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sounds like the machine has an issue like bad ram/failing hd or something.. ive installed mint on hundreds of machines with random hardware and never had these issues...
what machine did you make the stick with that crashed?
Yup, get a recovery/tool ISO and run a memory test.
Doesn't The Linux Mint ISO also offer to run Memtest86+?
Otherwise: https://memtest.org/
Memtest is quite shit, seriously unstable ram will still pass. If it doesn't pass memtest it's actually dead.
Can you recommend a better solution?
The last time I've used it, it well identified the addresses of the RAM blocks that were broken.
Sadly most good tools are windows only but: OCCT, karhu Ram test and testmem5 (anta extreme config) Are all good choices, but id usually recommend running more than 1.
I've never installed Mint, but I've had a patriot memory stick go bad, and the RMA process involved sending both sticks to Patriot. Never buying from that garbage company again...
I have a bunch of there SSD's and they have been working fine for a few years. Not super performant but they also have been reliable especially for the cost.
I think computer ram is just easily damaged in shipping.
I followed the instructions to use Etcher, etcher itself crashed but it was a pretty easy fix running it in administrator mode and apparently a known issue. Its weird because the live preview works fine. The stick was made on the same machine I'm trying to install linux on.
that definitely indicates some kind of hardware failure
etcher sucks ass. I read about it even breaking usb sticks, I've had it fail the flashing too multiple times. in mint I use the preinstalled usb flashing tool, in other distros popsicle and in windows rufus.
Reporting back, rufus fucked it up even more, laptop is now bricked. I know y'all are gonna say it has nothign to do with Linux but it was working perfectly for years right up until today when I tried to install Mint.
(Bricked as in boots up but won't boot to the Linux preview OR windows, possibly salvagable with a windows boot stick but currently a paperweight)
It probably would have done the same if you had tried to install Windows or BSD.
You should use a different USB drive and boot something like memtest86+ and let it run through. Or if it's something like a Dell with built-in diagnostics, run that. You need to rule out failure of the different components. I'm guessing it's the drive, but it could also be RAM.
Usually, the Linux installers have memtest86+ built in, as well as media verification. I'd do the verification if you haven't already, then memtest.
Mentioned in a different comment but I have installed a custom win10 on this same laptop with this same USB stick before.
That doesn't mean that your laptop hasn't developed a problem in the meantime. As someone else said, you had problems before you ever tried booting from the USB stick, so before Mint ever ran on the hardware. It looks like a hardware issue.
A bad ram is hard to find in many cases since data in memory will just randomly corrupt. It might be totally fine for the most part but then an app will crash or data will get corrupted.
I would run a men test for a few hours to see if you have a bad ram. Ram is one of the first things to go bad after storage.
This sounds like a hardware issue. Did you get to the installer phase? Linux don't touch your disk until you hit install and then confirm.
I've tried Etcher many times and I feel like I've had issues every time, unfortunately. I don't remember the exact issues, but I recall both having problems with writing ISOs and with booting them. I would highly recommend Rufus instead, which has been much more consistent for me.