BH
. . . .
Test the stick on any machine, booting the stick does nothing to the installation on that machine. A stick that will not boot should be very easy to identify.
…… Linux Mint ISO Download?
- Thread starter Kris Gandillon
- Start date
Test the stick on any machine, booting the stick does nothing to the installation on that machine. A stick that will not boot should be very easy to identify.
Tex88
Veteran Member
Rufus for all your ISO image woes.
Until the Dell notebook gets here I have no other machine that is accessible to test it on. The Lenovo won’t boot from USB no matter what I do. The BIOS Boot Menu doesn’t even show the option to boot from USB. I have been trying to force it to boot from USB thru the control panel Settings option that does show the USB as a boot option.
Tex88
Veteran Member
You need the bootable USB stick connected , fire up laptop and push F12 (use external keyboard if confused about is Fn on or off?) and it will be under boot options.
Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I had a laptop like that (symptoms) some time ago, trying to remember the method to fix...
Seem to recall that I had to modify the setup configuration to have USB as a boot device before it would show up on the boot menu, and then the d***** thing would remove it next time I booted.
Somehow got past it.
Maybe by turning of UEFI?
Nothing related to the BIOS menu does anything. No matter which option I choose, it ignores my selection and boots into Windows 10.
So I cannot change any BIOS settings or turn any BIOS Features on or off.
But the 12 year old Lenovo notebook runs like a champ on Windows 10. It has an Intel i5. I upgraded from 4GB to 8GB of memory and replaced the spinning platters with a 500GB SSD. It boots in seconds.
Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
That'd do it...
Kris, I know you're kinda over it at this point, but just saving this here in case we come back to it later...
Found this note on lenovo's forum...
Recommended way to enter BIOS - ideapad - Lenovo Support MS
pcsupport.lenovo.com
To enter BIOS by pressing Shift button + restarting the machine (applicable for Windows 8/8.1/10)
- Log out of Windows and go to the sign in screen.
- Hold down the Shift key on the keyboard while clicking the Power button on the screen. Continue to hold down the Shift key and select Restart.
- Hold down the Shift key. The computer will open a bluescreen with the option to continue.
- The Options menu will be seen after executing the above procedures. Click Troubleshoot.
- Select Advanced options.
- Click UEFI Firmware Settings, then choose Restart.
- This displays the BIOS setup utility interface.
And of course, F10 to Save and Exit...
feralferret
Veteran Member
That Lenovo is even more convoluted than my first generation Microsoft Surface notebook, and it's a royal pain.
progressingamerica
Contributing Member
To be honest the "best" form of "dual-booting" I've ever come across is using two completely separate SSD drives and using BIOS/UEFI to switch between them as needed.
Close second, is installing Windows in a VirtualBox on top of Linux. I tried the multi-partition method exactly one time and I will never ever do that again. Dual-booting Linuxes is pretty easy, but Microsoft purposefully makes it unnecessarily painful.
Of course it's not true "dual-booting", but I've saved many people a bunch of headaches by recommending either of these.
feralferret
Veteran Member
I've never had any problem with the multi-boot that Linux sets up. But then again I have never installed any version of Windows later than 7 on my computer. I also have a virtual WIndows 7 machine I run inside Linux. Only reason I have Windows on my machine at all is I have a few programs for programming and configuring specific brands of older Communications equipment. These programs from the radio manufacturers will only run in Windows 7 or XP.
feralferret
Veteran Member
It should. Sometime getting the touch screen properly setup can be a challenge. I'm running on a much older touch screen laptop with no problem. A newer one shouldn't be an issue.
Lone_Hawk
Resident Spook
The touch screen will just be there for me for the most part. Does Mint support dual monitors?
feralferret
Veteran Member
Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
You can always just download a copy of the latest-n-greatest, put it on a thumbdrive and try it.
Kris's issues with the boot bios notwithstanding...
I have a bootable DVD of Mint 21.3 coming.
I also have a Dell All-in-One that I will at least see if it will boot Mint from the DVD.
Just got word that the 3 year old work Dell laptop I purchased from my employer for $75 shipped so should have it soon.
I also have a Dell All-in-One that I will at least see if it will boot Mint from the DVD.
Just got word that the 3 year old work Dell laptop I purchased from my employer for $75 shipped so should have it soon.
Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
We have ignition!
The "new" (my old) work notebook 3 year old Dell i7 4Ghz, 16GB memory, 512 GB SSD, touch screen) I paid $75 for arrived today. Turned off SecureBoot, inserted my Flash stick created last week with Yumi and here I am posting from Mint Cinnamon 21.2!
The "new" (my old) work notebook 3 year old Dell i7 4Ghz, 16GB memory, 512 GB SSD, touch screen) I paid $75 for arrived today. Turned off SecureBoot, inserted my Flash stick created last week with Yumi and here I am posting from Mint Cinnamon 21.2!
Lone_Hawk
Resident Spook
First impressions? How big is your flash drive?
Impression: a litle clunky compared to Windows 11, but usable.
Flash drive is 128GB. I made a 20GB persistent storage area on it.
SmithJ
Veteran Member
Kris, you may have said, but why are you trying Linux? A specific reason, or just fun learning?
My employer has upwards of 20,000 Linux servers.
I sometimes get pulled into that world because of my general background and expertise gained during my 50 year IT career. But that experience was on just about everything EXCEPT Unix/Linux.
My first CompSci instructor taught me one critical thing on the very first day of my very first CompSci class:
Input > Process > Output
He said, “Understand and embrace those three concepts, and it will not matter what the underlying hardware, system, platform or programming language is. You simply ask HOW are we doing these three things on this hardware, system, platform or language and adapt your prior experience to your new reality.
It’s what kept me relevant over my career as we moved from mainframes to mini computers to PCs and Networks to the Web to Virtualization to the Cloud…reinventing myself at each step along the way.
Input > Process > Output
How are we doing it today?
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Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
WOO, HOO!
I love it when a plan comes together...
That i7 ought to be smokin' fast...
Are you going to install to the SSD?
The Lenovo Z580 lives!
Received the Mint DVD. Installed just fine. Posting this from it now.
Received the Mint DVD. Installed just fine. Posting this from it now.
BH
. . . .
After a career involving mainframes (early years) and Microsoft powered PCs (later years), I have found Linux refreshing and much less restrictive, especially in specialized roles. Most places I worked had Unix based servers, mostly AIX, but I never learned anything about them.
For specialized purposes, web servers, file servers, firewalls, etc. you can find scripts, software, how to's and best practices for just about anything imaginable for the Linux world. The only problem I have had in doing more specialized things is plowing through the myriad of options available online. Was not unusual to spend days researching the how to's before deciding on an approach that struck me as a valid appropriate and workable solution. Once decided on an approach, implementation was typically a load and go solution and just about always, free.
Anything Windows based was always expensive (both hardware and software) and required some type of support (or help) organization.
Glad to hear you were able to get everything up and running. Now go try some other Linux versions!!! Mint is a bit clunky, but it was originally designed (I think) for people making the transition from WindowsXP. So it has that whole look/feel to it still. Linux Ubuntu is what I use for my daily driver - email, web, some games, etc. But there are literally dozens of really good, stable releases out there. Good luck and enjoy your journey!
Can I ask where you got a laptop with those specs for that cheap? Unless I am misreading your post, that is a heck of a deal
