install to USB flash drive not recognized as bootable device

[bwheater]

I nave tried installing to both sansdisk and samsung flash drives but my system will not boot from it. Both of these drives have had the ISO copied to the drive by image-burn on the OpenSuse system and the livecd boots properly after creation. I have been running OpenSuse on this system for over a year without any boot problems.
This system was built last August and has an I7-8700K intel CPU and MSI Z370 Gaming Pro AC motherboard.

At the end of the install it claimed that it could not install grub and recommended that I use the repair tool to reinstall grub which reported success. Also I noticed there is no /EFI or /boot/EFI directory but instead a boot/efi directory that is empty. I set the bios/uefi to uefi+legacy but this had no effect on the problem. The live CD seems to have a structure that is similar to the OpenSuse structure so this leads me to believe that the installed MX system is not installed with the correct structure to boot from UEFI system.

I have attach the directory tree output of the livecd, the installed system and the Opensuse system.

I have spent 4 days trying to make this work and I may have to abandon MX if it requires a lot more time to set it up.

Regards
-Bob

[dolphin_oracle]

FWIW, our installer will only install grub for UEFI/ESP if the live media is actually booted in UEFI mode. UEFI + legacy has been known to fail because the system typically boots in bios/MBR mode rather than UEFI.

there is a /var/log/minstall.log that may help to post as well. the installer has been going thru some development lately.

[fehlix]

I nave tried installing to both sansdisk and samsung flash drives but my system will not boot from it.

Actually MX Linux provides two ways to get it installed onto a USB-flash drive:
The first is installing with help of "MX Live USB Maker" (found in the menu), this would create a bootable LiveUSB ready to boot in either BIOS or UEFI boot mode, which allows to boot with persistence - so will will behave as a "normal" installed system.

The alternative installation like hdd install will also work on a flash drive, by using "MX Installer".
That's the desktop icon you see on the booted LiveSystem.
If you choose "MX Installer" and do install in booted UEFI mode, you'll better make sure to select full/entire disk install and install GRUB onto the ESP on that flash drive. Reason: This makes sure you populate the created ESP partition with the required grub-efi bootloader, otherwise UEFI will not boot from removable media.
Also double check that you have within the ESP on the USB-flash drive /EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.efi,
as that's the grub-efi loader the UEFI-firmware is looking for to boot from removable media.

I do recommend to install MX Linux on USB-stick using "MX Live USB Maker" and not using MX Installer using "hdd"-type install.
HTH

[i_ri]

Hello bwheater
suse image-burn does well for disc writing.
suse image-writer does well for usb writing. suse image-writer is a much applauded image writer. suse package imagewriter.

Get the MX live-usb-maker for MX Linux that fehlix mentions from:
https://github.com/BitJam/live-usb-maker
It is the real deal that will get You off the threshold and In the MX door. Welcome to MX. sorry you are still knocking. Welcome to MX.

[GuiGuy]

.......
Get the MX live-usb-maker for MX Linux that fehlix mentions from:
https://github.com/BitJam/live-usb-maker
.

If you don't manage to get that method to work, you should try Rufus on MSWindows.

[GuiGuy]

If you have a few dollars to spare you could buy a live MX from osdisc.com
https://www.osdisc.com/products/mx?affiliate=mx14

[bwheater]

FWIW, our installer will only install grub for UEFI/ESP if the live media is actually booted in UEFI mode. UEFI + legacy has been known to fail because the system typically boots in bios/MBR mode rather than UEFI.

there is a /var/log/minstall.log that may help to post as well. the installer has been going thru some development lately.

I already tried UEFI mode and it also did not boot. The live USB was booted in UEFI mode. By the way OpenSuse was able to install correctly with the manufacturer default setting of UEFI+legacy, and I forced it to UEFI only after opensuse was installed.

I have attached your /var/log/minstall.log to this reply. There seems to be several non-zero return codes. As far as I concerned -- your stall procedure is broken for UEFI. Since UEFI has been around for 3 or more years it is time to get it fixed.

Regards,
Bob

[anticapitalista]

As far as I concerned -- your stall procedure is broken for UEFI. Since UEFI has been around for 3 or more years it is time to get it fixed.

Regards,
Bob

Care to help? What do you suggest?

[dolphin_oracle]

thank you for the log.

FYI, there is nothing long with the actual UEFI install routine per se, the problem is in the disk detection.

Code: Select all

2019-06-30 17:46:48.636 DBG default: Exit code:  0
2019-06-30 17:46:48.636 DBG default: "mount /dev/ /mnt/antiX/boot/efi"

and

Code: Select all

 "blkid /dev/sdd2 -o value -s TYPE"
2019-06-30 17:42:20.089 DBG default: exit code: 0
2019-06-30 17:42:20.093 DBG default: "blkid -o value UUID -s UUID /dev/"
2019-06-30 17:42:20.097 DBG default: exit code: 2
2019-06-30 17:42:20.098 DBG default: espdev "/dev/" "UUID="

So for some reason the the installer failed to find the auto-created ESP partition.

you could try the manual partitioning route, but given the failure I'm not sure it will help. Was sdd the correct target for installation?

this *might* be fixed in the latest version of the installer here: mx-installer_19.6_amd64.deb

[bwheater]

thank you for the log.

FYI, there is nothing long with the actual UEFI install routine per se, the problem is in the disk detection.

Code: Select all

2019-06-30 17:46:48.636 DBG default: Exit code:  0
2019-06-30 17:46:48.636 DBG default: "mount /dev/ /mnt/antiX/boot/efi"

and

Code: Select all

 "blkid /dev/sdd2 -o value -s TYPE"
2019-06-30 17:42:20.089 DBG default: exit code: 0
2019-06-30 17:42:20.093 DBG default: "blkid -o value UUID -s UUID /dev/"
2019-06-30 17:42:20.097 DBG default: exit code: 2
2019-06-30 17:42:20.098 DBG default: espdev "/dev/" "UUID="

So for some reason the the installer failed to find the auto-created ESP partition.

you could try the manual partitioning route, but given the failure I'm not sure it will help. Was sdd the correct target for installation?

this *might* be fixed in the latest version of the installer here: mx-installer_19.6_amd64.deb

I installed the .deb on the live USB and when It was copying to the root disk it pre-selected the wrong VFAT partition for grub --so I aborted and spent an hour making a full backup of the OpenSuse system to prevent having it destroyed. It dangerous to pre-select these disks. Instead the procedure should "not" pre-select any disk but allow the user to do the selection, then its the users fault if he selects the wrong one. Also other distros typically show a summary of the selections before any modification to any disks so the user can confirm.

So I reloaded the live USB and reinstalled the .deb and the selected the correct partition for the install disk and the correct partition for the grub/EFI stuff and the install was successful. Then I rebooted and the bios/uefi recognized the flash drive as bootable and I was able to login.

My first impressions are the defaults are damaging to eyes and causes eye strain. The fonts and the icons are microscopic and the contrast makes them difficult to see. Also many applications have a white background which quickly causes eye strain even though I choose a dark background theme. I am going to have to spend many hours to make this distro usable to prevent the eye strain.

Thanks for providing a working install procedure.
Regards,
Bob