I recently got a Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 laptop and I'm trying to dual boot Windows 11 with either MX Linux or Linux Mint. I didn't have a USB drive available, so I attempted to install it by manipulating disk partitions and using Unetbootin, but that didn't work out. Unetbootin did show up as an available operating system, but I got an error about a missing ublndr.mbr. Next, I wiped a Toshiba 1TB external SSD and mounted the ISO using Rufus, but the SSD didn't show up as a bootable option either. I've tried both methods with Linux Mint as well, but no luck. My laptop has an 8-core Snapdragon processor, is running UEFI, has 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. I specifically want to run MX Linux with XFCE, but I can settle for Linux Mint with Cinnamon if necessary.
4 Answers
You're facing compatibility problems because the Snapdragon CPU is an ARM processor and most mainstream Linux distributions don't support it at the moment. Essentially, you can’t just take any version of Linux that works on Intel/AMD and expect it to run on your setup. You’ll need to stick to distributions specifically designed for ARM.
It looks like you're trying to install Linux on a laptop with an ARM chip, which might be the root of your issues. Both MX Linux and Linux Mint aren't compatible with ARM processors because they're typically designed for x86_64 architecture. You might want to look into using Ubuntu for ARM or Fedora for ARM instead. Both offer live ISO versions that should work well for your setup. And if you can, definitely get a USB drive for the installation. External drives can sometimes be tricky to boot from on certain devices.
Thanks for the heads-up! How user-friendly are those alternatives, especially Fedora? I've heard mixed reviews.
We have some helpful installation tips available! I recommend checking the wiki for guidance, and also consider searching for additional information on related topics. A good practice is to always connect with an Ethernet cable during installation and don't forget to remove any boot media after the process. Happy installing!
What's the make and model of your laptop? It might help to have that info as we troubleshoot further.
Thanks a lot, you and KernelMaster are life-savers! This is so frustrating, though!