(SOLVED) Clean Install on SSD, USB to install Linux, restarting, cannot find boot diskk

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:33 pm

have an ACER AM3470G, 12 Gb of memory. using a SK-hynix 500G ssd drive. Installing from USB drive.
Installation went very well. I partitioned the SSD for /, swap, and /home. after install I clicked the "restart now" box, removed the USB and allowed it to boot.

I get the message "No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed”.

in the BIOS I moved the ssd as the first in line for booting. I still get the error.

one note: when I booted from the USB drive, (after restarting and hitting the F12 key), it came up in the mini BOOT BIOS window as EFI scandisk.

I also tried letting mint load the installation without setting any partitions, thinking that might work. any suggestions will be appreciated.

thank you

motoryzen · Post by **motoryzen** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:57 pm

after install I clicked the "restart now" box, removed the USB and allowed it to boot
Try installing fresh again:

This is the point where I noticed that ---- sometimes --- Cinnamon ( unsure about the Edge edition) be it LM 20 or 20.1 doesn't give the " remove installation media and then press enter to reboot" notice.

The reason I mention that is important is, from my experience, if you remove the installation thumb drive too soon it could result in precisely what you're encountering. However, if you don't remove it at the right time aka too late, by default some systems will boot right back into that installation thumb drive as 1st boot device still and you're in an endless installation " loop". So then you're stuck wondering exactly when that split second is that the machine has shut down...enough versus already halfway or most of the way finished with P.O.S.T.- ing.

This is why I always recommend selecting " Continue testing" after that successful installation message appears and it's obvious the install process is finish. This way, you can shut down the system using either a terminal command ( shutdown now) or click the cinnamon menu button, then the light switch looking button and select to power it off/shut down that way. Then when it's obvious your system has completely shut down, remove the usb installation thumb drive, power it back on ( and if needs be, either spam the fwhatever key to access a quick boot menu or whatever fkey to access your uefi/bios aka " press this key to enter setup" to change your boot order to that ssd you just installed LM into.

I noticed the xfce and Mate versions have consistently had the proper " remove installation media then press enter to restart" message when selecting " restart pc" at the end of theirs. Not sure why Cinnamon occasionally has this hiccup for me.

Hope this helps.

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:07 pm

Motoryzen,

Thanks, I'll try the continue testing and then shut down to reboot. I know this is a straight BIOS motherboard. there are no options for EUFI within the BIOS. I don't know why the USB drive came up as EFI scansisk, but it did boot mint.

thanks

AndyMH · Post by **AndyMH** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:30 pm

Just to check that the mint install usb is booting in legacy mode, open a terminal and test -d /sys/firmware/efi && echo efi || echo bios, e.g.

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andy@T431 ~ $ test -d /sys/firmware/efi && echo efi || echo bios
bios

my laptop booting in legacy mode.

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:46 pm

AndyMH,

after I boot from the usb. in the demo mode open a system window and type in what you posted? what should MY results look like. sorry, I'm a little confused.

thanks for suggestion.

motoryzen · Post by **motoryzen** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:48 pm

AndyMH wrote: ⤴Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:30 pm Just to check that the mint install usb is booting in legacy mode, open a terminal and test -d /sys/firmware/efi && echo efi || echo bios, e.g.
Code: Select all
andy@T431 ~ $ test -d /sys/firmware/efi && echo efi || echo bios
bios
my laptop booting in legacy mode.

-- Awesome. Thanks for the Andy. As always, you. SMG and a good healthy handful of others on here keep us noobs fulfilled and armed with info. Cheers. --

AndyMH · Post by **AndyMH** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:57 pm

ilikesteel wrote: ⤴Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:46 pm AndyMH,

after I boot from the usb. in the demo mode open a system window and type in what you posted? what should MY results look like. sorry, I'm a little confused.

thanks for suggestion.

Boot your mint install usb, open a terminal, DON'T type the command, copy/paste it from here

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test -d /sys/firmware/efi && echo efi || echo bios

to reduce the chance of error.

If, like me, it is booting legacy then the output is bios, if it is booting in uefi mode the output is efi.

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 6:38 am

AndyMH,

Got it, Thanks!

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:00 am

AndyMH,

I can't believe it, it's EFI. Do you think it's a BIOS setting? The system does not see the disk when I boot with pressing the F12 key. it opens a mini window that looks like a BIOS window with hardware you can boot from. when I try and reboot and use the F12 key, The SSD does not appear in the list.

thanks

AndyMH · Post by **AndyMH** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:56 am

ilikesteel wrote: ⤴Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:00 am I can't believe it, it's EFI. Do you think it's a BIOS setting?

Yes it is a BIOS setting, unfortunately all BIOS are different, mine gives me the choices of UEFI only, legacy (msdos) only, both (UEFI first), both (legacy first). You want to set it to legacy. You might find that mint will then boot from the SSD. If not, you also want to look at your system drive. Booting from the mint install stick, open a terminal and sudo parted --list. This is what my system drive looks like:

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andy@T431 ~ $ sudo parted --list
[sudo] password for andy:          
Model: ATA KINGSTON SA400S3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 240GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos     <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system     Flags
 1      1049kB  34.0GB  34.0GB  primary  ext4            boot
 2      34.0GB  231GB   197GB   primary  ext4
 3      231GB   239GB   8000MB  primary  linux-swap(v1)

From what you said about partitioning in your first post, it should look similar (a /, /home and swap partition), the key issue being the partition table, it should be msdos (not gpt). Post the output (use code tags - this is the </> button above the reply window, paste the output between them - makes it easier to read like my parted output above).

It doesn't really matter whether you install in legacy or UEFI mode, but the partitions and partition table need to be consistent (msdos for legacy boot and gpt for UEFI boot, you also need an extra 'EFI' partition for UEFI boot).

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 11:01 am

AndyMH,

Code: Select all

o run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.

mint@mint:~$ sudo parted --list
Model: ATA SHGS31-500GS-2 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size   File system  Name                  Flags
 1      1049kB  538MB  537MB  fat32        EFI System Partition  boot, esp
 2      538MB   500GB  500GB  ext4


Warning: The driver descriptor says the physical block size is 2048 bytes, but
Linux says it is 512 bytes.
Ignore/Cancel?

I did NOT answer the ignore/Cancel ?.

definitely different from yours.

I hope attachments are helpful.

thanks a bunch, I can see the light at end of tunnel.

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 11:14 am

AndyMH,

here are a few more screen shots. running live linux mint off of USB drive

thanks .....

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:35 pm

AndyMH,

another screen shot of boot info in BIOS. This is with the original HDD 7200 Spindle, running win7 and mint 19.3 side by side. never have problems with this setup. I have changed the BIOS to reflect the same order as in the screen shot.

reinstalled mint 20.1 with EFI partition, sda1

/, swap. and /home. I made sure boot info reflected the efi on device sda1.

after installation, system did not see sata port 0, consequently it did not find the SSD.

not sure what to do from here.

thanks

AndyMH · Post by **AndyMH** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 2:21 pm

Booting/installing in uefi mode, you need four partitions not three. Do it using gparted from the mint install stick:

create an EFI partition, size 100MB, format fat32, flags = esp & boot (the flags are what tells BIOS it is your EFI partition and it is where it will install grub - the bootloader).

create an ext4 partition, size 30GiB (gparted shows size in GiB not GB) for /.

create a swap partition, size = same as your RAM, e.g. 8GB.

use the rest of the drive for an ext4 partition for /home.

Then install mint using the something else option, the next screen allows you to point at the ext4 partitions you created and tell the installer to use them for / and /home. Just check at the bottom of the screen that the installer is putting grub on sda (note it is the drive not the partition that is specified).

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:33 pm

AndyMH,

I followed your directions.

first photo is of the install window right before hitting "install now". the ssd is drive sda, that's what is highlighted in the bottom box.

after install, I checked Gparted and show photo # 2. I continued in test session and then shut down. asked me to remove USB, I did and hit enter. the system shut down.

powered up, and the system failed to recognize the ssd. (no boot disk available). I mean it doesn't pick the SSd at all, but it knows it's there on the install and setup partitioning. wouldn't that mean the mother board knows it's there, and the sata interface is working for sata 0?. it's like the bios doesn't pick it up. as I watched it try and boot 20.1, the bios software appears on a dark screen with some information that it's scanning. the only thing it picks up is the dvd drive, not ssd. next message is NO Boot disk.

Photo # 3 is my currect setup for this system running a spindle hdd 500G. I dual boot Win 7 and mint 19.3. everything works great. I bought a used computer with Win 10 and I have that in my basement for when I'm working on stuff, I can get online quickly.

So, I thought I'd make my upstairs machine a full linux mint machine, use a ssd and be happy.

I just swap cables between old drive and new ssd drive. when I want to try and boot mint 20.1. then back to old drive to be back online.

thanks.

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:37 pm

AndyMH.

Pics are out of order. I attached them in the order I wanted listed. it put the last first, etc. so bottom pic is #1, middle is #2 and # 3 is yop pic.

sorry, I'm a dunce today.

thanks.

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:38 pm

AndyMH.

Pics are out of order. I attached them in the order I wanted listed. it put the last first, etc. so bottom pic is #1, middle is #2 and # 3 is yop pic.

sorry, I'm a dunce today.

thanks.

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:23 pm

ilikesteel wrote: ⤴Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:33 pm have an ACER AM3470G, 12 Gb of memory. using a SK-hynix 500G ssd drive. Installing from USB drive.
Installation went very well. I partitioned the SSD for /, swap, and /home. after install I clicked the "restart now" box, removed the USB and allowed it to boot.

I get the message "No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed”.

in the BIOS I moved the ssd as the first in line for booting. I still get the error.

one note: when I booted from the USB drive, (after restarting and hitting the F12 key), it came up in the mini BOOT BIOS window as EFI scandisk.

I also tried letting mint load the installation without setting any partitions, thinking that might work. any suggestions will be appreciated.

thank you

ilikesteel · Post by **ilikesteel** » Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:34 pm

AndyMH,

I figured it out. read some other posts about SSD's and BIOS.

In the BIOS, I changed sata controller from RAID to ACHI

also changed From EFI, to ACHI in another setting.

saved and restarted.

got the ACER splash screen, it balked about something with booting, continued to do something and then started MINT. HURRAY!

after it booted, I restarted again. this time it came up perfectly, no glitches. it took about 10-12 seconds and I was at the desktop.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, especially AndyMH who answered many of the replies in this post.

Thanks AndyMH!

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