Trying to install Mint on Dell Inspiron 5577

[Abi1024]

I've been trying to install Mint on my new laptop without much success. I created a USB and used Rufus to create a bootable copy of Mint on the USB. When trying to boot off the USB, I am taken to the grub menu. When selecting the second option (Start in compatibility mode), I am taken to a login terminal. I can enter the username ("mint") and the password (""), and then I'm welcomed to a terminal. I tried running "xstart", but then I get the error "xf86EnableIOPorts: failed to set IOPL for I/O".

The funny thing, using the very same USB, I was able to successfully install Mint on my old laptop, which is the one I am currently typing from. So I doubt the problem is with the USB.

Laptop specs (the one I am trying to install linux on):
Model: Dell Inspiron 5577
Intel Core i5-7300HQ Processor 2.5GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB GDDR5
8GB DDR4-2400 RAM
256GB Solid State Drive
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
2-in-1 Card Reader
10/100/1000 Network
1x1 Dual Band 802.11ac Wireless+Bluetooth 4.2
15.6" Full HD Anti-Glare LED-backlit Display

The Linux version I'm trying to install is:
Linux Mint (MATE) 18.3

Notes:
- Fast Startup and Secure Boot are both disabled.
- UEFI mode is being used to boot
- Sometimes I'll get a kernel panic while trying to boot

My old laptop's specs (which successfully now has mint) has no dedicated GPU, but I'm not sure if that's the issue.
How would I go about troubleshooting the issue?

 

[arochester]

The problem looks like your Nvidia Geforce 1050.

You could try putting nomodeset in the Grub instructions. Look at https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/nomodeset

That will completely bypass your Nvidia temporarily

If it boots, you need to install the Nvidia firmware (driver). Look at https://tutorialforlinux.com/2017/0...-driver-for-linux-mint-18-x-64bit-easy-guide/

 

[Abi1024]

Doesn't seem to work, although I could be doing it wrong.
At the grub menu, I can press 'e' to take me to boot configurations. In the line that starts with "linux", I can replace "quiet splash" with "nomodeset". Doesn't help though. I still get the black screen. Interestingly, if I leave the black screen on for a few minutes, it eventually shows some text with a kernel panic at the bottom.

 

[atanere]

Doesn't seem to work, although I could be doing it wrong.
At the grub menu, I can press 'e' to take me to boot configurations. In the line that starts with "linux", I can replace "quiet splash" with "nomodeset". Doesn't help though. I still get the black screen. Interestingly, if I leave the black screen on for a few minutes, it eventually shows some text with a kernel panic at the bottom.

Hi @Abi1024, and welcome. You don't need to replace "quiet" and "splash"... just add "nomodeset" with them (at the end, in between, whatever). Then you have to hit CTRL-X or F10 to boot with that changed setting. If you just hit Enter then that might be an explanation for it not working.

Also, you might try on the standard launch "Try Linux Mint" instead of in compatibility mode, although compatibility mode should work at times when the standard launch doesn't. Compatibility mode should not take you to a command prompt though... it should still take you to the graphical desktop.

Some other thoughts.... disabling Fast Boot is a good idea, but Secure Boot may be left enabled with Linux Mint (not all distros can use Secure Boot, but Mint can). Also, you may have got a corrupted download of the Mint .iso file that you put to USB. All kinds of weird things can happen if the .iso file is bad. Mint provides a sha256 checksum text file for all their products, and you can "verify" the checksum with a free utility in Windows. There are many of these utilities available... one nice one is here. You might Google around to see if there are any particular problems with your Dell model... sometimes we run into peculiar things, but your specs are typically fine to run any version of Linux. If Mint ultimately fails, you might try some other distros too... at least in "live mode" without installing until you figure out better what's going on.

Working 12-hr shifts.... gotta run. Will check back with you as time allows though.

Cheers

 

[Abi1024]

Hi @Abi1024, and welcome. You don't need to replace "quiet" and "splash"... just add "nomodeset" with them (at the end, in between, whatever). Then you have to hit CTRL-X or F10 to boot with that changed setting. If you just hit Enter then that might be an explanation for it not working.

Also, you might try on the standard launch "Try Linux Mint" instead of in compatibility mode, although compatibility mode should work at times when the standard launch doesn't. Compatibility mode should not take you to a command prompt though... it should still take you to the graphical desktop.

Some other thoughts.... disabling Fast Boot is a good idea, but Secure Boot may be left enabled with Linux Mint (not all distros can use Secure Boot, but Mint can). Also, you may have got a corrupted download of the Mint .iso file that you put to USB. All kinds of weird things can happen if the .iso file is bad. Mint provides a sha256 checksum text file for all their products, and you can "verify" the checksum with a free utility in Windows. There are many of these utilities available... one nice one is here. You might Google around to see if there are any particular problems with your Dell model... sometimes we run into peculiar things, but your specs are typically fine to run any version of Linux. If Mint ultimately fails, you might try some other distros too... at least in "live mode" without installing until you figure out better what's going on.

Working 12-hr shifts.... gotta run. Will check back with you as time allows though.

Cheers

Hi, thanks for your help.
I checked the sha256 hash of the ISO, it's totally valid. I used Rufus to burn the image in DD mode to the USB drive, so I won't be able to verify the hashes on the USB. Pretty sure no issues, since I was able to install mint into my old laptop using the same USB (but maybe I just got lucky with the old laptop?).

I should mention the new laptop has an Nvidia GPU, which might be causing issues. I did try regular "linux mint", with "nomodeset", but it doesn't seem to help much. Sometimes I'll get a black screen and sometimes I'll get a huge stacktrace of errors (Kernel Panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)).

Enabling Secure Boot makes me unable to boot from the USB for some reason. I seem to have to stick to having it be disabled.

I was briefly able to get Ubuntu to run "in live mode", but installation didn't work (can't remember why). I especially want Mint though.

UPDATE:
Sometimes (and sometimes not), I am able to boot into the main desktop page (but there seem to be errors as it gets to this stage). From there, I'm able to click "Install Linux Mint", but when the actual installation proceeds, I get the error

Then my installer just closes. Not sure what the problem is. I should remark that my disk and memory have both been checked for errors.

Other times, I just get the black screen. The inconsistent behavior is really throwing me off.

I should also note that sometimes, I'll get the error "Squashfs error unable to read page/inode blocks" and sometimes I'll be presented with a login screen I can't get past.

 

[atanere]

I won't be able to verify the hashes on the USB

Actually, there is a way to do that, but no need since you already verified the .iso before burning. As long as Rufus didn't report any errors, I'm not too concerned about that.

Kernel Panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)

This, plus your other comments and graphic (thanks for that... pics always help)... point toward your hard drive, but the squashfs comment points back to the USB stick. These are the things to work with and try to pick apart a solution. I haven't found anything that is exactly like your problem, but it is similar to some others.

Here is probably a difference between this computer and your old one: This one has a SSD, and I'm gonna guess the old one was a traditional HDD. You've checked the drive and found no errors, so that's good. But the SSD can still have some kind of configuration issue that is inhibiting the install. Check this: go into BIOS and see if you have a setting for "SATA Controller"... it should be set for AHCI. If it's anything else, change it to AHCI and try installing Mint again. Also make sure you don't have any RAID configurations enabled.

If possible, can you try to install from DVD instead of USB? It's probably wishful thinking that you might have a built-in DVD drive, but a lot of folks (like me) keep an external drive around, so I'm hoping you have one, or have a friend who can loan you one. If this sounds crazy, take a look here. Crazy stuff happens sometimes.

I'm leaning more to your BIOS though.... just a hunch (and easily wrong). Besides SATA Controller and RAID, there may be other settings that could have an effect. Look throughout all of your BIOS settings and see if anything pops out at you.

If you actually get to the real culprit, you may can re-enable Secure Boot, if you want. Linux Mint should work with UEFI mode and Secure Boot both under normal circumstances.

Cheers

 

[Deleted member 35560]

Can I make a suggestion, try booting in Legacy and turning off secure boot, particularly if you doing it through Windows as that make it boot securely to windows. You can run Mint in Legacy without problems, because as I was told once If it aint broke don't fix it. After it has installed you can change back, but only do so after you've done all the updates -