Trouble-shooting not seeing the “Install Ubuntu” option after booting from your SD card
If you’re not seeing the “Install Ubuntu” option after booting from your SD card, here are a few things to check:
🧪 Diagnose the Live Environment
- Are you in the Live session?
- You should see a desktop with Ubuntu branding.
- If you only see a black screen, terminal, or minimal interface, the boot may have failed or entered a recovery shell.
- Try launching the installer manually:
- Press Ctrl + Alt + T to open a terminal.
- Type:
- ubiquity
- This should launch the graphical installer.
- Check if the image is correct:
- Make sure you downloaded the full Ubuntu Desktop ISO (not the minimal or server version).
- Recreate the bootable SD card using a tool like Rufus or BalenaEtcher.
- Try another boot method:
- If your laptop supports it, try using a USB stick instead of an SD card.
- Some systems don’t fully support booting from SD cards.
- Look for installer files:
- Open the file manager and check if there’s a folder named casper or a file named install or ubiquity.
If none of these work, it’s possible the boot image didn’t load properly. You might want to reflash the SD card or try a different version of Ubuntu.