I'm trying to switch from Windows to CachyOS, but I'm hitting a wall with the installation process. I booted from a USB drive, but it keeps getting stuck at 15%. I've read online that I should reboot every time it fails, which I've been doing. I've gone through various steps, including manual partitioning and using different file systems like NTFS instead of Btrfs. I even tried erasing the disk completely and have verified my UEFI settings—CSM, Secure Boot, and Fast Boot are all disabled. Has anyone else faced this issue or knows how I might fix it?
3 Answers
Another suggestion is to try disabling LAN from the BIOS during the installation. Sometimes network settings can interfere with the process.
One thing to try is reimaging your boot USB. Sometimes the ISO can get corrupted during the process. Did you create the USB stick on a Windows machine? I've had issues before where Windows causes file corruptions for boot USBs. If possible, use a different machine to create your boot stick and see if that helps.
I've seen this issue come up a lot! You're right to keep rebooting, but it might help to just wait a bit longer sometimes; the progress bar can be misleading. Are you using an ethernet connection, though? Mobile hotspots can create issues during installation. Can you pinpoint which step fails? Is it related to downloading packages with pacman? If so, try rating your repos with Cachy Hello!
The install step it gets stuck on is "CachyOS downloading." I'm using ethernet, and I left it for over an hour.