Can't reinstall Linux Mint Cinnamon 22.3 after changing drives to GPT and booting UEFI

[Rocketing-warp9]

This does leave me curious.. Off the wall, but could be a good starting point to getting mint installed.
(Please bear note- I'm just throwing ideas at the wall. I don't know if this will work or not)
If you have a USB 2.0 Port, that might help too-
If you can maybe try a different distro with GRUB (ex-Ubuntu) and see if it hits the same stop.
Debian with a .netnstall might work out here as well, just as a starting point.
If you type "yes" on the prompt above, see what that does next (If you have access, please Plug in an ethernet cable)

 

[MisterEd]

I put Fedora Workstation 44 Live ISO on the Ventoy flash drive. It took less than one minute to load to the live desktop. After about 20 minutes the computer froze. Then it hit me.

The CPU is using the stock cooler which is inadequate. I reduced the power setting in Windows 10 so that it doesn't run too hot. I also monitor the temperature at all times using Core Temp.

I wasn't thinking about that when I was trying to boot Linux Mint. Maybe it was overheating an malfunctioning. Fedora Live booted but locked up after a time. I need to apologize for not mentioning this in the beginning.

I ordered a much better CPU cooler on June 28 on Ebay. Unfortunately, the seller took my money and ghosted me. Ebay said to contact them tomorrow July 15. Hopefully, they will make sure I get my money back. I ordered a different CPU cooler from a different seller. I should be getting it on Friday. Since hardware for old computers like this are usually used I hope it works out.

Here are a couple screenshots from Fedora Live. Note: I took them within Fedora and copied them to a different flash drive.

 

[piorunz]

Very good troubleshooting.
So this USB stick works on laptop and boots right into LinuxMint LiveUSB desktop, but cannot do the same on the PC?
Did you plug it in to the back, to motherboard I/O plate, or to the front USB port on the case?
If it's in the front, put it in the back, straight into motherboard port.
Also, you are saying that Fedora image actually worked. When you next boot into it, type

sudo dmesg

see if you have any similar USB read errors.

Regarding CPU overheating, you can go to BIOS to see if you can decrease CPU speeds there. Also, check temperatures as seen as BIOS.

 

[MisterEd]

To keep things straight I am going to refer to the desktop by its name Phoenix.

The screenshots in my last post of the Federal Live mode were made on the desktop Phoenix. I was so glad to have Linux booting on that computer even if wasn't Mint Live. I copied the screenshots to a flash drive so I wouldn't lose them. I realized the live mode always reset everything when it was booted again.

Lowering the CPU temperature

In the Phoenix BIOS I lowered the multiplier from 10 to 7. This should lower the temperature.
CPU speed = 200MHz x 10 = 2.0GHz (default)
CPU speed = 200MHz x 7 = 1.4GHz

I also had to disable Cool'n'Quiet and Core Performance Boost. Otherwise, the multiplier change wouldn't have any effect.

After I booted into Windows 10, the CPU clock speed always stayed at 1.4GHz.

Trying to boot to Linux Mint

I still couldn't boot the Linux Mint ISOs. I tried several versions.
Linux Mint Cinnamon 22.3
Linux Mint Cinnamon 21.3
Linux Mint Xfce 22.3
Linux Mint Mate 22.3
Linux Mint Lmde 7 Cinnamon

They all hung on the green Linux Mint logo.

I wonder if an older version of Linux Mint would work better?

Note, I started trying to boot Linux Mint on Phoenix on Monday I tried both the USB 2.0 port on the front and a USB 2.0 port on the back panel. The boot failed on both the same way.

Trying to boot to Linux Fedora

Fedora booted the the Live Desktop in a little over 2 minutes. Like yesterday after about 15-20 minutes it didn't totally crash but most applications when selected wouldn't run.

I found this online:

If your Fedora Live USB stops working or freezes after a certain amount of time, it is usually caused by a conflict with Nvidia graphics drivers, a corrupted USB flash drive, or a timeout in the initial setup screen.

My Nvdia GTX 560 GPU is 15 years old and may have conflicts with Wayland. Maybe switching back to X11 would be more stable.

Before it crashed I ran "sudo dmesg". The results are attached to this post.

After it crashed I rebooted. I immediately installed it in the unallocated space on disk1. The Install Finalization seemed to crash when done. I had to reboot to get past that. Linux Fedora 44 loaded when I selected it in the boot menu. I decided that testing of it would be easier in the installed rather than the live mode.

If I have any more crash problems I may decide to switch to X11 or pick up a much newer GPU. I had thought about a 1030 or other 10 series but maybe a GTX 1650 or GTX 1660 would be more appropriate.

About choosing Linux distribution

I had hoped to install a Debian derivative distribution like Mint because since 2018 I have been using several Raspberry Pis (3B+, 4B and 5). The Raspberry Pi OS is based upon the Arm version of Debian Linux.

From 2002 to about 2012 I had been using Redhat and then Fedora Linux. For now Fedora Linux will be OK.

BTW

I realized that I had been converting the disks from MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR the hard way. I realized I had EaseUS Parition Master Pro. I used it to convert the disks from MBR to GPT. It completed both disks in less than 10 minutes without losing any data.

 

[MisterEd]

I just had a shock today. The computer was in Windows 10. I looked at the desktop and noticed that the CPU temp was 78C. That should have not been possible because I had reduced the speed from 2.0GHz down to 1.4GHz. I just happened to have the side off and noticed that the CPU fan wasn't turning. That should never happen. I put my hand near it to make sure the CPU fan was plugged in. It was but I almost burned my hand because the CPU was so hot.

I rebooted the computer. After logging in I noticed that the CPU temperature was much lower. I looked down and saw that the CPU fan was running normally. I shut down the computer so it could cool off.

I went into the BIOS and enabled the CPU fan failed warning and the CPU temp > 70C warning. I also need to start monitoring the CPU fan speed.

I am wondering if the CPU fan had ever stopped before today. I am really worried now if the CPU has undergone any serious damage because of this. If so could this have been causing the problems installing Linux Mint on it.

BTW, The computer has a solid panel side so I can't see inside without taking the side off. I just happened to have it off.

Hopefully the CPU temp problem will not be as much a problem after I replace it with a better one that is coming today Friday.

Note after that I may make two changes in the BIOS:

• Change the CPU multiplier back to 10 so the CPU runs at 2.0 GHz again.
• Change to CPU temp > 60C warning.

It all depends on how well the new CPU cooler does to cool the CPU.

 

[piorunz]

I am reading online that AMD FX-8350 has a maximum operating temperature of around 61C. At 78C, it's running far too hot, especially considering it's a 125 W TDP processor.
Hopefully the CPU hasn't suffered any damage or degradation from overheating, particularly if the fan had stopped working for days or even weeks before you noticed.
When the new heatsink and fan arrive, be sure to thoroughly clean off the old thermal paste and apply a fresh layer before installation.
Once everything is back together, run two important stability tests:

• Prime95 (CPU stress test)
• MemTest86 (RAM test)

Let both run for several hours, or ideally overnight. Monitor CPU temperatures throughout the tests and check for any errors being reported.

 

[MisterEd]

The drama continues...
I ordered a different CPU cooler on Ebay. It was a Corsair H60 (CWCH60) that was just like the one I originally had in the computer back in 2012. It came today. Unfortunately, it came with no mounting hardware so is being returned. I really needed a better CPU cooler so I went out in the storage building and dug through my old computer parts. I was surprised to find the original CPU cooler. I had thought I had discarded it. The difference was this Corsair H60 (CWCH60) had all the AMD mounting hardware I needed. I have it installed now.

I checked the CPU temperature in the BIOS. It was 25C and falling. Before I left the BIOS I reversed all the changes. The CPU Clock Ratio is back to 10 (2.0GHz again), Core Performance Boost is enabled, and Cool'n'Quiet is enabled. I saved the changes and restarted.

In Windows 10 with the Power Saver power plan the CPU idles from 1.4-2.0GHz but can boost to 2.2 GHz if needed. I monitored the CPU temperature with Core Temp and its gadget. After a few minutes with the CPU idling at 1.4GHz the CPU temperature was showing 9-11C (48-52F). That is not real. The AMD FX CPUs produced an offset not the real temperature. The real CPU temperature is probably about 20-30C which is really good.

I will run Prime95 and MemTest86 later and report back tomorrow.

I tried booting Ventoy again with the Linux Mint Live ISOs again. Still getting the same errors so I am going to stick with Fedora 44 Workstation.

 

[piorunz]

The drama continues...
I ordered a different CPU cooler on Ebay. It was a Corsair H60 (CWCH60) that was just like the one I originally had in the computer back in 2012. It came today. Unfortunately, it came with no mounting hardware so is being returned. I really needed a better CPU cooler so I went out in the storage building and dug through my old computer parts. I was surprised to find the original CPU cooler. I had thought I had discarded it. The difference was this Corsair H60 (CWCH60) had all the AMD mounting hardware I needed. I have it installed now.

I checked the CPU temperature in the BIOS. It was 25C and falling. Before I left the BIOS I reversed all the changes. The CPU Clock Ratio is back to 10 (2.0GHz again), Core Performance Boost is enabled, and Cool'n'Quiet is enabled. I saved the changes and restarted.

In Windows 10 with the Power Saver power plan the CPU idles from 1.4-2.0GHz but can boost to 2.2 GHz if needed. I monitored the CPU temperature with Core Temp and its gadget. After a few minutes with the CPU idling at 1.4GHz the CPU temperature was showing 9-11C (48-52F). That is not real. The AMD FX CPUs produced an offset not the real temperature. The real CPU temperature is probably about 20-30C which is really good.

I will run Prime95 and MemTest86 later and report back tomorrow.

I tried booting Ventoy again with the Linux Mint Live ISOs again. Still getting the same errors so I am going to stick with Fedora 44 Workstation.

Very good work! Glad you were able to finally fit some CPU cooler which work.
Indeed, your AMD FX processor may produce an offset to temperature readouts, you may need to investigate this, if you want to know real temperature.

With new cooler secured and new thermal paste applied, you can do prime95 stress test inside your Fedora system. Download here:
https://www.mersenne.org/download/
Select one of the CPU/power heavy stress test options, not memory heavy option, as this one will eat all the RAM during the test, making system unusable.
Leave RAM test for later - Memtest86+ on a separate USB stick will do the job, computer boots into it and it tests RAM, preferably overnight.

With everything tested and proven stable, you could start investigating software side of things. Your computer may be incompatible with whatever Linux Mint prepared. Installation troubleshooting steps are discussed on their page:
https://linuxmint.com/rel_zena.php
One obvious thing to check would be:

If Linux Mint freezes during boot time, use the "Compatibility Mode" boot option.