What type of hardware are you using: Old laptop or computer What YunoHost version are you running: 12. How are you able to access your server: Direct access via physical keyboard/screen Are you in a special context or did you perform specific tweaking on your YunoHost instance ?: Just installed
Describe your issue
Hi everyone,
I ran the installer, apparently successfully. It rebooted and I removed the USB drive. However, I got a Boot error and it won’t boot. The SSD was accessible to the installer: it recognised it and its capacity and installed happily. The SSD is the top item in the boot device menu.
I’m stuck. I’ve changed the device to IDE in my search and can’t change it back to AHCI, which gives me a sinking feeling. Any guidance would be welcome. I’m thinking of trying the install Debian then install Yunohost method. Would that help?
Seeing you didn’t mention trying another SATA cable or another SATA port, I presume it is a laptop with a single drive bay?
Lacking any context, this is a pre-GRUB message from UEFI / BIOS on your system? Or is it the final line when booting of the Linux image crashes?
Do you have an old HDD to try if the error is in your storage or in your computer?
In some cases manufacturers liked to enable soft-RAID when they can, but disable AHCI when RAID is active. Mostly this was with regular PCs, not with laptops.
The computer is a Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny and the error message is pre-boot. I get Lenovo splash screen, then the intel boot agent screen with the DHCP rotating thing for five seconds or so, and then the error. After it displays, the computer announces error 1962: no operating system found, and it reboots after a certain time. The computer isn’t finding a bootable drive, even though it’s a fresh install and the computer can see and correctly identify its capacity.
The IDE thing turned out to not matter. I have restored the default settings in the BIOS and it has returned to AHCI, but it is not the problem, I don’t think.
I found this page about the PXE error message. I have done everything it suggested and it seems to be saying that it could be a corrupted hard drive. Well, my SSD is only about a year old and, although it has been working as my server’s storage for that time, I can’t imagine that it’s suffered severe wear yet. It is a Crucial. I have a caddy for connecting drives to the computer but it’s not here, so I’ll have to wait until I can pick it up. At that point, I will run proper diagnostics on the SSD. I hope it’s not that.
However, I have also found this page about the error 1962 in the Intel boot agent. It is an old post, but my lenovo is a fairly old computer. It might date back to around 2012 and use a BIOS from that time. I am bracing myself to learn how to update the BIOS: this model did have an update published in 2022 which is available on the Lenovoe website. Anyway, if the AskUbuntu page is right, it is an inherent problem with the BIOS/UEFI setup in certain Lenovos of that era.
I do have a pile of old ssds at my other house. I can pick one up on Tuesday and will try it then. Good suggestion.
Thanks for taking an interest. I’ll let you know what happens.
The solution, more or less, is here. It might be one to bookmark for anyone using an earlyish UEFI setup.
Following the instructions in the post didn’t work immediately for me. There is another section in the Startup tab of the BIOS that concerns the UEFI/Legacy conflict: I think it’s ‘Boot mode’. Once I’d set that to Legacy, as well as the CSM section, Debian booted.
Huzzah!
And thanks again for making me think it through systematically with your analysis, @wbk
Boot mode, indeed. Looking into that, it makes sense. I found an explanation telling that CSM (compatibility support module) allows an UEFI system to boot from MBR instead of GPT,