cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/29272050

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.

  • lurch (he/him)
    3•25 days ago

    Can you test the boot USB on another PC (or in a VM) to make sure it was created correctly from the image and the image was okay ?

    • TheOtherGOPEnglish
      1•25 days ago

      Don’t have another PC I can use to test and I’m quite a noob in anything that isn’t surface level Windows usage (I have messed with the registry a tiny bit, but purely following a guide) so VMs are close to magic for me.

      Got recommended to check the USB ports (thanks to @Jumuta@sh.itjust.works ) and if that doesn’t work I’ll reflash using other tools than Balena. Will post an update once I’ve tried this.

      Thanks for the help

        • TheOtherGOP
          1•24 days ago

          Ah, I didn’t check the USB stick itself.

          Just checked, the stick is 2.0, so that shouldn’t be the issue.

  • @whatsgoingdom@rollenspiel.forum
    2•24 days ago

    If all fails, maybe try another distro. I’ve had PCs and laptops that for some reason couldn’t boot it install one distro, but worked like a charm with a different one. Maybe Aurora or bazzite, if you want to game, might be a good choice for a noob (unfortunately they don’t support live boot atm I think)

    • TheOtherGOP
      1•17 days ago

      My pc does have one, but it’s unused for a while… Would disconnecting it prevent a bunch of these errors? Or can I ask for it to not check the CD drive? I keep seeing these error on occasion, even after installing Linux Mint and running it for a bit.

      • @DeltaWingDragon@sh.itjust.works
        1•16 days ago

        Is it external? Then try disconnecting it.

        Looks like this could be a BIOS problem. Does it actually attempt to boot from the Mint USB?

        If not, then you will need to enter the BIOS setup screen and change the boot device order. Put “USB HDD” at the top, “internal HDD” and “CD drive” in the middle, and anything else at the bottom.

        This might get rid of the “boot from URL” you’re seeing, by demoting “PXE network boot” from the boot order.

        • TheOtherGOP
          1•15 days ago

          Thank you for your response, but I’ve already managed to install Mint, but thanks for your info, as during startup and shutdown I still see these errors popping up.

          My boot order is fixed to default to Linux Mint on its own drive, Windows boot as a backup for photoshop and the couple of games that don’t work within Linux.

          I’ll see if the errors will keep popping up after disconnecting the optical drive.

          • @DeltaWingDragon@sh.itjust.works
            1•12 days ago

            Which errors are you getting? Because if it’s these ones…

            then everything is OK. Those are perfectly normal boot messages.

            If it’s the same errors, try the same solutions. If it’s different errors, tell us what they are.