linux4noobs

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Can't boot even into Live (feddit.nl)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] DeltaWingDragon 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

/dev/sr0 is the CD drive. Does your computer have one?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 20 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.

[–] Jumuta 3 points 1 week ago

What motherboard/cpu are you on? is this a laptop or a desktop? What usb drive are you using?

People are saying it's an issue with USB 3.0 drive compatibility, maybe try a different one.

When changing settings from things you find online I'd recommend searching up what changing that option does, it makes troubleshooting more clear and it shouldn't take too long.

[–] lurch 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 ?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

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 @[email protected] ) 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

[–] Jumuta 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

i meant to say you should try another usb stick (maybe a 2.0 one if you used a 3.0), not a port, sry

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

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

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week 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)