Wolfman,
I’ve done three versions including trying the original ubuntu desktop, umate and mint mate, they all act the same. They can be run from the usb, they all act normal during install up to message that install is complete and need to restart. I’ve even tried several variations when I remove usb, before tapping reset, after reset and screen goes dark and leave it in until it comes back up to bootable usb to test or install then pull and reboot. I’m also going to video the restart to capture the couple of times messages flash across.