[SOLVED] Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

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heltoupee
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[SOLVED] Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

Post by heltoupee » 2018/06/22 13:31:30

Hi, everyone! Hoping someone can help point me in the right direction. I'm trying to install CentOS 7 on some old server hardware I have lying around as a proof-of-concept for oVirt. I'm trying to boot the installer from a USB drive, and cannot get it to work. I've created the install media by using dd. It will boot and offer to install on a newer machine (my laptop), but on the older servers, upon booting I get the error that isolinux.bin is corrupted or missing. This older hardware predates UEFI, so I'm wondering if the installer supports non-UEFI BIOSes? If not, is there a version of the installer that I can use that does?

Thanks!
Last edited by heltoupee on 2018/06/22 18:30:47, edited 1 time in total.

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TrevorH
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Re: Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

Post by TrevorH » 2018/06/22 13:40:17

The CentOS supplied isos are created in hybrid mode and should work on both UEFI and legacy BIOS machines. Make sure you check the sha256sum of your downloaded image against the list published in the release notes for the point release that you're using. The error you're getting really sounds like a bad iso image, either the download corrupt or a dodgy USB stick. It might still boot in UEFI mode as they use different bits of code stored on different locations on the filesystem on the iso image.
The future appears to be RHEL or Debian. I think I'm going Debian.
Info for USB installs on http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
CentOS 5 and 6 are deadest, do not use them.
Use the FAQ Luke

heltoupee
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Re: Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

Post by heltoupee » 2018/06/22 16:21:56

Thanks for the response! The hash for the file I'm using matches what's published. I've tried 2 different USB drives, one of which is a name-brand and was expensive (so not a cheap knockoff). I suppose I can just keep trying more different USB sticks?

desertcat
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Re: Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

Post by desertcat » 2018/06/22 16:25:01

heltoupee wrote:
2018/06/22 13:31:30
Hi, everyone! Hoping someone can help point me in the right direction. I'm trying to install CentOS 7 on some old server hardware I have lying around as a proof-of-concept for oVirt. I'm trying to boot the installer from a USB drive, and cannot get it to work. I've created the install media by using dd. It will boot and offer to install on a newer machine (my laptop), but on the older servers, upon booting I get the error that isolinux.bin is corrupted or missing. This older hardware predates UEFI, so I'm wondering if the installer supports non-UEFI BIOSes? If not, is there a version of the installer that I can use that does?

Thanks!
A few notes and a few cautions. I installed on an OLD -- 11 year OLD -- HP ex-Windows Workstation. The thing that you need to make sure of is it 64bit or 32 bit. If it is a 32 bit machine you can't use CentOS 7 as CentOS 7 is strictly for 64 bit machines. IF you have a 32 bit machine you need to download CentOS 6 32 bit.

As to your BIOS.... I am running it on a 4 y.o machine and had the option of BIOS or UEFI and chose BIOS. The trick is BEFORE you install the OS you go into BIOS and make sure it says Non-UEFI. This should not be a problem for you if it is a straight BIOS only machine. The installer should be smart enough to detect that you are using a Non-UEFI BIOS. The bigest problem is do you have a 64 or 32 bit machine.

As to the install media.... IF this is an older machine that predates UEFI if probably has a DVD player it is best to burn the .iso to the DVD rather than screw around thumb drives etc. If you choose a thumb drive you need to go into BIOS and mqake sure that the first device it boots from is the thumb drive.

desertcat
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Re: Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

Post by desertcat » 2018/06/22 16:28:33

heltoupee wrote:
2018/06/22 16:21:56
Thanks for the response! The hash for the file I'm using matches what's published. I've tried 2 different USB drives, one of which is a name-brand and was expensive (so not a cheap knockoff). I suppose I can just keep trying more different USB sticks?
Does the machine have a DVD drive? If so it is best to burn the ,iso to a DVD and install from there. If not them make sure that you go into BIOS and set the first boot device is set to USB drive.

George99
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Re: Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

Post by George99 » 2018/06/22 16:30:19

Or maybe this very old server is just not capable of booting from a usb stick correctly.

Of course you can try to burn a boot dvd like we did in the good old days...

heltoupee
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Re: Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

Post by heltoupee » 2018/06/22 17:45:40

Thanks, guys! It's a Dell R710 that shipped 10/20/2010. CPUs are 64-bit. There is a DVD drive, so that may be a possibility (gotta find something that I can still burn DVDs with, and I wonder if I have any blank media that's still good...)

heltoupee
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Re: [SOLVED] Installation of CentOS 7 failing on older hardware

Post by heltoupee » 2018/06/22 18:33:15

Finally got it booting off of the USB. I used a rear-facing port instead of a front-facing one. I specified UEFI in system setup (BIOS) instead of auto. I specified "Hard Drive" for USB drive emulation instead of auto. I think that specific combination of options allowed it to boot finally. Thanks to everyone for your help!

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