4mo ago

Is setting up Mint supposed to be this hard?

I heard Mint is supposed to be the simplest distro to get started with but my experience so far (following the setup guide on the website) has been:

Download ISO
Check ISO (seemed fine)
Burn image... crash
Burn image in administrator mode
Boot from USB via BIOS... crash
Boot from USB via Bios in safe mode
Download multimedia codecs... crash
Not download multimedia codecs... also crash?

And that's where I am presently, it runs fine off the USB albeit a bit slow, and I know its connected to the internet because I can browse lemmy on it and make annoying posts on the Linux community. I knew Linux was going to be more work than windows but this feels like a ridiculous level of effort right out of the gate, I worry that even if I somehow get it running I'll spend 10x more time fixing it than actually using it.

43 comments

sounds like the machine has an issue like bad ram/failing hd or something.. ive installed mint on hundreds of machines with random hardware and never had these issues...
what machine did you make the stick with that crashed?
- Yup, get a recovery/tool ISO and run a memory test.
  
  Doesn't The Linux Mint ISO also offer to run Memtest86+?
  Otherwise: https://memtest.org/
- I followed the instructions to use Etcher, etcher itself crashed but it was a pretty easy fix running it in administrator mode and apparently a known issue. Its weird because the live preview works fine. The stick was made on the same machine I'm trying to install linux on.
  
  that definitely indicates some kind of hardware failure
  
  etcher sucks ass. I read about it even breaking usb sticks, I've had it fail the flashing too multiple times. in mint I use the preinstalled usb flashing tool, in other distros popsicle and in windows rufus.
  
  I've tried Etcher many times and I feel like I've had issues every time, unfortunately. I don't remember the exact issues, but I recall both having problems with writing ISOs and with booting them. I would highly recommend Rufus instead, which has been much more consistent for me.
If it's crashing when even burning the ISO, it's not Mint.
- I mean I got past that part as per the list. I've installed a custom win10 on the same laptop using the same USB before and it worked flawlessly. So far Mint just seems to be far more finicky about hardware than win10.
  
  Yeah but if the crash is happening when burning the ISO then that's the problem of whatever software and OS you're using to do that, i.e. the ISO burning tool and Windows. An ISO is an ISO. As described, this problem is nothing to do with Linux. Phew! Once you fix this issue you'll find Mint is easy peasy and you won't look back. So keep at it.
  
  Try a different USB
  
  Try unetbootin on windows to create the liveUSB
Define crash: exception thrown, Windows crashing, hard freeze...etc
Sure sounds like you have a bad USB drive to me if it's only happening when using this USB device. Error messages would be helpful.
Sounds like your USB is fucked to be honest.
Download ISO
Create bootable USB
Boot from USB
Install
profit
This was my experience with Mint.
- Add "Horribly mangle the system while experimenting with obscure pre-alpha open source customization software" and you have my experience with Mint.
  Lol why the downvotes? I was just trying to be humorous! Y'all need to develop a sense of humor.
  
  Yes but that's user-induced.
  
  You should learn about containers and virtualization. You can experiment for a while and then blow it all away. Podman and virtual manager are your friends.
No, I wouldn’t expect any issues with Mint.
what’s your hardware
you say burn, but then mention USB, what are you using to create the install media? If I’m making a bootable usb in windows I exclusively use Rufus and haven’t had issues to date
- Seconding rufus. I dont use anything else. This is the way.
  
  Fedora Media writer and Etcher are fine as well
- To add to this, if you’ve only been trying to write the ISO to a USB drive this whole time have you tried different USB drives as well?
Just want to say this it sucks that you're experiencing issues with something that should be so easy, always frustrating when something like that happens. Can assure you it's not an issue with Mint though, hopefully this doesn't put you off from using such a great distro.
This definitely wasn't my experience, what USB drive are you using?
If you're looking for a good USB drive I highly recommend the standard Sandisk Ultra (the bulky usb3.0 one) , it's very performant and reliable for the price.
After reading the new behavior I’m fairly confident it’s hardware failure from the laptop, most likely the drive. I’ve experienced odd install failure behavior like this before which was a sad going bad.
OP has said a few times that they have installed windows from the USB previously without issues. Please remember that all hardware will eventually go bad. Just because it worked in the past, that doesn’t guarantee it would work today.
- Sure, but it’s a serious issue which is worth mentioning. Lots of Linux fanboys conveniently sidestep the whole “having the most popular GPU on the market will wreck your install” issue.
  It’s absolutely something worth mentioning when you’re pushing someone to try Linux, because the “it’s so easy nowadays” rhetoric does nothing to help when it doesn’t turn out to be easy. If you’re genuinely trying to get people to use Linux as a daily driver, it’s worth warning them about some of the common pitfalls so they can go in with realistic expectations.
  If they go in all starry-eyed and discover it’s not easy, they’re less likely to try it again in the future. After all, they were lied to the last time someone told them it was easy. Why would this time be any different?
  
  I'm probably still gonna try it later, managed to re-format the laptop back to windows and get it working again... still no issues outside linux related things but I'm open to the possibility that it might just be bad luck with hardware.
  
  Managing Nvidia isn't all that bad. It used to be awful but now it is in the realm of not ideal.
It's sad that hardware issues can prevent linux from working. One has no way to know the core of the issue..

43 comments