On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 23:28:36 -0700 Will Mengarini <sel...@eskimo.com> wrote:
> * Charles Curley <charlescur...@charlescurley.com> [24-09/15=Sun > 18:15 -0600]: > > On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 16:12:45 -0700 > > Will Mengarini <sel...@eskimo.com> wrote: > > > > > I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I > > > boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled. > > > > Slow down. When you boot what? A Debian installation (which, > > presumably, appeared to be successful), or a Debian installer? If > > the latter, which one, the netinst installer or a live CD (which > > has its own less flexible installer)? Or a USB stick made from one > > of those? > > This is a prebuilt that came with Windows installed. Booting > normally boots into Windows, even though I've plugged in a USB > stick that has netinst on it. The USB stick is being ignored, > presumably because the specified boot order starts with the SSD. > > So I want to change the boot order so it boots the USB > stick first, but I can't, because I can't read the > setup screen that I access by pressing F2 during boot. > So this is actually a monitor/motherboard problem, in that the BIOS cannot drive the monitor properly, but Windows can. First, get hold of the manual for the motherboard, which will be online somewhere. This will tell you which keys are available from the BIOS. Try another monitor, you may have a TV around with an HDMI socket. Once you can get a coherent picture you can at least enable USB booting, and you will probably need a BIOS screen in the future, so you need to know how to see it. Your system will almost certainly be UEFI, and you may need the UEFI boot menu from time to time. -- Joe
