How do you change the Install user from oem?

[wayner]

I have installed Mint 8 a couple of times now (from the same USB stick) and upon install it doesn't let you create your own user, you must use one called "oem". Can this be changed? What is the point of having a default user rather then letting you specify your own user upon install?

[Leppie]

i've installed helena a couple of times as well and each time prompted me to create the main user.
what cd are you using? did you download it form the mint site? you may want to download and burn a new copy...
this doesn't sound like an "official mint" cd.

[wayner]

I am pretty sure that I downloaded the ISO from the Lnix Mint web site and then I used the method at the pendrive linux site (http://www.pendrivelinux.com/install-li ... n-windows/) to create a bootable USB key. When I boot from the USB key it gives me the option of running from the USB device or installing to hard drive. I chose the install to hard drive option.

Maybe this only happens using this install method as I found this post (http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?)f=58&p=239132#p236027 which says:

The only downside is that the installer from the live USB gives you no choice but to start as a temporary user account called "oem." You have to create a new user account with the exact same privileges under your own name if you want one, and deleting the oem home folder and account is a good idea (considering the dearth of drive space in your sweet little netbook.) Delete the account first (after you've made sure your account is set up right, just to be safe) and then

Why would installing from the live USB be any different than installing from an optical disc?

I also found this in a story comparing Ubuntu to Mint:

Both distros in come in Live CD iso images. A Live CD-ed distro offer users the opportunity to test the operating system without first installing it on their computer. This is a very common practice in the Linux community, a practice pioneered by Knoppix (?). In addition to providing an option to boot into the Live mode, Ubuntu also gives you the option to install directly to disk without first booting into the Live mode. With Mint, however, you must first boot into the Live mode, unless you are doing an OEM installation.

Does this mean I boot into the Live version of Mint? Then how do I do an install - is it obvious from there?

[Aging Technogeek]

If you boot Mint as a live CD you will get the Mint desktop exactly as you would if you booted from an installed copy on your hard drive. The only difference is this desktop is running from the CD. On the desktop you will find an icon labeled Install Mint (or something similar) Double click on the icon and the installation starts.

When installing from the desktop you get to set up your user account during the install. No OEM user accounts to fool with. In fact, the only way to do an OEM install from a live CD is to Press Enter right at the beginning of the boot process while the 10 second countdown timer is on screen. This stops the timer and gives you a boot menu. One of the choices is OEM Install.

I've never made or booted from a pendrive installer but I see posts all the time by people who chose this installation method and had great success with it.

[wayner]

Thanks I will try that - but the Live aspect will again be from a pendrive rather than a CD but I don't see how that matters.

[Leppie]

not sure how to do this in mint (i'm new to mint). in ubuntu there's the usb imagewrite, maybe it's also available in mint?

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install usb-imagewriter

[Aging Technogeek]

Usb-imagewriter is in Synaptic so that's an option if required but the big problem is getting past the OEM installer. Whether he uses a pen drive or a live CD, If the .iso file is correct and complete, getting to the OEM installer takes a deliberate act - selecting it from an options menu that is not normally displayed.

Wayner, exactly what steps did you take when you loaded the usb drive and when you installed Mint? Please be as complete and accurate as possible.

[wayner]

I booted from the USB - this gives you a menu of several options including Run Linux Mint from USB. I chose the option that says something like "Install to hard drive from USB". When you do that it appears to install as an oem-installation.

Look at the piece that I quoted in post 3 of this thread 'The only downside is that the installer from the live USB gives you no choice but to start as a temporary user account called "oem." '

[Leppie]

Look at the piece that I quoted in post 3 of this thread 'The only downside is that the installer from the live USB gives you no choice but to start as a temporary user account called "oem." '

to me this would mean that when in the desktop environment the user account you're using is "oem". this doesn't mean you can only install an "oem" account to the hd.
have you tried booting normally into mint from the usb stick and then install to your hd?

[wayner]

If you mean have I booted into Mint as in running the OS from the hard drive - no I haven't done that. I will try that - to is it obvious how you install when you have done that step - below someone mentions that there is an icon on your desktop to install to hard drive. I will try that.

[Leppie]

If you mean have I booted into Mint as in running the OS from the hard drive

no, booting off the usb stick choose to try mint, not install mind.

to is it obvious how you install when you have done that step - below someone mentions that there is an icon on your desktop to install to hard drive.

if you booted off the hd, there's not really the need to install to hd...

[wayner]

Sorry typo - I meant to say USB drive.

[wayner]

I can confirm that when you do boot to the "Live" version of Mint where you are running from the USB and you run the install from there you can enter your username. I ran this install on a notebook but I wasn't able to totally complete the install (as there was a problem with a required file) but that is a different issue.

My suggestion from this experience would be to remove the restriction to only allow a user called "oem" to do the install directly from a pendrive.

[diranda]

I am having this exact same issue with my usb installation media. I downloaded the iso of the 32 bit Mint, set it up on the usb stick with Universal USB Installer you can get from pendrive linux, and went to install it on my netbook.

I was given several options in the grub menu on the usb media, Start Mint, Install Mint (etc.) These did not say OEM installation or anything like it on there. However, choosing to install directly from the USB or installing from the Mint Live Desktop both put me into the OEM only installation, which does not allow you to set up a user, greying out the user name boxes and filling them in with the OEM user information.

I did install this way, but getting rid of the OEM user after the installation was a real pain and I'm not entirely sure it was done right.

I don't have anything valuable on the netbook yet so I'm ok with installing it again, however, when I installed the 64 bit version on my desktop machine, it was a normal installation with no OEM options given at all.

Any suggestions?

Julie in AZ

PS: Additional Thought: Has anyone tried using the usb installer unetbootin rather than Universal USB installer? I wonder if there might be something different going on under the hood when Universal sets up an install on a USB stick as opposed to what unetbootin does. When I get home from work I will try this out (as I have both of them on my desktop) and see what happens. Will let the thread know either way.

[dawgdoc]

This individual, gruntlips_, was having the same issue of installing the oem user. Here is how he solved it.

The short version is that when you boot from the liveCD or USBdrive, do not touch anything during the early part of boot. The start up procedure will carry you to the desktop. Then you click the desktop icon to install.