F37 install to HDD not starting

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,
1

Hi,

I have a problem installing Fedora Workstation edition.
I created a bootable usb with Etcher and the default Ubuntu tool as well. Tried the main workstation iso, and also the netinst iso as well.

When I press Install to hard drive button, it loads for a couple of seconds then nothing happens.
When I try to start the installer from the terminal I get the following:

[liveuser@localhost-live ~]$ sudo liveinst
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/anaconda-cleanup", line 82, in <module>
    devicetree.populate(cleanup_only=True)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/threads.py", line 53, in run_with_lock
    return m(*args, **kwargs)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/populator/populator.py", line 446, in populate
    self._populate()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/threads.py", line 53, in run_with_lock
    return m(*args, **kwargs)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/populator/populator.py", line 471, in _populate
    new_devices = udev.get_devices()
                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/udev.py", line 81, in get_devices
    dev = device_to_dict(device)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/udev.py", line 53, in device_to_dict
    result = dict(device.properties)
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/pyudev/device/_device.py", line 1116, in __getitem__
    return ensure_unicode_string(value)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/pyudev/_util.py", line 68, in ensure_unicode_string
    value = value.decode(sys.getfilesystemencoding())
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xe1 in position 1: invalid continuation byte
Starting installer, one moment...
anaconda 37.12.6-1.fc37 for Fedora 37 started.
 * installation log files are stored in /tmp during the installation
 * shell is available on TTY2 and in second TMUX pane (ctrl+b, then press 2)
 * when reporting a bug add logs from /tmp as separate text/plain attachments
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/sbin/anaconda", line 492, in <module>
    ignore_oemdrv_disks()
  File "/usr/lib64/python3.11/site-packages/pyanaconda/ui/lib/storage.py", line 415, in ignore_oemdrv_disks
    matched = device_matches("LABEL=OEMDRV", disks_only=True)
              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/python3.11/site-packages/pyanaconda/core/storage.py", line 180, in device_matches
    single_spec_matches = udev.resolve_glob(full_spec)
                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/udev.py", line 163, in resolve_glob
    for dev in get_devices():
               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/udev.py", line 81, in get_devices
    dev = device_to_dict(device)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/blivet/udev.py", line 53, in device_to_dict
    result = dict(device.properties)
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/pyudev/device/_device.py", line 1116, in __getitem__
    return ensure_unicode_string(value)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/site-packages/pyudev/_util.py", line 68, in ensure_unicode_string
    value = value.decode(sys.getfilesystemencoding())
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xe1 in position 1: invalid continuation byte

I tried removing all my other usb devices from the laptop leaving only the usb stick, also was trying with multiple usb devices, all leading to the same results.

2

Welcome to the fedroaproject @bericroxx
Best is if you make you an official install device with the official tool from fedora.

Fedora Media Writer:

Name         : mediawriter
Version      : 5.0.4
Release      : 1.fc37
Architecture : x86_64
Size         : 2.6 M
Source       : mediawriter-5.0.4-1.fc37.src.rpm
Repository   : @System
From repo    : updates
Summary      : Fedora Media Writer
URL          : https://github.com/FedoraQt/MediaWriter
License      : GPLv2+
Description  : A tool to write images of Fedora media to portable drives
             : like flash drives or memory cards.

P.S.
Tell us more about your hardware.

3

Thanks for your answer. I tried with the official Fedora Media Writer. Same results sadly.

My Hw:

$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-58-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.3.0
    Desktop: GNOME 42.5 Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: GL553VE v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: GL553VE v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: GL553VE.306 date: 01/02/2018
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 40.6 Wh (97.1%) condition: 41.8/48.2 Wh (86.7%)
    volts: 16.3 min: 14.4 model: Simplo SDI ICR18650 status: N/A
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-7700HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Kaby Lake rev: 9 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 879 high: 900 min/max: 800/3800 cores: 1: 900 2: 900
    3: 900 4: 884 5: 848 6: 900 7: 872 8: 832 bogomips: 44798
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:02.0
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107M [GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile] vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: nvidia v: 525.60.11 bus-ID: 01:00.0
  Device-3: IMC Networks USB2.0 UVC HD Webcam type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-6:5
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa gpu: i915
    resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 630 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.5
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel CM238 HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
  Device-2: C-Media Blue Snowball type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 1-2.1.3:7
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-58-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8723BE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lite-On
    driver: rtl8723be v: kernel port: d000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
  IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: c000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-8:8
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
    bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.0
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.14 TiB used: 36.03 GiB (3.1%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: SK Hynix model: HFS256G39TND-N210A
    size: 238.47 GiB
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS721010A9E630
    size: 931.51 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 233.18 GiB used: 36.02 GiB (15.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.2 MiB (1.0%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 77.0 C pch: 56.5 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 4200
Info:
  Processes: 336 Uptime: 1m Memory: 15.51 GiB used: 2.73 GiB (17.6%)
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.3.0 Packages: 2471 Shell: Bash
  v: 5.1.16 inxi: 3.3.13
4

Please be more specific on what you are doing and how you are booted when you run that command. What environment are you in? Live media or already installed OS?

Booting from the live install media has an icon that most use to launch the installer and I have never had a failure with it. I personally have never used the liveinst command and trying to run it on an already installed system gives similar errors since that is not an install media image.

It does not matter much how the install ISO is written to the USB device, and if it boots to the graphical live environment then the media seems OK. Using the command line to start an install is unusual though since most use the icon to launch the installer.

I also note from the inxi output that you are running Ubuntu which is totally different than Fedora in many ways.

5

I boot from the USB to the Fedora live environment, then press the icon you were referring to, it appears to be loading(it is visible next to the activities at the top), then after a couple of seconds it disappears and nothing happens anymore.

I only entered the liveinst command to be able to paste here an output (generally it should do the same thing as clicking the install to hdd icon).

I also note from the inxi output that you are running Ubuntu which is totally different than Fedora in many ways.

If they would be the same, then would not need to install Fedora :slight_smile:

6

Maybe time to reopen Bugzilla ID 1984913.

I’m guessing the problem has something to do with the vendor’s OS recovery partition, so it would nice to find out if the problem goes away if the partition (and associated bootloader entries) is removed. In my experience those partitions are a waste of space and most of the time recovery is needed after a drive has failed, so a recovery partition goes away exactly when it is needed. Many vendors provide a downloadable recovery image. At one time, Windows had a way to make a recovery drive.

7

  1. Did you check the downloaded iso for errors. That is, did you verify the checksum to ensure that it was the correct image and no corruption?

  2. Did you run the “check this disk and start fedora live” from the boot menu of that device?

If both those were done and indicated no errors then it may be the boot method (legacy vs uefi), or the machine hardware, or the possibility there is no space on the install drive to do the install. The installer usually allows one to select what to do with the drive they intend to install on, but those errors seem to indicate something else may be at work since the anaconda installer is never able to fully load.

I wonder at this line

which seems to lead to the drive type as the possible cause.
Have you tried installing gparted on the live media while booted then using gparted on that drive to create a new gpt partition table before doing the install? Rather a sledge hammer approach, but potentially a work-around.

It actually seems to indicate that the drive is flagged as OEM and thus anaconda is unable to use it. Gparted may be able to fix that.

8

I am marking this as this sentence lead me to the solution.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I could fix it, by renaming the data drive in gparted. (somehow it got automatically named with hungarian characters, and that name was not visible anywhere else but gparted)

2 Likes
9

Glad you found a workaround, but it would be nice to reopen the original but report with your discovery.

This failure to handle the original name is probably an anaconda bug.

might mean the name uses an encoding other than UTF-8 that gparted supports and Anaconda does not.

10

I could not reopen that one, but added a comment with this information.