Linux mint 18.1 won't install correctly

[chickenthechicken]

I have three Hard Disks, two SATA and one USB 3.0 (WD MyPasport Ultra.)
The two SATA drives have stuff on them, so I want to install Mint on the USB one
To make sure the installer doesn't format the drives I took the SATA ones out
I installed Mint from a 16 gigabyte USB that, because of my motherboard, would only run in UEFI mode
The installation was a bit weird and took me multiple tries, but the farthest it would get me was an error saying that Grub wouldn't install
Now my motherboard won't boot to that drive at all
Am I the only one who has this problem and how do I fix it?

[michael louwe]

@ chicken

Eusure that the Live LM 18.1 USB-stick is booted in UEFI mode, Secure Boot and Fast Boot disabled in the UEFI/BIOS settings.

For a UEFI/GPT computer, to install LM 18.1 on an external hard-drive, you have to use the "Something else" install option and manually create your own /boot or /boot/efi partition(= 550 MB in FAT32) because there is no originating Windows EFI System(Boot) Partition. Ensure the "Device for boot loader installation" is the EFI Boot or /boot/efi partition.
....... Please refer to this link for guidance ... http://www.tecmint.com/install-linux-mint-17/

Do the install with the Internet disconnected.

[chickenthechicken]

@ chicken

Eusure that the Live LM 18.1 USB-stick is booted in UEFI mode, Secure Boot and Fast Boot disabled in the UEFI/BIOS settings.

For a UEFI/GPT computer, to install LM 18.1 on an external hard-drive, you have to use the "Something else" install option and manually create your own /boot or /boot/efi partition(= 550 MB in FAT32) because there is no originating Windows EFI System(Boot) Partition. Ensure the "Device for boot loader installation" is the EFI Boot or /boot/efi partition.
....... Please refer to this link for guidance ... http://www.tecmint.com/install-linux-mint-17/

Do the install with the Internet disconnected.

I got it to install, but when I Boot from the drive it says
"Reboot and Select proper Boot device
Or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"

[michael louwe]

@ chicken

The message is saying that you need to select the proper Boot device in the UEFI/BIOS settings(= where you usually press the F2/F10/F12 key during start-up). In this case, you wanna boot from the external USB 3.0 hard-drive, and not from the USB flash-drive or DVD-drive or internal SSD or networked-drive. Maybe, the USB 3.0 external hard-drive is listed as USB HDD in the Boot Menu of your UEFI/BIOS settings.

Maybe, you also need to change the Boot Order in UEFI/BIOS setting from Windows to Ubuntu.

[chickenthechicken]

@ chicken

The message is saying that you need to select the proper Boot device in the UEFI/BIOS settings(= where you usually press the F2/F10/F12 key during start-up). In this case, you wanna boot from the external USB 3.0 hard-drive, and not from the USB flash-drive or DVD-drive or internal SSD or networked-drive. Maybe, the USB 3.0 external hard-drive is listed as USB HDD in the Boot Menu of your UEFI/BIOS settings.

I set it to Boot from the "WD My Passport 08371073"
And it would either give me the error or Boot from another drive
I have an "H97M Anniversary" motherboard

[michael louwe]

I set it to Boot from the "WD My Passport 08371073"
And it would either give me the error or Boot from another drive
I have an "H97M Anniversary" motherboard

Maybe, you also need to change the Boot Order in UEFI/BIOS setting from Windows to Ubuntu.

Or LM 18.1 was not correctly installed. Please try this link for guidance on the install ... http://www.linuxtechi.com/linux-mint-18 ... reenshots/
(NB: /boot/efi partition - in FAT32/550MB - is for an EFI system while /boot partition is for the older Legacy/BIOS system)

[TooMuchTime]

I have a WD Passport 1TB USB drive. I have Mac Snow Leopard installed and have that dual-booted with Mint 18. (I also use the drive as a data backup.) I had to install OSX first and I did that because that creates the UEFI partition. When I installed Mint 18, GRUB did it's work and now I can boot into either OS. Last night I booted Mint 18 while the Passport was connected to my Dell Zino desktop. The Broadcom wireless worked perfectly. I've also booted this to an older iMac without issue. Wireless worked there too.

The trick is UEFI. I lucked out because I installed OSX first and the UEFI partition was setup for me. This tutorial: viewtopic.php?f=42&t=163126 is for dual booting Windows/Linux but the UEFI portions are what is important. Remember, you have to create the partition table as GPT. You can either create the UEFI partition as michael louwe has said or if you have a Windows 8 or 10 installer you can install that first and it will create the UEFI partition and set it up correctly. Then you install Mint and just blow away the all of the Windows partitions except the UEFI one. Then boot into your Mint LiveUSB and install it to the Passport drive. (You can edit GRUB to remove the Windows boot information.)

I know this works. I've done it.

[chickenthechicken]

I set it to Boot from the "WD My Passport 08371073"
And it would either give me the error or Boot from another drive
I have an "H97M Anniversary" motherboard

Maybe, you also need to change the Boot Order in UEFI/BIOS setting from Windows to Ubuntu.

Or LM 18.1 was not correctly installed. Please try this link for guidance on the install ... http://www.linuxtechi.com/linux-mint-18 ... reenshots/
(NB: /boot/efi partition - in FAT32/550MB - is for an EFI system while /boot partition is for the older Legacy/BIOS system)

I created the UEFI partition wrong and I used this guide to fix it
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI

[michael louwe]

@ chicken

You should make a Tutorial on how you successfully manually created a Linux Mint 18.1 EFI System Partition or EFI Boot Partition, eg for an install in an external hard-drive or in a multi-disk/drive configuration - and with the Internet disconnected.

For a single-disk/drive(internal) configuration, there is the easier option of "Erase disk and Install Linux Mint"(instead of "Something else") where the LM 18.1 Installer will auto-create the EFI System Partition or EFI Boot Partition for the users. A /home partition can be added to the disk after the installation of LM 18.1, eg with GParted. If needed, the / (root) partition can also be expanded in size.

[chickenthechicken]

@ chicken

You should make a Tutorial on how you successfully manually created a Linux Mint 18.1 EFI System Partition or EFI Boot Partition, eg for an install in an external hard-drive or in a multi-disk/drive configuration - and with the Internet disconnected.

For a single-disk/drive(internal) configuration, there is the easier option of "Erase disk and Install Linux Mint"(instead of "Something else") where the LM 18.1 Installer will auto-create the EFI System Partition or EFI Boot Partition for the users. A /home partition can be added to the disk after the installation of LM 18.1, eg with GParted. If needed, the / (root) partition can also be expanded in size.

the "erase disk" didn't create a EFI partition when I tried it and it put the swap partition at the end

[michael louwe]

@ chicken

You cannot use the "Erase disk and install LM" install option for an external USB hard-drive, ie can only use "Something else".
You can use "Erase disk and ......." or "Something else" for an internal IDE/SATA hard-drive.