fraser kendall said on Tue, 8 Mar 2022 15:33:37 +0000

>Hello,
>
>I am trying to install Devuan {Beowulf server (CD), Chimaera minimal
>(USB)} on the above machine. It has a 100M EFI partition 1, W10
>(partition 2, 116G, shrunk from 370G), [vacated free space for linux
>after shrinking, ~250G], and a Windows recovery partition 5 (~520M).
>The machine boots Windows 10 reliably with UEFI. I would like to keep
>the W10 installation if possible.
>
>However, despite two days of effort, I cannot get the machine to boot
>linux from the hard drive. The first problem was not detecting disks
>during installation, although after switching to legacy boot, the
>installer found the disks; partitioning and installation then completed
>as expected. The machine, however, failed to boot (no bootable image)
>after this 'successful' installation. I grub-installed to the
>'removable media path' as advised,, but I did use a 'targeted' not a
>'generic' initrd; this last has not been a problem before.
>
>I have disabled the RAID according to these instructions.
>
> https://www.dell.com/community/PowerEdge-HDD-SCSI-RAID/Linux-installation-doesn-t-find-physical-disks-on-R320/td-p/7659439
>
>The BIOS reports that there are no hard drives present, despite being
>able to boot Windows. I have tried to add boot devices to the UEFI
>menu, I can add the DVD drive, and boot from the Beowulf CD, which
>then fails at the detect disks stage; I can add the USB, but it doesn't
>launch the installer.

Hi Frazier,

A couple nights ago I went through similar nonsense on a newly
purchased refurbished Dell Insperon 3721 laptop. I used a different
distro (Void) and I didn't have hardware Raid. Also, my setup wouldn't
recognize my Void install DVD in UEFI, and wouldn't boot it in Legacy,
which is a little different. But I think we're still in the same
ballpark.

On my machine, SETUP is F2 several times before and during the Dell
logo. Boot choice at boot time is F12 several times before and during
the Dell logo. Obviously, your computer might have different buttons
for this stuff.

So I created a Void installer thumb drive, using
cp void.img /dev/sdWhatever, taking care that I got the thumb drive and
not my hard drive (which would be a big oops). I stuck it in the USB
slot, rebooted, F2 and set the machine to boot from UEFI, not Legacy,
but to leave Legacy enabled. I then exit and saved and of course it
booted windows. So then I powered off, powered on, and pressed F12
several times. When the F12 screen came up, under UEFI choices I had
Windows boot selector or whatever it's called, but now I also had USB
<labeltext>, which I chose and continued. It booted my thumb drive.

NOW, I'm booted into UEFI, so the installer thumb KNOWS it's in UEFI
and installs a UEFI installation. I just did a typical install, setting
the bootloader to /dev/sda and making the EFI partition /boot/efi. I
rebooted, pressed F12 again, and bang, up came Linux.

My story is just an anecdote, and your mileage may vary. But I have a
feeling that booting the thumb by way of UEFI was the key distinction.

> I am also given a list of 3 or 4 entries (which
>look like they might be partitions, although they are all identical),
>although adding them causes either an 'Input not supported' error or
>a 'no bootable device found'. I have changed the SATA controller from
>RAID to AHCI. Is there anything that I've missed?

If you changed from RAID to AHCI, didn't that trash your Windows? The
actual drive is striped, right?

>
>This is a newly-purchased, refurbished machine, and so I don't really
>want to open the case, just in case something is broken (although I
>can't think what) and under warrenty (unlikely). But as a last resort,
>what would happen if I removed the RAID card and connected the two
>drives as SATA? Would the BIOS then manage this automagically? Is there
>a master (independent) BIOS image stored on the motherboard, with a
>lesser one on the controller, and configured independently via the F12
>menu.

I'd ask the guys you bought it from before busting open the box.

SteveT

Steve Litt
March 2022 featured book: Making Mental Models: Advanced Edition
http://www.troubleshooters.com/mmm