Trouble installing Manjaro GNOME

Support
1

So, a few weeks ago I tried Manjaro GNOME out in a VM, and it was good, so I tried installing it on my real PC. However, when I tried to open the installer, nothing happened. It just had the loading cursor for ~30s. Same happened with the file browser. Firefox worked though. Can anyone help me with this?

2

I recommend downloading a fresh, current ISO to install from.
I also recommend to use Ventoy to write it to the USB device which you use to boot it from to then run the installer.

https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

It is available for Windows and Linux - just saying because I don’t know what OS you currently use.

3

I currently use Kubuntu 24.04 and I used BalenaEtcher to write it to the USB. Manjaro was also version 24.2.0 Yonada, which I think is the newest version.

4

There is a more recent one - still the same version - there was something missing from the ISO a week or two ago.
And I still recommend using Ventoy.

I just used it - no need to even install it.
Just download the archive from the website, unpack it and run the script
VentoyWeb.sh
contained in it (as root) - follow instructions to open the browser with the given local address and prepare your USB device
then copy the ISO to it.

Something clearly went wrong with your first attempt - maybe it was the ISO, maybe it was BalenaEtcher, maybe something else.
Download a fresh copy and check that the checksum matches - easy to do with Ventoy, as you are literally just copying the ISO as a normal file
and can thus check what has ended up on the USB-thingie.

1 Like
7

It’s fixed. I just got a new iso and used BalenaEtcher again. Turns out the new iso is 24.2.1 instead of 24.2.0.

8

Avoid BalenaEtcher if possible.
Consider creating a Ventoy USB as mentioned.

Ventoy

Boot with a Ventoy USB, and ISO files are automatically listed in the Ventoy menu, and can be booted directly. A 32GB capacity USB should allow ample space to store several ISOs of your choice; an 8GB capacity USB might hold one, or two ISO’s; do the math.

Ventoy is available from the official Manjaro extra repository:

sudo pacman -S ventoy

Write the Ventoy system to an empty USB drive;

  • target the device itself /dev/sdX, and not a partition

Create a Ventoy USB (for UEFI mode): :eyes:

sudo sh ventoy -i -r 100 -S -g -L VOLUME /dev/sdX

Create a Ventoy USB (for BIOS mode):

sudo sh ventoy -i -r 100 -S -L VOLUME /dev/sdX
  • Enable -s or disable -S Secure Boot.
  • Substitute VOLUME for a volume label name to use.
  • Substitute /dev/sdX for the location of your USB device.
  • Preserve some space on the target device (example allows 100mb).
Ventoy general usage

Type ventoy (without arguments) to see usage information:

Usage:  Ventoy2Disk.sh CMD [ OPTION ] /dev/sdX  
 CMD:  
  -i  install Ventoy to sdX (fails if disk already installed with Ventoy)  
  -I  force install Ventoy to sdX (no matter if installed or not)  
  -u  update Ventoy in sdX  
  -l  list Ventoy information in sdX  
  
 OPTION: (optional)  
  -r SIZE_MB  preserve some space at the bottom of the disk (only for install)  
  -s/-S       enable/disable secure boot support (default is enabled)  
  -g          use GPT partition style, default is MBR (only for install)  
  -L          Label of the 1st exfat partition (default is Ventoy)  
  -n          try non-destructive installation (only for install)

Update a Ventoy USB:

  • ensure the updated Ventoy version is available in Manjaro; and then:

To update the Ventoy system on an existing Ventoy USB;

sudo ventoy -u /dev/sdX
  • The Ventoy USB update process is non-destructive.

See also: Ventoy (GitHub);

There is also a Windows GUI version of Ventoy. If you choose to use it please pay attention to available options in the File menu before creating the Ventoy USB.

Regards.

1 Like
9

Good.
Ventoy has got a few advantages though, over Etcher and other methods.

One is, as mentioned, that you just copy the ISO file onto the USB drive and can thus check the integrity easily.
Another is that you can copy multiple ISO files to it (if there is enough space on the drive) and can choose to boot each one.
Yet another is that you can keep using the drive as storage as you usually would.
… not just to boot one OS

If you are on Linux - as you said
and a bit familiar with the command line,
you could have simply used cp to create your bootable medium:

sudo cp manjaro.iso /dev/sdx
(where /dev/sdx is your USB drive)
easy peasy :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
10

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