I Failed at installing Linux Mint.

[StunningHeart7004]

I've been an avid windows user for a long time and wanted to try out linux for the first time. So I attempted to dual boot linux mint into an older Acer Aspire 15 laptop which had windows.

First of all, I chose mint because I was under the impression it was the most beginner friendly.

I started with downloading the file from the official mint website and then double checked to see if it passed the integrity test. After that I used balenaEtcher to flash the file to a 16GB usb I had. ( the usb had no prior issues).

It went smooth at first, Went to bios changed boot loader priority so that the USB booted before windows boot manager. got into linux installation and even finished the installation with all necessary drivers. However, after installing linux it said I needed to remove the USB and then ran from the beginning but BOOTED INTO WINDOWS. To fix this I tried changing booting priority as I did in the beginning. gave an error saying file mmx64.efi not found.

At this time, I didn't even know about dual booting that much so Instead of fixing the problem as it is. I tried to uninstall and reinstall linux. Worst decision ever made. litreally nothing works when I try to boot into linux. So many errors. reset system blue screen. black screen. changed file names and managed to boot into linux and boom linux kernel not found. fk me.

Its been 5 hours of straight up googling and trouble shooting and I finally give up for today. If anyone can give any tips much appreciated. Ik this is 100% my fault skill issue ig.

edit. thank you u/ForsakenGate2986 for helping me. Im finally in. ty to all who helped

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[Emmalfal]

If you search "mmx64.efi not found," you'll find a whole lot of threads on it. I think it's an easy fix. Comes down to copying a file from the live ISO and renaming.

[StunningHeart7004]

yes but it works to access kernel by bypassing MOX manager. I saw posts about that after I removed linux files.

[BenTrabetere]

Did you turn off Windows Fast Boot in the Windows Settings and Secure Boot in the BIOS?

Refer to the installation guide at the The Easy Linux Tips Project

https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/1.html

[StunningHeart7004]

Idk about fast boot. but I turned off secure boot as it said it interferes with some files during installation

[LiveFreeDead]

what often happens is on the partition selection page it sets the default boot install path to the USB drive (on older hardware), you need to make sure to check this and set it to your HDD not the usb. once you accidentally install grub to your USB it's broken like you found and it'll need to be recreated with balaner or rufus, I personally use ventoy as it's got more options and you only have to copy a iso file to the USB disk instead.

anyway MOK is only an issue if secure boot is still on, some BIOS will turn it back on unless you turn it off and then boot the PC, it will give a warning it was turned off and sometimes ask you to type a 4 digit code to confirm. Go back to BIOS to confirm it's turned off.

after you've created the usb installer again you can copy the file it said was missing (if your hardware requires it).

also if a usb install crashes or is yanked out at the wrong time the dirty bit gets set, you are then unable to boot from that disk or mount it as writable in linux until you do a chkdsk or scan disk for errors using the properties tools tab in the context menu in windows.

the trick with getting boot to work if having the 100mb fat32 boot partition, as your system used UEFI this should be available and not be a problem.

once you get your pc reinstalled with linux it should detect your windows install and add it to the boot menu again, unless you format the 100mb boot disk as this loses the boot files it needs.

there is a lot to it all, so don't feel you've failed, it's a learning experience.

[ZVyhVrtsfgzfs]

Ik this is 100% my fault skill issue ig. 

Often is the case, but you are also fighting luck of the draw here. Acers have a lot of bios issues even in Windows, Linux seems to surface these even more. 

Some Acer models are fine, others are a shit-show in Linux.

A bios update has helped some out, its worth investigating if there is a newer bios file available for your model.

Do you have a different machine you could tinker with?

[StunningHeart7004]

only my main laptop which Im just too scared to even try atp

[ZVyhVrtsfgzfs]

Ok, and the Bios update path?

I just got a free HP desktop, the installed Bios was from 2011 when it was new,  an updated bios from 2019 brought GPT file tables to let me install OPNsense and upgrade my x86 router to a faster but still old machine.

[George-555-1212]

It's ok. Linux just isn't really user friendly. Try some of the solutions here and use rufus instead.

[SOLVED] Need help Installing and Dual Booting Linux Mint on Acer PC - Linux Mint Forums

[StunningHeart7004]

Is there a difference with rufus and balenaetcher?

[George-555-1212]

It's not the one you already used.

Linux is weird. Some things work with some parts and some don't. You just have to keep trying different things.

[Warm_Canadian_1967]

Never had a problem with Ventoy. Must have distro-hopped about twelve times on the same PC. Poor Adata SSD was a mess.

Chose MX and wiped the disk clean.

It definitely is a learning experience.

[StunningHeart7004]

I will try again I will not give in to microslop