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Skype stopped working for seemingly no reason (I use 12.10), it would display "Skype can't connect" even though everything else was working perfectly. After checking a bunch of forums & questions on here, I uninstalled it and tried reinstalling. I get the error message

"Package dependencies cannot be resolved / This error could be caused by required additional software packages which are missing or not installable. Furthermore there could be a conflict between software packages which are not allowed to be installed at the same time"

I tried reinstalling it using the terminal but failed there too. Not too long after that I started getting System Error pop ups regularly (send report, new one pops a couple hours later), so I decided to upgrade, which I was putting off for a while. I'm by no means savvy at this so after figuring out I couldn't just upgrade straight to 14.04 from where I am I backed up my files and decided to do a clean install. I made a live usb using unetbootin. Problem is, I can't seem to access the BIOS at all. F2 used to work when I had windows on this machine (Ubuntu is the only OS I have on it at the moment), but it just doesn't prompt anything now. Neither does F12 or any of the F-s. It seems like it just speeds through the initial booting process?

Any ideas what to do at this point? I don't care about the data remaining on the computer, I just want to install 14.04 even if that means overwriting my disk.

I have a Samsung Notebook NP300V5A if that helps.

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  • Hit the ESC key at boot. That should bring up the "One-Time Boot Menu".
    – amanthethy
    Aug 8, 2014 at 0:17
  • I tried doing that, but it doesn't bring up any menu. The booting just goes through. Thanks for your answer though.
    – Lita
    Aug 8, 2014 at 0:20
  • Do you see the Samsung logo at all? Or does it boot directly to Ubuntu?
    – amanthethy
    Aug 8, 2014 at 0:24
  • Boots directly to Ubuntu, I see a black screen from a few seconds then the purple screen
    – Lita
    Aug 8, 2014 at 0:26
  • And you're shutting the machine down, right? Not restarting?
    – amanthethy
    Aug 8, 2014 at 0:26

3 Answers 3

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So I solved my problem though I still have no idea what the problem was or how the issue was solved technically. I disassembled my laptop, checked the components, checked the hard drive on another machine to make a new backup and put everything back together. I started the machine up again not expecting any change but the Samsung logo screen showed. I clicked F2 and was able to access the BIOS, used a live-usb to install 14.04 and everything works now.

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Try to press Esc repeatedly at the very beginning of the boot, and you should see an indication of which key to use to access BIOS.

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  • Sorry, I should've mentioned that I also tried pressing Esc & delete repeatedly with no results either. The only thing that happens is that the screen switches between the Ubuntu purple (with the dots) and a black screen with white writing, which I suppose is the booting process ? It doesn't actually register any change though.
    – Lita
    Aug 8, 2014 at 0:19
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    If you're trying to press it at that point, you're doing it much too late.
    – amanthethy
    Aug 8, 2014 at 0:26
  • Yes, @amanthethy is right : shut down the computer, then press the power on button and begin hitting Esc at the same time. Do it at the very beginning of the boot process. You can also try to hit Pause key once to pause the boot process. Aug 8, 2014 at 1:07
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Try F10 instead of Esc.

Try holding down the F2 or Esc key before and during when you press the power on button.

  1. Hold down F2
  2. Press power button
  3. Release F2 after powering on

Toshiba

Toshiba and Samsung are closely related.

Samsung

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  • It sounds like they're not being shown the POST screen.
    – amanthethy
    Aug 8, 2014 at 0:31

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