Apparent freeze during installation of system.

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mimosa
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by mimosa »

laprjns's suggestion should work. However, looking at your lilo.conf above, the reason it didn't work then was because the image line in your Salix stanza pointed to /boot/vmlinuz rather than the mountpoint you were using at the time for the Salix kernel. It should have been:

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image=/media/salix/boot/vmlinuz
Whichever path you use, I suggest it is worth double-checking both that it is correct in lilo.conf and actually mounted:

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ls /path/as/in/image/line/vmlinuz
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globetrotterdk
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by globetrotterdk »

mimosa wrote:laprjns's suggestion should work. However, looking at your lilo.conf above, the reason it didn't work then was because the image line in your Salix stanza pointed to /boot/vmlinuz rather than the mountpoint you were using at the time for the Salix kernel. It should have been:

Code: Select all

image=/media/salix/boot/vmlinuz
Whichever path you use, I suggest it is worth double-checking both that it is correct in lilo.conf and actually mounted:

Code: Select all

ls /path/as/in/image/line/vmlinuz
Not to ignore laprjns's suggestion, but I thought I would continue with what we had been working on to see if it would work. Everything checked out as you stated above mimosa. My Salix section reads:

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root=/dev/sdd1
image=/media/salix/boot/vmlinuz
label=Salix
read-only
The ls path checked out as well. However, when I booted into the Salix system from Lilo, there was a panic of some sort:

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<EOI> panic+0x1b7/0x1f0
[   3.763339] ---[end trace 0079935726d0816d ]---
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globetrotterdk
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by globetrotterdk »

laprjns wrote:Using the information that you posted regarding the outputs of lsblk and blkid, and assuming that you are running in Devuan, here's what I suggest,

Mount the salix root file system, /dev/sdd1.

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# udisksctl mount -b /dev/sdd1
On your system, it looks like this results in the following mount point

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/media/username/8624b400-0a3d-4e9d-92a2-56779e96260e
Edit the Salix stanza in lilo.conf file as follows

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root=/dev/sdd1
   image=/media/username/8624b400-0a3d-4e9d-92a2-56779e96260e/boot/vmlinuz
   label=Salix
   read-only
Then run lilo -v
I tried doing this according to your suggestion and ended with a panic as per my post to mimosa just above. Everything worked as per above. No errors at all, everything in the correct path.
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mimosa
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by mimosa »

Well, at least the bootloader part is sorted out.

Assuming user error can be excluded, it looks as though as well as possibly an initrd, you need a fresher kernel - for some reason, the one provided in 14.2 on release can't cope with your hardware - perhaps, the tricky motherboard.

I mention the possibility of user error because however experienced you are, it is the most common cause when things do go wrong. So I suggest as a first step reinstalling. Check the md5 sum of your image. Make sure you are formatting the partitions correctly. Note anything unusual.

My next suggestion (you may however wish to proceed straight to this option) is to try installing Slackel, which is based on Slackware current and has a more recent kernel. That may not ultimately be the system you want, but if it works, you have established the kernel is the culprit. And in fact, you may be content to leave it there, and spend some time with Openbox.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/slacke ... rce=navbar


Reinstallation may sound like a radical option, but since you have never so far booted or used your Salix system, and it only takes five or ten minutes, that is my suggestion.

If you do then opt for a kernel upgrade, it is back to chrooting, as far as I can see.
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globetrotterdk
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by globetrotterdk »

mimosa wrote:Well, at least the bootloader part is sorted out.

Assuming user error can be excluded, it looks as though as well as possibly an initrd, you need a fresher kernel - for some reason, the one provided in 14.2 on release can't cope with your hardware - perhaps, the tricky motherboard.

I mention the possibility of user error because however experienced you are, it is the most common cause when things do go wrong. So I suggest as a first step reinstalling.
Fair enough. This is where you may throw up your arms in despair, or be able to give me some good advice, but I know that this isn't the end of the basic configuration, as after I finally can boot into the system and get Lilo working reliably, I have a newish GeForce GT 1030 graphics card, which I know that I will have to get the recent Nvidia blob/driver installed that will support the graphics card. So, as I believe that I will have to install a generic kernel to get the system to work at a base line level, the question is if your advice still applies. Having said that, I have no problems reinstalling either Salix or installing Slackel, if it gets me to where I want to be. At the same time I must thank you, laprjns and djemos for all of the advice, time and patience thus far.
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laprjns
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by laprjns »

Now that you got lilo to at least boot the Salix install, I think it's worth the extra effort to reinstall and give it another try. I do have some questions on your hardware though. Do you really have five hard drives installed in your system or are there trays where you can remove and plug them back in? What type of drives are they? How big are they? Are they configured as dos (MRB) or gpt . Also what's up with sdb? It is listed in the lsblk output, put according to blkid there are no partitions.

Also could you please post the complete lilo.conf file that you used to get it booting.

And finally why did you choose not to use UEFI for booting. I think a lot of these issue would have been avoided.
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mimosa
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by mimosa »

My advice still does apply because once you can boot into your system, the other potential problems you mention become much more tractable. I look forward to hearing how you get on and also the answers to laprjns' questions.

About UEFI, I think it's important to emphasize it's not a bogeyman like systemd. There were a lot of initial concerns and also confusion about it, but it's now much better catered for in the Linux world. Fundamentally, it is a much better design than what preceded it, meaning it is more likely to cope robustly with complex scenarios such as yours.

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laprjns
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by laprjns »

globetrotterdk wrote:I have a newish GeForce GT 1030 graphics card, which I know that I will have to get the recent Nvidia blob/driver installed that will support the graphics card. So, as I believe that I will have to install a generic kernel to get the system to work at a base line level, the question is if your advice still applies.
Right now the only reason why you would need the generic kernel with an initrd is to be able to boot using UUID. nVidia binary drivers can be compiled and installed with either the kernel-huge or generic kernels. I do it with the kernel-huge out problems. Your GT 1030 will require the 390.25 driver. A report on the Slackware forum says the 390.25 driver works without problems with the 4.4.118 kernel, which is the latest updated kernel for Salix 14.2. When the time comes, I recommend that you install it using the nVidia installer script.
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globetrotterdk
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by globetrotterdk »

laprjns wrote:Now that you got lilo to at least boot the Salix install, I think it's worth the extra effort to reinstall and give it another try. I do have some questions on your hardware though. Do you really have five hard drives installed in your system or are there trays where you can remove and plug them back in? What type of drives are they? How big are they? Are they configured as dos (MRB) or gpt . Also what's up with sdb? It is listed in the lsblk output, put according to blkid there are no partitions.

Also could you please post the complete lilo.conf file that you used to get it booting.

And finally why did you choose not to use UEFI for booting. I think a lot of these issue would have been avoided.
Hehe. The short answer is, yes. I wanted a lot of storage space (planning ahead - suspenders AND belt syndrome), but never have used it. sdb doesn't have any allocated partitions yet. On average, between 1-2 TB, but sdb has 3 TB and has yet to be used. All of the drives are internal SATA something. Except for the drives that have a Linux distro installed, they are all formatted NTFS.
Here is the lilo.conf file:

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# Automatically added by lilo postinst script
large-memory

# /etc/lilo.conf - See: `lilo(8)' and `lilo.conf(5)',
# ---------------   `install-mbr(8)', `/usr/share/doc/lilo/',
#   and `/usr/share/doc/mbr/'.

# +---------------------------------------------------------------+
# |!! Reminder !! |
# |   |
# | Don't forget to run `lilo' after you make changes to this |
# | conffile, `/boot/bootmess.txt' (if you have created it), or   |
# | install a new kernel.  The computer will most likely fail to  |
# | boot if a kernel-image post-install script or you don't   |
# | remember to run `lilo'.   |
# |   |
# +---------------------------------------------------------------+

# Specifies the boot device.  This is where Lilo installs its boot
# block.  It can be either a partition, or the raw device, in which
# case it installs in the MBR, and will overwrite the current MBR.
#
#boot=/dev/sda
boot = /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST2000DM001-1CH164_S1E21XPJ

# Specifies the device that should be mounted as root. (`/')
#
#root=/dev/sda1
root = "UUID=2e1478a0-3356-4ce7-9efe-f72cb7e85a2b"

# This option may be needed for some software RAID installs.
#
# raid-extra-boot=mbr-only

# Enable map compaction:
# Tries to merge read requests for adjacent sectors into a single
# read request. This drastically reduces load time and keeps the
# map smaller.  Using `compact' is especially recommended when
# booting from a floppy disk.  It is disabled here by default
# because it doesn't always work.
#
# compact

# Installs the specified file as the new boot sector
# You have the choice between: text, bmp, and menu
# Look in lilo.conf(5) manpage for details
#
#install=menu

# Specifies the location of the map file
#
map=/boot/map

# You can set a password here, and uncomment the `restricted' lines
# in the image definitions below to make it so that a password must
# be typed to boot anything but a default configuration.  If a
# command line is given, other than one specified by an `append'
# statement in `lilo.conf', the password will be required, but a
# standard default boot will not require one.
#
# This will, for instance, prevent anyone with access to the
# console from booting with something like `Linux init=/bin/sh',
# and thus becoming `root' without proper authorization.
#
# Note that if you really need this type of security, you will
# likely also want to use `install-mbr' to reconfigure the MBR
# program, as well as set up your BIOS to disallow booting from
# removable disk or CD-ROM, then put a password on getting into the
# BIOS configuration as well.  Please RTFM `install-mbr(8)'.
#
# password=tatercounter2000

# Specifies the number of deciseconds (0.1 seconds) LILO should
# wait before booting the first image.
#
delay=20

# You can put a customized boot message up if you like.  If you use
# `prompt', and this computer may need to reboot unattended, you
# must specify a `timeout', or it will sit there forever waiting
# for a keypress.  `single-key' goes with the `alias' lines in the
# `image' configurations below.  eg: You can press `1' to boot
# `Linux', `2' to boot `LinuxOLD', if you uncomment the `alias'.
#
# message=/boot/bootmess.txt
#   prompt
#   delay=100
#   timeout=100

# Specifies the VGA text mode at boot time. (normal, extended, ask, <mode>)
#
# vga=ask
# vga=9
#


# Kernel command line options that apply to all installed images go
# here.  See: The `boot-prompt-HOWTO' and `kernel-parameters.txt' in
# the Linux kernel `Documentation' directory.
#
# append=""
 
# If you used a serial console to install Debian, this option should be
# enabled by default.
# serial=

#
# Boot up Linux by default.
#
default=Devuan

# Devuan bootable partition config begins
   image=/vmlinuz
   label=Devuan
   read-only
#   restricted
#   alias=1

   initrd=/initrd.img

image=/vmlinuz.old
   label=LinuxOLD
   read-only
   optional
#   restricted
#   alias=2

   initrd=/initrd.img.old
# End Devuan configuration
# Salix OS bootable partition config begins
# /dev/sdd1
# boot=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0_WD-WCAW30125528
# root=/dev/disk/by-uuid:8624b400-0a3d-4e9d-92a2-56779e96260e
# image=/media/username/8624b400-0a3d-4e9d-92a2-56779e96260e/boot/vmlinuz
   root=/dev/sdd1
   image=/media/salix/boot/vmlinuz
   label=Salix
   read-only
#   restricted
#   alias=3
# End Salix OS configuration

# If you have another OS on this machine to boot, you can uncomment the
# following lines, changing the device name on the `other' line to
# where your other OS' partition is.
#
# other=/dev/hda4
#   label=HURD
#   restricted
#   alias=3
other=/dev/sdc1
   label=Windows
#   restricted
#   alias=2
Originally, I chose not to use UEFI because I did a fair amount of distro hopping and found it difficult and irritating to clear out all the old boot info chuff. I don't distro hop very much any more, but don't do anything about it as I have a Windows 7 install that has been upgraded to 10, but was installed using legacy, which I would probably loose. I don't want to help fill Microsoft's coffers.
Military justice is to justice what military music is to music. - Groucho Marx
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globetrotterdk
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Re: Apparent freeze during installation of system.

Post by globetrotterdk »

mimosa wrote:My advice still does apply because once you can boot into your system, the other potential problems you mention become much more tractable. I look forward to hearing how you get on and also the answers to laprjns' questions.
Thanks very much
mimosa wrote:About UEFI, I think it's important to emphasize it's not a bogeyman like systemd. There were a lot of initial concerns and also confusion about it, but it's now much better catered for in the Linux world. Fundamentally, it is a much better design than what preceded it, meaning it is more likely to cope robustly with complex scenarios such as yours.
Interesting. That comes as a bit of a shock to read, I have to admit.
mimosa wrote:By the end of this you will be a pro!
Hope spring eternal :)
Military justice is to justice what military music is to music. - Groucho Marx
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