I have had terrible trouble with 7.4.2 and 8.1.0 on a Dell XPS9360. Whether booting from the KNOPPIX DVD (burn iso) or from a boot USB (I use Pendrive's Universal-USB-Installer v. 1.9.8.0, there may be other or later versions) all I got was a blank screen. But a certain amount of whirring suggested to me that the live version was in fact progressing and available. After a lot of messing about with vga=xxx in the KERNEL stanza in /boot/isolinux/isolinux.cfg I iterated to the best, sparsest and most portable version of this configuration file that I have EVER had. It reads
DEFAULT console
TIMEOUT 40
PROMPT 1
LABEL console
KERNEL linux
APPEND initrd=minirt.gz vga=893 lang=uk 1
LABEL video
KERNEL linux
APPEND initrd=minirt.gz vga=893 lang=uk #
By portable I mean this works on an ancient (really ancient) Samsung, any number of Dells in all configurations / ages, likewise Fujitsus. All screens from 800x600 to 1920x1080.
Still can't get 8.1.0 to work using a boot USB (DVD is fine). The architecture dictated by Pendrive leads to a configuration location error ("Can't find ..") from the very start. Even mimicking the geography of the 7.4.2 boot USB does not mend this.
Fergus
Rare Vintage Radio Shack TRS-80 Wired Printer - UNTESTED
$120.00
Vintage Compaq 141649-004 2 Button PS/2 Gray Mouse M-S34 - FAST SHIPPING - NEW
$8.99
VINTAGE MANUAL IBM / 5340 Volume D Field Service Logics
$74.99
Vintage Classic Apple Macintosh System Boot Install Disk Floppy/CD *Pick Version
$10.39
Voltage Blaster (Enhanced) -5V ISA AT ATX Power for Vintage Retro PCs US Seller
$12.95
Vintage Black Microsoft intellimouse Optical USB Wheel Mouse 1.1/1.1a - EXC COND
$28.95
NEW Manufacture OLD STYLE Oval 3 Prong Power Cord HP style 125V 7A 875W Vintage
$39.95
Drakware ADB2USB - vintage Apple ADB to USB keyboard adapter
$29.95
$150.00
Vintage Comfort Keyboard Systems Ergomagic Mechanical AT/PS2 Keyboard
$149.99