My first hurdle is understanding that i need to add a boot sequence and navigate to the EFI file in my mounted pen drive.
second hurdle is understanding i need to disable secure boot so that the dell bios doesnt think something is wrong and always run the bios repair program.
third is understanding that i need to disable Intel rapid storage for the full install (luckily linux mint tells us this)
and honestly the hardest thing was installing fastfetch cuz theres a lot of outdated information out there on how to install it on Mint.
the process took about 4 hours, i consider it very lucky that i was able to do it so fast.
resources that helped me:
https://devicetests.com/boot-usb-uefi-mode-dell-inspiron-workaround
if you go in not knowing what to do, it can seem ‘difficult’. but it’s mostly like on any other oem prebuilt:
optional: prep the target disk (backups, wipe or clear part table, etc), reset bios to defaults.
if necessary: switch from raid or rst to ahci sata mode, default boot mode to efi, disable secure boot. note that some distributions support secure boot but your method of creating an installer might not–you may be able to re-enable if you want after install.
note that hp systems have a hoop to jump through (a confirmation prompt to disable) after disabling secure boot on the next startup. do not use esc key to trigger boot menu, use f9 for boot menu, f10 for bios entry… as esc will cancel the confirmation code prompt and automatically re-enable secure boot.
insert or plug-in installer, hit the magic key upon power on (f12 for dell, f9 for hp) to bring up boot menu and select installer media, boot and run installer.