Linux Mint 22.3 installer fails to create root partition on B85 desktop

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Hello
I never reached the GUI since the fdisk wouldn’t make /dev/root_partition

System:
  Host: null-byte Kernel: 6.17.0-22-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64
    compiler: gcc v: 13.3.0 clocksource: tsc
  Desktop: GNOME v: 46.0 tk: GTK v: 3.24.41 wm: gnome-shell
    tools: gsd-screensaver-proxy dm: GDM3 v: 46.2 Distro: Linux Mint 22.3 Zena
    base: Ubuntu 24.04 noble
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: All Series v: N/A serial: N/A
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: B85-PLUS v: Rev X.0x serial: 140932600200082
    part-nu: All uuid: 33ee5420-d7da-11dd-bf96-382c4a6364c5
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: 2107 date: 08/08/2014
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i5-4430 bits: 64 type: MCP
    smt: <unsupported> arch: Haswell rev: 3 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB
    L3: 6 MiB
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 06)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x16 Controller (rev 06)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI (rev 05)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev d5)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #3 (rev d5)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev d5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation B85 Express LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode] (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM206 [GeForce GTX 960] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GM206 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 0c)
04:00.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1083/1085 PCIe to PCI Bridge (rev 04)
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1038:1722 SteelSeries ApS SteelSeries Sensei 310 eSports Mouse
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 1c4f:0002 SiGma Micro Keyboard TRACER Gamma Ivory
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2357:0005 TP-Link M7350 4G Mi-Fi Router
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:8008 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 8087:8000 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
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Weekly Forum Summary
2

If nothing shows up there, it’s likely a SATA issue or the disk needs to be initialized first.

Worth checking lsblk to see if the drive is even being detected.
Can you run sudo fdisk -l from the live session and paste what it shows?

How experienced are you with the Linux command line so I can better approach helping?

Welcome to the community!

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3

inxi -p will show disk/partitions

Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 218.51 GiB used: 65 GiB (29.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 6.1 MiB (1.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1
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4

( Cross-referencing to my original reply: Failed Arch Linux install )

Absolutely need to clarify this datum point:

  • Did you successfully boot from Live ISO and obtained a GUI from the Live, without attempting the install?

  • Is that Live session giving us the above inxi report?

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5

Pavlos, does the reference to Ubuntu 24.04 seem out of place for Mint 22.3?

I don’t know why, but I thought their versions were kept in sync to avoid confusion and reflect inherent code “line-up”?

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6

Linux Mint 22.3 “Zena”, released in January 2026, is based on the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) package base and is supported until April 2029.

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7

Well I’v been using Mint for a few years but the terminal not so much - most NOT -out of the box installations goes with luck.
Next time I try to install Arch, I’ll be back to this topic.

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8

So what’s the best way to initialize (both ssd & optic) to completely remove all old Windows filth in there?

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9

@Edith

Please don’t hesitate to open a new install topic so we can follow your progress and assist at the various intersections of choices.

If you havn’t already I recommend reading:

and

Those are two very critical intersections that will have a high impact on your overall Linux experience.

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10

If you just want to clean the SSD partition before re-using the disk, the simplest is to use the following approach:

sudo blkdiscard /dev/nvme0n1

or

sudo blkdiscard /dev/sda

To eliminate the actual Windows-originating partition table, use the following before creating a new GPT partition table:

sudo wipefs -a /dev/nvme0n1

There are more intensive disk wipe methods to be used before dispose of the disk to third party. Entering the following search string in Google can give you some additional insights:

Linux how to flush any Windows artifacts from an SSD drive
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