Removed Usb drive too early, major crash

[andreapavanelli]

Hello, yesterday I tried to install Mint Cinnammon 64 bit for the first time in my life.
I followed the instructions, downloaded the ISO file, copied it on an USB drive with Etcher and the process went ok.
Changed the boot priority, selected USb and hit reboot.
All fine, Mint started properly. So I decided to install it on the hard disk, followed the procedure but, at the very last step when it says reboot and remove USB drive I did the fatal mistake.
I removed the usb drive before switching off the laptop and all went black, as a sign of crash.
I've tried to reboot without the usb drive and nothing happens, it just load windows as usual without asking my choice between windows or mint.
If I insert the USB again it gives me a message of "major error occuring" and mint won't start. So I've tried to format the usb drive and copy again the iso file, willing to restart the process again but every time I try to boot from usb drive i get the message of "major error". I'm in a corner, don't know how to solve this. Can you please help me ? Thank you !

[gittiest personITW]

In Windows, go into Disk Manager and see if you can delete any partitions on the USB and then create 1 partition, format it (long format) and see if that works.
If Disk Manager won't do it, try 'mintool partition wizard'
https://cdn2.minitool.com/?p=pw&e=pw-free
If that doesn't do it, chances are you need a new USB drive.

[pbear]

In case you don't know, Disk Management can be opened by right-clicking Start. Will be one of the apps on the upper half of the list.

I'm kind of surprised Windows doesn't automatically nag for permission to format the flash drive when inserted. Or does it?

[andreapavanelli]

the formatting rworks properly, windows ask for permission. The strange point is that even after formatting and copying again the iso file, the crash is exactly the same . By the way I wonder where is mint gone on the hard disk, the installation process was completed. I'm quite confused..

[andreapavanelli]

In Windows, go into Disk Manager and see if you can delete any partitions on the USB and then create 1 partition, format it (long format) and see if that works.
If Disk Manager won't do it, try 'mintool partition wizard'
https://cdn2.minitool.com/?p=pw&e=pw-free
If that doesn't do it, chances are you need a new USB drive.

Did all, created a new partition but now at the end of the copying process Etcher says "sorry but copying was ended unexpectedely". Really hard to understand why. I'm downloading again the installation file, even if I think it's useless. Next thing I can try is to install Mate or Xfce instead, see if something change

[andreapavanelli]

After the unsuccesful attempt to copy the iso file the usb drive disappear from file manager, disk manager and Mini tool partition manager. Only way to let them see it again is to remove the drive phisically from the port and insert it again..

[gittiest personITW]

Try downloading the iso again. Maybe it got corrupted somehow.

[pbear]

Only way to let them see it again is to remove the drive phisically from the port and insert it again..

That, at least, is normal. Once a flash drive has been ejected, both Windows and Linux require you to go through that drill to remount it.

Bear in mind, the problem may be that the flash drive's controller was damaged, so it simply doesn't work anymore.

[andreapavanelli]

I have found out that my problem is well known among the community, particularly on Acer laptops like mine (Acer Aspire E1-522).
The error message is:

"Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\mmx64.efi - Not Found
Failed to load image \EFI\BOOT\mmx64.efi: Not Found
Failed to start MokManager: Not Found
Somethinghas gone seriously wrong: import_mok_state() failed : Not Found"

Despite I've read several solutions I'm still in trouble, just because I'm really unexperienced and it's my first time outside Windows world.
Any simple hints will be well accepted, please consider that I'm still working on Windows and not Linux.

Thank you again

[andreapavanelli]

Did it ! Followed the easiest way (copied a file and simply rename it)and it worked !
After the reboot it started an unseen thing: "GNU GRUB VERSION 2.02" with a list of possible commands. After a while I chose randomly exit and a Bios opened. I chose Ubuntu and the windows with the selection "windows 10" or "Mint" opened. I chose Mint and here I am. He remembered my userid and password chosen during the installation so I assume Mint is running from hard disk and not from usb pendrive. What next ? can I swirch off and remove the usb ? I'm scared to death !

[pbear]

Oh, you're not going to make the same mistake any time soon. Give it a few months.

Anyhoo, yes, shutdown, count to six, and remove the flash drive. Then reboot.

[andreapavanelli]

no, without the pendrive it loads directly windows without asking. Anyway, this problem is solved so I think this thread should be closed. Now I'll try to solve this current issue, eventually I'll open a new thread.

Thank you very much for your help !

Andrea

[pbear]

Actually, that sounds like the MokManager problem hasn't been fixed. What happened is that the installer wasn't able to finish setting up your machine owner key. Try booting with secure boot disabled. If that works, go into firmware settings and see whether you can reset the security keys. That should clear the way for Mint to boot the usual way. If you don't have a reset option, you could try this fix.

[bc1x]

Had a very similar black screen problem while installing 19.3 Mate on a converted Acer C710 (formerly Chromebook) a month ago. Instead of using Etcher, Rufus burned the .iso. The first attempt at burning failed & returned a 0x80070032 error, which Pete Batard suggests that the difficulty resulted from using a dual-boot device (HP laptop with W7 & W10). Changing the USB port did not work. Running Rufus on the Desktop with File Explorer closed & using a SD card worked better. While installing, the Acer screen went black, then the installation continued after another monitor was hooked up.

Yesterday, out of curiosity about GalliumOS, a flash drive was created, with File Explorer closed, on the HP laptop. The Gallium install stopped abruptly at the "Who are you?" section & the screen went black. The "Enter" key was pressed & restored the screen. Screen said install was completed & to remove the medium. Tianocore could not boot it.

Macrium 7.2 now has a different interface for restore, which asks the user to select a destination. In the past the bottom would be populated with the HDD partitions of the device running the program, not nearly blank. A bit flummoxed, I exited Macrium & tried installing another bootable 19.3 SD card. This time no black screen & the installation went flawlessly. It booted up & ran as expected.

UNetbootin never "rebelled" against a dual-boot device; but, alas, it can't be used for UEFI. These newfangled burners sure are finicky (translation for the OP: the modern burners are difficult to use).

Suggestions:
1) Burn on a device with only 1 OS, to a SD card; with File Explorer closed.
2) Create a system image before the next 19.3 installation attempt. Less panic if anything goes wrong.

[bc1x]

Had another thought & here is a screenshot of HP laptop & SD card:


When I had previously tried to format the SD card for the GalliumOS install, Windows said it was write-protected. MiniTool was used to delete all the previous partitions (I don't remember if it had been MBR or GPT initialized) & Rufus burned the 19.3 .iso again, which resulted in the flawless installation yesterday.

Explanation why it's the file system that matters, not the initialization.

So suggestion #3: delete all partitions on USB flash drive or SD card, create a new partition bigger than 2 MB & format in Windows with FAT32. I agree about deploying MiniTool. If a lettered partition is not created, it will not be detected in File Explorer; but MiniTool will have no problem "seeing" it.

[andreapavanelli]

Try booting with secure boot disabled.

For some reason I don't know, in the bios I can't change this setting. The line is grey and not blue, so it's not possible to modify the value. Anyway, having a look at the other menus I noticed that the boot priority list was Usb, win and now Ubuntu. So I simply put Ubuntu first, removed the Usb drive, and that's it, works ! It asked me what OS to boot, I choose Mint and everything was fine.
I can finally relax and take a look at this new OS

Again, thank you for the support.

[pbear]

... I noticed that the boot priority list was Usb, win and now Ubuntu. So I simply put Ubuntu first, removed the Usb drive, and that's it, works !

Be aware, you sometimes need to boot from USB to repair the system. Also, if you want to modify partitions. So, you should keep the USB boot option and have it first on the list. Then, as you did, have ubuntu (Mint) before Windows.

FYI, Mint is called ubuntu here because it's using Ubuntu's Microsoft-certified boot loader, which is secure boot compatible.

[bc1x]

The Grub Bootloader should appear immediately after the Splash Screen, without having to enter the UEFi. LM should also boot by default, if it had been installed alongside Windows.


I did not notice the "Check the integrity of the medium" option with the first install. Everything ran slow as molasses & touchpad gestures produced erratic responses or none at all. With no error in the integrity check, 19.3 Mate on the little Acer, with 2 GB of RAM, now runs as quickly as the HP laptop with 4 GB of RAM.


In the "Welcome to Linux Mint" section of the installation, there is no input from the user; because software is being downloaded & installed automatically. The screensaver is set by default to turn the screen black after 5 minutes. This may be fairy dust; but during 2 successful installs, when the throbber was moved about constantly; there were no screen black-outs. It is easy enough to test the "screensaver" hypothesis.