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.

    • TheOtherG@feddit.nlOP
      1·
      16 hours 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.

    • TheOtherG@feddit.nlOPEnglish
      1·
      8 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

        • TheOtherG@feddit.nlOP
          1·
          8 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
    2·
    8 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)