Installer Freezes

[myway_1]

Edit - subsequently realized that something during the boot process of the live USB stick was causing my USB hub to stop working. This has never happenned with numerous other OS installs. Any advice on how to resolve that?

Hello,

My computer froze while installing openBSD from a USB stick.

The boot messages finished and I was at the welcome to the installer lines. I tried to type "I" for (I)nstall but nothing happened even after waiting a few minutes. The "I" that I typed didn't even appear on the screen.

I had burned the image install60.fs to USB stick using linux dd command.

I tried again, downloading and burning the image using a different mirror and computer to make the USB. Same thing happened

My computer is an Intel Compute Stick 64 bit system on a chip, Intel Atom z3735f quad core processor, eMMC internal drive, UEFI boot only.

What can I do to resolve this?

Thanks!
Joe

[ocicat]

Originally Posted by myway_1

My computer is an Intel Compute Stick 64 bit system on a chip, Intel Atom z3735f quad core processor, eMMC internal drive, UEFI boot only.

Welcome!

The amd64 installation notes does mention UEFI booting while the i386 installation notes does not mention UEFI booting.

Based on the information provided, my suggestions are:

• Ensure that files are obtained from pub/OpenBSD/6.0/amd64/ from a mirror site. Files in this directory are used to install OpenBSD 6.0-release.
• If problems persist, get files from pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/amd64/ instead. Be aware that this directory is the development branch -- OpenBSD 6.0-current. If you are unfamiliar with OpenBSD's flavors, reading this link will help explain the difference.
• The FAQ's section on installation is a great resource covering installation nits.

Good luck!

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Originally Posted by myway_1

I had burned the image install60.fs to USB stick using linux dd command.

Please post the full, exact command that you used to transfer the ISO image.

[shep]

OpenBSD manual has a FAQ that functions as a concise manual.
The answer to your question is here.

If you are new to the dd(1) command it is very important to identify your usb drive with dmesg(8). If you confuse the usb drive with your hard drive you can pooch your entire installation.

[myway_1]

hanks so much for your replies.

my computer is a x86-64 (amd64)

I downloaded the image from
http://mirror.jmu.edu/pub/OpenBSD/6.0/amd64/ on the first try, then from
http://openbsd.mirrors.pair.com/6.0/amd64/ for the second try

to create the USB installer I used:

on a linux os
sudo dd if=/home/joe/Downloads/install60.fs of=/dev/sda bs=1M

then tried again on a windows os using win32 imager.

both were at least partially successful in creating a live USB because it did boot to the point of the "welcome to installer"

I did follow the instructions in the openBSD documentation to create the USB installer

I will try downloading an image from the snapshots

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Originally Posted by myway_1

sudo dd if=/home/joe/Downloads/install60.fs of=/dev/sda bs=1M

Looks like you didn't flush the buffers afterwards, this can truncate the image.

Try this instead:

sudo dd if=/home/joe/Downloads/install60.fs of=/dev/sda bs=4k ; sync

[myway_1]

Originally Posted by Head_on_a_Stick

Looks like you didn't flush the buffers afterwards, this can truncate the image.

Try this instead:

sudo dd if=/home/joe/Downloads/install60.fs of=/dev/sda bs=4k ; sync

Thanks! Just tried this. Same problem occurred

[myway_1]

I see what is happening. Early on in the boot process my USB hub is being shut down. Since my computer only has one USB port, I have to use a hub. Anything I can do to prevent this?

[ocicat]

Originally Posted by myway_1

Early on in the boot process my USB hub is being shut down. Since my computer only has one USB port, I have to use a hub. Anything I can do to prevent this?

You may want to poke about the Internet for mailing lists discussing this hardware. Perhaps someone there may have a useful suggestion.

Otherwise, trying another host computer may get around this problem.

[myway_1]

Originally Posted by ocicat

You may want to poke about the Internet for mailing lists discussing this hardware. Perhaps someone there may have a useful suggestion.

Otherwise, trying another host computer may get around this problem.

The hub has worked fine with over a dozen linux distros, and with freeBSD installer and trueOS, so I don't think there is a general problem with it. The only time it has ever shut down is with booting the openBSD installer.

[myway_1]

Hello,

I was booting up the live USB from which I intended to install openBSD when the USB hub shut down. I have no choice but to use the hub because my PC has only one USB port.
I tried several more times and the same thing happened.

This hub has worked fine while installing numerous linux OS's and a couple of BSD OS's and subsequently continues to work fine. So it appears to be something specific to openBSD.

Any ideas how to resolve this?

[jggimi]

Hello, and welcome.

OpenBSD produces a kernel message buffer, called a dmesg(8). This is the white text on blue background one sees on amd64 or i386 architecture systems with video cards. This buffer is critical to obtaining any sort of support from the OpenBSD Project. In particular, it describes OpenBSD's view of the hardware configuration.

From your prior thread it appears you have no way to successfully enter any keystrokes -- such as requested the shell and capturing the dmesg() to a file.

When the hub ceases to function, are there any kernel messages about the hub failure? If so, those might be reported to the Project, via photograph or manually writing out the messages.

An informal query to Project's misc@ mailing list may provide you with additional insight; it is possible someone else is using (or has tested) similar hardware and there may be a way to circumvent the problem. Or you may get a definitive answer as to why you will not be able to use this hardware with this OS.

----

It is possible this is a problem with the RAMDISK kernel only, and not with the GENERIC kernel. One possible way to determine if this is the case is to complete your installation from within a virtual machine from within one of your working OSes, and then test that installed OS on the real hardware after you complete the installation.

[myway_1]

Here is a picture. Things happen so fast, but it seems to shut off the hub before the white on blue text starts. Here is a picture. There are more numbers that appear on the last line but they are so fast, I can't get them all.

[jggimi]

Unfortunately, that's bootloader messages before the kernel is loaded, and not part of any dmesg(8) content.

[myway_1]

So the messages in the picture aren't a concern? The messages after these fly by so fast that they're too blurry to read when photographed.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Originally Posted by myway_1

The messages after these fly by so fast that they're too blurry to read when photographed.

Video the bootup screen and view the frames individually.

[myway_1]

Originally Posted by Head_on_a_Stick

Video the bootup screen and view the frames individually.

Thanks. This at least enabled me to get the initial part. The rest were still too blurry even going frame by frame.

[myway_1]

More info. I burned the installer image to a microSD card so that I would not need to use the USB hub. Still unable to proceed because it actually turns the USB port off, so I still couldn't use my USB keyboard plugged directly into the PC. I took a video with a faster phone and here is the entire dmesg(8)

[jggimi]

They only tell me that the bootloader was working, and that the bootloader was loading the bsd.rd RAMDISK kernel used for installs.

As I recommended above, you can try installing the OS onto a temporary disk drive (such as a USB stick) in a virtual machine, or from a different system of the same architecture. I recommended it as a test only because the kernels are not identical.

Your only other option would be to remove the hub from your configuration during install, but apparently that is not possible.

[ocicat]

Originally Posted by myway_1

I was booting up the live USB from which I intended to install openBSD when the USB hub shut down. I have no choice but to use the hub because my PC has only one USB port.

There was no need to create a new thread given that the subject here is exactly the same as your first thread. If your goal was to keep discussion in front of any & all other discussions, please don't do this again. One thread is sufficient. Having all information in one thread makes it easier for future readers to find all relevant discussion if they run into the same scenario.

I am thus merging both threads together.

I understand your frustration in getting OpenBSD installed, but you appear to have a hardware chain in which no one else has available here in this community. Likewise, this site is independent of the OpenBSD project. While a few project developers visit this site on occasion, in general, those answering your questions here have no direct connection to the project.

While there may still be input other members may contribute, you may ultimately choose submitting a official problem report. More information can be found at the following:

https://www.openbsd.org/report.html