Hi guys,
I've been having a lot of trouble installing Linux Mint on a new drive. I have never installed any Linux distribution, so I hope you guys can help point out things I missed.
The Computer
A 4 year old desktop computer that used to run Windows 7 64-bit. Got a new small SSD to install Linux on.
The Install
I used Linux Mint (no codecs) 64-bit .iso file downloaded from the official website.
DVD #1: I burned this on my Mac laptop. When I tried booting the DVD on my desktop, the Linux Mint logo shows up, but it loads for a couple of minutes before throwing this error: "unable to find a medium containing a live file system." Googling suggests the disk may be corrupted and I should burn it at a slower speed. This DVD was burnt at 8x.
DVD #2: Burned exact same .iso file at 4x. Booted onto desktop, same error ("unable to find a medium containing a live file system"). I checked the .iso MD5 checksum with the checksum published on the official site. The sequence was identical. More Googling suggested I try a LiveUSB install.
USB#1: I found a program called Linux USB Creator for Macs. Created a USB boot drive using the program and the .iso file I downloaded earlier. Tried booting the USB on my Desktop. Selecting boot sequence was weird, as I have options like USB-FDD, USB-ZIP, USB-CDROM, USB-HDD. I tried each option but none of them works. I just see a flashing underscore ( _ )
USB#2: Using the same Linux USB Creator program, I instead chose to let this program download the Linux Mint distro for me (this version is Linux Mint 12). Waited 2 hours and the USB also did not work. I tried this USB on a friend's Windows computer (which does not have all those USB-FDD, USB-ZIP, etc options). It boots up with a flashing underscore. I waited maybe 3 minutes for it to change, but it never did.
I noticed the program has support for Lion OSX though my Mac uses Mountain Lion. This may be why it failed.
One other thing that may be a culprit is that I am installing Linux on a computer as if it has no operating system to start with. That is, The HDD that has Windows 7 was not hooked up. The only drive the computer has access to is my new SSD that was just opened from the box. All the hardware is reused from my Windows machine (think old Windows 7 machine, with the HDD replaced by an SSD). Would this likely cause problems?
Please give me any suggestions to try out. Feel free to point out blatant mistakes I made.
I've been having a lot of trouble installing Linux Mint on a new drive. I have never installed any Linux distribution, so I hope you guys can help point out things I missed.
The Computer
A 4 year old desktop computer that used to run Windows 7 64-bit. Got a new small SSD to install Linux on.
The Install
I used Linux Mint (no codecs) 64-bit .iso file downloaded from the official website.
DVD #1: I burned this on my Mac laptop. When I tried booting the DVD on my desktop, the Linux Mint logo shows up, but it loads for a couple of minutes before throwing this error: "unable to find a medium containing a live file system." Googling suggests the disk may be corrupted and I should burn it at a slower speed. This DVD was burnt at 8x.
DVD #2: Burned exact same .iso file at 4x. Booted onto desktop, same error ("unable to find a medium containing a live file system"). I checked the .iso MD5 checksum with the checksum published on the official site. The sequence was identical. More Googling suggested I try a LiveUSB install.
USB#1: I found a program called Linux USB Creator for Macs. Created a USB boot drive using the program and the .iso file I downloaded earlier. Tried booting the USB on my Desktop. Selecting boot sequence was weird, as I have options like USB-FDD, USB-ZIP, USB-CDROM, USB-HDD. I tried each option but none of them works. I just see a flashing underscore ( _ )
USB#2: Using the same Linux USB Creator program, I instead chose to let this program download the Linux Mint distro for me (this version is Linux Mint 12). Waited 2 hours and the USB also did not work. I tried this USB on a friend's Windows computer (which does not have all those USB-FDD, USB-ZIP, etc options). It boots up with a flashing underscore. I waited maybe 3 minutes for it to change, but it never did.
I noticed the program has support for Lion OSX though my Mac uses Mountain Lion. This may be why it failed.
One other thing that may be a culprit is that I am installing Linux on a computer as if it has no operating system to start with. That is, The HDD that has Windows 7 was not hooked up. The only drive the computer has access to is my new SSD that was just opened from the box. All the hardware is reused from my Windows machine (think old Windows 7 machine, with the HDD replaced by an SSD). Would this likely cause problems?
Please give me any suggestions to try out. Feel free to point out blatant mistakes I made.