Installing Linux Mint (XFCE 7.2)

[#1]

I've burned dozens of bootable CD's and (mostly rewritable) DVD's.
Not a single one has failed to boot.
I do burn them at medium speed (4x I believe) - perhaps that makes a difference?

[#2]

Quote from: kabads

Not looked at Linux Mint in a long time, but I'm sure it will allow a USB image to boot and install from.

It does - and it even boots from EUFI USB...

[#3]

How do you make a UEFI USB?
Do I just use gdisk followed by gparted?
Mind you, I've never needed more than 2 partitions on a USB.

[#4]

You're confusing uEFI with GPT. uEFI needs a signed bootloader that the EFI firmware recognises the signature of, nothing more. GPT partitioning schemes are just one way to feed it one. A USB drive formatted FAT32 with the right directory structure can also host a signed GRUB, as can an optical disk in both ISO9660 and UDF format or indeed PXE netboot.

[#5]

Seems to me you're confusing UEFI with Secure Boot.

[#6]

Oops.
I'm really confused now.
I can definitely boot Mint from an old DVD or a GPT disk.
I thought all EFI systems needed GPT partitioning - except that most BIOS's had decided to be "helpful" by providing an additional "legacy boot" option i.e. a DOS partition. 
Even though a DOS partition has got to be a bit incompatible with the shining new BIOS.

[#7]

The two are pretty much inseparable when talking about x86 systems. Most EFI firmware needs a signed EFI bootloader to do anything at all. Admittedly, I haven't exactly tried every device on the market but it's definitely a recurring theme where the only solution to boot without a verifiable signature is to drop to legacy mode, which is why Matthew Garrett developed the uEFI shim back before GRUB learnt secure boot. Once you're past EFI, you can then chain whatever you like.
Pretty much moot anyway as both Debian and Mint have signed GRUB.

[#8]

Some sad news...
http://www.internetnews.com/blog/skerner/debian-down-ian-murdock-is-gone.html