Linux Mint 19

[Abraham Andres Luna]

Well I tried to install Mint 19 but got a few errors. The first one that came up was 'unable to load'
After that I saw, ACPI Exception, Kernel panic - not syncing : VFS : unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)

It also identified my BIOS as A12. Do you think that could be the problem? Or do you think burning the ISO with FAT32 is the problem?

Either way I'm going to have to work around this if I plan on installing it.

 

[Abarbarian]

Well I tried to install Mint 19 but got a few errors. The first one that came up was 'unable to load'
After that I saw, ACPI Exception, Kernel panic - not syncing : VFS : unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)

It also identified my BIOS as A12. Do you think that could be the problem? Or do you think burning the ISO with FAT32 is the problem?

Either way I'm going to have to work around this if I plan on installing it.

That is a pretty common sort of error,

https://askubuntu.com/questions/419...s-unable-to-mount-root-fs-on-unknown-block0-0

However the answers given above are a tad technical.

Are you trying to install with a CD/DVD or a USB ?
How did you burn the .iso ?
Did you partition your hd/ssd first with something like "gparted" or did you let Mint do the partitioning ?
How have you partitioned your hd/ssd ?

If you are installing via USB then ETCHER is a very good cross platform tool to use. It works well with Mint and will ensure that you have burnt the image to the usb correctly.

https://etcher.io/

 

[Abraham Andres Luna]

Are you trying to install with a CD/DVD or a USB ?

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the help.

I burned the ISO to a USB using the software: isotousb.com

I will try with Etcher and see if it fairs any better.

I didn't even get into the install portion of the OS because first I was show the screen with 4 options, Start Mint, Start Compatibility Mode, and a couple others. So when I selected Start Mint that's when I got those errors.

The Dell support website insists that I must have the Windows 10 installed first if I wish to dual boot, and I have that. So then I shrunk the Windows partition and created a volumen with 32GB of free space. Do you think I should give it more? I'm willing to spare 64GB if you think that is best.

 

[Urmas]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the help.

As per THIS forum post: is the BIOS up-to-date?

 

[Abraham Andres Luna]

is the BIOS up-to-date?

Yes I updated the BIOS a few months ago, I'm running A12 now. I also have the latest version of Windows 10.

 

[Abarbarian]

I burned the ISO to a USB using the software: isotousb.com

http://www.isotousb.com/

Bootable USB flash disks
This software currently only support Windows bootable disk, can work with both BOOTMGR and NTLDR boot mode, can create USB disk with FAT, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS file system. (When you are making a bootable USB disk, suggest you choose the FAT32 file system.)

This program have be tested with Win8/Win7 PE and WinXP PE bootable ISO image files, it can work fine, the generated USB disk can normally boot the computers. Only a small part of the machines can boot Win8/Win7, but can not boot WinXP, these machines will display "NTLDR is missing", for this problem there is no good solution currently.

Looks like isotousb only supports using Windows images. Etcher should do the job ok.

A modern linux os can usually run as a bare install in a 5 GB partition for "root" . The more programs you install the bigger the partition needs to be. 10 to 15 GB is usually ok for most users 20 GB should be more than sufficient for almost every user part from folks with specialist needs.
I am using 17.5 GB of a 19 GB "root" but I have Steam and a whole host of programs I am trying out. I used to manage very well with less than 10 GB as "root".
For a "home" partition you could probably get away with 5 GB as a minimum and the sky is the limit going upwards. These are just guestimates for a reasonable everyday system. You could run with a lot less or tons more as it depends on your individual needs.

I always partition separate "boot" "root" and "home" but you can just use one big partition. Ask anyone and they will give you a different answer as the issue is down to individual taste. I also always use Gparted from a live os to partition my drives before I try to do an install as I just find it so much easier to use a gui than do the "mkdir" "format" "mount" command line stuff. Mind you I did do the traditional stuff on my last Arch install just to prove too meself that I could do geek.

You have made BACKUPS of all your important need to keep Windows files and folders, haven't you ? As remote as it seems things can go bums up and you could loose the Windows install by simply misreading an instruction or pressing the wrong key at the wrong time or some other mischievous gremlin may appear out of thin air and cause havoc.

I am sure that all will run smoothly though so best of luck and welcome to the penguin army.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Back in the day I used to partition drives when installing Linux Distros and sometimes I didn't get it right with dodgy results but yes, I realised the risk and always backed up the Windows install if I was going for a dual boot, I've been using Acronis True Image for backup for years but I don't doubt there's an open source program that will do the job.

But nowadays, whether single Linux install or dual booting with Windows, when installing Mint I just follow the prompts, haven't cocked anything up yet.

However, it's been awhile since I've configured a dual boot, nowadays I just swap hard disks in and out of a 5.25" mounting internal caddy.

 

[Abarbarian]

Back in the day I used to partition drives when installing Linux Distros and sometimes I didn't get it right with dodgy results but yes, I realised the risk and always backed up the Windows install if I was going for a dual boot, I've been using Acronis True Image for backup for years but I don't doubt there's an open source program that will do the job.

But nowadays, whether single Linux install or dual booting with Windows, when installing Mint I just follow the prompts, haven't cocked anything up yet.

However, it's been awhile since I've configured a dual boot, nowadays I just swap hard disks in and out of a 5.25" mounting internal caddy.

I like that hd/ssd swap idea you use and would probably have utilised it on my Skylake build but for the fact I have my Windows 7 and Arch on the same super fast nvme drive.

Acronis is a good program, I think it is based on linux but am not sure. Clonzilla is the usual linux offering. I am using a rysync script for backups and clones as I wanted the challenge. An once set up it can be run with a three character alias from a terminal.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Loaded Mint 19 final stable version onto USB stick and installed over the beta version.

Have installed more software than usual, going to try a few things.

All updated, running stable