Mint 20 fails to install on SSD

[bjsteeves]

Installed a new drive "Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500G" in my system last year. Installed Mint 18 XFCE, which was the OS I was using at the time with no issues. Installed Mint 19, no issues. (Currently running 19.3). Tried installing Mint 20 and it fails to install on this drive.

What is the major difference between previous versions and Mint 20 that cause Mint 20 to fail, while previous versions run flawlessly?

This one has me stumped!

[Pjotr]

Installed a new drive "Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500G" in my system last year. Installed Mint 18 XFCE, which was the OS I was using at the time with no issues. Installed Mint 19, no issues. (Currently running 19.3). Tried installing Mint 20 and it fails to install on this drive.

What is the major difference between previous versions and Mint 20 that cause Mint 20 to fail, while previous versions run flawlessly?

This one has me stumped!

No idea. Try Mint 20.1.

[Larry78723]

Without some technical information, we can’t help you. Please post an inxi -Fxxxzr report. This will give us a concise overview of your hardware and on how Mint sees it.

Here is how to generate the report and post it:
Open a terminal window (Ctrl-Alt-t). Make it fullscreen to avoid unneeded linebreaks or chopped lines. Execute the command

Code: Select all

 inxi -Fxxxzr 

exactly as it has been typed here.

Mark the complete text output which the command will display with your mouse.
Press the keyboard shortcut <Shift><Ctrl>C to copy the marked text into the clipboard.
Enclose the results between the code markers by selecting </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply then paste <Ctrl>V them in your reply between the code markers [code]Results [/code].

The results will help us to help you.

[JOPETA]

Also tray to explain a little bit what " it fails to install on this drive" means, i.e. the option you choose on installing (Alongside..., Something else...), warnings you are receiving,..,when and how do you notice it has failed?

[bjsteeves]

Without some technical information, we can’t help you. Please post an inxi -Fxxxzr report. This will give us a concise overview of your hardware and on how Mint sees it.

Here is how to generate the report and post it:
Open a terminal window (Ctrl-Alt-t). Make it fullscreen to avoid unneeded linebreaks or chopped lines. Execute the command

Code: Select all

 inxi -Fxxxzr 

exactly as it has been typed here.

Mark the complete text output which the command will display with your mouse.
Press the keyboard shortcut <Shift><Ctrl>C to copy the marked text into the clipboard.
Enclose the results between the code markers by selecting </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply then paste <Ctrl>V them in your reply between the code markers [code]Results [/code].

The results will help us to help you.

System:
Host: BJSDesktop Kernel: 5.4.0-74-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
v: 7.5.0 Desktop: Gnome 3.28.4 info: xfce4-panel wm: Compiz 0.9.13.1
dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia
base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M5A99FX PRO R2.0 v: Rev 1.xx
serial: <filter> BIOS: American Megatrends v: 2501 date: 04/07/2014
CPU:
Topology: 8-Core model: AMD FX-8350 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Bulldozer
L2 cache: 2048 KiB
flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
bogomips: 69355
Speed: 1517 MHz min/max: 1400/4000 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz):
1: 1517 2: 1517 3: 1515 4: 1514 5: 1516 6: 1517 7: 1510 8: 1516
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GM206 [GeForce GTX 950] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia
v: 460.80 bus ID: 04:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1402
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: nvidia
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa compositor: compiz v: 0.9.13.1
resolution: 1360x768~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 950/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 460.80
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus ID: 00:14.2 chip ID: 1002:4383
Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus ID: 04:00.1 chip ID: 10de:0fba
Device-3: Realtek type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus ID: 8-1:2
chip ID: 0bda:58b0 serial: <filter>
Device-4: Creative E-Mu Xmidi 1x1 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio
bus ID: 4-3:2 chip ID: 041e:3f07 serial: <filter>
Device-5: Texas Instruments PCM2902 Audio Codec type: USB
driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus ID: 8-2:3 chip ID: 08bb:2902
Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-74-generic
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: ASUSTeK P8 series driver: r8169 v: kernel port: c000
bus ID: 09:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168
IF: enp9s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 4.09 TiB used: 1.38 TiB (33.6%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM001-1ER164 size: 1.82 TiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: CC26 scheme: MBR
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD20EADS-00R6B0
size: 1.82 TiB speed: <unknown> serial: <filter> rev: 1.75 scheme: MBR
ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 4B6Q scheme: MBR
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 457.45 GiB used: 19.81 GiB (4.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdc1
ID-2: swap-1 size: 17.69 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 24.6 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 35 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 36%
Repos:
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cybermax-dexter-sdl2-backport-bionic.list
1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/cybermax-dexte ... ort/ubuntu bionic main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list
1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com tricia main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/oguzhaninan-stacer-bionic.list
1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/oguzhaninan/stacer/ubuntu bionic main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ondrej-php-bionic.list
1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ondrej/php/ubuntu bionic main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list
1: deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
2: deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/webupd8team-y-ppa-manager-bionic.list
1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/y- ... ger/ubuntu bionic main
Info:
Processes: 287 Uptime: 5h 20m Memory: 15.54 GiB used: 2.43 GiB (15.6%)
Init: systemd v: 237 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.5.0 alt: 7 Shell: bash
v: 4.4.20 running in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.0.32

[ricardogroetaers]

Observation:
He is not the first person to report that Linux Mint 20 cannot be installed on an SSD.
The problem is random.

[kato181]

Are you trying to do a fresh install of LM20 or a dual install?
When posting the results from inxi -Fxxxxzr as Larry78723 suggested you need to post them between the code display brackets </> the 5th icon along above the text box.

[bjsteeves]

This is a fresh install on a clean disk. As stated before, Versions 18 & 19 (currently 19.3) install and run fine.

[Larry78723]

If you're trying to install on sdc, it's not a clean disk according to your inxi report, 19+GB are being used. That's approximately what a LM install should be. My question becomes, have you tried booting sdc1?

[bjsteeves]

If you read my previous messages, it states that I returned to 19.3 after the ver 20 failed to install. Therefore, a clean install.

[kato181]

If you read my previous messages, it states that I returned to 19.3 after the ver 20 failed to install. Therefore, a clean install.

Larry78723 is not asking about that. he is asking you to try to boot into sdc1 as per his question..

Code: Select all

If you're trying to install on sdc, it's not a clean disk according to your inxi report, 19+GB are being used. That's approximately what a LM install should be. My question becomes, have you tried booting sdc1?

[kato181]

Please copy & paste the following command and post the results back here..
sudo fdisk -l

[zcot]

Boot to 19.3, sudo update-grub, reboot. Select Mint 20.

[bjsteeves]

If you read my previous messages, it states that I returned to 19.3 after the ver 20 failed to install. Therefore, a clean install.

Larry78723 is not asking about that. he is asking you to try to boot into sdc1 as per his question..

Code: Select all

If you're trying to install on sdc, it's not a clean disk according to your inxi report, 19+GB are being used. That's approximately what a LM install should be. My question becomes, have you tried booting sdc1?

I already answered that ... Current running 19.3 ... Was running 19.3, formatted and tried installing 20, 20 failed and returned to 19.3 So Mint 20 failed to install, replaced it with 19.3 as stated in my first post!

[deepakdeshp]

You can try version 20.2 . Verify the iso https://linuxmint.com/verify.php

[SimonPeter]

Observation:
He is not the first person to report that Linux Mint 20 cannot be installed on an SSD.
The problem is random.

I too had this problem with LM20 on an external SSD.

The problem seems to be LM trying to put swap on the SSD and then using that swap during installation.
(swap is too much read-write cycles for an SSD -> SSD is overloaded -> Random problems)

I have checked that with htop (swap usage increases as the installer progresses)

I tried running sudo swapoff -a soon after ubiquity (the LM installer) set up swap. Obviously, I got I/O errors complaining that the swap didn't exist (and the installation failed)

Now, I tried MX Linux (which has a different installer - minstall - Here, we can disable swap before installation) and it installed without problems.

Then, I edited some scripts (used as ubiquity's backend), especially some partman scripts with swap creation, swapon, generating swap entries in /etc/fstab etc., and the installation was successful.

I hope the LM team will add an option to disable swap in ubiquity (like what MX Linux's minstall does), and leave that option off by default.
(Maybe by editing ubiquity scripts and then adding a new script for those who want swap)

Swap also has other problems too. (I have experienced long freezes/hangs while copying big files)

It is debatable whether modern linux desktop systems really need swap. (I think swap impacts performance)