Hi there.
Since I’m using Windows10 on decade-old hardware (can’t upgrade to Windows11 even if I wanted to) I’ve decided to check out what Linux is all about. After a couple of flowcharts wanted to try out Mint. Bought a fresh USBstick, downloaded the ISO, flashed it with Balena Etcher, created a separate partition on a HDD in the case I decide to fully install it.
Trying to boot I get the options to select any bootable media, but choosing either UEFI or the other option to boot from the USB drive I get to a menu where I can select to boot to Live or in compatibility mode (among others), but whatever I choose I end up with rolling errormessages, main one being /init: line 38: can't open /dev/sr0: No medium found
Googling around I’ve tried unplugging the USB and using it in another port, enabling/disabling stuff in the bios (but I have no idea where to start or what stuff actually does) but nothing really works.
After some time (10+ minutes) of rolling errors I get the prompt to boot from URL (or something), haven’t tried that yet as I don’t know if the network is even enabled…
So I have the next questions: Where do I begin with troubleshooting? Is there a way to interrupt the stream of errors it keeps spitting out for more than 10 minutes? Once the errors stop I seem to be in a full screen terminal with an unsuccessful boot, can I try to get it to boot from there?
Update: Ventoy seems to be more promising, it’s got a nice menu and I can choose which bistro to load, but currently it’s loading Mint quite a long time…
I suspect it’s loading everything it can at once, but at least I can see the Mint logo for longer than 10 seconds in a splash screen.
But 15 minutes later it seems to be still loading…
Will update when I can
Update 2: YES! It got past the boot errors by unplugging the USB and plugging it back in.
Life is calling, so it’ll take a while before I can start figuring out why my mouse isn’t working (or how I can install without a mouse), but at least I can confirm that Linux works on my PC.
The first thing I’d troubleshoot is can you boot the live usb anywhere? If so the issue is probably bios-related. Something not configured right. Or a port not working right.
If it doesn’t boot anywhere, I’d say either something went wrong making the boot usb or the usb drive itself has a defect.
That being said, last night I couldn’t boot to my live usb to fix my install after I lost power so you’re in good company. Managed to fix my computer anyway, but today I have to figure out what I did wrong myself. Good luck to us both!
Will have to check which USB ports are which, after 12+ years not checking my hardware I’m a bit rusty on all this. Windows made it too easy to not bother, but now that Windows10 support ends by the end of this year I should be more aware of what I have and what may need some upgrading.
Disable secure boot or reset BIOS settings.
@meldrik @OtherPetard Disabling secure boot may well fix the issue. I was given a PC that had been used in an office environment. They SSD had been removed and I added my own. I could not get Linux Mint to load until I realized Secure Boot was still active. Once turned off, everything installed and worked fine. Still does.
I haven’t personally tried etcher but I read in a similar post that it oftenly led to errors when booting from usb-sticks, you could try Rufus instead and see if it works better.
Got recommended to try Ventoy or Rufus instead of Balena, so I’ll be reflashing once I’m home again. Thanks for the quick response
+1
If nothing works, you could also try a native command
dd.- unplug the flash drive
watch -d lsblk- plug the device - you’ll see a device added that you didn’t see before - that’s your device
sudo dd if="/home/$USER/Downloads/filename.iso" of=/dev/sdc bs=1M status=progress conv=fsync
if (input file) = path to file - here it’s the downloads folder - just change the file name after the slash
of (output file) = here we’ll use the device instead - enter the device you saw popping up - it should be /dev/sdX - don’t add a number after (i.e. /dev/sdc, not /sdc1)
To stop a command (almost) anytime, press Ctrl+C. To enter a command you used already, press Up (↑).
GL!
E: don’t instead of dont
