Re: [gentoo-user] New AMD hardware. Can't boot.

[Mick]

On Thursday 20 Apr 2017 19:32:54 Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> Hello, Mick.
>
> On Thu, Apr 20, 2017 at 20:11:33 +0100, Mick wrote:
> > On Thursday 20 Apr 2017 18:26:43 Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> > > Hello, Gentoo.
> > >
> > > The saga of my new AMD Ryzen machine: I've installed Gentoo onto
> > > (mdadam) RAID-1 on two MVMe Samsung 960 EVO M.2 SSDs, one of them being
> > > plugged into the motherboard, the other in a carrier card plugged into
> > > the second PCIe x16 slot.
> > >
> > > At least, I've got as far as the point where I need to boot into the
> > > newly installed system.  The machine doesn't boot.  In its attempts, it
> > > displays an underline cursor on a blank 80 x 25 screen, flips this
> > > cursor nearer the middle of the screen once or twice, then hangs.
> > >
> > > The SSDs are partitioned with GPT.  The boot loader is grub2.  I've
> > > taken care to follow the instructions in the Gentoo handbook to try to
> > > avoid missing out some little detail.  However, I've never used grub2
> > > before, so quite possibly I have missed something out.
> > >
> > > It's also possible that the motherboard's BIOS is still too buggy to
> > > support booting from an NVMe drive.  (It's an Asus Prime X370-Pro: I've
> > > already had to upgrade the BIOS once (to version 0604) to get the
> > > installation CD to be recognised at all.)
> > >
> > > Asus doesn't have email support, they merely have an http site where one
> > > can register and ask for help, if one doesn't mind their obnoxious
> > > ambiguous "privacy" policy.  I do mind, particularly after having paid
> > > good money for a product which is only partially working.
> > >
> > > The BIOS boot sections are puzzling.  If I disable what they call
> > > "OPROM" booting (i.e. MBR), the BIOS no longer displays the three drives
> > > (two SSDs + DVD) as booting options.  There is an ostensible setting
> > > called "secure boot" which is enabled, and I haven't found any way of
> > > disabling it.
> >
> > If you cannot find a way to disable Secure Boot you will need to use a
> > kernel image which has been digitally signed by RHL, or Microsoft.  Have
> > a look here (random page on Google search):
> >
> > https://www.howtogeek.com/175641/how-to-boot-and-install-linux-on-a-uefi-p
> > c-with-secure-boot/
> >
> > If you obtain the necessary key you should be able to sign your
> > kernel/initrd and then use these to boot your PC without disabling secure
> > boot.  Some binary distros RHL/Ubuntu et al probably provide digitally
> > signed images to try.
> If I can't boot Gentoo, the motherboard goes back to the shop (or into
> the dustbin).  I'm not going to be installing anything which uses a
> signed image.  Still, the CD booted without a signature.  Could it be
> that it will boot from MBR normally, but requires a signature for GPT?
>
> > > When I booted from the minimal CD, did it boot in MBR or GPT mode?  How
> > > do I tell?
> >
> > Check you've disabled your Compatibility Support Module so the MoBo will
> > not try to use legacy BIOS boot mode with MBR, rather than UEFI.
>
> If I disable the CSModule, the BIOS doesn't show the CD drive at all, so
> I can't boot that way.
>
> > After it boots check if you can list the directory /sys/firmware/efi.
> > If you get a result like this:
> >
> > $ ls -la /sys/firmware/efi
> > ls: cannot access '/sys/firmware/efi': No such file or directory
> >
> > you have booted in BIOS mode.
>
> That settles it.  I've been booting in MBR/BIOS mode.  Thanks.
>
> > However, if you get a message like this:
> >
> > $ ls -la /sys/firmware/efi
> > total 0
> > drwxr-xr-x   4 root root    0 Apr 20 17:28 .
> > drwxr-xr-x   6 root root    0 Apr 20 17:28 ..
> > -r--r--r--   1 root root 4096 Apr 20 20:07 config_table
> > drwxr-xr-x   2 root root    0 Apr 20 17:28 efivars
> > -r--r--r--   1 root root 4096 Apr 20 20:07 fw_platform_size
> > -r--r--r--   1 root root 4096 Apr 20 20:07 fw_vendor
> > -r--r--r--   1 root root 4096 Apr 20 20:07 runtime
> > -r--------   1 root root 4096 Apr 20 20:07 systab
> > drwxr-xr-x 134 root root    0 Apr 20 20:07 vars
> >
> > then you have booted a UEFI system.
> >
> > > Can anybody suggest ideas to get this machine booting?  Would
> > > partitioning the drives with MBR, and trying to boot that way help, for
> > > example?  I really don't want to do that, though, though if it's the
> > > only way to get my machine booting, I'd do it.
> >
> > Have you tried booting with one disk only?  This should confirm if your
> > set up and drivers are appropriate for your hardware.
>
> I have tried taking the "secondary" SSD out.  It fails to boot in this
> case exactly as when both SSDs are installed.  However, once booted (from
> the CD), the installation system can read and write the SSDs without
> problem.  There's a setting in the BIOS booting section, where one can
> indicated whether booting from NVMe is in GPT or MBR mode, so it seems
> the Asus's intention is to allow booting from an NVMe SSD.

I am not cropping the above thread for other posters to refer to it in their 
responses, but this is how I suggest you proceed.

Boot with a LiveCD or LiveUSB which offers UEFI booting capability; e.g. 
sysrescuecd.

Make sure your kernel has been configured and built for the boot system you 
will be using.

Prepare a UEFI boot partition/fs and copy there your kernel image if you want 
to boot without a boot manager, or GRUB/rEFInd/etc., if you want to keep using 
a boot manager.

Reboot without the LiveCD/USB and as long as you configured your system 
correctly it should boot up.

HTH.
-- 
Regards,
Mick