Hey there. I’m totally new to Linux. I’m not the most tech savvy, but I’m fed up with windows and want to go elsewhere. For the time being I figured I’d dual boot, and got everything set up on a usb. I plugged it in, booted up Linux Mint, and it worked smoothly. I ended the session, powered off my pc, removed the usb, booted up windows 11, freed up some disc space and did some other stuff on my computer, then turned it off for a bit. When I went to boot it up again, I got this message:

Failed to open \EFI\B00T\mmx64.efi - Not Found Failed to load image ??: Not Found Failed to start MokManager: Not Found
Something has gone seriously wrong: import mok-state() failed: Not Found

and then the computer powered off. I tried disabling fast start or whatever it’s called, as well as secure boot, and it’s still giving me that. Windows still boots up just fine. Does anyone have any advice? Like I said I don’t have much technical knowledge so a dumbed down response would be really appreciated. I’ve looked up a few forums and nothing gave me much.

Oh also, when I try to boot it and it gives me the error and turns off, if I turn it back on but boot up windows, I get a message saying something was blocked due to a security system I have to disable, but doesn’t tell me what that security system is or how to disable it. It’s getting a little frustrating. I don’t know why it worked once but not anymore.

Update: I got it working. Thanks everyone for the help.

  • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
    5·
    2 days ago

    Did you install anything yet?

    It sound like you set up the installer usb, tried it, then went into windows to free up disk space, and now the usb no longer boots?

    If I got that right, tell us more about the usb drive you used, and the software you used to make it bootable.

    • BurntWits@sh.itjust.worksOP
      3·
      2 days ago

      It was just a regular usb drive as far as I know, nothing fancy. Completely clean before hand, new. I used Balenta Etcher to flash Linux Mint onto it. It was specifically the August 2023 version of BE if that makes a difference. The current version was bugging and would just freeze.

      • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
        9·
        2 days ago

        Did you try re-doing that?

        The EFI partition is something that exists on the storage device being booted, so if something is wrong with that, then the problem is something on the USB.

        Since windows still works, the EFI partition on your computer must be fine.

        You can also give Ventoy a go. It replaces the need for Balena Etcher/Rufus.

        After you install Ventoy on the usb, it will continue to work like a normal usb drive. Now you just put the .iso file you want on the usb. Or multiple at a time, even. And you can continue using it as a usb drive without removing Ventoy or the isos. It wont care if there are other files on it.

        When you go to boot from it, Ventoy will show you a menu of the isos on the usb, and let you pick one to boot. Makes it really easy to try a bunch of different distros if you want.

        And it works with windows isos, too.

        • BurntWits@sh.itjust.worksOP
          6·
          2 days ago

          I tried redoing it right after replying to you.

          Just tried Ventoy, it worked perfectly. Thank you! I appreciate it.

        • BurntWits@sh.itjust.worksOP
          1·
          2 days ago

          Okay update, part way through the installation process (before it actually started downloading, when it’s still asking questions about languages and location and password and all that) it said it failed and lost connection to the drive or something, then froze. When I tried to re-boot it, it started saying “invalid magic number, load kernel first” or something around those lines. It’s getting late here, so I’ll try it again tomorrow. If you know of anything I can try, I’ll attempt it when I get the chance.

          • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
            9·
            1 day ago

            It sounds like maybe the usb drive is a bit crappy.

            I’ve had trouble with cheap ones crapping out partway through being used, but be fine once you re-write the files to them. Twice now, yours worked, but then stopped working suddenly for seemingly no reason.

            The drive might also be getting too hot. That happens with the Kingston DataTraveler drives I have. If I try to read or write continuously for too long, they shut down for thermal protection, and I have to let them sit for a bit before they work again.

  • Fizz@lemmy.nz
    62·
    2 days ago

    When you freed up the disk space windows seems to have broken mints bootloader partition. You could fix it if you wanted, but at beginner level its probably best to reinstall. If you need to recover any data from you “broken” mint partition you can plug the mint USB in, boot into the live environment and look in your files mount you old mint files and backup anything you want to keep before reinstalling.

    Depends on how much of a nerd you are. If the idea of rescuing your system using the terminal sounds fun then try otherwise just reinstall.

  • bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml
    21·
    2 days ago

    Not an expert either, looks like maybe the EFI partition is missing a file or not present. When you installed did you use UEFI mode or legacy mode?

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 days ago

    This is still from a USB drive or some sort, right?

    Quite possible it’s just bad, especially if an SD in an adapter. Try and verify the drive with whatever tool you used to write it, and I bet it fails.

    • BurntWits@sh.itjust.worksOP
      1·
      2 days ago

      It’s from a regular usb drive as far as I know. It’s new and never been used, didn’t hold anything on it until I flashed the Linux Mint ISO onto it. I used Balenta Etcher to flash it, not sure how to verify with it.