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Topic: Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot (Read 602 times) previous topic - next topic
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Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot

A few years back I bought one of those thinkpads with libreboot already on it (make fun of me if you must) and I had Arch installed on it for most of that time. Yesterday, I decided to put Artix on it. I have used Artix on my main pc and love it, so I have done the install before, although back several years ago.

Following a slightly outdated video guide (artools-chroot, etc) and the not-outdated installation page on the wiki, I did the install with the runit base iso. The only problem I ran into was at the very end. 'exit' put me out of the chroot environment, and then I did 'umount -R /mnt' and it told me that nothing was mounted (very strange because that wasn't true at all). Then I tried to 'reboot' anyway and it told me that shutdown was not found. So I tried 'login' and then logged back in to the iso as root and rebooted, which worked. I'm not sure what happened with all that.

Then I pulled the usb and tried to boot into the new install. libreboot failed to do so and gives me the following:
Code: [Select]
error: disk 'ata0' not found.
error: disk 'lvm/matrix-rootvol' not found.
error: disk 'lvm/matrix-boot' not found.
error: disk 'ata0,1' not found.
error: disk 'ata0,2' not found.
error: disk 'ata0,3' not found.
error: disk 'ata0,4' not found.
error: no such partition
error: disk 'ata0,5' not found.
error: disk 'ahci1,1' not found.
error: disk 'ata1,1' not found.
error: disk 'ahci1,2' not found.
error: disk 'ata1,2' not found.
error: disk 'ahci1,3' not found.
error: disk 'ata1,3' not found.
error: disk 'ahci1,4' not found.
error: disk 'ata1,4' not found.
error: disk 'ahci1,5' not found.
error: disk 'ata1,5' not found.

Press any key to continue...

Failed to boot both default and fallback entries.

More info about the device and some of my choices in the installation:
There is one hard drive, approximately 250G.
I started with Arch installed on it and did nothing to overwrite it prior to the partitioning process.
I used fdisk for partitioning and began with the d command in fdisk to delete the 3 prior partitions from my old Arch installation.
I partitioned it just like on my main pc - 4 primary partitions (none in the extended option, I don't know what that is) 1G for boot, 30G for root, 12G for SWAP and the rest for home.
Everything proceeded as normal according to the steps in the wiki until exiting the chroot environment.

I hope it's something so stupid that someone thinks I'm trolling. I haven't done an installation of either Arch or Artix since putting Arch on this thing a few years ago. My main pc with Artix justwerks so well that I barely even think about any of this stuff anymore. Thanks for reading and sorry about the long post, I'm just trying to include as much information as possible.

Re: Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot

Reply #1 –
Would you sincerely point out clearly what differences between this and coreboot, or shed some insights ?

Re: Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot

Reply #2 –
Libreboot is a coreboot that's pre packaged and without blobs. Not going into detail with the other debates about forks. Building coreboot yourself gives you some more specialized and/or modern targets.
 

Re: Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot

Reply #3 –
What happens if you install a non-base ISO like plasma-openrc?

Re: Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot

Reply #4 –
To ack the obvious question, do you have access to grub and the libreboot chip?  If not, you have to like reverse enginier the install to fit the existing grub set up INCLUDING the cryptopassword.  That is not likely going to happen.

Re: Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot

Reply #5 –
Thanks for the replies everyone. I had some time to work on this today and I have some new information.

Quote from: nous – on
What happens if you install a non-base ISO like plasma-openrc?

I tried that one, and ran the installer on the desktop. It worked fine, although trying to boot into it gave me the same error as before. I tried mint and it installed, and it booted without the installation media. I thought maybe it was an init system issue and so I tried Arch and no luck. This time, I had some issues with grub-install.

Quote from: mrbrklyn – on
To ack the obvious question, do you have access to grub and the libreboot chip?  If not, you have to like reverse enginier the install to fit the existing grub set up INCLUDING the cryptopassword.  That is not likely going to happen.



I can't really remember well what I did a few years back when I installed Arch on this thing. I think I may have had some issues with grub back then as well. I have access to a grub command line in libreboot, I tried manually booting into my new Arch install today, no luck. It said something like invalid file system when I tried to specify the linux kernel. Still I don't think I went to all this trouble when I installed it before. I think I probably found some answer on the internet that I didn't understand and it worked so I didn't question it.

The fact that mint was able to install and be properly configured to boot is interesting. Too bad I don't want to use mint. I'll try to reinstall Artix when I'm able to work on it again and do everything except grub, and then try to see if I can get it to boot using the grub command line or see if I can edit the grub config and figure anything out.

Re: Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot

Reply #6 –
Quote from: onionshavelayrs – on
Quote from: nous – on
What happens if you install a non-base ISO like plasma-openrc?
I tried that one, and ran the installer on the desktop. It worked fine, although trying to boot into it gave me the same error as before. I tried mint and it installed, and it booted without the installation media. I thought maybe it was an init system issue and so I tried Arch and no luck. This time, I had some issues with grub-install.
Unfortunately I don't have access to a libreboot box and can't help you any further; there had been some tears in Arch community when the major grub update came around, does Mint use the previous, "stable" branch? Perhaps you should try your luck with rEFInd.

Re: Trouble installing Artix on Thinkpad X200 with libreboot

Reply #7 –
Quote from: onionshavelayrs – on
Thanks for the replies everyone. I had some time to work on this today and I have some new information.
.

The fact that mint was able to install and be properly configured to boot is interesting. Too bad I don't want to use mint. I'll try to reinstall Artix when I'm able to work on it again and do everything except grub, and then try to see if I can get it to boot using the grub command line or see if I can edit the grub config and figure anything out.


The key thing here, as a practical matter, is that GRUB is built into Libreboot's firmware.  It can have password control.  If that is the case and you have no password, you are shot.  If the drives, in addition have password cryptography, then you are shot TWICE.

You really need to know how grub works and get into the bushes with a manual install even if you have access.  Is this terrible?  I leave that for each individual to judge. 

I am very conservative and hate relearning things for no reason and as far as I'm concern, they should never have left LILO.  So there is that.  I don't believe in theroretical advantages.  I need practacal advantages.  KISS KISS KISS.

Sherman tanks in WWII sucked, but they were easy to make  and we made a ton of them and easy to repair and Jerryrig.  That was a huge pracical advantage.