I've been trying to install Manjaro on my Dell Inspiron 7500 2-in-1, but I'm hitting a wall. I created a bootable USB with the latest KDE iso, but as soon as I open the "Manjaro Linux Installer," it crashes shortly after starting. I've done some checks to ensure the checksums are right, tried using different USB drives (from cheap to high-end), and even used various methods to create the bootable media. I've tried booting the installer with both open source and proprietary drivers, but nothing seems to help. I'm trying to set this up for a dual boot with Windows, which might complicate things a bit. My system specs include an Intel i7 CPU, 16 GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GPU, and a UEFI BIOS setup. I also get an error in the terminal when running the installer, stating something about the EFI sector count. This installation process is becoming incredibly frustrating, and I'd really appreciate any insights into what I might be doing wrong.
5 Answers
You might be hitting issues because of Intel RST due to your Optane setup. Switching from RST to AHCI might be necessary for Linux installations. Make sure to check that setting. Although it may not be the direct cause of the crashes, it’s worth getting that sorted out.
It sounds like your installer might be faulty. I’d suggest experimenting with another distro to see if you run into similar problems. You could also try a different version of Manjaro, just to rule that out.
Thanks! I’ll try EndeavourOS as per the other suggestion.
KDE can sometimes be finicky. I’ve had my fair share of issues with it. Perhaps you could try a lighter desktop environment like XFCE or Cinnamon? They tend to work more reliably and could ease your installation woes.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll consider switching to XFCE or Cinnamon.
Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend Manjaro if you're having this many issues. You might want to try EndeavourOS instead; it’s got a great reputation for being user-friendly and could save you a bunch of headaches.
I’ll give EndeavourOS a shot, thanks for the suggestion!
Your EFI partition might be too small. It could help to create a new one with more space. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could always give Arch Linux a try instead of Manjaro, especially since doing a manual install can give you more control.
I’ve heard Arch can be a bit challenging for beginners. I'll try it at least once!
I read about AHCI and switched it in BIOS. I managed to boot into Linux finally, but the installation still crashes. Thanks for your help!