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Linux Mint a PITA to install on Win 11 (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 3 days ago by JustOneMoreCat@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I have a Windows 11 laptop and recently gotten excited to try Linux. I read good things about Mint being pretty good to go out of the box, and while I can be a fast learner I'm also tired and don't have a tremendous amount of bandwidth.

So I followed all the installation instructions, verified, flashed a USB, booted into it and started to install a dual boot of it. Made it through installation until it told me my computer had BitLocker on, and I'd need to go turn it off and try again. Fair enough.

Went back into my Windows OS (after booting it went to "diagnosing your PC"). I don't seem to have bitlocker installed - looks like a Pro version thing which I don't have. It did show that encryption was enabled, so I turned it off.

Restarted to boot to USB. Nope, "mmx64.efi - Not Found" error.

OK, googled it, renamed it, let's go.

error: shim_lock protocol not found error: you need to load kernel first

OK... I googled it just enough to see this is going to be a pain.

I tried remaking my USB just in case, didn't help. It's extra frustrating because my first attempt to boot into Linux went so well! How did it go from booting into it flawlessly to giving me a series of errors?

Did I anger the Microsoft gods and now they're blocking my path? Is this a bad omen that Linux is going to be a problem on my laptop in general?

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[-] eugenia@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

You can install Mint on a usb drive, or external ssd. I personally run it on two of my machines where the internal drive died, on a usb stick. These wear out, but hey, for now, it works. So get a second usb, and install it there, or nuke Windows to get it to run well.

[-] GlenRambo@jlai.lu 1 points 3 days ago

Does it have persistence when rebooted ?

[-] eugenia@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

Yes, it's a true install, not a live cd.

this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
46 points (83.8% liked)

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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