The PC freezes during startup even when using a bootable USB drive?
The PC freezes during startup even when using a bootable USB drive?
Are they both M.2? In a possible rare case, the problem might lie with the M.2 slot itself. It’s best to try installing an SATA 2.5" SSD or 3.5" HDD and see if the OS boots there. If everything works and you can start the operating system afterward, it suggests an issue with the M.2 slot (PCI-E lanes).
Instead of installing Mint directly on the drive (OEM setup), use the "Start Linux Mint" option to load the entire distribution into RAM. This method may take longer, but it allows booting a Live Linux Mint desktop without any physical storage connected.
If the issue persists and the PC still can’t boot to the Live Mint desktop, it might point to a CPU problem. It doesn’t require much processing power to enter BIOS.
They are both my Samsung 980 and WD Black SN850x are M.2 NVME SSDs, luckily I have an extra 3.5 HDD available and plan to install an OS on it and boot from it.
For the Bootable Linux Mint choice yes, I have also done that too. I've tried both "Start Linux Mint and Start in compatibility mode" options, but once the configuration loads (around 5-10 seconds in, like the CMD window) it freezes. That's also the same issue I encountered when testing RAM using the Memory test feature. I'll upload a picture or video later.
For how long have you waited on that freeze screen? Since loading distro to RAM and booting from RAM takes a while. Considerably more time than booting from storage drive. Could be several minutes.
This would be last thing to try, since SATA goes directly to MoBo chipset and doesn't use PCI-E lanes, as M.2 drives do.
This suggests a low chance of starting the PC from the HDD. Still, it might be the final attempt.
It's time to consider swapping out the parts.
So just in case someone has faced similar problems, I wanted to share that I've tested it with my friend and confirmed my CPU i9-13900 is faulty. I also reached out to Intel for a replacement, which was under warranty, and received it today. Now everything is working properly and smoothly.
It's interesting to see that despite the fixes, Intel chips continue to encounter problems.