Can you install LMDE4 without internet

[urdrwho]

Can you install LMDE4 with the internet?

1. I need to have a persistent flash drive live to get wifi working
2. Install will not even start using a persistent flash drive
3. Create a non-persistent flash drive, install will start but eventually stalls

I have installed mint distros before but this has me confused. Currently I have Mint mate 19 and 20 installed.

Debian 10.5 will start an install on a persistent flash drive.

Any ideas????

[antikythera]

Can you install LMDE4 with the internet?

1. I need to have a persistent flash drive live to get wifi working
2. Install will not even start using a persistent flash drive
3. Create a non-persistent flash drive, install will start but eventually stalls

I have installed mint distros before but this has me confused. Currently I have Mint mate 19 and 20 installed.

Debian 10.5 will start an install on a persistent flash drive.

Any ideas????

You don't need to be connected to install the LMDE4 ISO contents. You'll have to set the timezone and keyboard layout manually but after that there's no real issue if you are not connected to the internet during installation.

[urdrwho]

Well I got it to continue by using a terminal command sudo live-installer-expert-mode.

I didn't really enter expert mode, it just took me to the installer but it did continue past the stopping point. It installed but there is a problem, I am looking at a blinking cursor.

It's been a while since I installed a LMDE and IMHO the installer is not as friendly as other installers. I never really got to a place that asked me to format the root partition or a place where I could say do not format home....keep home, etc. You just tell it where you want / or where home. Looking at the folders home is still intact but there were changes done to /. My GRUB menu still says Tricia 19.3 and it should say LMDE.

It's now a GRUB issue because even though it tries and says welcome to LDME it is really still hitting Tricia files. I guess I'll have to gpart the / where Tricia once resided and try again?

[urdrwho]

Can you install LMDE4 with the internet?

1. I need to have a persistent flash drive live to get wifi working
2. Install will not even start using a persistent flash drive
3. Create a non-persistent flash drive, install will start but eventually stalls

I have installed mint distros before but this has me confused. Currently I have Mint mate 19 and 20 installed.

Debian 10.5 will start an install on a persistent flash drive.

Any ideas????

You don't need to be connected to install the LMDE4 ISO contents. You'll have to set the timezone and keyboard layout manually but after that there's no real issue if you are not connected to the internet during installation.

Thanks.

I don't think it is meant to be.

I managed to get to the end of the install three times but it will never boot. I install GRUB in the same place as I always do with Mint, etc. It goes to /dev/mmcblk2p1. That is my boot/efi partition. So when I get to the "install the boot menu" I tell it to use mmcblk2p1. I am assuming that by boot menu they mean where GRUB will be installed. If so they need to tighten up on the grammar.

In the end I reboot and nothing has changed on the GRUB menu. LMDE should be first in the menu but it is not, it is last. It goes Mint 20, windows boot loader and then LMDE.

Maybe it is a sign to just be happy with Mint 20.

[antikythera]

It wouldn't surprise me, there are a few niggles with the Calamares installer. I have only LMDE4 installed on my systems so didn't run into any such complications but my laptop (EFI mode) has a quirk with grub-pc being marked as residual config when in actual fact removing it screws up grub2. This indicates grub2 was installed a very odd way.

[urdrwho]

there are a few niggles with the Calamares installer.

I agree. It has never been my favorite installer.