Linux Mint Forums

Hey I'm new to linux and wanted to try linux mint kde. I've tried unetbootin and that didn't work. So I kept searching forms/google. Found this post. Hope... Tried the app and got what i believe is the closest to booting up linux. When using unetbootin i could only run in compatibility mode, and eventually that stopped working. My mac would simply have a black screen after choosing to boot using usb linux, and have msg: "boot error." then nothing more. When I tired using linux usb builder it let me select the usb to boot, and then loaded linux, then loaded/ran the "drive" sorry for my lack of descriptive words. Last message was to hold on buckle in loading kernel. Says might take a while and have patience. I let run all night and woke up 6-8 hours later... still nothing. Maybe i'm being stupid, but I'm becoming desperate. I'm going to try a live dvd soon, but rather not. I = cheap... Thanks for any help that you can provide.

Post split from http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=96503. New problems deserve new topics, see the forum rules.

It generally helps others help you if you provide details. Like, what is your computer make & model. What Linux Mint edition and version are you trying to install.

Hey I have a question i've been having a problem using linux usb builder, I've got a Imac with a 2.93 GHz intel core 2 duo, with a NVIDIA GeForce GT120 video card. I've been trying to install Linux mint 13 KDE and I've never been able to eve see the desktop screen. I've Also tired unetbootin, with only the compatability mode actually giving me a desktop that I can work with. When booting from the usb it is plugged in on my keyboard port, and I can use either rEfit or the alt/option key to choose the usb. After choosing the usb it begins to boot. It has no problem until it begins to boot the kernel. So the last message I see is "Hold on, buckle in" and then something about loading kernel it might take a while. I've let my mac set over night without any changes. If there's something I can do or someone can help that would be amazing, ive searched google, ubuntu forums as well as the linux mint forums. Thanks in advance

Moved here by moderator.

The topic you added your latest post to was old and already answered. In addition you already have your own support topic here. If you feel it isn't being answered then just bump it. See forum rule section 2 rule 9.

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=83314

ok update... more of a computer newb mistake than a linux one. I was trying to install the 32bit iso file instead of the 64 which is what my processor is... Bad news I'm still having the same problem. it loaded the RAMdrive and then was loading kernel and I saw some weird color spots and that was it...? help

It sounds like the iso is not loading properly on the USB drive. I've had issues with unetbootin in the past.

If you are using a Linux machine do the following.

1. Use Gparted to format the USB drive and load fat32 file system
2. Use the dd command to load the ISO. example sudo dd bs=4M if=iso-file of=/dev/sbx (sbx is the USB drive don't use sbx1)

If you are on Windows

1. Format the USB drive to fat32
2. Use http://www.pendrivelinux.com/ to copy the ISO to USB

what if i'm on neither...? i'm on osx snow leopard 10.6.8

I'm not using OSX but I believe that you can use the dd command just like linux. You can probably Google it for OSX.

actually yes you're right I can do that. When I was running around google looking for answers I came across the dd option, but it also failed. I don't remember the site that I gained the information from. I do remember though that there was a little difference in using "4M" and "4m" either way I tried both lol. Still nothing working out for me, but I could be doing it wrong. I'll give it one more shot and upload my command line to see if there's something that I don't even realize i'm doing wrong.

and I followed instructions on ubuntu's site. Everything went okay, until i tried to boot up. I just ended up at a boot prompt

also new update, I went and bought some new blank dvd's and checked the md5sum and burnt off a copy of the linux mint 13 kde 32 bit image. I think this has worked the best for me so far. I've seen the screen on the user guide pdf. where it says linux mint will boot automatically in 10...9...8...etc... After that it goes to a white screen with a blinking cursor on the upper left corner. I know this is sort of off topic from my original problem, but i didn't know if this extra information would help someone trouble shooting my live usb problem. I'm going to search the threads for similar issues with the live dvd and maybe at least get linux mint installed so I can trouble shoot the live usb problem via linux os instead of mac osx.