Linux usb ISO's rarely compatible. Fix it ?

[Lx_pollywog]

Good day out here,
Yes, happens all the time. A new/refurb pc will not boot Linux ISO usb's or go blank/bad after a few clicks.
Often have to give up on installing the Linux OS i Really want.

If i want linux, only solution found is compensating by booting install with a Mint or Ubuntu ISO.
These ISO's are much more user friendly as they come equipped with many more dependencies...or something.

This is like being in a jail, lol.

Really wanna find a solution.
Is there a kind of pre-installed 'layer' i can put in place to make non-functional ISO's work?
An experiment that one time worked was flashing a regular Debian_os & then
usb install/wiping disk with the Debian fork i wanted (BunsenLabs). But then again did not work on all pc's.

Found this yt video that might be related to my situation, not sure though.

Example list of problem ISO's : Alpine, BunsenLabs(debian), freeBSD & almost all iso's.

If it helps knowing:
My present plan is to install Alpine_os for KVM virtual machines or trying freeBSD with wm-bhyve virtual machines.

Help me Slay the beast !

Hard for me easy for you ?
Thanks

 

[osprey]

Have you verified the .iso files with the checksums each of the distributions provide. For example, in the case of the alpine .iso file, see here:

Installation - Alpine Linux

wiki.alpinelinux.org

Each distro has it's own verification files such as those for alpine which verify the .iso download.

It might be helpful to alter some BIOS/UEFI items, e.g.:
disable secure boot;
disable fast booting;
change any "operating systems" settings away from MS to "other" or "unix" or "legacy" or whatever else is not MS;
change the first booting device the BIOS/UEFI looks for to the media with the .iso file, e.g. to boot a usb first if the .iso is on a usb.

After inserting the .iso media (usb, CD or DVD), then it's usually possible to press a key for a "Boot Menu" to come up from where the user can select the operating system to boot. There may be a choice of selecting to boot in BIOS or UEFI mode so the user can select one or the other.

That's about all there is to it in my own case, without issues.

 

[Lx_pollywog]

Thankyou Osprey

This part is self-evident, am advanced enough

Have you verified the .iso files with the checksums each of the distributions provide. For example, in the case of the alpine .iso file, see here:

Installation - Alpine Linux​

wiki.alpinelinux.org

Each distro has it's own verification files such as those for alpine which verify the .iso download.

I will explore the rest of your info.
Much appreciated

 

[wizardfromoz]

Moved to General Linux Questions.

Wizard

 

[osprey]

Thankyou Osprey

This part is self-evident, am advanced enough

Yes, of course. I expected no less. It was just for "completeness" of the practice that I'm familiar with that I mentioned it bearing in mind there are other readers as well.

 

[Brickwizard]

it may also be a hardware problem, example.. Some Chromebooks cannot be converted.

 

[Lx_pollywog]

it may also be a hardware problem, example.. Some Chromebooks cannot be converted.

Often easy to install Mint_os or Ubuntu, both very user friendly systems on almost any pc,
But other Linux distros are mind benders. Like i asked, if Mint & Ubuntu install easy on a designated pc doesn't that proove it does Linux ? Could it not be the Distros that are lacking then. I shouldn't need a university degree to install linux, yes you know what i mean.
Shouldn't have to be an autistic savant g-damn.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Often have to give up on installing the Linux OS i Really want.

Maybe you can give us a short list of those?

And your system specs

inxi -Fxz

Leaving for my evening.

TIA

Wizard

 

[trawglodyte]

Have you examined your BIOS settings? Mine, for example, has one setting that toggles either "Windows UEFI" or "Other OS". But there are many BIOS settings which can affect whether .iso's will boot or not.

Another option, if you can install Ubuntu then you can do
sudo apt install grml-rescueboot
This will give you a special folder /boot/grml take your .iso, say it's in your Downloads folder
sudo mv ~/Downloads/bunsenlabs.iso /boot/grml sudo update-grub
Then that .iso will be in your grub menu and might work a bit better for you booting from the Ubuntu grub.

 

[f33dm3bits]

From my experience it can depend on the tool you use to create the bootable iso. There are ones out there that don't work well with some distributions or use to work but don't work anymore. I would personally recommend any of the one's the the EndeavourOS wiki mentions.

Create install media (USB key)

What NOT To Do Some USB Writing utilities alter the labels of the partitions included in the ISO image. This causes the boot to fail. There are workarounds to fix the failure, but th…

discovery.endeavouros.com

Ventoy is probably one of the better options, I personally just use dd to create my bootable iso, it hasn't failed met yet.