I can't boot from disc to try out Mint! (100% newbie)

[SigmaOctans]

Last night, I burned Linux Mint 15 and 13 (LTS) on to a DVD (separate DVDs, of course). I used "FreeISOBurner" and used the lowest burn speed available. Today, I tried to boot the discs to try out Linux, but I get a black screen on both of them. I tried version 13 first. What happens is that I get a countdown and then the screen goes black. After a while, a small _ appears on the upper left of my screen and then after that, my screen gets graphical artifacting and nothing else happens. I am forced to shut my computer off with the power button. After trying version 13 twice more, I tried version 15. Almost the same thing happens, except that after the countdown, I get the "LM" Linux Mint logo. This made me excited, but then the logo disappeared for about 2 seconds and a bunch of text appeared, then the text disappeared and the logo appeared again for a while before disappearing yet again and then doing exactly what happened in 13.

This is my computer:

Windows 7 Home Premium
Hewlett-Packard e9260f
MSI MS-7613 (Indio) motherboard
8 GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce GT 240
919 GB hard drive (currently have 784 GB free)

I really want to try Linux and specifically Mint but I don't know what to do and I'm afraid of hurting my computer because of the fact that I have to shut it off with the power button.

Edit: Oh btw, I know my computer is a 64-bit computer, so I downloaded the appropriate Linux Mint 64 bit versions, just to get that out of the way

[wayne128]

You should first check that your downloaded iso has the correct md5sum.

You may be having graphic issue.
Read this post, and apply some code to see if it helps
http://forum.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=122257&p=671348&hilit=how+to+boot+nvidia#p671348

[tdockery97]

Another thing to try if you haven't already: When the countdown screen comes up, hit enter and you will get a boot menu. Select compability mode and see if that boots to the desktop.

[everready]

How long did you wait for it to boot up, sometimes depending on circumstances you may have to wait an extra minute or three, i waited 4 minutes one time but that was a USB stick

Try it you might be pleasantly surprised..
everready

[SigmaOctans]

Thank you for the replies, guys! I am not currently on my own computer, but I will try all of your suggestions. I already tried one, which is checking the md5sum and it was a-okay 100% for both 13 and 15. I also found something about putting "nomodeset" or "nvidia.modeset=0".

But I was thinking to myself...let's say I decide I want to make Linux my OS. Meaning I replace Windows with Linux. What would I have to do in order to not have to do some kind of special code every time I boot up my computer? I guess I am getting ahead of myself, but I like to think ahead.

[SigmaOctans]

Haha! Yes, it worked. I ran it in compatability mode and success. It booted up very nicely! I really like the feel of Mint so far. I ran into some problem, but I think it's my own ignorance. I was testing how to install a program from the internet. So I downloaded the program and they said "use file manager" of choice. I was confused. File manager? What's that? I know about software manager, but I assume it's not that. Then I searched it and found about "Nemo" and "Nautilus". My question is: how to use these so called "file managers"? Or what are they? I also found how to make the file an executable from the Terminal. They said: type in "chmod +x WHATEVERYOURFILENAMEIS" but it didn't work

Ahh, but then I realized that the terminal is not set to the downloads location, so after a bit of research I found how to get it to the Download folder, I did the "chmod +x" thing and nothing happened. I mean, nothing. Not an error, not a notice. I tripled checked that I typed in the file name correctly and I did. I was wondering, can you install things from the internet while running under liveCD mode? What was I doing wrong? I'm very curious! Linux Mint is amazing so far. I just need to figure out this "file manager" thing and how to make a file an executable through the Terminal.

Edit: Here is what I did. I don't know if it's worth mentioning, but I did drag the file out of the Downloads folder to get it to my desktop (only to find out that it made a copy, because it stayed in the Downloads folder while making another copy of it on the Desktop).

[url]http://i.imgur.com/on4QwNm.png[/url] (Image was too big to post directly to forums)

Edit #2: I just remembered to ask! Can someone tell me how to boot the liveCD in normal mode and not in compatability mode? Or do I need to install Mint before I can start fixing that? (because I know there are tutorials on how to fix it once it is actually installed. Someone linked it in this topic and I really thank them for it)

[wayne128]

I see that you are very excited..

OK, so I am showing you something on terminal as a demo.. if you are keen just follow and learn a bit.

your most important thing to remember at of now is, the different between user ($ prompt) and root (# prompt)

those stuff you tried did not work out because you are not root.

so i am going to use sudo su on terminal to get root prompt and proceed to download ( using wget -c) then, chmod +x <filename> and ./<filename>..

Now, without much explanation , I shall show you what I did on the terminal, I am running Linuxmint-debian edition, but it is the same as far as the terminal commands are concerned.
you can simple run Live mode, then open a terminal , copy from my posts, and paste into your terminal, then watch how it did on your computer...

Code: Select all

mint@mint ~ $ sudo su
mint mint # wget -c http://sldev.free.fr/binaries/CoolVLViewer-1.26.8.17-Linux-x86-Setup
--2013-07-15 06:13:30--  http://sldev.free.fr/binaries/CoolVLViewer-1.26.8.17-Linux-x86-Setup
Resolving sldev.free.fr (sldev.free.fr)... 212.27.63.154
Connecting to sldev.free.fr (sldev.free.fr)|212.27.63.154|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 52359314 (50M) [text/plain]
Saving to: `CoolVLViewer-1.26.8.17-Linux-x86-Setup'

100%[=========================================================>] 52,359,314   177K/s   in 4m 55s  

2013-07-15 06:18:26 (173 KB/s) - `CoolVLViewer-1.26.8.17-Linux-x86-Setup' saved [52359314/52359314]

mint mint # ls
CoolVLViewer-1.26.8.17-Linux-x86-Setup  Documents  Music     Public     Videos
Desktop                                 Downloads  Pictures  Templates
mint mint # chmod +x CoolVLViewer-1.26.8.17-Linux-x86-Setup
mint mint # ./CoolVLViewer-1.26.8.17-Linux-x86-Setup

After last command as above, hit enter key, I got the screen as you would see from this image link.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/6218/ebtu.png

hit next , next , next, it is installing... like this image http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3711/2vhs.png

at the end, hit finish, then hit close.. like this image http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/2559/zfzy.png

and now, I am totally lost, because I do not know how to run this program.
but I demo to you it can be done while running Linux in Live mode..

you can do it too, just follow each step.

have fun.

[Orbmiser]

Haha! Yes, it worked. I ran it in compatability mode and success. It booted up very nicely! I really like the feel of Mint so far. I ran into some problem, but I think it's my own ignorance. I was testing how to install a program from the internet.

Not with the LiveCD I hope? As confused if you are trying to do commands and functions that will only work on a installed Linux not a LiveCD To actually install programs and many other functions will require you to install Mint to hardrive first.
And wasn't clear if you actually installed it yet?

LIveCD is for testdriving and can't install programs and such as the only mounted media of the LiveCD is the CD itself and you can't write/install programs and such.

[SigmaOctans]

Yeah, I've been trying it with the liveCD. I did everything wayne128 said (I really appreciate you taking your time to explain it. Very helpful!), but it still didn't work, I assume it's because I'm using a liveCD, no? Besides, that and the fact that I have to run it in compatibility mode, it works perfectly. It's so much fun using Linux. I love learning new things. A lot of the things I can do on Windows, I can do on Linux! Even the games I played work on Linux (I only really play Doom and emulators). I have been watching videos, reading tutorials and it's all so exciting. It almost feels like getting a computer for the first time again! It's sleek and fast even on a liveCD. What I'm going to do is keep using the liveCD, then install it (but not erase Windows) and see which one I end up using most. I still worry about what I have to do when I install Linux. Like I said, it only works in compatibility mode, but I want to make it work in normal!

I tried KDE version today and mmm, ahhh not my thing. I liked cinnamon better

Thanks for the help here! I appreciate it.

Edit: Hey, wayne! I got that program to work! All I did was type "wget <link here>" without the "-c" or superuser and then did the chmod things and it worked . That wget command is really powerful. I've been reading Linux tutorials and [url]http://www.linuxcommand.org[/url] (The free PDF book provided there. I HIGHLY recommend it). The Terminal is a very powerful and interesting tool to use.