Centos 7.3 wont install on a Dell Optiplex 7040 with UEFI

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pcmc
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Centos 7.3 wont install on a Dell Optiplex 7040 with UEFI

Post by pcmc » 2017/10/04 09:19:34

Hello all,

I have been trying to install Centos 7.3 on a new DELL Optiplex 7040 that has UEFI with secure boot enabled.

However it wont install with message:

Failed to start Switch Root.
See 'systemctl status initrd-switch-root.service for details
Warning: /dev/root does not exists

Generating "/run/initramfs/rdsosreport.txt"

Entering emergency mode. Exit the shell to continue.
Type journalctl to view system logs

:/m

The command
systemctl status initrd-switch-root.service

shows:
Failed to switch root: Specified switch root path /sysroot does not seem to be an OS tree. os-release file is missing


ls /sysroot only shows boot

Did try to turn off secure boot at BIOS, no help.

I can only get the installation going after enabling legacy boot.

But is it possible to install and run Centos 7 with UEFI preferably with Secure boot enabled?

I am using a Centos 7.3 1611 64-BIT DVD.

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TrevorH
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Re: Centos 7.3 wont install on a Dell Optiplex 7040 with UEFI

Post by TrevorH » 2017/10/04 13:35:19

That has all the look of a USB stick install where the USB stick was created by one of the utilities known to break. First step, check the sha256sum of your downloaded iso image file against the list published in the CentOS Release Notes for that particular version. If it's not correct then I'd just start over and download the 7.4 iso file as you want to end up there anyway. If you are using a USB Stick to copy the iso image to then make sure you use one of the utilities listed in the wiki as known to work - best one is plain ordinary dd.

http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
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

pcmc
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Re: Centos 7.3 wont install on a Dell Optiplex 7040 with UEFI

Post by pcmc » 2017/10/04 14:20:22

Thanks, TrevorH ,

I believe the Centos 7 1611 kit was downloaded and verified ok:

wget http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/centos/7/isos ... um.txt.asc

[root@cherry centos]# gpg --verify ./sha256sum.txt.asc
gpg: Signature made Thu 08 Dec 2016 14:20:28 GMT using RSA key ID F4A80EB5
gpg: Good signature from "CentOS-7 Key (CentOS 7 Official Signing Key) <security@centos.org>"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg: There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: 6341 AB27 53D7 8A78 A7C2 7BB1 24C6 A8A7 F4A8 0EB5

[root@cherry centos]# sha256sum -c sha256sum.txt.asc | grep OK
CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1611.iso: OK

Besides, I burned the ISO onto a DVD, not a usb stick.
I start up the installation using the Centos 7.3 DVD and hit those errors.

Using the same DVD, I can start up the installation, only when the BIOS legacy boot is selected, not with UEFI.

I have seen the web link you mentioned, but don't think it is relevant
as I am not using a USB ISO image....

Peter

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TrevorH
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Re: Centos 7.3 wont install on a Dell Optiplex 7040 with UEFI

Post by TrevorH » 2017/10/04 15:03:20

The CentOS DVD iso images are written in a special "hybrid" way that allows them to be booted on both legacy BIOS and UEFI machines. The problem that makes me ask about USB sticks is because some USB stick writing programs try to be clever and they rewrite the iso image as they copy them and end up breaking them. I've never heard of a DVD writer program that does that too but it's not out of the realms of possibility especially since I suspect that people that use real DVDs are now a minority - which program did you use to write the DVD? Are you sure the DVD itself wrote correctly? Are you sure the DVD reader device is OK and not giving errors?
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

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avij
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Re: Centos 7.3 wont install on a Dell Optiplex 7040 with UEFI

Post by avij » 2017/10/04 15:25:09

If there are options in your DVD writing software along the lines of "Make DVD bootable" -- don't set those. Any alterations to the image by the DVD writing software will likely break the installation.

pcmc
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Re: Centos 7.3 wont install on a Dell Optiplex 7040 with UEFI

Post by pcmc » 2017/10/05 07:46:23

Thanks for your replies TrevorH and avij.

To TrevorH,

"which program did you use to write the DVD? Are you sure the DVD itself wrote correctly? Are you sure the DVD reader device is OK and not giving errors?"

I am a bit old fashion, and still use DVD writing ImgBurn v 2.5.8.0 program on a MS Windows 7 PC
to burn the CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1161.iso image onto a DVD.

This program also provides verification afterwards and it passed the verification with no error.

I believe I have mentioned that I can use the same Centos 7.3 DVD to install Centos 7.3 okay only when I switch the BIOS boot from UEFI to legacy boot.

I suspect the answer may relate to the difference between UEFI and legacy boot processes.
Could it be that certain resources (like system disk) cannot be detected under UEFI boot?

To avij:

"If there are options in your DVD writing software along the lines of "Make DVD bootable" -- don't set those. Any alterations to the image by the DVD writing software will likely break the installation."

There is no "Make DVD bootable" option available in ImgBurn.

From what I can see, nothing would explicitly alter the write format.

I should mention that while with UEFI enabled, the DVD does boot up,
and starts up the installation process, it then pauses at:

dracut-initqueue: Warning dracut-initqueue timeout - starting timeout script

It seems to me that during the boot process, it is expecting to see some resources but fail to do so.

(PS I tried to forward a couple of screen dumps, but got declined due to file size issue, but I suppose it is more or less corresponding to what I earlier described in my very first post).

Regards,
Peter

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avij
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Re: Centos 7.3 wont install on a Dell Optiplex 7040 with UEFI

Post by avij » 2017/10/05 07:57:54

pcmc wrote:I should mention that while with UEFI enabled, the DVD does boot up,
and starts up the installation process, it then pauses at:

dracut-initqueue: Warning dracut-initqueue timeout - starting timeout script
Yes, if the installation image is somehow broken (due to programs modifying the image or for some other reason), this is what you usually see.

I'd suggest trying the installation with 7.4.1708 in any case.

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