Problems installing ubuntu

So I've used unetbootin to put eeebuntu on an usb stick. However, when I then put the stick in my AAO, it hangs at the splash screen. The one that asks if you want to go into options or change the boot device. The DOS screen thing. Any ideas why this is happening?

 

That's a bit odd, I never ran into that. I assume that hitting F12 to change boot device didn't do anything.

I think I would double check the download with md5sum, and assuming it's good, I would then try to reinstall it to the USB stick . Sometimes, it's just a bad download or bad burn.

 

Pressing F12 just brings up the "wait...." message, but then it hangs. Hmm. But my stick flashes, so it recognises the drive.

Problem is, I tried to get rid of the the linpus desktop and replace it with the proper desktop. Unfortunately, this seems to have borked the entire computer. I've just got a blnk screen with a white cross cursor now.

I did this trying to get the latest version of libgpod, as I'd been using gtkpod with my ipod classic, but the version in the standard repositories is out of date. So when I tried to modify songs on my ipod, it couldn't build the correct database. So now I have an ipod with 3300 songs on it, but it's showing up as no songs!

I had a good day with breaking stuff yesterday, really.

 

Things just get stranger. No matter what is on the USB drive (I deleted all contents) and no matter which option is set to boot first, the latop just freezes at the acer - press F2/F12 boot-up screen if a USB stick is in any of the USB slots.

 

Balls.

It won't even update the BIOS.

I just get "entering boot device selection menu..." when i press F12, then it hangs.

 

So I tried that emergency BIOS recovery thing. The power button flashed. Then nothing happened. It just loaded up again not working. And the BIOS hadn't changed. Didn't blink for long either.

Questions: Does the USB stick have to be formatted a certain way? I've done the FreeDos thing