Hey everyone, I just bought a ThinkPad T480s and I'm trying to boot into Linux from a USB drive. I've been running Windows on it, but I really want to switch things up with Linux. The issue is that when I try to boot from the USB, I just get a black screen. I tested the USB on my older laptop and it works perfectly fine, so I'm pretty sure the USB isn't the problem. I've disabled secure boot, and the USB is detected by the laptop, but it just won't proceed further. I'm not sure if it's even booting into the live environment because nothing is displayed. Any suggestions?
4 Answers
Let's troubleshoot this! Is your USB stick a Ventoy USB? Make sure you shut down Windows completely with no sleep mode. Also, check if FAST boot is disabled in your BIOS settings. What's the Linux distro you're trying to boot? Are you getting any firmware or POST messages before the black screen? And have you tried plugging the USB into every available port on your laptop?
So you see a black screen without any messages like "failed to find .EFI file", right? Have you let the laptop sit for a few minutes to see if anything might come up? I know it sounds weird, but sometimes you might be able to get a terminal up with a keyboard shortcut just to check what's going on. By the way, Garuda Linux is Arch-based, which is quite cool!
I had a similar issue once, and what worked for me was double-checking the USB format. Make sure it’s FAT32 instead of NTFS. Also, sometimes, the T480s might take a bit longer to initialize the live environment, so patience can be key!
Have you thought about trying out Knoppix Linux? If you can find a DVD disc, you could burn the Knoppix image and boot from that instead. Just a thought since I see you don't have a disc reader on your T480s, it might not be feasible for you.
Unfortunately, I don't have any way to use a disc with this laptop. It's just too thin for that.
I used Etcher to create the USB. Windows is fully shut down. The distro I’m using is Garuda Mokka, and I’ve tested all ports. No errors or warnings, it just hangs before GRUB should show up.