Mint Re-install fails

Quick to answer questions about finding your way around Linux Mint as a new user.
Forum rules
There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions use the other forums in the support section.
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Locked
Zombo

Mint Re-install fails

Post by Zombo »

Hey guys, I am new to linux and new to mint.
Already installed mint cinnamon tara on my laptop and I liked it so much I installed it on my desktop pc.
It installed easily on my desktop and worked great. But I decided I wanted to uninstall it and re install it. I didnt know how to uninstall it so I deleted all directories that I could find related to mint and after that, all that was left was to get rid of that pesky ubuntu entry in my UEFI. I tried many different things but it kept re appearing.
I finally got it deleted in notepad++, then I proceeded to reinstall tara on my dual boot pc with windows 8.1 already installed. Im using the live usb method to install, just as i did the first time. First the grub menu pops up and I select Linux mint cinnamon 19, then it reaches the login screen but right before the login screen loads up, there is a strange graphical glitch in the upper left corner of the screen. Its a perfect square but just has random pixels.
Then the login screen loads and I enter mint as username and press enter for the password and it says invalid username.
Ive tried many things on the internet and on this forum but nothing works.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
michael louwe

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by michael louwe »

Zombo wrote:.
.
Since LM 19 Tara was working great on your desktop, why did you decide to uninstall/delete it.? For better partitioning.? Since you did not know how to delete LM from a dual-booted system, you should not have done it, ie do not fix what ain't broken.

Anyway, the proper or usual way to delete LM 19 from a dual-booted system is to run the Live LM 19 USB/DVD and use the manual "Something else" install option. Give this a try.

At the following install window that displays the colorful Partition Table, delete all the Linux partitions by clicking on the partitions, eg /sda4 or /sda5, then click "-" or minus and click OK. The deletion will result in a newly created free-space. Remember not to touch or click on any of the Windows partitions.
....... Click on this free space, click "+" or Add to manually partition the free-space as desired, eg 50GB for the / or Root partition and 200GB for the Home partition. For LM 19, there is no need to create a Swap partition because it has been replaced by an auto-created Swap file. This applies for an unencrypted hard-drive.
....... Ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is the Windows EFI System Partition(= ESP = fat32/about 104MB in size/mount point is /boot/efi or flagged as boot,esp) which is usually dev/sda1. ...
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=122276 (manual partitioning Tutorial for Legacy BIOS mode and MBR/ms-dos disks)[use as a guide for UEFI mode install but all the LM partitions should be Primary partitions instead of Logical]

.
P S - Bear in mind that too many uninstall/deletion and reinstall of LM in a dual-booted system on an internal hard-drive may result in a full Windows ESP that is only 104MB in size = computer can no longer boot after the last reinstall of LM.
Zombo

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by Zombo »

Thank you for the reply Michael Louwe.
Yes, the reason I wanted to uninstall and then reinstall is because after I tried it out and decided I liked it, I wanted to dedicate one entire 4 tb hdd to LM Tara.
My current setup is windows 8.1 os on a 480gb ssd (C drive)
Then I have 2 internal hdd drives. A 3 TB drive and a 4 TB drive.
I want to keep the 3tb for windows storage and give the 4tb to Linux.
I don't think I can access the something else screen anymore. When I'm using the live USB it will no longer allow me to advance past login
michael louwe

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by michael louwe »

@ Zombo, .......
Zombo wrote:First the grub menu pops up and I select Linux mint cinnamon 19, then it reaches the login screen but right before the login screen loads up, there is a strange graphical glitch in the upper left corner of the screen. Its a perfect square but just has random pixels.
.
This indicates that LM has booted into the limited Software Rendering mode. This could be caused by an Nvidia or AMD graphics card, ...
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=122257 (Solve boot problems with AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards)
https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_tara_cinnamon.php

What are the specifications of your desktop, eg what CPU.?

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295 (UEFI Installing - Tips; see Two Drives Install)
[For installing Linux on an external USB hard-drive, a workaround is to unplug the Win 8.x/10 internal hard-drive and install LM on the external USB hard-drive together with its bootloader = plug in the external USB hard-drive only when you want to boot LM.
....... The above workaround may also work for a 2 internal hard-drives desktop setup, ie after installation of LM, boot each OS via the Boot Menu of BIOS Setup by selecting the appropriate internal hard-drive as the 1st boot device]

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=266670 (manual install of grubx64.efi bootloader - by fabien85)

https://nwrickert2.wordpress.com/2013/0 ... and-linux/ (notes-on-uefi-windows-and-linux)
https://askubuntu.com/questions/380447/ ... ew-machine (uefi-boot-fails-when-cloning-image-to-new-machine)
Zombo

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by Zombo »

The specs for my desktop are:
Motherboard- Gigabyte G1 gaming GA-Z170x
Processor- Intel i7-6700k
Memory- G.Skill TridentZ 16GB (2x8GB)
Graphics Card- Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1070

I'm baffled, how I was able to install mint so easily the first time and on re install it is going into limited software rendering mode. :?
michael louwe

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by michael louwe »

@ Zombo, .......
Zombo wrote:.
.
Does Win 8.1 still boot.? ... If you decide to forego LM and recover a borked Win 8.1 ... https://www.dell.com/support/article/my ... pc?lang=en (How to repair the EFI bootloader on a GPT HDD or repair the MBR, for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 on your Dell PC)

Your desktop system has likely been messed up when you deleted the LM directories/folders and the Ubuntu UEFI entry.

Try booting a Live LM DVD instead of a USB-stick. If successful, you can also launch the built-in GParted program and delete all the Linux partitions instead of launching the LM Installer to delete the Linux partitions. Remember not to touch the Win 8.1 partitions. Then reinstall LM.
....... If unsuccessful, try resetting BIOS Setup to default settings after noting down all the proper settings and be prepared to reinstall Win 8.1 and LM. Reset BIOS Setup to the proper settings. Then try to boot the Live LM USB/DVD into a Live session.

Installing LM alongside Win 8.1 on the same internal hard-drive is much simpler and very different from installing LM alongside Win 8.1 on another separate internal hard-drive.

.
P S - In a dual-boot system, the last OS installed will takeover the boot partition and become the active bootloader. Because Windows cannot read Linux files, Linux should be installed after Windows.
Zombo

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by Zombo »

Yes 8.1 still boots.
I already had 8.1 installed (more than a year) when I decided to try LM Tara. As far as the linux partitions, I actually deleted those after I deleted the folders.
I had to go into windows device manager and delete the partitions and then it showed that I had so many gigabytes of free space and I allocated them and gave them a drive letter.
Just wanted to edit this. Been thinking about this whole situation and I have tried so many different things to get this to work, I can't even remember for sure everything I tried.
I said I deleted the Linux partitions in windows device manager but when I first started trying to uninstall, I was working from within the mint live USB.
It may be that I deleted the Linux partitions from there and then went into device manager to re allocate them and give them a drive letter.
Sorry for the confusion and thank you for your help
michael louwe

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by michael louwe »

@ Zombo, .......
Zombo wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:02 pm Yes 8.1 still boots.
.
Your computer should rightly be in UEFI mode. In BIOS Setup, the Live LM USB should be booted in UEFI mode and not in Legacy BIOS mode. This is indicated by the boot menu entry "UEFI USB ..." and not just plain "USB ...". Maybe, the booting problem was caused by the Live LM USB being booted in Legacy BIOS mode.
Zombo

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by Zombo »

Thank you Michael, I will try that when I get home this weekend.
I'm a truck driver and will be gone all week.
User avatar
BG405
Level 8
Level 8
Posts: 2475
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2016 3:09 pm
Location: England

Re: Mint Re-install fails

Post by BG405 »

It's better not to use Windows to allocate the partitions for Linux; simply leave the free space unallocated. Windows won't be able to set up the ext4 / & /home partitions (or linuxswap, if you desire a separate swap partition).
Dell Inspiron 1525 - LM17.3 CE 64-------------------Lenovo T440 - Manjaro KDE with Mint VMs
Toshiba NB250 - Manjaro KDE------------------------Acer Aspire One D255E - LM21.3 Xfce
Acer Aspire E11 ES1-111M - LM18.2 KDE 64 ----Two ROMS don't make a WRITE
Locked

Return to “Beginner Questions”