[SOLVED] Can Not Do Clean Install

[JTemple]

Fresh Download LM20, Verified, Created bootable USB, inserted USB, Checked BIOS top insure that USB had priority and booted up in Secure Boot. Error message was "invalid signature" "Need to load kernel first". Shut down, went back to BIOS and disabled secure boot. Restarted, got black screen and USB would not load. The first time I put LM20 on this machine it loaded without a hitch. Now I can not make not work at all!
System Info:

Code: Select all

jennifer@jennifer-Inspiron-3668:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-53-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana 
  base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Dell product: Inspiron 3668 v: N/A serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Dell model: 07KY25 v: A00 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: 1.14.0 
  date: 06/18/2020 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-7700 bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Kaby Lake rev: 9 L2 cache: 8192 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 57600 
  Speed: 891 MHz min/max: 800/4200 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 900 2: 900 
  3: 900 4: 900 5: 900 6: 900 7: 900 8: 900 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050] vendor: Dell driver: nvidia 
  v: 450.80.02 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 1050/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 450.80.02 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: Dell 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: Dell 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-53-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel port: d000 bus ID: 02:00.0 
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Dell driver: ath9k v: kernel port: d000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  Device-3: Qualcomm Atheros type: USB driver: btusb bus ID: 1-3:6 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 960.42 GiB used: 58.20 GiB (6.1%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-75WN4A0 
  size: 931.51 GiB 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Lexar model: USB Flash Drive 
  size: 28.91 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 915.40 GiB used: 58.19 GiB (6.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 27.0 C mobo: 32.0 C gpu: nvidia temp: 50 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 842 mobo: 941 gpu: nvidia fan: 21% 
Info:
  Processes: 245 Uptime: 24m Memory: 11.61 GiB used: 1.51 GiB (13.0%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 
  inxi: 3.0.38 
jennifer@jennifer-Inspiron-3668:~$ 

[kato181]

Try using a different usb stick it maybe faulty. You maybe out of disk space.
Post the results of the following..
sudo fdisk -l

[DAMIEN1307]

Are you sure you told the bios that USB is the first boot device after you disabled secure boot???...DAMIEN

[ricardogroetaers]

After disabling "secure boot", in the BIOS/UEFI as suggested, did you save the changes, or forgot?

[antikythera]

On the black screen, press Enter. See if it carries on after that. My laptop wouldn't display the live media grub menu for Ubuntu 20.04 or any Mint 20 ISOs, it just had a black screen too but did boot when enter was pressed.

[JTemple]

Try using a different usb stick it maybe faulty. You maybe out of disk space.
Post the results of the following..
sudo fdisk -l

I have tried 2 different USB sticks; Gigastone 16GB / Lexar32GB Both were blank prior to writing the OS on them and the second was fresh out of the package. The first one has been reformatted and is functioning fine for saving files after I repurposed it.

Code: Select all

jennifer@jennifer-Inspiron-3668:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for jennifer:             
Disk /dev/sda: 931.53 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: WDC WD10EZEX-75W
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: B23AE431-EA24-4AB6-9DA3-0421CA0057FF

Device       Start        End    Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sda1     2048    1050623    1048576  512M EFI System
/dev/sda2  1050624 1953523711 1952473088  931G Linux filesystem

Disk /dev/sdb: 28.93 GiB, 31037849600 bytes, 60620800 sectors
Disk model: USB Flash Drive 
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x4089a39b

Device     Boot   Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1  *          0  3876543  3876544  1.9G  0 Empty
/dev/sdb2           648     8583     7936  3.9M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
/dev/sdb3       3878912 60620799 56741888 27.1G 83 Linux
jennifer@jennifer-Inspiron-3668:~$ 

[JTemple]

Are you sure you told the bios that USB is the first boot device after you disabled secure boot???...DAMIEN

Absolutely! Disabled secure boot though DELL's website said have secure boot enabled. I tried it both ways, twice. Also, I double check everything before exiting BIOS.

[JTemple]

After disabling "secure boot", in the BIOS/UEFI as suggested, did you save the changes, or forgot?

Saved Changes (in this case it is "apply changes", "are you sure" "Yes" "Save as Custom user setting" "exit") I tried it without saving as a custom user setting and found the boot sequence reverts back to the factory default even after applying changes.

[JTemple]

On the black screen, press Enter. See if it carries on after that. My laptop wouldn't display the live media grub menu for Ubuntu 20.04 or any Mint 20 ISOs, it just had a black screen too but did boot when enter was pressed.

Have done that multiple times!

[DAMIEN1307]

There is one little trick i learned through the years that may apply for your dell.

With the USB, already plugged in, REBOOT the system, When you here the "beep" during restart cycle or see the splash screen, start tapping the F8 key, it should bring up a small screen that tells you select boot device, of course your going to choose the USB...see if that works for ya...DAMIEN

[MartyMint]

start tapping the F8 key, it should bring up a small screen that tells you select boot device, of course your going to choose the USB...see if that works for ya...DAMIEN

It might even have two listings, UEFI USB and regular or Legacy USB....

[JTemple]

Oddly, it does not mater if I enter the top option for set up, or the second for "Start Linux ...in compatibility mode", or even the last option for "check integrity of the medium" all bring on the dead, black screen, though the PC is clearly on and humming quietly away.

[JTemple]

There is one little trick i learned through the years that may apply for your dell.

With the USB, already plugged in, REBOOT the system, When you here the "beep" during restart cycle or see the splash screen, start tapping the F8 key, it should bring up a small screen that tells you select boot device, of course your going to choose the USB...see if that works for ya...DAMIEN

I just tried that, it clearly does not apply to DELL. Thanks for the offer of another tip, though.

[JTemple]

I'm going to try one more, different, new USB stick on the very unlikely chance BOTH of the prior were somehow faulty. Will try a fresh download of LM20 to be sure I have an uncorrupted file and then try it all again. I'll be back here soon!

[Larry78723]

Don't forget to verify the iso before you burn it to a USB. https://linuxmint.com/verify.php

[JTemple]

Don't forget to verify the iso before you burn it to a USB. https://linuxmint.com/verify.php

ALWAYS DO!

[JTemple]

Still no luck, though the last Lexar USB went so far as to throw up the LM logo but that only suggests the USB was in the way of loading what is already present. I am baffeled. It should not be this hard. Every install I've done to date, all I had to do to do a fresh install was plug in the USB and away it went. I've reinstall on the Lenovo no less than 5 times. DELL once and it absolutely refuses to load for a fresh install. This kills my ability to reset when / if I really mess something up. Could it be my BIOS needs a repair / update?

[JTemple]

DANGED if I know exactly how! Used a 5th new USB stick. When through the whole process again from download & verify, BIOS setting, & bootup.
The system failed again to load, so I tried F12 and chose a temp boot from USB & it also failed. I tried to catch the code messages that fly past after a fail. Something about "...unpacking failed..." & '...failed to parse event in TPM final events log" BUT To try and read the details I clicked Enter, enter enter, then esc and a huge amount of code went zipping by. The thing is, I don't know what key(s) I hit that suddenly threw up the loading screen . From there things progressed as one might expect. I'd love to test if the USB stick would boot as expected now but I am scared to test it. It was such a trial to get this install to happen!

[DAMIEN1307]

The thing is, I don't know what key(s) I hit that suddenly threw up the loading screen

Well, even though we may never know how or why it finally worked, im glad for you that you finally got a good result...lol...DAMIEN