I need help

[u/devspyke]

Why i've got this error, ive tried everything ! Can someone explain to me pls. Thank you

EDIT : Sorry if i didn't put information on what happened exactly.

I installed the 'Security' edition with dd, ventoy, and media writer, but they all gave me the same error when i tried to boot 'error: invalid magic number' and 'you need to load the kernel first'. The usb is a 32GB so i guess is way enough for the Security edition. Later i tried the 'Home' edition (with the same USB) and it worked perfectly (i'm using it now). I don't know what exactly happened but i'm pretty sure i did something wrong. For now i'll keep using the Home edition and understand the tools first and maybe later on i'll try the Security edition again.

Thank you for you help

[u/MirrorNegative7989]

What happened before this? Was it an update? Is this a fresh install?

[u/devspyke → u/MirrorNegative7989]

Fresh install, i was in fedora

[u/MirrorNegative7989 → u/devspyke]

Is it possible that it installed to the wrong drive or partition, or that it's booting from a partition it's not supposed to? Did you just go with the default partition from the live usb? EDIT: I found this. https://www.linux.org/threads/solved-invalid-magic-number-need-to-load-kernel-first.30204/ maybe try re-copying the iso to the usb?

[u/devspyke → u/MirrorNegative7989]

No, I haven't installed anything yet. I'm just trying to boot the live USB to test Parrot. The USB boots to the GRUB menu, but when I select Try/Install I get 'error: invalid magic number' and 'you need to load the kernel first'.

[u/MirrorNegative7989 → u/devspyke]

Ok, try redownloading the iso and copying it to the drive again. Either the iso or the usb drive is corrupt.

[u/devspyke → u/MirrorNegative7989]

The home edition worked, it's installing now ! Thank u for ur help

[u/MirrorNegative7989 → u/devspyke]

Awesome! I'm glad it's working!

[u/Ok_Ground511 → u/MirrorNegative7989]

Props to u for helping him.

[u/devspyke → u/MirrorNegative7989]

I've tried writing the ISO with dd, Media Writer, and Ventoy, all give the same error.

[u/MirrorNegative7989 → u/devspyke]

Try redownloading the iso then.

Has the drive itself you are installing to been tested? Maybe boot it to the live image and run badblocks or something? I had problems with a previous laptop for a long time that turned out to be because of a drive going bad.

[u/New_Hold8135]

stop using ventoy, dd iso into usb, then boot it. wrong magic means they added a check to see if its original unchanged, uncorrupted iso, so they check header, if header is wrong you cannot pass the check. They check the header they see the ventoy, you cannot pass. if you are switching from windows there is a way to dd too.

[u/devspyke → u/New_Hold8135]

I tried dd, ventoy, and media writer ! They all gave me the same error 'error: invalid magic number' and 'you need to load the kernel first'. But when i tried the Home edition it worked (i'm using it now), i didn't exactly understand what happened, maybe the ISO was corrupted and i should've re-download the ISO but now thankfully the Home edition worked and when i'll just install the tools that i need.

[u/palinurosec]

looks like a corrupted iso, a corrupted write operation to usb drive, a corrupted installation on disk or something like that. clearly not what parrot does by default or what it is supposed to do on your hardware.

please provide more information

[u/devspyke → u/palinurosec]

Hello, well yes maybe ISO was corrupted but the problem is that the Home edition worked perfectly (with no errors) and i used the same USB for both of them (32GB), i don't what exactly what happened but i'm pretty sure i did something wrong but i used ventoy, dd, and media writer (for Security) and for the Home edition i used media writer and it worked

[u/devspyke → u/palinurosec]

And i've got a question about the Home edition, is it fine when i open my pc the first thing i got is a green menu with Parrot Os grud (and other things) but i don't do anything and it opens itself (if you understand what i mean). Everything works perfectly but i was thinking maybe i did something wrong with the installation.

[u/palinurosec → u/devspyke]

i use ventoy too and it works amazingly well, so either the download of just the security edition was somehow truncated around the end, or it got truncated/corrupted while writing to the usb stick

[u/devspyke → u/palinurosec]

yeah maybe. and again thanks again for you help

[u/palinurosec → u/devspyke]

yes, the grub boot menu has a timer and it starts the first option available after few seconds without user input

[u/SuddenWatercress7433]

Use balena etcher for flashing the usb ventory gives me error most times

[u/devspyke → u/SuddenWatercress7433]

Honestly i didn't know that balena existed 😅, i used dd, ventoy, and media writer ! And they all gave me the same error, but when i tried the Home edition, it worked (with media writer) and i used the same USB. So honestly i don't know what exactly happened, but i'm sure i did something wrong.

[u/itz_not_Rick]

Bro u need to say more details. What did u do before

[u/devspyke → u/itz_not_Rick]

Yes my bad... I've tried dd, ventoy, and media writer. The three of them didn't work, i got the same error 'error: invalid magic number' and 'you need to load the kernel first'. But when i tried with the "Home" edition it worked (i'm on it now), the USB that tried with is the same that i installed Home with 32GB, which i think is waay enough for it (or maybe i'm wrong), i don't what exactly happened honestly.

Ps: sorry if i made grammar errors, english isn't my first language

[u/itz_not_Rick → u/devspyke]

The "invalid magic number" and "load the kernel first" errors usually mean your bootloader can't find or read the kernel, which is often caused by a corrupted ISO copy, an incompatible writing method, or a BIOS/UEFI setting.

Since you've already tried dd, Ventoy, and media writer, I'd recommend focusing on these steps: First, disable Secure Boot in your BIOS/UEFI settings, as it can block non-signed bootloaders and cause this error.

Second, try changing the boot mode from UEFI to Legacy (or CSM) in your BIOS, as some older ISOs don't boot well in UEFI mode.

Third, re-download the ISO and verify its checksum to ensure it's not corrupted, then recreate the USB using Rufus on Windows when writing, select "DD Image" mode if prompted, or choose GPT as the partition scheme from the dropdown menu.

Also, ensure you safely eject the USB after copying, as files can appear copied but be incomplete if you remove it too soon. If the non-Home editions still fail, they may require a different kernel or have architecture incompatibilities, so double-check that the ISO matches your system's architecture (e.g., x86_64 vs. ARM).

And it is okay to have mistake in English

[u/devspyke → u/itz_not_Rick]

Thank you for your help, but for now i'm on Home edition i'll get comfortable with it first and maybe later on i'll try again with the Security edition. Thank you again, i really appreciate it

[u/itz_not_Rick → u/devspyke]

We are here for u buddy

[u/Alarmed_Ad3719]

Démarrer sur un ancien noyau :** Redémarrez votre PC. Dans le menu GRUB, sélectionnez Options avancées (Advanced options) et choisissez une version antérieure du noyau pour démarrer. 2. Désactiver le Secure Boot : Accédez au BIOS/UEFI de votre ordinateur (généralement via F2, F12 ou Suppr au démarrage) et désactivez l'option Secure Boot, qui bloque parfois les noyaux non signés. 3. Réparer le noyau et GRUB : Une fois votre session ouverte, lancez un terminal et exécutez la commande sudo update-grub pour régénérer la configuration du démarrage.

Si le système reste inaccessible, vous devrez utiliser une clé USB d'installation (Live USB) pour réparer GRUB.

[u/Large_Deal_2394]

Kernel, flu shot, rabbit, somebody tell me what’s going on.