Manjaro Install Failure

[citizenkeith]

Hello,


I use a Macbook Pro and a Mac Pro in my studio, plus a Windows 10 machine at one of the studios where I work.


At home, I've been experimenting with a dual boot Win10/Ubuntu Studio machine. I've been pretty happy with Ubuntu but wanted to give Manjaro a try.


I attempted to install Manjaro over the Ubuntu Studio install and got the error pictured below at the end of installation (afterwards, I wiped the hard drive clean, installed Windows, then attempted another Manjaro install).






Here's my system info:

AMD FX-4300 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard
8GB DDR3
Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive


Am I missing a BIOS setting?

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by citizenkeith

Hello,


I use a Macbook Pro and a Mac Pro in my studio, plus a Windows 10 machine at one of the studios where I work.


At home, I've been experimenting with a dual boot Win10/Ubuntu Studio machine. I've been pretty happy with Ubuntu but wanted to give Manjaro a try.


I attempted to install Manjaro over the Ubuntu Studio install and got the error pictured below at the end of installation (afterwards, I wiped the hard drive clean, installed Windows, then attempted another Manjaro install).
Here's my system info:

AMD FX-4300 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard
8GB DDR3
Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive


Am I missing a BIOS setting?

See if this link has the fix for you. The FAT32 thing they get into sounds similar to an issue I had with a tablet.

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/failed-i...otloader/38338

The bit about a 32 bit EFI I ran into with an old Asus Transformer tablet that needs a 32 bit EFI, but the Xubuntu that it boots is 64 bit.

[citizenkeith]

Originally Posted by Glennbo

See if this link has the fix for you. The FAT32 thing they get into sounds similar to an issue I had with a tablet.

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/failed-i...otloader/38338

The bit about a 32 bit EFI I ran into with an old Asus Transformer tablet that needs a 32 bit EFI, but the Xubuntu that it boots is 64 bit.

I did check the suggestions in that thread, but none worked. I'll try going through those again though.

I can confirm that I'm running 64 bit.

[citizenkeith]

[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ manjaro-chroot -a
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
==> Mounting (ManjaroLinux) [/dev/sda4]
 --> mount: [/mnt]
 --> mount: [/mnt/boot/efi]
The disk contains an unclean file system (0, 0).
Metadata kept in Windows cache, refused to mount.
Falling back to read-only mount because the NTFS partition is in an
unsafe state. Please resume and shutdown Windows fully (no hibernation
or fast restarting.)
[root@manjaro /]# grub-install
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
grub-install: error: /boot/efi doesn't look like an EFI partition.
[root@manjaro /]#

[Glennbo]

I still suspect it's the EFI partition isn't FAT32. Here's a snapshot of my NVMe with Manjaro installed on the second partition and the third partition setup for REAPER data and sample data.

Note the 300MB FAT32 EFI partition and the other two are EXT4.

Edit: I just had a thought. Have you tried killing the Ubuntu EXT4 partition so it's unallocated space, and then install Manjaro which will probably use the unallocated space to make both a FAT32 EFI partition and an EXT4 partition like in my screen grab.

[Ayers54]

One option for dealing with EFI partitions and simple USB-stick installations is Ventoy (http://www.ventoy.net). I recently went through a period of installing Manjaro and Windows 10 on a new PC I built as well as on couple of old Thinkpads, and Ventoy worked when other methods failed. All you need are the relevant ISO files and a USB stick.

Ventoy is similar to the Windows Rufus program but it will work from any OS platform.

I installed Windows for the first time in over twenty years just to see if I have been missing something; it turned out I hadn't missed much. There are more than enough programs and plugins available for Linux to keep me interested and involved.

[citizenkeith]

Originally Posted by Glennbo

I still suspect it's the EFI partition isn't FAT32. Here's a snapshot of my NVMe with Manjaro installed on the second partition and the third partition setup for REAPER data and sample data.

Note the 300MB FAT32 EFI partition and the other two are EXT4.



Edit: I just had a thought. Have you tried killing the Ubuntu EXT4 partition so it's unallocated space, and then install Manjaro which will probably use the unallocated space to make both a FAT32 EFI partition and an EXT4 partition like in my screen grab.

You are correct! It was NTFS. I ran Gparted and converted it to FAT32, then re-ran the Manjaro installer, assuming it would write a new /boot/efi. But it didn't. Now I can't even boot into Windows. I'll work on this more tomorrow and see what I can find out...

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by citizenkeith

You are correct! It was NTFS. I ran Gparted and converted it to FAT32, then re-ran the Manjaro installer, assuming it would write a new /boot/efi. But it didn't. Now I can't even boot into Windows. I'll work on this more tomorrow and see what I can find out...

If you are doing this on a single physical drive, I would have expected to see an NTFS partition (Windows) and an EXT4 partition (the Ubuntu you were dual booting).

If OTOH you were dual booting using two separate physical drives then I would have expected one to be NTFS (Windows) and one to be EXT4 (Ubuntu).

My suggestion earlier was to un-allocate the EXT4 partition (Ubuntu), and then let the Manjaro installer decide how much of that unallocated space to create an EFI partiton and how much to keep for Manjaro.

If your whole Windows NTFS partition got converted to FAT32, I unfortunately don't think telling gparted to make it be NTFS again will revive it, but I could be wrong so you might as well try it if that is what happened.

[citizenkeith]

Originally Posted by Glennbo

If your whole Windows NTFS partition got converted to FAT32, I unfortunately don't think telling gparted to make it be NTFS again will revive it, but I could be wrong so you might as well try it if that is what happened.

No, i just formatted the /boot/efi partition to FAT32, not the Windows partition.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by citizenkeith

No, i just formatted the /boot/efi partition to FAT32, not the Windows partition.

What I was getting at is you need to let Manjaro create the EFI partitions it needs on unpartitioned space. In my screen grab, the 300MB EFI partition was not created by me, but from the installation of Manjaro, which was being installed to unpartitioned space. I was shown and asked about the partitioning, and I only changed what was going to be a 465GB partition into two almost equal partitions. The 300MB EFI partition that Manjaro showed it was going to create, I didn't change.

Did you see an EXT4 partition? That's where I would expect your Ubuntu was installed, and is the space I was saying you should un-partition so the Manjaro installer can create what it needs there. If you are using separate drives for Windows and Linux, gparted has a drop down list at the top right to select other physical disks.

[citizenkeith]

Here's what my partition screen looks like right now. The FAT32 partition did not have a mount point, so I added /boot. I then selected "Install boot loader on: Boot Partition (/boot)


However, I can't click "Next".

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by citizenkeith

Here's what my partition screen looks like right now. The FAT32 partition did not have a mount point, so I added /boot. I then selected "Install boot loader on: Boot Partition (/boot)


However, I can't click "Next".

What I would try is to click on the partition that says "ext4" so it is highlighted, then click the delete button at the bottom right of that panel. That partition was where Ubuntu used to be installed.

Then there will be 232.4GB of un-partitioned space.

Finally I would start the install again and Manjaro will suggest how to install and partition that un-partitioned space. I'm thinking if you have un-partitioned space that Manjaro will create *two* partitions in that space. One small 300MB EFI partition and use the rest for the OS.

[citizenkeith]

Originally Posted by Glennbo

What I would try is to click on the partition that says "ext4" so it is highlighted, then click the delete button at the bottom right of that panel. That partition was where Ubuntu used to be installed.

Then there will be 232.4GB of un-partitioned space.

Finally I would start the install again and Manjaro will suggest how to install and partition that un-partitioned space. I'm thinking if you have un-partitioned space that Manjaro will create *two* partitions in that space. One small 300MB EFI partition and use the rest for the OS.

That did the trick. Now I can boot into the Manjaro partition, but I don't have a grub menu to choose between Win10 and Manjaro. At least I can start to tweak Manjaro right now. But I really want to get back on Win10 so I can finish playing Black Mesa!

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by citizenkeith

That did the trick. Now I can boot into the Manjaro partition, but I don't have a grub menu to choose between Win10 and Manjaro. At least I can start to tweak Manjaro right now. But I really want to get back on Win10 so I can finish playing Black Mesa!

The Win 10 part might be able to be revived with a system recovery disk. The ones that will get you to a command prompt when Windows is hosed. IIRC there is a tool in there that looks for boot problems and fixes them automatically, but it's been three years since I've run Windows on any of my machines.

One large possibility is if a Windows recovery disk can get your Windows going again, it may render the Manjaro inoperable. If that happens, just delete the ext4 partiton and you can probably get both working. The grub loader probably would have set it up dual boot, but since the Windows EFI partition was changed to fat32 it likely didn't see a Windows to dual boot with.

Also, there is evidently a Linux version of Black Mesa.

[citizenkeith]

Yup, I took the web and used the command promo in Windows recovery. Now I have my boot partition back! At least, I can book into Windows 10.

Now I’m going to reinstall Manjaro, but this time I’m going with KDE. Seems to be the popular choice right now.

Thank you for all your help and encouragement!

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by citizenkeith

Yup, I took the web and used the command promo in Windows recovery. Now I have my boot partition back! At least, I can book into Windows 10.

Now I’m going to reinstall Manjaro, but this time I’m going with KDE. Seems to be the popular choice right now.

Thank you for all your help and encouragement!

Glad your Windows side is back. If you delete the ext4 partition again, you should be able to install either flavor of Manjaro, and get a grub menu to let you dual boot. XFCE is lighter weight than KDE, but KDE is more configurable. Good luck in your Linux adventures!

[JamesPeters]

KDE and XFCE both seem fine. I went back to the XFCE version of Manjaro because I was being picky about periodic increases of speed in my CPU fan, which happen less frequently in XFCE. It's a minor gripe. The OS was stable anyway.

[citizenkeith]

Well, I've been having so many headaches installing Manajaro that I'm getting a little cold about it.


Last night I booted into Manjaro, got a notice for updates, clicked "install" and the system froze in the middle of installation. Rebooted into a kernel panic. I had to reinstall Manjaro from scratch!


But I'll stick with it. I have to travel the next couple days, so hopefully I'll have time to work on it later this week.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by JamesPeters

I haven't done a dual boot system with Linux and Windows, especially with different partition file system types, so I haven't experienced issues like this.

Actually I did that years ago and had some problem with the boot manager to resolve (Windows 7 and Mint, I think), but although it was annoying, it wasn't a big deal.

I initially did dual booting on a single SSD, but soon after bought a second SSD and put each OS on their own drive.

When I recently installed Manjaro, I put it on a brand new NVMe M.2 drive, so my previous install of Xubuntu did not get overwritten. I can right now boot my old Xubuntu on it's own private SSD, but I plan to remove that drive and use it to clone my install of Manjaro at some point.

Anyway this isn't a "Manjaro issue" as much as it is something about configuring the dual boot for your specific setup. Researching this sort of thing in advance is advised , to anyone else reading this. Or just ditch Windows and save yourself any potential hassle in this regard...and many others, because it's Windows.

I kept my machine dual boot Windows 7 and Xubuntu until I built my Ryzen 3700X DAW, where Windows 7 killed itself. It booted Windows fine and all USB keyboards and devices were working until Windows found new hardware and made many things stop working that had moments before worked just fine. After that I nuked the Windows side.

[JamesPeters]

I re-read the first post and thought: I wonder if Ubuntu's installer does make dual-boot Linux/Windows setups like this easier. I wouldn't know, so I ate my words.

But anyway Windows isn't worth keeping.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by JamesPeters

I re-read the first post and thought: I wonder if Ubuntu's installer does make dual-boot Linux/Windows setups like this easier. I wouldn't know, so I ate my words.

But anyway Windows isn't worth keeping.

Having just come from Xubuntu to Manjaro what I saw as being different was the EFI partition that Manjaro wants.

I just fired up gparted and my original Xubuntu install, which owns one SSD shows there being only one single ext4 partition that consumes the entire drive.

My Manjaro install has a 300MB fat32 EFI partition and ext4 partitions.

When I first put my new M.2 drive in, I booted Xubuntu and ran gparted to make it into two equal 250GB partitions. Then when I tried to install Manjaro, I had trouble and couldn't continue when it got to the question of where to put the EFI stuff. So I deleted both partitions and re-ran the installer, which then created a fat32 EFI partition and an ext4 partition.

Manjaro installs much easier if you have un-partitioned space for it to use, where Xubuntu is happy to install on ext4 partitioned space that already exists.

[citizenkeith]

Originally Posted by JamesPeters

But anyway Windows isn't worth keeping.

It's not, but sadly... it is. At least for me. AATranslator runs best on Windows (this is required for a specific client's workflow, and I seem to recall Runaway recommending not to use it in Wine). And I do need to run Pro Tools from time to time, as any studio engineer has to do (99% of my projects are in REAPER, but the 1% is a concern... these are clients that I can't turn down over a DAW preference).


That said... I had to nuke my Manjoro partition and extend the Windows partition because this computer is now going to provide emergency backup for an aging Mac Pro experiencing some issues. So I'll be running REAPER and Pro Tools at my studio using this Windows machine.


Down the line I'll be getting a new M1 Mac Mini, so this machine will return to being a home hobbyist machine... and perhaps I'll scrap the dual boot with Windows and go full-on Linux.

[4duhwinnn]

Linux boots and runs fine off a usb drive, or an SSD in a usb case.
And a cheap recycled computer will be another peaceful option. Either way, no need to dual boot, no need to miss out on linux, no need to risk you clientel as you get up to speed in linux. With a lite modern distro like Bodhi, you can have a powerful core of synths, effects, and sampled instruments on a 32 gig flash drive in a $15 wal-mart card-reader.
Cheers