New installation. No boot

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shawfield

New installation. No boot

Post by shawfield »

HI
I've seen this thread - http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=188416 - which seems to indicate the same issue as I have but the solution isn't working for me.
I had trouble with windows constantly needing to 'repair' itself. So decided to instal Linux Mint. My bios is horribly fussy & I had to disale all other bootdevices in setup before it would boot the memory stick containing Linux mint.

All went well. I chose to overwite the whole disk & the machine restarted, but refuses to boot, just going into a boot loop after I enabled the SSD in setup & disabled the memory stick.
I tried disable Legacy Boot support & enabled EUFI Boot support, after seeing that the hard drive has been formatted with the small partition to enable EUFI.

Still have a boot loop.

These are my BIOS settings

CPU power saving - enabled
Hyperthreading - enabled
Execute disable bit - disabled
Legacy.boot support - disabled
UEFIboot support - enabled
AHCI mode control - Manual
Set AHCI mode control - End
Fan silent mode - Auto
Battery life cycle extension - Enabled
USB charge in sleep mode - Disabled
USB S3 wake-up - Enabled

Its a Samsung Series 9 13.3" NP900X3A notebook

Can anyone help ?
Thanks
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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Derek_S
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Location: Long Island, N.Y.

Re: New installtion. No boot

Post by Derek_S »

Hello shawfield - From what you've described it sounds like you did everything correctly, but then again I wasn't standing there looking over your shoulder. One thing that I didn't see mentioned in your list of BIOS settings is "Secure Boot". So the first thing you need to examine is whether it is currently set to enabled or disabled. Set it to disabled and try booting the system again, first with UEFI boot enabled, and if that doesn't work, try it again with Lecacy/CSM boot enabled. If neither results in success, then I suggest trying a fresh installation, since I have a strong feeling that you did a "cross installation", which I'll explain below.

You have two choices when it comes to booting the system and performing the installation: with UEFI boot enabled in BIOS, or with Legacy/CSM boot enabled in BIOS. 1.) If you choose to use UEFI mode, then the device you're installing to must have a GPT partition table installed. 2.) If you choose to use Legacy/CSM mode, then the device you're installing to must have a MBR partition table installed. If you get these crossed up somehow, you'll end up with a system that refuses to boot. Remember to disabled Secure Boot no matter which way you choose to go.

If you've abandoned Windows completely, and have no intention of ever going back, I suggest installing with Legacy/CSM mode enabled and having a MBR partition table installed on the disk. For most people, it's simpler to do and more dependable in day to day use. To do this, go into your BIOS settings and select Legacy/CSM boot mode, and double-check that Secure Boot is set to disabled. Then boot your machine with your Linux Mint installation media. When you get to the desktop, start by making your internet connection first. Then go to Menu > Administration and open Gparted. Look at the partition table that is displayed in the lower panel of Gparted and verify it is the SSD that you intend to install to. If not, use the button on the right side to toggle between /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, and so on. Once you're certain that you have the correct device, go up and hit "Device", then select "Create New Partition Table". The default choice is "ms-dos" (a.k.a. MBR) and that's what you want. Click "Apply" to install the new MBR partition table on the SSD, then close Gparted. Begin your installation, and when you get to the "Installation Options" screen, select the first choice, "Erase Disk and Install Linux Mint". Then it's a simple matter of doing what you did previously and letting the installer run to completion. You shouldn't have any problems on reboot, and if you do, post back to this thread. Good luck - Derek.
"When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself." - Tecumseh
gold_finger

Re: New installation. No boot

Post by gold_finger »

@ Derek_S and Shawfield,

Samsung's UEFI firmware must be a little wacky. Sure seems like many people have issues getting them to work in UEFI mode.


@Shawfield,

Are you dual-booting with Windows? Or just installing Mint by itself?

Like Derek_S said, if only Mint then probably easiest to wipe out drive, make new MBR/(msdos) partition table on it, then reinstall again. Follow his instructions.

If you're dual booting with Windows, then we'll need to see the output of these commands from a terminal while booted with your live Mint disk:

Code: Select all

ls /sys/firmware
sudo parted -l
(Last command ends in lowercase letter "L".)

Just a little clarification on one thing he said -- you can install Mint to a GPT partitioned disk in Legacy mode. Windows must use UEFI mode for GPT disks, but Linux can be installed to GPT disks in either mode. The procedure is slightly different for that type of install as described here. (I'm just pointing this out for information purposes -- not recommending you install that way.) So, if you're dual-booting you need to install Mint in the same mode that Windows is using. If not, you can go with either mode -- but it would be easiest if you change to MBR partitions and use Legacy/CSM mode for booting.
shawfield

Re: New installation. No boot

Post by shawfield »

Thanks chaps. All very helpful.

I tried ( before I saw your replies ) to do a new installation after deleting all partitions & creating an MS-Dos MBR - not that I was confident I did the right thing at all !
But the big problem ended up being that the installation failed after taking 3 hours to copy files to the SSD. So its seems to me that my problem all along was that the SSD is dead or dying.
Hence Win7's constant attempts to 'repair' the installation. But yes I am going to forget Windows & just use Mint on this laptop.

Big Lesson - Samsung Series 9 is a) Beautiful to look at b) has a horribly fussy BIOS c) got very bad build quality as I had a new keyboard, new screen, two new SSD's ( one 3 months out of warranty but they agreed its been a disaster & replaced free of charge ) during the first 15 months of ownership. The local repair centre new me by first name !

So I've bought a new SSD - only £60 - & will start afresh at the weekend when I've got several hours to spare, to deal with the silly Samsung BIOS :-)
Thanks for your help chaps, gives me slightly more instruction that I gleaned from various other posts.
gold_finger

Re: New installation. No boot

Post by gold_finger »

Post back to let us know how it goes and/or if you discover some secret to getting UEFI mode to work.

If you decide to install in UEFI mode, have a look at this tutorial and just ignore all the Windows related stuff (assuming you don't reinstall Windows). Only things you'll need to add to instructions are:
1. Use GParted to make a GPT partition table on the drive before installing.
2. You'll need to make one more partition than is listed in instructions. In addition to Root, Home and Swap, you'll need to make a small (512MB) FAT32 partition at the beginning of the drive -- that will be your "EFI System Partition" when installing. If you make the partition with GParted (before running the installer), set the "boot" flag on that partition. On the installer's partitioning screen, if it doesn't appear as shown in tutorial screenshot, you'll need to set the mount point to "/boot/efi".
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