Something for noobs to think about - from another noob

[mgh24]

I installe VE 8.0, and it worked until I closed laptop lid. No worries about that, as I found out this isn't a tool I need or want any longer.

Issue is, after installing on my laptop, I am unable to boot from a USB to install an O/S on the laptop now.
When selecting the USB drive from boot menu, all I can get is "something serious went wrong", and this message is coming from what appears to be Proxmox interface.

Have not been able to find a solution here, or elsewhere on hardware forums.
No idea how often this happens to folks, but something to think about.

Here is one link where I asked for help:
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/h...s-proxmox-installed-on-it.130183/#post-570835

And another from Tom's Hardware:
https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...r-proxmox-installation.3812929/#post-23043961

Hopefully this is a very unusual situation, but something to think about before you install Proxmox.

 

[bbgeek17]

Proxmox is a hypervisor suit that uses Debian as the underlying OS. Millions of machines out there are using Debian daily. Probably tens of thousands are re-imaging their systems as I type this.

If your 5 year old HP laptop cant boot from USB, these would be more likely culprits than Proxmox:
1) bad USB stick. Have you been able to boot from it on another machine?
2) improperly prepared OS image on USB. Same test as (1)
3) broken USB interface. Same test as (1) and (2)
4) incorrect BIOS settings. Have you tried to reset your BIOS to default?

Given the age of your laptop, it may have CDrom - try that boot media.

Want to completely exclude the "Proxmox virus" ? Take the hard disk out. Can you boot from USB now?

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Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox

 

[mgh24]

1) yes
2) see 1
3) see 1
4) yes

No CDrom

All the easy stuff like that has been done. That is what is so strange about this.

And yeah, it looks like a new hard drive is in store.

 

[bbgeek17]

things dont quiet add up with your answers and this statement on the other forum:
Another strange twist, after selecting the live USB from boot menu, and failing to boot, the USB drive disappears from the boot options, and when attaching it to a different Windows machine, it is not recognized.

If I read it correctly an attempt to boot from USB on this laptop corrupts the disk/fs beyond repair... Thats not how boot process works, nor something Debian/Proxmox would do. Thats an indication of hardware failure on laptop.

The message "something serious went wrong" does not come from Proxmox/Debian, its either last sign of life from your USB or from Laptop Bios, the system then gives up USB boot and moves on to disk.
As I said, take the HD disk out, leave the laptop without it. Build new good bootable USB. Make sure it works on another machine first, then try to boot your disk-less laptop. does that work?

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Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox

 

[mgh24]

things dont quiet add up with your answers and this statement on the other forum:
Another strange twist, after selecting the live USB from boot menu, and failing to boot, the USB drive disappears from the boot options, and when attaching it to a different Windows machine, it is not recognized.

If I read it correctly an attempt to boot from USB on this laptop corrupts the disk/fs beyond repair... Thats not how boot process works, nor something Debian/Proxmox would do. Thats an indication of hardware failure on laptop.

The message "something serious went wrong" does not come from Proxmox/Debian, its either last sign of life from your USB or from Laptop Bios, the system then gives up USB boot and moves on to disk.
As I said, take the HD disk out, leave the laptop without it. Build new good bootable USB. Make sure it works on another machine first, then try to boot your disk-less laptop. does that work?

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Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox

You got it right, something to do with my hardware. I don't know what, but there it is.

This is the message that is displayed when I try to boot off live USB image
I did pull out the hard drive, it was an NVMe drive, get this message still.
So, looks like I own a brick No matter if I replace the drive, I'll still be unable to boot to an install media.

To elaborate a bit more on the USB not being recognized: when this happens, I can connect the USB drive to a Mac, format it to FAT, and then install an ISO image to it again, at which point, it will display in Windows explorer again. I have done this with 3 different USB thumb drives, and they all act the same way. I'm not doing a great job at explaining it, but it is one of these drives that I have reformatted on the Mac that does boot on a different Windows machine after reinstalling a live ISO image.

I appreciate the advice in how to narrow down the issue!

 

[bbgeek17]

I dont know whats wrong with your usb port and/or usb stick.
If all you want to do is install a different flavor of Linux: take the disk out, plug it into another machine, install OS on that disk through any available method, move the disk back.

Good luck

P.S. May be you need to give USB port a good blow! judging by the amount of dust on the screen and the age of the laptop

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Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox

 

[bbgeek17]

To add - one thing that could have assisted troubleshooting is to relay exact error message.

Its not "something serious went wrong" but rather "Something has gone seriously wrong"
Combining this message with others in your screenshot a quick google search leads to:
https://jeroen.pro/2019/05/how-to-f...tate-failed-after-failed-ubuntu-installation/
https://www.linuxquestions.org/ques...sly-wrong-import_mok_state-failed-4175665926/
and others

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Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox

 

[louie1961]

IMO this isn't a proxmox issue at all. If you are trying to boot from a USB stick I would disable UEFI. That's what I do on my server when I want to re-install Proxmox from a USB or run another live USB image like PartedMagic. The message "Failed to open \EFI\Boot..." indicates the machine is trying to boot off your hard drive, not the USB stick. The answer to your issue lies in correctly configuring your bios to boot from USB.

 

[mgh24]

IMO this isn't a proxmox issue at all. If you are trying to boot from a USB stick I would disable UEFI. That's what I do on my server when I want to re-install Proxmox from a USB or run another live USB image like PartedMagic. The message "Failed to open \EFI\Boot..." indicates the machine is trying to boot off your hard drive, not the USB stick. The answer to your issue lies in correctly configuring your bios to boot from USB.

Here is a photo of my boot options in the BIOS.
I see no option for disabling UEFI. (I have changed the secure boot to enabled also, to no affect)
I can however, boot off the USB drive that has the Proxmox installer on it, just no other USB drive.
I put the NMVe drive from the laptop in a Windows desktop machine, and the machine will not boot to anything other than Proxmox, regardless of what I choose in boot sequence.

 

[mgh24]

To add - one thing that could have assisted troubleshooting is to relay exact error message.

Its not "something serious went wrong" but rather "Something has gone seriously wrong"
Combining this message with others in your screenshot a quick google search leads to:
https://jeroen.pro/2019/05/how-to-f...tate-failed-after-failed-ubuntu-installation/
https://www.linuxquestions.org/ques...sly-wrong-import_mok_state-failed-4175665926/
and others

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Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox

Thanks for the links!

The first method won't work for me, as I do not see an option to "add new boot option", which is what is described there.

I am reading through the many pages of Ubuntu documentation to see what I can do. There is mention of making a UEFI specific Ubuntu installer, but I have not yet been able to follow/understand the instructions. I'll keep reading.

Edit - I have not tried booting from an Ubuntu ISO, only a Debian.

 

[mgh24]

Update:
I changed two things. Turned off TMP in BIOS, and used an Ubuntu installer rather than Debian. The Ubuntu pages state the Ubuntu uses UEFI, but I would not have thought Ubuntu would install differently from Debian.

It is installing now, so hopefully it will boot to Ubuntu when install is complete

Update to the update - Ubuntu booted up off USB drive, and installed fine. Once it was installed I was able to boot off a USB drive with Debian on it.

 

[louie1961]

Why are you showing the network boot option? I thought you were trying to boot from USB?

 

[mgh24]

Why are you showing the network boot option? I thought you were trying to boot from USB?

Oops, no reason. I am booting from USB. Ubuntu booted up just fine from USB drive, and with it installed, Debian booted from USB drive also!