[Skybird]

Robbins, or anyone in the knowledge of Linux Mint, does this make sense to you?

Its the last chapter and current status of Linux worries I am fighting against since two days. Long story short: while wanting to create a bootable Mint Live 18.2 USB stick as emergency backup (my existing one still is 17.2) something - cannot define it any closer, I have no idea - went wrong, and so I did it under Windows then, with another stick. Actually there was more misery involved with that, too, but it plays no role here. After that, and one system (the linux notebook) shutdown, and rebooting it hours later, I got greeted with a message that I should put in a valid boot medium. And thats it.

I cannot boot into my notebook's Mint 18.2 anymore. But its even worse.

Getting engaged on the issue - and having lots of words exchanged with the major German forum on Linux Mint - I found, that I also cannot get into the system via Grub Superdisk, or a Linux Live boot medium (DVD, or USB stick) with Mint 18.2. A book installation DVD with 18.1 (an introductory book on Linux that came with one of these DVDs for starters) also does not get me into the notebook, not to mention the installed 18.2.

However, an old DVD with 17.2 can get the notebook booting in 17.2, so does a stick with 17.2.

I' clueless and now out of advise. The experts in that forum are puzzled and slowly become angry that I cast a cloudy shadow in their sunny Linux land. I am also starting to fell getting lead in circles.

I know little about Grub, nothing, to be more true; the option where you can let Grub analyse what OS options are present, lists Linux Mint 18.2, and that then can only refer to the installation on the HD. Choosing that leads to a long wait, and then the demand for a root password - which i never have heard of before and thus never have set. I tried my account logins, but to no success.

This is queer. The notebook came with 18.1 preinstalled, I wanted preinstallation so that the shop had to demonstrate and give guarantee for comple component compatability with Linux. But I am unable to and totally locked out when wanting to install Mint 18.2. I cannot do it, it is impossible apparently. I can install 17.2, assuming that the installation button on the Linux Live setup desktop does work and is not causing more, new mess.

Any ideas? The major German Linux Mint forum seems to have no advice left. Im getting a little bit desperate.

Currently having reactivated my tower'S second HD with my old testing installation for 17.2. The 18.2 boot media I mentioned, work on this tower PC, flawlessly. The boot it in 18.2 Live.

An Installation DVD for W7 also works in the notebook, gets launched, loads stuff and then ask for permission to proceed (which I of course denied, it was just a test). 17.2 seems to run fine as well. But not 18.2. No way to reinstall it.

Somebody needs to get me out of this, I know no way out anymore. So far I lost many hours, many words, and two USB sticks that got destroyed in the processes in the past 48 hours. I'm already lucky that I did a data backup just in time. Just in time. Many new photos I just had done.

P.S. I assume that the media, the notebook and the tower technically are fine, are not broken. No hints for that at least nmone that I could identify as hints for technical flaws.