Extremely slow installation

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desertcat
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Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by desertcat » 2019/09/06 16:15:19

macNCheeseB wrote:
2019/09/06 15:04:41
I have a new download image and confirmed it installed on another machine, so image is good. I chose to use basic graphic mode installation and it got further than the other screen I showed, but still stops short of getting to the point where I can even start installation. See attached image for errors.
OK just to confirm: You downloaded the the DVD.iso, Correct? Again Do NOT Download the MINIMAL iso or whatever it is. Download the DVD.iso. From what you are describing it almost sounds like a throwback to yesteryear where up the Install appears in in RED SQUARE. In the NEW version you are offered 3 choices: Install, check or Troubleshoot. You highlight INSTALL and press Enter, and then it it runs through a quick check of your hardware, and then it dumps you into the graphic mode where it ask for Language, Keyboard, Timezone, etc. I am also assuming you are Downloading the 7.6 version of CentOS not pre-7.6

Second, Did you use UEFI or BIOS to do the install? Is your BIOS set to UEFI or BIOS?? You can tell as the difference between the two because on the initial page where is says Install, Check, or Troubleshoot ( I assume you choose Install) UEFI shows up in Grey to White whereas BIOS shows up in COLOR ( I think GREEN). IF you choose UEFI (the Grey to White) change it to BIOS (the COLOR version (Green, I think) and try doing the install again.

From the looks of your screen it *almost* looks like you are not even getting to the point where you actually start the install, rather the pre-install where it runs through the hardware, etc.

If you are still having problems do you know any guru near by who might be able to help you?!? It is very hard to diagnose your problem via a forum group message. This is where someone who is experienced with Linux Installations become a valuable resource, to do the install phase for you. If did NOT download the DVD.iso I can't help you; if you DID download the DVD.iso this is starting to look like a hardware issue. A lot of times you simply need to play around and try different things and combos. A good starting point is to change the BIOS from UEFI to Classic BIOS and install from Classic Hardware ( some BIOS's that allow both UEFI hardware and Classic Hardware. You need to Match the Hardware to the BIOS. UEFI Hardware shows the Device overlaid by "UEFI", Classic BIOS shows just the Naked Device). Windows by DEFAULT defaults to UEFI; Linux by contrast prefers Classic BIOS. Which you have requires a quick trip to the BIOS to confirm which version of BIOS you have, then it requires that you match the type of install to the device.

Assuming you Downloaded the DVD.iso, and followed our suggestions, it is time to locate you local Linux Guru to help with your install. Either you screwed something up, or you have a hardware problem.

Keep us posted. I'm curious (being a cat) what is the cause of your problems.

Hope this helps.

macNCheeseB
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Joined: 2011/03/21 20:14:27

Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by macNCheeseB » 2019/09/06 16:54:59

I actually downloaded the EVERYTHING iso to make sure I wasn't missing anything, but I have also tried with the DVD iso image.

To get to basic mode at the screen asking for Install, check or Troubleshoot I choose Troubleshoot and then Basic graphics. But it never gets through the basic HW check to get me to the point where it can ask for language and keyboard, etc.

I amusing UEFI, that is the only option for this board. It does not support legacy BIOS.

I am very familiar with Linux installs and also have some guys around me who are pretty good too. We are all scratching our heads at this. Ubuntu installs just fine on this board, but CentOS keeps throwing up on it.

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TrevorH
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Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by TrevorH » 2019/09/06 17:15:18

Search the rest of this forum via google site:www.centos.org/forums for problems with other atom boards of a similar generation. I remember several but don't have time to look them up.
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

desertcat
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Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by desertcat » 2019/09/06 18:59:49

macNCheeseB wrote:
2019/09/06 16:54:59
I actually downloaded the EVERYTHING iso to make sure I wasn't missing anything, but I have also tried with the DVD iso image.

To get to basic mode at the screen asking for Install, check or Troubleshoot I choose Troubleshoot and then Basic graphics. But it never gets through the basic HW check to get me to the point where it can ask for language and keyboard, etc.

I amusing UEFI, that is the only option for this board. It does not support legacy BIOS.

I am very familiar with Linux installs and also have some guys around me who are pretty good too. We are all scratching our heads at this. Ubuntu installs just fine on this board, but CentOS keeps throwing up on it.
OK I have an idea: First who made your computer? Second Who made your BIOS and what version of the BIOS is it? Third what are the specs for it? Finally -- just for FUN!!! -- Using the DVD.iso Go Directly to the INSTALL and see what happens. IF -- and we can expect it will fail -- if that is the case try the other Legacy BIOS INSTALL and go directly to INSTALL and see what happens. In short even IF it is the UEFI version try BOTH the UEFI and Classic BIOS Installs -- who knows you might get LUCKY. Usually IF you go deep into the BIOS there is *usually* an option to set it to a Legacy BIOS -- *USUALLY* but not always. A lot depends on who made the BIOS and who made the Computer. IF *I* know WHO made both the computer and model, and the BIOS (and Version) I can see if I can find any information that might help you. Again don't troubleshoot the thing and trying going directly to the INSTALL. The DEFAULT is usually UEFI, but also TRY the NON-UEFI version of the INSTALL, and let us know what happens.

Sorry you are having so much trouble installing this. I have had some Giant PITA computers -- everything from a HP EX-workstation that was found by a dumpster, to an old laptop that ran an early version of the Atom CPU, and had no CD-ROM. It is usually handy to have an old guru or hardware hacker to try and bound things off of.

D'Cat

macNCheeseB
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Joined: 2011/03/21 20:14:27

Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by macNCheeseB » 2019/09/06 20:57:06

Thanks for the suggestions, I will give them a try.
FYI, the PC maker is here:
https://us.dfi.com/product/index/234#overview

I found some interesting settings in the setup for the UEFI related to the display. I'm going to play with them and see if that helps since at this point it is failing to start the install GUI and then erroring out.

I'll keep you posted...

desertcat
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Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by desertcat » 2019/09/07 22:45:03

macNCheeseB wrote:
2019/09/06 20:57:06
Thanks for the suggestions, I will give them a try.
FYI, the PC maker is here:
https://us.dfi.com/product/index/234#overview

I found some interesting settings in the setup for the UEFI related to the display. I'm going to play with them and see if that helps since at this point it is failing to start the install GUI and then erroring out.

I'll keep you posted...
First, my hat off to you. Holy @$%* !! I never thought you were trying to put CentOS 7 on something the size of an I-Phone or a pack of playing cards. Unofficially, you must be NUTS!!! But you are just my kind of guy!!! RHEL and CentOS are OS's that are typically run on servers, workstations, big iron, laptops, and graphics stations, not usually on microdevices, and that right there might be part of your problem. Given you have an atom CPU I figured, "Ah!! Small, or low end laptop"; that or maybe something maybe something truly exotic like a tablet. Was I ever WRONG!!! I figured M$, Dell, or some other maker of computers, usually using either an Award, or AMI BIOS. Well we can throw the play book out the "Windows" (tm M$ Hehehehe).

Now that we know the scope of the problem. I have some questions: I will assume you are using USB Keyboard, and a USB Mouse, what type of display are you using?!? I will also assume you are using the VGA output for your monitor, I'm not sure CentOS supports Mini DP++, or LVDS. Now for storage are you using the M.2 or SDD? What is the capacity of storage you are using? If M.2 then you could use your lone SATA port for a SATA DVD or CD-ROM. The other thing that might be slowing things down is your CPU is only 9.5W, not 95W. The next question is can you access the BIOS, or is the "hood of the car welded shut"?!? You are in uncharted territory. I have put some version CentOS (5,6, or 7) on all types are junk (computers that are 10-12 years old!!) and got it to work. Most of it being hand me downs, plus a 10 year old laptop that had the atom CPU (I put CentOS 6 on that). But everything was something that could be called a "computer", not a micro-device like what you are trying to do. You are in hacker territory which is going to require some -- OK a LOT -- of experimentation.

Indeed it might be interesting to know exactly what your hardware setup is. That will tell us a lot.

Here are some ideas to test:

Try installing the most recent version of CentOS 6 to see if you can get it to install. On that laptop with the atom processor that was what I got to work.

Try installing some version of Fedora Linux. That is about as "Bleeding Edge" as it gets. It might support micro-devices. Remember RHEL and CentOS are based on versions of Fedora several kernels back.

Try to install some recent version of SuSE Linux which like RHEL and CentOS is an Enterprise grade OS.

You could also try installing something like Manjaro Linux based on Arch Linux; and possibly Debian.

You might want to check out the following link:

https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-distribu ... 2019-09-07


I will be "curious" ( occupational hazard of all cats) if you can actually get CentOS 7 to work on something so small. Please keep us updated with your experiments.

hunter86_bg
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Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by hunter86_bg » 2019/09/08 13:33:08

I have an odd question.
Have you tried to install on different hardware and then boot the last grub menu option on this atom board ?

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TrevorH
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Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by TrevorH » 2019/09/08 14:50:47

That google I said to try... well I got time enough to try it so here are some suggestions:

"disabling the high precision event timer in the legacy settings of the BIOS"
passing clocksource= on the kernel command line - jiffies|acpi_pm|hpet|tsc
intel_pstate=disable (or disable power management in the BIOS)

I'd also add the "usual" suspects like noapic noacpi nosmp intel_iommu=off nox2apic (tried one at a time)
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

desertcat
Posts: 843
Joined: 2014/08/07 02:17:29
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by desertcat » 2019/09/09 03:10:28

TrevorH wrote:
2019/09/08 14:50:47
That google I said to try... well I got time enough to try it so here are some suggestions:

"disabling the high precision event timer in the legacy settings of the BIOS"
passing clocksource= on the kernel command line - jiffies|acpi_pm|hpet|tsc
intel_pstate=disable (or disable power management in the BIOS)

I'd also add the "usual" suspects like noapic noacpi nosmp intel_iommu=off nox2apic (tried one at a time)
That *assumes* the "hood is not welded shut". This is some no-name BIOS on something the size of a deck of playing cards. How much, or how little he can play with the BIOS remains to be seen.

macNCheeseB
Posts: 43
Joined: 2011/03/21 20:14:27

Re: Extremely slow installation

Post by macNCheeseB » 2019/09/09 13:54:32

desertcat wrote:
2019/09/07 22:45:03

Now that we know the scope of the problem. I have some questions: I will assume you are using USB Keyboard, and a USB Mouse, what type of display are you using?!? I will also assume you are using the VGA output for your monitor, I'm not sure CentOS supports Mini DP++, or LVDS. Now for storage are you using the M.2 or SDD? What is the capacity of storage you are using? If M.2 then you could use your lone SATA port for a SATA DVD or CD-ROM. The other thing that might be slowing things down is your CPU is only 9.5W, not 95W. The next question is can you access the BIOS, or is the "hood of the car welded shut"?!?

Indeed it might be interesting to know exactly what your hardware setup is. That will tell us a lot.

Here are some ideas to test:

Try installing the most recent version of CentOS 6 to see if you can get it to install. On that laptop with the atom processor that was what I got to work.

Try installing some version of Fedora Linux. That is about as "Bleeding Edge" as it gets. It might support micro-devices. Remember RHEL and CentOS are based on versions of Fedora several kernels back.

Try to install some recent version of SuSE Linux which like RHEL and CentOS is an Enterprise grade OS.

You could also try installing something like Manjaro Linux based on Arch Linux; and possibly Debian.
Thanks for these ideas. It is an interesting experiment for sure. If it wasn't for one particular SW I want to run on this system, I would probably use something else. I did install Ubuntu 18.04 on this system just fine, so I know Linux installs ok on the machine. This is on a SSD (256GB) attached to the system so that I wouldn't run into any issues on the M.2 or PCIe ports. Trying to stay as vanilla as possible for this initial install. I might try to get Fedora on here, my SW application might work ok on that, but not sure.

I can get in to the BIOS, but my options are pretty limited. It is an Insyde UEFI BIOS with no legacy bios support.

I have USB keyboard & mouse as well as using the VGA port. I turned off all the other displays in the BIOS. That seems to have helped a bit. I can get further in the install. I get through the start up but then the monitor goes blank.

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