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Need some advice on loading my Intel stick computer running version 14.04. I trashed the internal micro SD with gparted, not double checking if it was the external micro SD card. So it is dead in the water, and I need to reload it, preferably as is would be in stock form.

I tried to load a bootable image onto a usb flashdrive, but the Stick computer would not boot it. I figured if I could boot, I'd just move the files system over to the internal SD drive.

The BIOS on the stick says it is only for use of Windows 8, and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. There was a post of the 'net for booting alternative operating systems, but the link to GOOGLE+ is dead. I guess the guy had a boot loader that would trick the BIOS of on the Stick computer. Thus, my need to help, trying to get this thing rollin, under the native OS, or updated, which would be fine.

StormBringer
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The Intel Compute Stick (ICS), STCK1A8LFC, was originally $110 when released in 2015, but now is $35 from Amazon with free shipping. The UEFI stick has an Intel quad core Atom (Z3735F @ 1.33GHz), and comes with 1G memory, 8G storage ( 48MiB EFI, 1.2GiB install, 935MiB swap, and 4.9GiB root), wireless 802.11bgn, Bluetooth 4.0, micro SD slot, USB 2.0, and HDMI output. Not listed in the specs at all is the fact that it also comes with 64 bit Ubuntu 14.04. The enclosed instruction sheet gives a firmware download site, downloadcenter.intel.com, so download the stick's latest UEFI firmware patch, FC0040.bio, and put it on a FAT/USB stick in preparation to flash the stick. Flash the firmware before doing anything else, many problems have been fixed. You will need a USB keyboard, and it must initialize quickly when powered up, because the time to press a function key is very short. Use a powered hub if necessary (power usually not needed for just a keyboard, mouse and USB storage).

The firmware version and date on the shipped stick, FCBT10H.86A.0024.2015.0522.1757, is now 16 versions out of date. This information may be found by typing F2 at power-on (be quick at the message), and going into the UEFI settings.

Download the OS independent firmware patch for STCK1A8LFC (FC0040.bio) from 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/86613/Intel-Compute-Stick-STCK1A8LFC  
wget https://downloadcenter.intel.com/downloads/eula/28922/BIOS-Update-FCBYT10H-86A-?httpDown=https%3A%2F%2Fdownloadmirror.intel.com%2F28922%2Feng%2FFC0040.bio

Hashcheck the download (MD5 supplied just above the download button). Put the firmware patch, FC0040.bio, on a USB stick with a FAT filesystem, and with that in the hub, at boot, type F7 to flash the firmware. Select the USB containing the flash file, then the FC0040.bio file. Flashing takes about 5 minutes, and eliminates all of the problems reported in the early reviews. New firmware versions are periodically released, so check back every few months for a new one (for security updates).

The flashed stick should have no problems booting from the micro SD card or a USB stick in a hub, and installing to a micro SD card or USB stick. The internal storage is limited to 7.1 GiB even if you resize the root to include the install partition (keeping the swap of 935MiB). An Xubuntu install on a 16G USB is 6.4G, so it will fit, but you will not be happy with performance if swapping is induced. Installing Lubuntu or Xubuntu 16.04 to a micro SD card will make a usable system. Putting a Debian 10 or AntiX 19 on the internal space results in a more responsive system.

The 4.19 kernel version has fully functional capabilities (HDMI sound, wifi, bluetooth) on this hardware. You will need to upgrade the kernel over the standard Lubuntu 18.04 to get bluetooth. Use the hwe packages to put on the latest Ubuntu kernel. Tailor the kernel boot line by adding "intel_idle.max_cstate=1 zswap.enabled=1 zswap.compressor=lz4" at the "quiet splash".

ubfan1
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