Running Ubuntu 16.04 on HP laptop. New to ubuntu.
When I power on computer, it displays a blank purple screen for a moment. Then black screen with blinking cursor. Then goes to 'Startup Menu'. Pressing 'Enter' repeats this cycle.
From the purple screen I can access the Grub menu by pressing 'Escape'. The only option displayed is "*System setup". Selecting this repeats the cycle described above.
From the 'Startup Menu' I can select 'BIOS Setup', as well as the other standard options. I altered 'Boot Order' to boot from USB device first, before hard drive. I then inserted a ubuntu 16.04 live-usb and restarted. Goes through same cycle above, does not acknowledge the USB.
Last week I deleted some old kernels to free up space on the boot drive, I'm gonna go ahead and and guess I screwed up and deleted too much.
I can provide any additional information needed, just ask.
I've dug around online for a couple hours now and haven't found a solution. If you can help (or point me in the right direction) that would be terrific. Thanks!