Switching to Mint but need to create a partition to install | Linux Mint Community🍵 | Page 1

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 11:23 AM

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I have an SSD with 440 gb storage and 220 gb free, I have 32 GB of ram. I already have a bootable USB stick but I don't know how to manage disks on linux.
I want to switch from Windows to Mint but I don't want to delete important files,~~ I've tried to shrink my SSD but Disk Management is way too slow (30 min+)~~

What should I do?

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Hmm, Disk Management just completed shrinking by 170 GB, but how should I configure the partition?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 11:42 AM

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Share the ss or pic of the gparted partition in live boot

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 11:46 AM

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Live boot?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 11:46 AM

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mint usb boot

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 11:47 AM

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That would be difficult, I don't have discord on the usb and I don't know how to take pictures in mint

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 11:48 AM

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um pictures through phone?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 11:49 AM

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I suppose that'll do

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But how do I find my SSD in mint?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 11:50 AM

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it will detect it

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 11:50 AM

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hmm oaky

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Should I?

rn_image_picker_lib_temp_11c45194-73b2-42db-bc9c-20f0c5e839f0.jpg

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:00 PM

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open terminal and type lsblk -f

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:00 PM

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Okay

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rn_image_picker_lib_temp_3367b0df-5c5d-4f10-9751-da0e3a0aa9e5.jpg

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:04 PM

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faint topaz Should I?

click 'no'

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:05 PM

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Ok

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I assume "Something else" would be the option to preserve my disk

rn_image_picker_lib_temp_6c0248f8-c48b-4cf4-a06c-7d735fdb2219.jpg

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:07 PM

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yes

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:10 PM

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I signed into discord via web

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:11 PM

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scroll down

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:13 PM

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It's hard to tell which is the SSD

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But I think it's SDA

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:15 PM

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how many drive do u have?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:16 PM

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I have 1 ssd and 2 hard drives + usb stick

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:17 PM

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well which one is the ssd i bet u dont have nothing important in it

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:18 PM

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297.5 (Sda2) + 182.5 (Sda3) = 480 GB ≃ 500 GB

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:18 PM

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fresh spruce well which one is the ssd i bet u dont have nothing important in it

That's a bold assumption to make, I definitively do have important things on my main drive

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:19 PM

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did u ever used a linux before cause i can see a partition in there

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:19 PM

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Might have once before but it wasn't for long

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I think Sda3 is the "170 GB" unallocated space

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:26 PM

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faint topaz That's a bold assumption to make, I definitively do have important things on my ...

man im stuck

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i have a dual boot system

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:27 PM

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Well, you've helped me this far

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:29 PM

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why is the windows boot manager in sdb though?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:31 PM

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I don't know about that, my setup is all over atm, I got like one installation of windows on each drive because I recycled them from my siblings old laptops

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I'm not going for dual boot though

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:36 PM

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so r u sure that the sda is the one?

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that u dont have any important files in it

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:41 PM

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I have one SSD with ≃ 500GB, one HDD with ≃ 1TB, one HDD with 750GB, 1 USB stick with 16 GB.
The only one that reaches up to ≃ 500GB is Sda
I shrunk my SDD by 170GB which is ≃ 180GB or Sda3
I don't get why you ask that I don't have any important files on it, No, I don't since Sda3 is empty. Although there seem to be 6GB used? I don't know.

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:42 PM

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man what are u typing so long please dont be mad i just dont wanna risk it 😭

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oh

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:42 PM

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I was just getting the info

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:43 PM

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faint topaz

ok click on /dev/sda and then click on new partition table

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this will erase the whole sda drive sequence

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:44 PM

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It won't delete anything?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:45 PM

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hmm

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picture please

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:45 PM

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fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:46 PM

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continue

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:47 PM

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Then?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:47 PM

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is there any free space showing under sda

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:48 PM

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yes

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:48 PM

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select the free space and click on the "+" botton

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:49 PM

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Hmm okay

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:49 PM

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also a pic please

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:49 PM

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fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:50 PM

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in the mount point just type "/"

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and ok

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then a pic

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:52 PM

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Won't that overwrite other files in this disk?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:52 PM

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only the sda one

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:52 PM

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The SDA one is the one..

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:53 PM

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💀

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:53 PM

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Can I just quite the installation?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:53 PM

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yes

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u cant install without formatting the drive cause it contains the windows partition

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:54 PM

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Hmm..

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:54 PM

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and u also have ur important files in it

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:54 PM

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I find that a bit problematic

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As it stands I can't install linux if I can't preserve my files

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:56 PM

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u can install on the ext4 one but it will be again a dual boot

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:57 PM

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faint topaz As it stands I can't install linux if I can't preserve my files

yep

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 12:57 PM

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What's the difference between dual boot and not?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 12:59 PM

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its just u have the ability to use both and the linux one can access all of the drive files even though its in ntfs format but the windows cant so the ext4 drive becomes unavailable to windows but not for linux

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:00 PM

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Is there a way for me to move files from one partition to another?

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Sda2 got 200GB and sdb5 got 500GB+ free storage

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But I can't access Sda2 via the file explorer

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:03 PM

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like i have backup of all by documents and downloads of the c drive to my e drive for worst case scenario

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:03 PM

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I'm not really looking for a backup but more like a place to put the files

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Then I might install linux entirely on Sda

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:05 PM

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faint topaz I'm not really looking for a backup but more like a place to put the files

u can move it to sdb5

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:05 PM

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How do I do that?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:05 PM

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drag n drop?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:06 PM

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I can't access Sda in the file explorer on linux for some reason

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I can't drag and drop

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:07 PM

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linux? u mean the drive which has the linux iso

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:07 PM

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*on mint

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Windows8_OS is Sdb5

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:09 PM

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u cant the mint u r using is not installed into ur system live boot is just the demo of how the linux mint would work or look so u have to do it on windows

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man wait let me clear some fog what os is installed into ur machine

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:11 PM

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I have windows 10 installed

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:11 PM

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which media creation tool u used to format the mint into the drive

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:11 PM

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What now?

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The USB stick?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:12 PM

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yes like rufus or ventoy

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:12 PM

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rufus

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:12 PM

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is ur system uefi or bios

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:13 PM

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I don't know, I'd assume UEFI but I don't know

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:13 PM

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cat_wut

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 1:14 PM

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In terminal mokutil --sb

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:15 PM

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SecureBoot disabled?

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:15 PM

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fastboot disabled?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:15 PM

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It didn't say anything about that

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:16 PM

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it? who?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:16 PM

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The command

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:16 PM

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😭

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man go to windows

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:17 PM

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Alright

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:18 PM

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then type bcdedit in powershell

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:24 PM

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Yea so I tried using UNetbootin yesterday but someone said definitively not to do that

📎 message.txt

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:25 PM

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@candid pollen man help needed

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imma got some work

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🥲 .

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:27 PM

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Never knew I got 4 windows boot loaders

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:51 PM

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um im back just upgraded my desk

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:51 PM

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faint topaz Never knew I got 4 windows boot loaders

why though?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 1:58 PM

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fresh spruce why though?

Don't know how to remove them / didn't care enough to check that stuff

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 1:59 PM

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save those important files from sda then ping me

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 2:49 PM

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faint topaz Don't know how to remove them / didn't care enough to check that stuff

What is on /dev/sda? From #1390654257316888650 message it almost looks like the Mint ISO is booted from there

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 2:51 PM

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candid pollen What is on /dev/sda? From https://discord.com/channels/628978428019736619/13906...

It's my SSD, but it's messy

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I think there's traces of linux on it but I don't think it's being used

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 2:55 PM

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There is some 157GB partition labeled writable that is ext4

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 2:56 PM

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there should be 170 gb unallocated

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Sda

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hmm.. it's a partition?

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I didn't assign it as a partition

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 2:58 PM

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It showed as /dev/sda3 from Linux

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 2:59 PM

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The disk is only ~ 500GB

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447 to be exact I think

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I don't know what's happening to that SSD

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 3:12 PM

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You would have to be booted to the Mint ISO to see if anything is in it or install ext4 support in Windows

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 3:12 PM

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I see

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 3:52 PM

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@fresh spruce I'm done with the transfer

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It can't find Sda for some reason?

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I don't get it, how is it busy

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this is so annoying..

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 4:22 PM

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Open the disks program and see what it shows for /dev/sda

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:23 PM

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the disks program? lsblk -f?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:25 PM

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faint topaz this is so annoying..

did u read my reply in triage?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:25 PM

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I did read but I have instead just moved my important files

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:25 PM

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so u want to wipe?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:26 PM

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Well, yes

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Although at this point none of the paths are "smooth", one doesn't find my disk and one says my disk is busy

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:32 PM

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ok

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boot the Mint live usb please

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:33 PM

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I am on the USB

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 4:33 PM

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I wonder if the SSD is failing

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:33 PM

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then open the app named Disks from its start menu

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then show the drive u intend to work with, as a landscape-mode photo

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the complete disks window

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:33 PM

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candid pollen I wonder if the SSD is failing

Well, I used the SSD 30 minutes ago so

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uhg.. I forgot to select

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signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:35 PM

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that's the one u want to wipe?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:35 PM

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Yes

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:35 PM

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which looks entirely like u Rufus'd it, in terrible error

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show the USB drive please

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:36 PM

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signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:36 PM

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complete screwup

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:36 PM

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Should it say.. not mounted?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:36 PM

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u didnt flash the damn usb. u flashed the Kingston

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boot back to windows n fix

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:37 PM

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Well, if you say so

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:38 PM

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use either Rufus, Universal USB installer (pendrivelinux.com) , or Ventoy (ventoy.net) to prep the USB stick with the official mint ISO

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:40 PM

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I used rufus, I don't see how I could have flashed the SSD

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:42 PM

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faint topaz

ill bet anything if u had clicked partition 2 here and shown the mountpoint, it would've said /cdrom/live

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or do with this , exact: #1295816480256163892 message

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:49 PM

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signal abyss ill bet anything if u had clicked partition 2 here and shown the mountpoint, it ...

my windows installation is not existent anymore, although it probably exists, the partition table got reset

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:51 PM

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well ... take the usb to another pc and redo it

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and make extremely sure ur choosing the usb stick to work with there

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:52 PM

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If I am on Sda then can't I just prepare the media to the USB?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:53 PM

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i suppose, if the ISO is saved already as a single file.

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u cant download it in live mode from internet unless u have absolute crap-ton of RAM in live mode

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point is:

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:54 PM

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Is there a way to see ram?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:55 PM

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make live USB (properly) boot to live USB. run up the mint installer. tell it the 'erase disk and install' option, then next step choose the Kingston disk u showed earlier here. then let it install.

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:55 PM

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faint topaz Is there a way to see ram?

free -h

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:56 PM

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25Gi free

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:56 PM

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ok

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that may perhaps be enough. open file manager to the live home folder.

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then read the status bar to me

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:57 PM

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Which status bar?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:57 PM

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bottom

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that's the status bar

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if not shown, turn it on in the View menu

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:58 PM

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8 items, Free space: 16.5 GB

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:58 PM

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ok and what's the address bar say, when u press ctrl-L

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 4:59 PM

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/home/mint?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 4:59 PM

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good

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ok do this in terminal rq and show :

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but actually first click on ALL devices on the left side of file manager (so they mount)

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where it says Devices

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then lsblk -o NAME,TYPE,MODEL,LABEL,SIZE,FSSIZE,FSTYPE,FSUSED,MOUNTPOINT

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all one line, exact spelling and spacing

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:01 PM

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(I logged in with discord)
I don't see any devices

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:01 PM

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whoah

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ok mount all the partitions of all devices using the DISKS app

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eg: select each device, each partition, then the play icon (triangle)

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:02 PM

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signal abyss then `lsblk -o NAME,TYPE,MODEL,LABEL,SIZE,FSSIZE,FSTYPE,FSUSED,MOUNTPOINT`

then that

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:03 PM

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TYPE MODEL        LABEL         SIZE FSSIZE FSTYPE FSUSED MOUNTPOINT
loop0  loop                            2.4G   2.4G squash   2.4G /rofs
sda    disk KINGSTON SA4             447.1G                      
└─sda1 part                          447.1G    11M ext4    10.7M /media/mint/f93
sdb    disk ST1000DX001-             931.5G                      
├─sdb1 part              WINRE_DRV    1000M  1000M ntfs   469.4M /media/mint/WIN
├─sdb2 part              SYSTEM_DRV    260M        vfat          
├─sdb3 part              LRS_ESP       500M        vfat          
├─sdb4 part                            128M                      
├─sdb5 part              Windows8_OS 905.3G        ntfs          
└─sdb6 part              PBR_DRV      24.4G        ntfs          
sdc    disk Hitachi HTS5             698.6G                      
├─sdc1 part              SYSTEM        198M        ntfs          
└─sdc2 part                          698.4G        ntfs          
sdd    disk Cruzer U                  14.9G                      
└─sdd1 part              LINUX MINT   14.9G  14.9G vfat     2.8G /cdrom

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:04 PM

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k one moment

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sda disk KINGSTON SA4 447.1G
└─sda1 part 447.1G 11M ext4 10.7M /media/mint/f93

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:05 PM

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Uh

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:05 PM

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type that address into the address field of file manager and show it

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/media/mint/f93 exact

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:06 PM

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signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:06 PM

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open gparted app

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:06 PM

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yes?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:06 PM

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choose the Kingston drive in the top right menu

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then show the window ss

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:07 PM

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signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:08 PM

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right click it, and do 'unmount'

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:08 PM

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Alright

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:08 PM

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then reshow

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:08 PM

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signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:09 PM

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right click sda1 line.. .and select "Information" and show

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which is what that yellow warning will detail

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:09 PM

#

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I'm not sure if that is a necessary warning

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:10 PM

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seems odd cuz of

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it was saying it was ext4 earlier here

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anyway.. go to the DEVICE menu of gparted

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:11 PM

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The header option "Device"?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:11 PM

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choose 'create partition table'

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yes, and choose GPT style and apply

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:12 PM

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faint topaz

idk what in the blue hell this was about before.

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:12 PM

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Looks good,

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:12 PM

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good, note the titlebar dev name.

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close gparted, disks, and file manager

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run the installer.

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:13 PM

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signal abyss idk what in the blue hell this was about before.

Might have used WSL at one point but idk

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 5:15 PM

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cat_wut

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:15 PM

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going to tell the installer to 'erase and install' , onto sda

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:16 PM

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does the computer name have to be unique or long?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:16 PM

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shorter the better

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:16 PM

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Eh? How come?

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:16 PM

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and set your username wisely, it's gonna be with u a long while, and often seen

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at least by your own self

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and def. record ur password on paper if not already deeply memorized. it too is relied upon heavily

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 5:18 PM

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clueless

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:18 PM

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signal abyss and def. record ur password on paper if not already deeply memorized. it too is ...

That secure huh..

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:19 PM

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it's used for administrative tasks. like deleting or adding software and general maintenance

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:19 PM

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forgot about that

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:19 PM

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first user who installs the OS gets 'sudo' (superuser aka admin.) powers

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:27 PM

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Thanks Stunner and Alfred

fresh spruce Jul 4, 2025, 5:27 PM

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ur welcome

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:28 PM

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faint topaz Thanks Stunner and Alfred

so did u boot final install? Welcome screen read, etc?

faint topaz Jul 4, 2025, 5:28 PM

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signal abyss so did u boot final install? Welcome screen read, etc?

I'm seeing the welcome window

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:29 PM

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nice. be sure to check out #1295728709306683482 here for lots of post-install tips n usage

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in the Index article

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:31 PM

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faint topaz

@candid pollen was some WSL tomfoolery going on here. all wiped now from live. Installed.

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 5:32 PM

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Good

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:45 PM

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candid pollen Good

Confirmed

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sda2 was mounted as the freakin' CDROM .. probably from WSL environment. sheesh....

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 5:46 PM

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I have seen writable on different ISO's before using Ventoy that would have some install logs

signal abyss Jul 4, 2025, 5:46 PM

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as soon as I saw the Disks app picture, I knew something was way off

candid pollen Jul 4, 2025, 5:47 PM

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It had me confused why they were mounted

#Switching to Mint but need to create a partition to install