Dell R710 - Graphical and Terminal UI both (installation aborted) & (Cannot load web interface on Terminal UI Installation w/e nomodeset)

[carrzkiss]

Hello all. (Please do not reply to this thread. I am working through some things and trying to figure it out. Once I have hit a wall, I will update this thread or create a new thread.
My net interface is down right now, and I am trying to determine whether it is a hardware or installation issue.
I will post updates as I go. Thank you.)

(I have done a lot in this before posting. I was able to get it installed, but no web interface. All available information has been provided throughout the post. I will update the thread when I have tried other things.)

==Updated==
ip -br -c a
vmbr0 down 192.168.2.214/16


Last week, I installed Proxmox on one of my Dell r710 servers.
The installation was completed successfully, and I was working with Proxmox through the web interface.
I noticed that my drives were not recognized, so I did another installation. From that point on, I have experienced the dreaded "installation aborted, unable to continue."
However, I was able to get to the choosing the installation drive a few times, but then it would give that "installation aborted" message.
And now, I cannot get past it. (Updated below; I was able to do it through the "Terminal UI," but with its own issues.)

I tested it on two of my Dell r710 servers, and both have the same issue.
This evening, I decided to try the Terminal UI, which also gave the message "installation aborted, unable to continue."

I am at a loss.
Why did it work that one time but not ever again? No matter what I do, it will not install.

I have an SSD where the CDROM used to be, and that is where I will be installing it, but it is not getting to the point of choosing a drive location.

I am using the Proxmox-ve_8.2-1.iso
I am also creating another USB stick right now and am going to test it and see if that might work. (Updating as I go)
The first image is from the Graphical selection.

Next, Graphical Debug Mode
Stuck on, Loading Drivers. (Second Image)

I did a quick Google search and found a solution to the stuck-on-loading drivers. It seems it is trying to load the graphic drivers, and it does not like the default Dell R710 drivers.

1 - Go to the Proxmox VE bootloader menu
2 - Select Install Proxmox VE (Terminal UI)
3 - Press e to edit the entry
4 - Use the arrow keys to navigate to the line that starts with Linux
5 - Move the cursor to the end of that line and add the parameter nomodeset
6 - Press Ctrl-X to boot with your changes

After performing the above operation, it is now installing in text mode.
After the installation and reboot, I could not load the web interface. It seemed that the network was not installed properly.
I then did another install using the same method above but with the "Debug Terminal UI"
And it stopped as well.


I am going to try the Regular "Terminal UI" with "nomodeset" again and see if that works.
I have an active ethernet cable connected to the server, so the installer should see it and grab it.
I know that when I did the install the other day, when it actually tried to install using the Graphical interface, half the time it would not capture the Ethernet port with the cable in it.

Ran the following test with their outputs. (I am trying to go around and find all the other posts and what was done in them in an attempt to resolve the issue.)

ip a
8: vmbr0: <no carrier, broadcast, multicast, up> state down
192.168.2.214/16 scope global vmbr0
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

cat /etc/network/interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
iface enp5s0f1 inet manual
auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
address 192.168.2.214/16
gateway 192.168.4.1
bridge-ports emp5s0f1
bridge-stp off
bridge-fd 0

nmap -p 8006 192.168.2.214
Nmap scap report for domain.local (192.168.2.214)
Host is up (0.00035s latency).

PORT STATE SERVICE
8006/tcp open wpl-analytics
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 0.11 seconds.

cat /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.2.214 domain.local domain

ip -br -c a
vmbr0 down 192.168.2.214/16

This is getting frustrating.
ESXi was a simple installation. I hope I can make Proxmox install, as I would really love to move over to it.
I need to install this on 5 R710 servers and 1 R720 server within the next year.
Right now, I just need it on 2 R710 servers and a backup Dell 7010 that is used as a backup when I need little power for power outages.

Any suggestions on this would be great.

 

[fabian]

the two errors suggest either your ISO download was corrupt, or your USB drive is broken and corrupting it when copying..

 

[carrzkiss]

Thanks, Fabian.
I will redownload the iso when I am back.
The USB drives are good.

 

[carrzkiss]

What I've tried.
Downloaded the ISO again. 8.2-1.
Created the bootable USB with both
Rufus with DD, and it installed but errored out with.
Failure
command 'unsquashfs -f -dest /target -i /cdrom/pve-base.swuashfs' failed with exit code 1 at /usr/share/perl5/Proxmox/install.pm line 908

Next, I created a USB boot drive with balenaEtcher-Portable-1.18.11
This gave the same error as the first image above.
begin failed-compilation aborted /usr/share/perl5/Proxmox/ (Different errors on this for multiple lines)

This is insane.
Last night, I was able to install the "Terminal UI" with "nomodeset," but the network was not working, but it was installed.
And today, I cannot install any of it.
This is getting to be a pain.
At least I am doing this on a server that is NOT in production.
(Never test new software on a production server.)

I am going to install ESXi 6.5 to make sure there are no hardware issues to narrow that part down.
I will post back once I have that part done.

 

[carrzkiss]

Installed ESXi 6.5 without an issue.
Networking works (connected to the web interface), and everything is doing as it should.
So that lets me know there are no hardware issues.
So the question would be, What is going on with Proxmox, and why does it not want to work with my system?

So, any ideas on this one?

Before attempting the Proxmox installation, I watched several videos that showed it being installed and working with R710 servers with the same setup as mine.
Mind you, they were using an earlier version. (6.2.4)

There is:
8.2-1
7.4-1
6.4-1

I will download and try the 7.4-1 and 6.4-1 and see if either will work.
I will post back my findings.

 

[ggroke]

What I've tried.
Downloaded the ISO again. 8.2-1.
Created the bootable USB with both
Rufus with DD, and it installed but errored out with.
Failure
command 'unsquashfs -f -dest /target -i /cdrom/pve-base.swuashfs' failed with exit code 1 at /usr/share/perl5/Proxmox/install.pm line 908

Next, I created a USB boot drive with balenaEtcher-Portable-1.18.11
This gave the same error as the first image above.
begin failed-compilation aborted /usr/share/perl5/Proxmox/ (Different errors on this for multiple lines)

This is insane.
Last night, I was able to install the "Terminal UI" with "nomodeset," but the network was not working, but it was installed.
And today, I cannot install any of it.
This is getting to be a pain.
At least I am doing this on a server that is NOT in production.
(Never test new software on a production server.)

I am going to install ESXi 6.5 to make sure there are no hardware issues to narrow that part down.
I will post back once I have that part done.

I went through the same thing last week. I tried to install Proxmox 8.2 on a Dell R610, and I had the same errors as you.

Some times I got the same "unsquashfs -f dest /target -i /cdrom/pve-base-squashfs" error as you. Another time, the installer could not locate the hard disk. Another time, I started the installation and right after creating the partitions, it gave me some error and aborted. Some other time the display was completely blank, except for the buttons and combos. Very weird (and annoying).

Initially I thought the image had become corrupted, but I created a new USB and the result was the same. I then retrieved the version 8.1 installer and it installed perfectly.

I read somewhere (here, maybe?) about changing the filesystem from ext4 to xfs, it seems to have worked in some cases. But in my case, I what really solved was ditch version 8.2 and use 8.1.

There must be some unsolved bug, perhaps related to the RAID controller (Perc H700), which uses the megaraid driver. Unfortunatelly, although theses machines (Dell Rx10) are very sturdy, they are somewhat old, and maybe some newer kernels will start to behave like this.

Try installing pve 8.1, and see if it works.

 

[carrzkiss]

Thanks, ggroke.
I will try 8.1 next. Right now, I am trying 7.4-1
It installed after I removed a few gigs from the SSD drive in the destination drive options.
Downloading 8.1-1 now, and I will do it next.
prefer to have a more updated version installed instead of an older one.

(Crap, I downloaded the mail gateway, NOT the VE.)
Do you have a download link for the 8.1-1 VE?
Found it here. Download ALL Versions of VE, Backup, and mail Gateway

Thanks again, ggroke.
Wayne

 

[carrzkiss]

I wanted to add this as a separate comment.
Download ALL Versions of VE, Backup, and mail Gateway

 

[carrzkiss]

Thanks, ggroke
That did it.
Now time to learn how to use Proxmox

 

[lk-dgironi]

I'm going to buy a R710 too, did you finally manage to install the 8.* without issues or are you using the 7.4-1.
In other words, which is the latest version are you able to run?

 

[ggroke]

I'm going to buy a R710 too, did you finally manage to install the 8.* without issues or are you using the 7.4-1.
In other words, which is the latest version are you able to run?

I'm still using 7.4. Somehow in one of many (MANY) attempts, the system (8.2) unexplicably installed, but I was afraid to keep it in production, so I rolled back to 7.4.

I read somewhere it has something to do with some version of the linux kernel. But I didn't get to the bottom of this (it's hard to exchange a car tire while the car is running...)

Good luck, and let us know if you managed to make it work.

 

[lk-dgironi]

Thank you.
I think I'll skip the R710 so, cause I must have 8.*, other departments has 8.2 and as a cloud we prefer to have all on the same major version.
By the way at present I'm using an HP gen8. To install 8.2 on that I've to go though an external PC, install on HDD, then move to the HP, cause it seems the USB always fails to write something.