Plop Menu Freezes at Startup

[joy_deep]

Hello,

I have installed Plop Boot Manager in my grub menu on my Compaq Pressario 2100 laptop. Now the Plop menu comes as soon as I start the machine. But it freezes if I press down arrow or any key. So how do I solve this problem?
Otherwise, how do I remove the plop menu and go back to my earlier Ubuntu system?
Please help.

Thanks.

[Elmar]

Hello,

what instructions did you use to install the Plop Boot Manager? When you start it with Grub, then Grub should be the first you see.

Regards
Elmar

[joy_deep]

Hello,

I followed the instructions at https://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/mbrinstall.html#grub2inst.
First time Grub menu did come with Plop menu entry. And I chose it to install. After that, now, Plop menu appears first when I start the laptop. But as soon as I hit any key it freezes.

Thanks.

[Elmar]

With that, you overwrote Grub. This is not the cause of the keyboard problem, but even without the keyboard problem, you would not be able to start Ubuntu.

You have to boot Ubuntu from USB or DVD and reinstall Grub. See https://howtoubuntu.org/how-to-repair-restore-reinstall-grub-2-with-a-ubuntu-live-cd

[joy_deep]

But I cannot boot from USB or CDROM. That's why I tried to install Plop.
My aim is to remove Ubuntu and install Puppy Linux. I cannot boot from USB or CDROM. So I installed Plop from Grub in Ubuntu with the intention of installing Puppy from USB. But why is the Up/Down arrow now working in Plop menu?
Please help.

[Elmar]

I don't know, why it freezes when you press a key. Is as first key press the combination CTRL-ESC working?

Is the BIOS of your Laptop locked? Because CD/DVD is possible with the BIOS, maybe also USB.

[joy_deep]

No. CTRL-ESC is not working. I pressed Enter key. First time, I remember, the bar was at the top of the menu, Hard disk.  It tried to do something very fast, I could not follow. But next time onward, it didn't do anything. Now it freezes as soon as I press any key.
What is Locked BIOS? The BIOS in the laptop is not password protected.

[Elmar]

With locked I was meaning password protected bios and you don't have the password.

Whats the reason that you cannot boot from CD/DVD?

[joy_deep]

I got this laptop in 2005. It's CDROM drive is not working. The BIOS does not support USB boot. I have an external CDROM writer. With that sometimes I can boot. Sometimes it doesn't work.

[Elmar]

How do you connect the external CDROM writer?

Are you sure that the "Removable devices" in the BIOS boot sequence menu does not include USB drives?

[joy_deep]

It's a USB external CDROM writer. The laptop has 2 USB ports. It treats the USB external CD Writer as CDROM device, I believe.
The BIOS does not suppose USB boot, I think. I have tried so many times for USB boot. Although the BIOS has a "Removable Devices" option in the boot order menu along with "CDROM" option. By "Removable Devices", I guess, it means Floppy Drive. I put the "Removable Device" at the top of the Boot order, then "CDROM", then "HDD" and finally "Boot from LAN".
I, too, want to believe there must be some ways to boot from USB.

[Elmar]

Have you tried the USB device on another computer that supports USB booting?

You have the following options

• Getting USB boot working with the BIOS (CD or other drive).
• or setup a boot from LAN system and fix it with a Linux booted from the network.
• or remove the hard disk and put it into another computer and fix it there.

[joy_deep]

Yes, I often try Linux Distros in my other laptops using USB boot. This particular Compaq Presario 2100 model laptop does not support USB boot.

I'd like to go with the first option. I went through all the readme instructions, watched many YouTube videos. I'll like to give Plop another try. I made one PlopKexec CD. I'll try to boot with that.