[mythtv-users] Installation report: ECS Liva doesn't boot after Debian Installation. What am I missing?

[James Miller]

On Tue, 12 May 2015, A. F. Cano wrote:

> I recently got one of those ECS Liva boxes on sale at newegg. I put the
> first CD of Debian 8 on a USB flash drive.  It was recognized and
> I quickly got the install screen.  So, I did a standard installation
> similar to many I had done on other machines.

Finally, something I might be able to help with! I just went through a 
lengthy process of setting up an ECS Liva X, which is very similar to the 
machine you have. It took me a couple of months to get almost all the 
issues ironed out--hopefully you will get through it much more quickly. 
And at least some of the process is still fresh in memory.

My first obstacle was learning what sort of "mode" the device needed to be 
in in order to boot to the OS I'd installed (Gentoo). I chose not to use a 
boot loader, but rather to use UEFI's capability of booting a 
properly-compiled kernel (with built-in command line), so I won't be able 
to help a whole lot with bootloader issues.

The initial problems I had with getting the unit to boot were caused 
because I did not have the right "Operation system selection" entry under 
the set-up item "Boot." Rather un-intuitively, I needed to have it set to 
"Windows 8.x." Once I'd determined that, my system began to boot.

> The first problem I encountered was that the wifi needed non-free
> firmware.  I was instructed to put the file rtl8168g-2.fw into
> removable media and continue.  After downloading the realtek firmware
> package (firmware-realtek_0.43_all.deb), extracting the fw file and
> putting it into a flash drive, the installer didn't recognize it
> after it said to insert the removable media.  I tried multiple times
> without success so I skipped that for later.

I did not have problems with wifi, nor did I need to load any firmware. 
But I did research the machine's hardware to discover what sort of module 
the wifi might need, and accordingly compiled the kernel (forget whether 
it was as <M> [module]) or not. But, having done that, wifi worked pretty 
much out of the box for me. Pretty sure mine has the same wifi hardware as 
yours.

> In the partitioning phase the installer claimed that "there may be
> existing operating systems already installed using "BIOS compatibility
> mode", so I chose not to force UEFI installation here, in case I might
> need access to that later.  This might have been a mistake and the cause
> the system doesn't boot now.

Once I'd installed the OS, I could not get my system to boot in "BIOS 
compatibility mode." Try setting it to UEFI--though that may be dependent 
on whether you have a UEFI-aware kernel. (See below regarding "existing 
operating systems").

> I had no idea what the internal architecture of this thing was
> until a later stage.  This is what the installer reported:
>
> MMC/SD card #1 (mmcblk0) - 31.3 GB MMC 032GE4
> /dev/mmclblk0boot0 - 4.2 MB Generic SD/MMC Storage Card
> /dev/mmclblk0boot1 - 4.2 MB Generic SD/MMC Storage Card
> SCSI 1 (0,0,0) (Sda) - 4.0 TB Seagate Expansion Desk
> SCSI 2 (0,0,0) (Sdb) - 1.0 GB SandDisk U3 Cruzer Micro (the install media)
>
> I selected manual partitioning as even guided partitioning with separate
> /home, /tmp, and /var insisted on putting everything on the SSD.
>
> The SSD is for the / partition (31.3 GB)
>
> The 4 TB drive is partitioned as follows:
>
> /tmp	10 G
> /var	100 G
> swap	4.2G
> /home	750G
> /video	3100G
>
> This way, the static OS files are in fast flash memory and everything
> else is on the HD.
>
> When selecting an internet mirror to download the rest of the packages,
> I had to select a proxy for apt (a local machine running a privoxy port)
> as the network configuration apparently tried to be too smart and
> claimed it was all configured when in fact I have a static ip local
> network.
>
> The installation finished without errors and asked me to reboot the
> system, and then it got stuck in the bios screen.  I had selected to
> install the boot loader in the MBR of the root partition.
>
> So I rebooted into rescue mode.  There is now a /dev/mmcblk0p1 partition
> listed.  Obviously the root partition.

/dev/mmcblk0p1 matches pretty closely what I have set as the root 
partition on mine (mine is /dev/mmcblk0p3). That is, of course, on the 
device's SSD drive. That's where I installed the entirety of the OS on 
mine. I have an external USB drive mounted under /var/lib/mythtv that 
holds recordings. You're probably going to need to create another small 
FAT32 partition, though (see below).

> Reinstalling the grub boot loader on that, as well as
>
> /dev/mmcblk0		the MBR, which is where I did put it originally,
> 			as well as
> /dev/mmclblk0boot0
> /dev/mmclblk0boot1
>
> all failed.  Even after disabling secure boot in the bios, same thing.
>
> So this is where I need help.  What do I need to set/unset in the bios?
> What is the purpose of /dev/mmclblk0boot0 and /dev/mmclblk0boot1 ?
> Obviously I don't understand this new-fangled UEFI booting process.  I
> haven't changed any of the secure boot options in the bios.  I hope I
> can just fix this boot issue without having to do a complete
> re-installation.

I've left "secure boot" disabled. I was I was informed by someone who 
seemed knowledgeable about this, regarding those small, pre-existing 
partitions, that "Those little partitions come from the manufacturer and 
usually have 3 different purposes. The first having special 
software/firmware related to the machine, the second would be the ESP, 
formatted FAT32 and the boot-flag on it, and the third often is for 
recovery or OEM reserved." I think those partitions might be what your 
installer mistook as a pre-existing operating system.

For my scenario--which again, involves just a kernel with built-in command 
line and no boot loader--I needed a small FAT32 partition on which to 
locate the kernel (/dev/mmcblk0p2 on mine). The device finds that 
partition and boots the kernel. I believe a similar partition is needed 
even if you use a boot loader, however, and it is on that partition where 
your bootloader files are to be kept (usually it's mounted under /boot). 
This small FAT32 partition is apparently stipulated in the UEFI spec, so 
unless you intend to boot and run your system in BIOS compatibility mode, 
it is my (not terribly well informed) understanding you'll need to create 
that partition before you'll get this to work.