or have another look at other distros out there. It also needs to be easy to use for former Windows people as it will be used by my little brother and sister, not by me.
EDIT/UPDATE: Tried 14.04 LTS but had exactly the same issue. I'm starting to regret trying to bring this thing back to life...
FINAL UPDATE: It lives! After trying out various Ubuntu-based distros and getting the same result I realized it doesn't like Ubuntu or maybe even Debian-based distros at all. After a search around Distrowatch I came across a lightweight distro called SliTaz and decided to try it out. Works like a charm. Just finishing setting it up now. I was actually pretty surprised by how smoothly it runs considering the specs.