Hash installation differs and installation crashes (SQUASHFS error in loop)

[tight spear]

hii, i've recently decided it was time to get my hands on mint and ran into a problem (i'm COMPLETELY new to this, so please bear with me!!)

it's that two of the two times i tried to download an ISO (Linux Mint 22.3, Poznań mirror, Ventoy), it downloaded incorrectly. when i entered certutil -hashfile F:...\linux-mint.iso SHA256 into the cmd and compared the results with sha256sum.txt, they were different.

on the first attempt, i didn't check the sha256. the installation proceeded normally (i booted the UEFI partition from the BIOS, because otherwise it wouldn't recognize that the computer already had an operating system), everything was set up, but while copying files, I got an error saying something was wrong with the medium the installer was on (32 GB flash drive). Then, an infinite loop of SQUASHFS errors, a hard shutdown, and then a reboot on windows (windows is fine, nothing has happend to it)

the person helping me with this said he'd simply copy it to his flash drive and give it to me tomorrow, so hopefully i'll install mint later that day without a problem. but i'm curious if anyone else has encountered this problem and managed to solve it or has any suggestions on what might have gone wrong with the download? is it the mirror's fault?

[tight spear]

update: tried warsaw's mirror, hashfile was correct but installation crashed anyway
this time without SQUASHFS error

[viral sedge]

the mirror is very likely okay. verify your usb memory stick functionality with ValiDrive from Gibson Research: https://www.grc.com/freepopular.htm

[tight spear]

i guess it's also perfectly fine

[viral sedge]

cool, you knew ValiDrive already! 😄 so the drive you stored the downloaded mint.iso is more of a concern. maybe you can chkdsk its partition?
Or see the manual about Ventoy: #1295816480256163892 message

[tight spear]

all's fine and dandy, at least windows says so

No further action is required.```

i did all the manual said, but i'll maybe go format my pen drive again just for the sake of sanity check
don't know if today because i've been sitting on my computer for hours now

will be back with any updates, thanks for assistance so far)))

[vale storm]

see #1295728709306683482 INDEX, Section 1 near bottom for how to verify easily, both the original ISO and on the flash drive itself.

if you're using some cheap SD card reader shaped like a USB stick, throw it away. Those are terrible and always fail for OS installs.

[viral sedge]

did it really finished the test for a 32 GB stick in only 3 Minutes? 🤔 that's the difference between my post and your answer.

[tight spear]

yes ik, i've checked sha256 already from the website))

[tight spear]

oh you serious?? i didn't know that is even possible

[tight spear]

so you suggest it should've taken more time? i don't know the median tbh

[viral sedge]

almost 11 GB/min = 177 MB/s (for read, write, read, verify cycles: multiply with about 3.3 ---> 580 MB/s) that's faster than any of my usb sticks.

[tight spear]

i see, huh
i cannot verify why would it be so fast because i've changed the pendrive and leave the previous one at home - will check it again, maybe i did something wrong during the vali drive setup

[tight spear]

checked, didnt do H2testw but in USBDeview it all seems like it is in fact legit USB flash drive

[vale storm]

yeah and verify the ISO on the flash drive itself as shown in the link via Ventoy

those mini card readers are trash. the tiniest heat and the contact breaks in the middle of a transfer/install

[tight spear]

update: wow it was probably the pendrive all along - i've got another one with same mint on it downloaded with ventoy and all's working just fine for now on)). this one was from kingston, the other one from goodram: the first one i know is legit but the second is kinda enigmatic - i just knew that this company (owned by wil elektronik) is perceived as pretty reliable but they are not that recognizable by wider users so the opinions can be incomplete if i can say so.
sorry for such a long delay btw and thank you for you patience!! i've discovered some new facts and learnt new things just by doing as you advised

this week i've been out so i couldnt really proceed with linux installation. my pc at home is self-built so i've encountered 0 problems with bios setup - when i'm away i use my hp laptop where i wanted to install mint as well but it turns out you have to desolder the bios chip and reprogram it (hp support guy told me it is like that because of "company's policy" and "user safety") so i just kinda gave up after this week

[vale storm]

or just use SuperGRUB2 disk (made on a bootable ISO) to help easily boot the installed linux on the internal drive if bios is stupid

[tight spear]

will check it out then!))