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Completely new to any type of computer system, including Linux. I do know a little, but am mostly in the dark.

I bought the Netbook from a pawnshop so I could try and learn Ubuntu, and Linux. It was a Windows 8.1 machine. I had a friend borrow me a CDROM so I could install i386 version of ubuntu. I have sense learned that x64 should have been the OS type installed. How do I go about installing the x64 version.

I have a USB stick with the x64 version, booting from USB seems to just restart machine at current version. Current version installed on USB stick is "ubuntu-14.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso".

System as it is now: Memory 3.4 Gib Processor AMD A4-1250 APU With Radeon (TM) HD Graphics X2 Graphics Gallium 0.4 an AMD KABINI OS 32-bit “I want X64” Disk 488.5 GB

I am just interested in getting it upgraded to x64 and any help is most appreciated.

Monty Y
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  • from what I have understood from your question is that you have installed i386 version of ubuntu on x64 hardware. now you want to install x64 version of ubuntu, am I correct ? if yes, then you cannot convert installed i386 version of ubuntu to x64. reinstall with x64 version is the only way – Alex Jones Dec 12 '14 at 08:08

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Does your netbook support 64-bit? It may not, googling it's exact model number (especially the exact cpu) should give specifications for them. If it doesn't support 64-bit then I'd expect it would give some sort of error, but quietly failing & rebooting is a possibility. Update: It appears that the AMD A4-1250 APU supports 64-bit, good news so far.

And is it set to boot from the usb, or was the usb created successfully (can other computers boot from it)? https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootFromCD has lots of help, may need to change (at least temporarily) the boot order, or verify the usb.

It could be that booting from the usb is having problems, it's not as well supported as booting from cd. A cd or cd-rw may work better? Here's a link to my other answer about making a multi-boot USB from linux https://askubuntu.com/a/554834/129271 (references http://www.pendrivelinux.com/boot-multiple-iso-from-usb-via-grub2-using-linux/ basically the same info but hopefully a little clearer)

And this other question shows how to try adding a 64-bit kernel to 32-bit Ubuntu, not the same as a regular out-of-the-box 64-bit install, but maybe interesting: Install 64-bit kernel in 32-bit Ubuntu Little more related info here(different Q, same name?): installing 64 bit kernel on 32bit ubuntu It appears that just installing everything from a 64-bit iso(cd/usb/dvd) is probably a better idea, but if you'll be overwriting your Ubuntu anyway it couldn't hurt (much) to try installing 64-bit in place.

Community
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Xen2050
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  • It should support it, my brother-in-law said it supports it, "The one who borrowed me the portable CDROM". I am not fully sure myself, but he is Web engineer so I trust his judgement. I had a similar issue and needed a portable CDROM in order to boot from USB-CDROM I was hoping it was just a Windows 8 boot issue, the safety they have for all windows 8 these days that had to be disabled. This no longer needs the safety however, so I figure I may have second option. I set boot to USB FDD so I figured that was the correct bootable selection. – Monty Y Dec 12 '14 at 05:06
  • Sorry, I cannot use a second PC for tests at this time, I bought this one so I could start learning. Maybe in the future. I do have a Mac and a PC and unfortunately need them for school or I would love to test. Unless I can dual boot that I do not know how yet... :( – Monty Y Dec 12 '14 at 05:09
  • Just test booting from the USB should not change anything on your other PC or Mac, don't install or change anything. If you can get to the initial menu to pick Ubuntu or memtest, etc that's good enough to at least see if the USB is working. – Xen2050 Dec 12 '14 at 05:20
  • I'll chack that and get back to you in a minute – Monty Y Dec 12 '14 at 05:23
  • It should even have it's own "verify" option from the boot menu (if it boots) that checks the usb/cd (with md5sum actually) – Xen2050 Dec 12 '14 at 05:36
  • I guess it might be a USB issue. It will not boot from USB on either Mac or PC. I thought putting the ISO on the USB that would be enough. – Monty Y Dec 12 '14 at 05:42
  • Before I go any further can I upgrade to x64 with a Terminal? If not is there a certain way to do it on USB that I am not aware of? – Monty Y Dec 12 '14 at 05:48
  • Making a bootable USB can be tricky. I especially like the multiboot iso usb as described here: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/boot-multiple-iso-from-usb-via-grub2-using-linux/ It uses grub to boot straight from an iso file just copied to the usb. But that pendrivelinux.com has some good tools for making bootable usb's from Windows too like http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ was actually more reliable than most of the linux usb tools I'd tried – Xen2050 Dec 12 '14 at 05:53
  • I was just reading that site. I will check it out. Hopefully my novice abilities allow me to understand this Lol. Thanks. I will post if I get it figured out or not. Thanks for the responses up till now. – Monty Y Dec 12 '14 at 05:56
  • You're welcome, that site was a lot of help getting started from windows for me (without burning a lot of "test coaster" cd's ;-) Please select / check-mark &/or upvote my answer if it's helpful, gains more reputation "points" for me :) – Xen2050 Dec 12 '14 at 06:01
  • I might have found the issue, trying to create the Image on the USB to boot from, I found that it will not erase and with further inspection... My PC found errors on the USB drive. Formatting it did not help. Looks like I will revisit this tomorrow with a NEW USB device. I cannot find a large enough USB device atm so I will have to go buy one. I will repost, thanks for the info, help up til now. – Monty Y Dec 12 '14 at 06:26
  • At least you found the problem, so "good news" mainly. And a rewritable dvd may be a good choice too, they're generally easier to work with for live linuxes and could be reused 100's of times – Xen2050 Dec 12 '14 at 06:29
  • Yeah, asking to borrow the BlueRay Drive Again encase this issue is the Netbook and not a new USB device. I have plenty rewritables so that's good news. Again, thanks for the help, even though we didn't move forward, we got to the issue. And I cannot vote or chat, too new to the forums I guess. need fifteen reputation. I will probably be here often enough lol. – Monty Y Dec 12 '14 at 06:33