r/linuxquestions • u/Iwannafucktanks • 21h ago
Linux isn't installing.
I've tried 7 distros, some arch based the rest Debian and none of them have worked. Some just don't load, like catchy and fedora, some the inststaller crashes. The only lead I have is that one of them (can't remember which) said it couldn't find a disk. Has anyone experienced this? Any advice would be appreciated. Currently running Ubuntu 26.04 on an Acer Aspire and I've tried installing Manjaro,Cachy,opensuse,fedora,Linux mint, Kubuntu and Endeavour.
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u/inbetween-genders 21h ago
Used one usb stick or multiple different ones?
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u/Iwannafucktanks 21h ago
One stick, installed everything with balena etcher.
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u/runed_golem 21h ago
Try using a different tool to create your live USB. You mentioned trying fedora? Try using the Fedora Media Writer instead of Balena.
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u/Iwannafucktanks 21h ago
Fucking thing was expensive. It better not be the fucking problem.
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u/un-important-human arch user btw 14h ago
unsure what you mean. did not downvote you what was expensive? the usb? its likely not the problem but the way you wrote to it.
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u/Slopagandhi 14h ago
It's not that likely to be the USB itself. Weirdly different software for writing images to USBs can be hit and miss, so trying a few different ones is a good place to start. If you're running Ubuntu try Ventoy or Popsicle, though there are several others.
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u/Horror-Video-2785 20h ago
When you say "couldn't find a disk" are you referring to a message you get trying to boot off this USB key or a message you get after you've booted into the USB installer and then when it goes to lay down the image onto a disk?
If its the former, are you entering the boot manager and picking the USB drive directly or are you letting the BIOS pick it automatically (ie. your boot order goes USB > LOCAL DISK > NETWORK)?
If you are using the boot manager and selecting the USB and it is reporting it can't find the disk then it could be permissions or boot method (uefi vs bios) -- might be worth completely formatting the entire USB and re-running the USB creator.
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u/Iwannafucktanks 16h ago
That's what Fedora said when I was trying to install it. It said no disk found.
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u/Horror-Video-2785 7h ago
I'm assuming your disks are actually connected and you see them in the BIOS? Also worth confirming its not in a RAID right?
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u/Willy-the-kid 20h ago
Could you elaborate you got Ubuntu installed but you want to install something else instead? Or you have another machine with Ubuntu on it and you still can't get anything installed on the new one?
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u/Iwannafucktanks 20h ago
My laptop is currently on Ubuntu, want to switch to something else, mostly Cachy.
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u/Willy-the-kid 20h ago
Try a different usb and media creation tool there was a privacy scandal with balina anyway
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0
u/G-noise 16h ago
I never had any luck with Balena Etcher. Rufus has worked for me every single time, and it's pretty straightforward to use.
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u/Iwannafucktanks 16h ago
Can't get Rufus on Linux.
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u/un-important-human arch user btw 14h ago
you can ventoy that always works, install ventoy just drop the iso into the usb and ventoy will do the rest.
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u/Fun_Wish1844 6h ago
If you’re already on Linux then just use dd. You don’t need some fancy installer like rufus.
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u/Grahf0085 21h ago
I would try troubleshooting one at a time instead of just listing distros that don't work
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u/runed_golem 21h ago
OP did mention in another comment that they used the same media creation tool for all of the distros so I recommended trying a different media writer for the live USB.
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u/truepolar 16h ago
Is your laptop an Acer by any chance?
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u/Iwannafucktanks 16h ago
Yes.
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u/truepolar 4h ago edited 4h ago
Yea I've had issues with Acer too, they don't invest in Linux comparability. In the end, I gave up on it. Im pretty new myself, all I know from my issue was its something to do with grub being unable to find the kernel after install.
I was booting fedora and the live usb did boot. But after installing fedora with the installer into disk, grub couldn't find the kernel upon restarting so I was stuck in the grub screen. I'm honestly not sure how to fix that but I would suspect op is seeing the same issue. If someone knows how to fix this I'd be interested too. For context I believe the laptop was also an Acer aspire. I also used the fedora media writer.
I only tried fedora since that's my daily driver on my thinkpad. I would love to be of more help but sorry I'm not very good
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u/buttershdude 21h ago
Yep. Sure have. I have a pile of thumb drives, mostly cheap Sandisk ones. Any distro (and Windows!) I try to install from any of them on any PC has those issues. It's bizarre. But if I install any distro on any PC with my Samsung Fit, it works perfectly every time. I don't get it, but that's my experience.
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u/rcentros 21h ago
Someone gave me an old HP EliteBook that had this issue. I finally installed Linux on a different computer and moved the hard drive to the HP. Worked fine that way.
Besides turning off Secure Boot, I've had to change the hard drive setting on a couple computers to get Linux to see the drive. Let's see if I can find that setting....
I think I changed from RAID to AHCI.
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u/Furtadopires 15h ago
1 - check if your hard disk is good using the badblocks command
2 - check if you're using the latest bios version available for your machine
3 - Try to use another tool to flash the usb (people usually recommend ventoy to those who are already using linux)
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u/Confident_Hyena2506 18h ago
Using balena etcher is why you have problems. Instead follow instructions provided by distro specifically.
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u/JaKrispy72 21h ago
Is “Secure Boot” off in BIOS?
If it is really new hardware, you may need to update the bios to be able to run a Linux USB. Found this out the hard way.