Install Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS server on HP t610 Flexible Thin Clients

8 Jun, 2025
ubuntu hp t610 hardware
3 min read

I’m working with an HP t610 Flexible Thin Client — a low-end PC — and here are my notes on how to install Ubuntu Server 24.04.2 LTS on this hardware.

Since the T610 is a low-spec device, a few extra steps are needed to get everything working smoothly.

Download the Ubuntu Server ISO and write it to a USB drive.
During boot, press ESC and choose the USB drive from the boot menu.
Once in the boot menu, press ESC and use the arrow keys to bring up the GRUB menu. Select Try or Install Ubuntu Server, then press e to edit the boot parameters.
In the GRUB editor, locate the line that says set gfxpayload=text and ensure it’s present. Then, add nomodeset to the line starting with linux. The modified section should look like this. Press Ctrl + X to boot:
```
setparams 'Try or Install Ubuntu Server'
    set gfxpayload=text
    linux      /casper/vmlinuz nomodeset ---
    initrd     /casper/initrd
```
The installer will now launch in text mode. Proceed with the setup using the text-based interface.
After installation and reboot, open the file /etc/default/grub. Locate the line containing GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT and add nomodeset at the end of that line.
Update GRUB with the following command:
```
sudo update-grub
```

If you encounter the error Failed to open \EFI\ubuntu\ - Not Found, refer to this AskUbuntu post. The key steps are:

# Check if the hardware supports UEFI boot but not Secure Boot
mokutil --sb-state
# Output should show:
This system does not support Secure Boot

# Identify the device where GRUB was installed
lsblk -e 7
# Output example — look for /dev/sda1 as the EFI partition
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda      8:0    0 149.1G  0 disk
├─sda1   8:1    0     1G  0 part /boot/efi
├─sda2   8:2    0     4G  0 part /boot
└─sda3   8:3    0   144G  0 part /

# Reinstall GRUB with specific parameters
sudo grub-install --no-uefi-secure-boot /dev/sda1
sudo update-grub

Install tightvncserver and xfce4. Then, edit your $HOME/.vnc/xstartup file as follows:

#!/bin/sh

xrdb "$HOME/.Xresources"
#xsetroot -solid grey
#x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
#x-window-manager &
# Fix to make GNOME work
#export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1
#/etc/X11/Xsession
startxfce4 &
# Start the VNC server using:
# vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 1280x800

To make your system boot into console (text/TTY) mode by default, follow this guide.

sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target
# To check the current default target:
systemctl get-default
# To revert and boot into graphical mode again:
sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target

Disable the lightdm service to prevent the graphical login manager from starting. This won’t affect your VNC server.
```
sudo systemctl disable lightdm
```