Checksum Fail

Ask Fedora
1

I am a lifetime Windows user and I’m new here and I am test driving various Linux distros to see what I think of them. I am considering Making the switch to Linux after October. So I have an older Dell G5 15 laptop to use as a test bed.

I download Fedora 42 KDE from the site right here, run the checksum and it fails. First question is why? I already tried once to right the iso to a USB drive using Fedora Media Writer. I allowed Media writer to download the iso and then write it to the USB stick. It was successful, although I am surprised that the program, Media Writer was not programmed to automatically check the checksum to verify. Wouldn’t that have been much easier and efficient?

So when I put the USB stick in my Dell and booted from it the test failed. I now see that incident is not so uncommon. I went ahead and finally installed Fedora KDE 42 on the hard drive. The first problem I encountered after installation was the WiFi would not connect at all. Very unfortunate indeed.

So that is my situation at present. It is unfortunate because it is much too difficult to verify and install Fedora KDE 42 to a former windows laptop. The instructions should be much more clear and simple. It seems like a lost opportunity for Fedora to gain former Windows users (like me) who do not necessarily want to have to learn to many command line operations.

Just my take on it. Not intended to be personal at all. I thought KDE Plasma might be a very good option for me so I may try again. Thank you.

2

Media writer also checks the checksum. Do you have another USB stick? It’s unfortunately very common for them to be flaky. (That’s why we do all the testing.)

Did the WiFI work in the installer?

3

Could you say how you’re checking the checksum?

It’s not necessarily straightforward on Windows until you know how, and in fact the instructions in the documentation are wrong (or at least misleading) at step 5.

4

If Fedora Media Writer didn’t report a problem, and you managed to get to an installed system (albeit with Wifi problems), then most likely the ISO was correct after all.

Wifi can be a challenge because of the wide range of hardware that different manufacturers use. Many people successfully get help for wifi problems here though.

Can I suggest you start a new thread specifically for the Wifi problem - preferably including details of your hardware (model of laptop, and model of Wifi card if you know it). Then we can keep this thread for figuring out what might have happened at the checksum stage.

5

It has been reported that the Windows system will add some extra data to the USB device after MediaWriter has finished. I can’t confirm if this is true as I have no windows system to try with.

1 Like
6

Yes, this is often suspected as the cause of the “4.8% media check error” when booting from the USB -

2 Likes
7

Someone with a Windows system as well as a Linux system should test this. Especially what the contents of the file system is in the second partition of the USB.

8

Hello everyone. I’m using Fedora Media Writer on Windows 11 Pro, and it has always worked great for me. For the checksum, I use three different Windows apps and have never had any issues with verification. If you want, I can check the Fedora 42 MATE Live ISO which I also flashed with Media Writer. For Fedora 42 WS I have the netinstall image.

10

sdb 8:16 1 119,3G 0 disk
├─sdb1 8:17 1 2,3G 0 part /run/media/mauro/Fedora-MATE-Live-42-1-1
├─sdb2 8:18 1 12,6M 0 part
└─sdb3 8:19 1 300K 0 part

sorry gparted and gnome-disk see it as a single 119gb partition but strangely gnome-disk, after closing it and then restarting it, now sees it partitioned.

11

sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sdb: 119,25 GiB, 128043712512 bytes, 250085376 sectors
Disk model: Flash Reader    
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 175B0EF5-A864-478F-A518-EAAA2D2B4C7A

Device       Start     End Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdb1       64 4822167 4822104  2,3G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdb2  4822168 4847971   25804 12,6M EFI System
/dev/sdb3  4847972 4848571     600  300K Microsoft basic data
mauro@fedora:~$
12

I was more interested in the contents of the file system when it is mounted. For Fedora-Xfce-Live-42-1.1.x86_64.iso that would be

[root@newbox mnt]# find
.
./EFI
./EFI/BOOT
./EFI/BOOT/BOOTIA32.EFI
./EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi
./EFI/BOOT/fbia32.efi
./EFI/BOOT/fbx64.efi
./EFI/BOOT/grubx64.efi
./EFI/BOOT/mmx64.efi
./EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg
./EFI/fedora
./EFI/fedora/BOOTIA32.CSV
./EFI/fedora/BOOTX64.CSV
./EFI/fedora/gcdia32.efi
./EFI/fedora/gcdx64.efi
./EFI/fedora/grubia32.efi
./EFI/fedora/grubx64.efi
./EFI/fedora/mmia32.efi
./EFI/fedora/mmx64.efi
./EFI/fedora/shim.efi
./EFI/fedora/shimia32.efi
./EFI/fedora/shimx64.efi
./EFI/fedora/grub.cfg
[root@newbox mnt]#
13

If you use lsblk -fp you would see how the kernel sees the device.

14

Hello,

If you tell me how to do it, I can check! You know very well that I’m inexperienced.

15 
sudo mount -r /dev/sdb2 /mnt
sudo find /mnt
sudo umount /mnt

I don’t know that.

16

mauro@fedora:~$ sudo mount -r /dev/sdb2 /mnt [sudo] password di mauro: mauro@fedora:~$ sudo find /mnt /mnt /mnt/EFI /mnt/EFI/BOOT /mnt/EFI/BOOT/fonts /mnt/EFI/BOOT/fonts/unicode.pf2 /mnt/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI /mnt/EFI/BOOT/mmx64.efi /mnt/EFI/BOOT/grubx64.efi /mnt/EFI/BOOT/BOOTIA32.EFI /mnt/EFI/BOOT/mmia32.efi /mnt/EFI/BOOT/grubia32.efi /mnt/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg /mnt/EFI/BOOT/BOOT.conf mauro@fedora:~$ sudo umount /mnt

I'd like to clarify, however, that on my two Windows 10 Pro / 11 Pro systems, I have disabled both indexing and autoplay. Could these Windows settings be responsible for improper writes when flashing Fedora ISOs?
17

this is the Fedora 42 netinstall:

mauro@fedora:~$ sudo find /mnt
/mnt
/mnt/EFI
/mnt/EFI/BOOT
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/fonts
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/fonts/unicode.pf2
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/mmx64.efi
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/grubx64.efi
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/BOOTIA32.EFI
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/mmia32.efi
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/grubia32.efi
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/BOOT.conf
/mnt/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg
mauro@fedora:~$
18

I did use Windows shell but had to edit the commands. I also use 7 zip and got the same result. I still would think it should be written into the Media Writer program itself. That would be much better for everyone.

19

It is, as @mattdm said upthread.

20

That’s interesting. If I check the checksum with 7 zip which couldn’t be easier to use, the numbers don’t match. Yet Media Writer will write the iso to the USB stick anyway. Then there is an error so I assumed (maybe wrongly) that the checksum might have had something to do with that. I suppose at some point I could try a different USB stick but I’m fairly sure that one is ok. I used it yesterday to install Anduin OS which I’m testing out. And by-the-way when I checked the checksum with 7 zip on the Anduin iso it checked out ok. So unfortunately Fedora is kind of “iffy” for me right now. I am going to keep pursuing it though because I am interested in that KDE Plasma desktop.

21

Sorry, I forgot to answer you re the WiFi. I don’t know if it worked in the installer. I just went ahead and installed on the HD.