Hi there.
Since I'm using Windows10 on decade-old hardware (can't upgrade to Windows11 even if I wanted to) I've decided to check out what Linux is all about. After a couple of flowcharts wanted to try out Mint. Bought a fresh USBstick, downloaded the ISO, flashed it with Balena Etcher, created a separate partition on a HDD in the case I decide to fully install it.
Trying to boot I get the options to select any bootable media, but choosing either UEFI or the other option to boot from the USB drive I get to a menu where I can select to boot to Live or in compatibility mode (among others), but whatever I choose I end up with rolling errormessages, main one being /init: line 38: can't open /dev/sr0: No medium found
Googling around I've tried unplugging the USB and using it in another port, enabling/disabling stuff in the bios (but I have no idea where to start or what stuff actually does) but nothing really works.
After some time (10+ minutes) of rolling errors I get the prompt to boot from URL (or something), haven't tried that yet as I don't know if the network is even enabled...
So I have the next questions: Where do I begin with troubleshooting? Is there a way to interrupt the stream of errors it keeps spitting out for more than 10 minutes? Once the errors stop I seem to be in a full screen terminal with an unsuccessful boot, can I try to get it to boot from there?
Update: Ventoy seems to be more promising, it's got a nice menu and I can choose which bistro to load, but currently it's loading Mint quite a long time...
I suspect it's loading everything it can at once, but at least I can see the Mint logo for longer than 10 seconds in a splash screen.
But 15 minutes later it seems to be still loading...
Will update when I can
Update 2: YES! It got past the boot errors by unplugging the USB and plugging it back in.
Life is calling, so it'll take a while before I can start figuring out why my mouse isn't working (or how I can install without a mouse), but at least I can confirm that Linux works on my PC.
Will have to check which USB ports are which, after 12+ years not checking my hardware I'm a bit rusty on all this. Windows made it too easy to not bother, but now that Windows10 support ends by the end of this year I should be more aware of what I have and what may need some upgrading.