Installing halts at Grub.

[DiaNobb]

at that point I'd be curious to see what happens if you install an non-linux OS - like, good ol' dos. does it have boot issues too? if so, it's probably not a linux issue but a hardware problem.

alternately, try using different installation media.

Thanks.
Have heard about Microsoft DOS, but donot know anything about it.
DiaNobb
PS: Thought about trying some other non-Linux OSs, but could find any.

 

[DiaNobb]

When I see this...

View attachment 29326

I hit Enter...do you ? View attachment 29327

Thank you.
Yes. I did. Did not make any difference pressing Enter or not.
DiaNobb

 

[DiaNobb]

Yes,common practice up to around 2010 on budget and some business machines to keep cost down

Linux ISO writer and Balena are best on Linux, Rufus is best on Windows machines


as i said LMDE7 up to the beginning of this year I was running it on a 2010 dell T series [core2 duo]


Have you checked the BIOS/UEFI yet to see if it is USB compatible, if yes go through the link I of common gave you earlier of comon reasons Linux fails

Thanks.
"Have you checked the BIOS/UEFI yet to see if it is USB compatible," Have checked. The CD/DVD burner could not be used on any USB port.
" LMDE7" Will try it today and report back.
DiaNobb

 

[Trml]

2b. Downloaded Linux Mint 21 Xfce ISO file from Mint, changed USB stick, formatted it by USB Stick Formater in Cinnamon 22.1,...

Sorry, I have never used Mint, don't know the differences between releases, the support periods and whether the later dropped support for something. There are Mint users on the forum who may know that, but from what I have skimmed in your thread none of them recommended you to use Mint x or Mint y, but focus on a distro which explicitly supports old hardware.

In general I wonder why you continue to wipe a running system. To change from one working distro release to the next release is usually done without reinstalling, but by changing the repositories and a dist-upgrade with the existing system. It may well be that a later Mint ISO changed its boot loader (i.e. you can't install it), but still keeps support for a distribution upgrade with an already installed boot loader/system. As said, I don't know the distro-specifics.

 

[DiaNobb]

yes it should, but as I said some manufacturers were still using 32 bit motherboards at that time

is this the image writer in an existing Linux installation ? then it should work without error

as long as its an ISO file you can burn it to a DVD or write it to a USB it should work either way

this will be a bit of a flyer, try LMDE7 up to the beginning of this year I was running it on a 2010 dell T series [core2 duo]

Tutorial Thread 'Basic checks if Linux fails to install'

Nov 9, 2025

Why Linux fails to load/install direct to HDD, common reasons

1] Corrupt download [check SHA sum]
2] bad burn to installation medium [try again] [if you used Rufus then try Balena Etcher or Ventoy]
2A] if optical drive burn at slow speed [no more than x3]
3] Wind 8.2 and higher quick start/fast boot or secure boot not disabled [after disabling do a full power re-boot not a restart]
3A ] check that boot from USB/Optical drive is enabled in your BIOS?UEFI
4] defective pen-drive/DVD
5] hardware fault,
5A] If old style HDD run integrity check
5B]if SATA SSD check for hidden...

• Brickwizard
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Getting Started

• 

Thanks.
Re LMDE7.
A. In Cinnamon 22.1.
1. LMDE7 ISO file downloaded from Mint
2. USB stick: Adata USB2, 16GB.
3. Formatted by USB Stick Formatter.
4. Created live bootable by USB Image Writer.
5. The image was successfully written.
B. On my old hardware.
a. Inserted the live bootable USB stick.
b. Started the PC.
c. Welcome to LMDE 7 64-bit showed up again.
d. Then PC re-started 9 minutes later.
e. Had the PC shut down and tried again,
e1. Pressed Enter this time.
e2. 9 minutes later,screen became empty & prompting prompter appeared in the upper left corner. It stayed in this conditions until 12 minutes later the power turned off manually.

Thanks.
DiaNobb

 

[bob466]

Have you tried replacing the HDD for an SSD ?

HDDs are very slow...SSDs are 10 times faster. I have a 13 year old Laptop...it has a 500GB SSD running Mint xfce and boots in seconds...might be worth a try.

 

[Brickwizard]

sounds like a hardware problem, first guess would be the HDD

 

[KGIII]

Thanks.
How about 10 or 20 minutes? I even tested for 20 minutes just wanted to see if it would show anything even a letter or sign. Nothing.
DiaNobb

Yeah, it shouldn't take any longer than maybe 8 to 10 minutes on really slow hardware.

Thanks for letting us know. We can eliminate that as a problem.

 

[DiaNobb]

Have you tried replacing the HDD for an SSD ?

HDDs are very slow...SSDs are 10 times faster. I have a 13 year old Laptop...it has a 500GB SSD running Mint xfce and boots in seconds...might be worth a try. View attachment 29346

Thanks.
The motherboard is G45T AM2 V:1.0, probably manufactured in the year of 2007-2008, and it accepts the first generation of SATA. Wonder if it any SSD can be installed on it.
With an adapter, perhaps?
DiaNobb

 

[DiaNobb]

sounds like a hardware problem, first guess would be the HDD

Thanks.
Yeah. It does sound like hardware issue, but I doubt it is the hard drive. It might be the hard drive if it halts at installing. The operating system does not touch the hard drive if it is running as a live bootable on a USB stick.
DiaNobb

 

[DiaNobb]

Yeah, it shouldn't take any longer than maybe 8 to 10 minutes on really slow hardware.

Thanks for letting us know. We can eliminate that as a problem.

Thanks.
There is another phenomenon beside time, that is, the prompter. Some live bootables show a prompting prompter, some don't, and still some show a dummy prompter staying there still.
DiaNobb

 

[DiaNobb]

Sorry, I have never used Mint, don't know the differences between releases, the support periods and whether the later dropped support for something. There are Mint users on the forum who may know that, but from what I have skimmed in your thread none of them recommended you to use Mint x or Mint y, but focus on a distro which explicitly supports old hardware.

In general I wonder why you continue to wipe a running system. To change from one working distro release to the next release is usually done without reinstalling, but by changing the repositories and a dist-upgrade with the existing system. It may well be that a later Mint ISO changed its boot loader (i.e. you can't install it), but still keeps support for a distribution upgrade with an already installed boot loader/system. As said, I don't know the distro-specifics.

Thanks.
The problems I am talking about is not on the computer I am using. It is in fact not a complete computer. We bought 3 desktop machines, Acer aspire M5700, and kept them in storeroom since 2016. I took them apart for fun, and threw everything away by kept a motherboard, a CPU with fan, 3 RAM sticks, a HDD, a PSU, and a few cables for the peripherals. These parts are laid on a wooden board and play with them for learning.
DiaNobb

 

[bob466]

Thanks.
Yeah. It does sound like hardware issue, but I doubt it is the hard drive. It might be the hard drive if it halts at installing. The operating system does not touch the hard drive if it is running as a live bootable on a USB stick.
DiaNobb

If you didn't have a HDD...would you be able to boot to the Live Session ?

 

[DiaNobb]

If you didn't have a HDD...would you be able to boot to the Live Session ? View attachment 29376

Thanks.
Sorry, I do not understand the question. What I always run live bootable system without a hard drive from the very beginning of learning how to use linux operating system. Is it right that the live bootable does not touch any hard disk even there is a HDD on board. I might be wrong.
DiaNobb

 

[Brickwizard]

With most distributions that have a "live" test mode you do not need a hard drive, but you do need sufficient ram to store the test image and run it, BUT some machines will object if a hard-drive is not installed and connected [it doesn't have to be a good one]