[Solved, trying different version] Unable to boot Mint 20 Cinnamon from DVD

[Jefrystube]

I’m attempting to install to a very old Dell Dimension E521. It meets the stated requirements. The disk gets to the menu, but when I launch it, the error: Kernel panic-not synching: IO-APIC + timer doesn’t work! I found older advice to press the escape key at the menu then enter noapic nolapic acip=off. I may have misspelled some of that here as I’m working from memory but I typed it in as directed. No dice. It says it can find no file or directory noapic.
What I gotta do to make it work?

[Larry78723]

When the desktop shows after booting from the DVD, open a terminal full screen and enter the following command:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxxxrz

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.

The results will help us to help you.

[Jefrystube]

It doesn’t get to the desktop. It just gets to the DVD boot menu. It fails from there.

[Jefrystube]

[Jefrystube]

I’ve been running Mint for years. I just did a clean install of 20 on my old laptop which I started with Mint 16. I’ve updated versions before. I don’t come here often because I’m just a user and I rarely have Linux problems. This is why I don’t miss Windows.

[antikythera]

Did you run the integrity check? Or won't that complete either?

[Jefrystube]

You know (forehead slap), I actually haven’t. It’s right there on the menu. Duh. I’ll give it a go after work. I’ll let you know the result. Thanks.
I got wrapped around the axle of the error and trying to follow its suggestion.

[absque fenestris]

Years ago I bought a super cheap pack of DVD's - shiny silver on both sides and nameless. Not only that you have to be careful which the recordable side is, the stupid things can only be used in the slowest recording mode - if at all.
By the way, I did the last Mint installation with a DVD-RAM: I still have a few unused ones and that was a good opportunity to test my new little HP drive under both Windows and Linux.
DVD-RAM has always seemed of a higher quality to me. Although mostly undocumented, many DVD drives can handle it.

[Jefrystube]

Ok, Integrity check gives the same error screen as above.

[antikythera]

When editing the boot commands, add the boot commands it gives to try out at the end of the line with quiet splash just before those two words, then you may get further.

[Jefrystube]

Where can I edit the boot commands? If I press ESC at the menu pictured above, I get a black screen that says only, Boot:
This is where I put in the commands I found and it fails. It sounds like there should be more there. Remember I’m using a DVD, I can’t edit its files, I can’t even view them on this computer. I still have the ISO image and can make a bootable USB stick if I have to.

[antikythera]

Press TAB to edit the boot options like it says on screen, not Esc.

[Jefrystube]

This is gonna take forever if I keep overlooking the obvious.

[antikythera]

Don't worry about it, we've all been there at some point.

[Jefrystube]

Still the same thing. Did hardware detection, it shows apic. It also has a Nvidia video card old as the machine. It complains that the cmos battery is low at startup, should that really matter? If so, it’s something I can do.
It doesn’t keep it from booting to Windows XP.

AMD Athlon 64 processor

[antikythera]

Yes, change the CMOS battery. That will matter regardless of whether you get Mint 20 up and running successfully anyway.

Apart from the clock being wrong, you will lose any custom settings applied in BIOS too which could render an installed operating system unbootable should the power to the machine be cut or deliberately turned off.

The nvidia card isn't causing the error message and if it is as old as the machine it should work fine with the supplied nouveau drivers. I would try LMDE4 instead because it's got kernel 4.19 which is a bit more compliant with older hardware than kernel 5.4 on Mint 20's ISOs.

[Jefrystube]

I was going to wait on replacing the battery until I got it to boot and see if it would handle it. I’ll try the LMDE4 version and see how that goes.

[antikythera]

One last thing to try. Add these boot options from the release notes instead of quiet splash

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noapic noacpi nosplash irqpoll

[Jefrystube]

No change. This computer was given to me. Before agreeing to pick it up, I asked how old it was. 2012, they said. I figured that should be no problem since my 2009 laptop is happy with Mint 20.
It’s from 2006. If I end up chucking it, it’s no big deal. It’s just a challenge now.

[antikythera]

Sounds like a fun side project anyway.