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General discussion

Trying to Install OS on Acer Aspire R11 (R3-131T)

Apr 17, 2017 1:50AM PDT

I have an Acer Aspire R11 (R3-131T) which has 4GB RAM, 1.6GHz dual core Intel Celeron N3050 and a painful 32 GB eMMC drive. Recently, I tried installing a different OS on the computer, and wasn't successful. Obviously, I couldn't go back to the stock Windows 10, so I knew I had to reinstall it. So I tried making a bootable USB from a Mac using unetbootin and an ISO, but always crashed when copying the files. I also tried mounting the ISO to the computer, and copying the files to the USB (from Windows), which worked, and seemed to work perfectly until it decided to stop near the end of installing the features. I also tried using Rufus, but "didn't like" the ISO file. So I tried many other operating systems. I tried Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Remix OS, Elementary OS, Android x86, Mint Linux, even Windows Vista. Most of them booted, but didn't install. With Windows 7 and Vista, it said that it needed drivers for the hard drive, but I didn't know where to get them from, and thereafter, do with them. With Android, it worked perfectly, but every time it shut down, I had to find a way to get back into it with the USB, which became annoying. Elementary OS refused to install and Remix OS didn't boot at all (as well as Windows 8.1 and Mint Linux). I am waiting for Ubuntu to download so I can make a bootable USB, but I doubt that will work. Currently the laptop hasn't got an operating system on it. If you've made it this far: PLEASE HELP ME!!!! I have tried pretty much everything.

Discussion is locked

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Re: reinstall
Apr 17, 2017 2:07AM PDT
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It's not possible to install Windows normally.
Apr 17, 2017 11:34AM PDT

The eMMC drive is quite different and requires the recovery media from the machine's maker. Linux versions to support this shall be current and mention eMMC.

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Use Linux Mint 17.2, not 17.3 or later
Apr 17, 2017 12:02PM PDT
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BIOS Settings
Apr 17, 2017 6:45PM PDT

Ok, so it turns out that it was something I did in my BIOS settings a while ago. The boot mode was in Legacy, so I changed it to UEFI, and it works perfectly now!

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Makes sense.
Apr 17, 2017 6:53PM PDT

Defaults is where I start and won't guess that folk change from stock.