Hi there.
Since I'm using Windows10 on decade-old hardware (can't upgrade to Windows11 even if I wanted to) I've decided to check out what Linux is all about. After a couple of flowcharts wanted to try out Mint.
Bought a fresh USBstick, downloaded the ISO, flashed it with Balena Etcher, created a separate partition on a HDD in the case I decide to fully install it.
Trying to boot I get the options to select any bootable media, but choosing either UEFI or the other option to boot from the USB drive I get to a menu where I can select to boot to Live or in compatibility mode (among others), but whatever I choose I end up with rolling errormessages, main one being /init: line 38: can't open /dev/sr0: No medium found
Googling around I've tried unplugging the USB and using it in another port, enabling/disabling stuff in the bios (but I have no idea where to start or what stuff actually does) but nothing really works.
After some time (10+ minutes) of rolling errors I get the prompt to boot from URL (or something), haven't tried that yet as I don't know if the network is even enabled...
So I have the next questions:
Where do I begin with troubleshooting?
Is there a way to interrupt the stream of errors it keeps spitting out for more than 10 minutes?
Once the errors stop I seem to be in a full screen terminal with an unsuccessful boot, can I try to get it to boot from there?