Arch Linux

jingubang

Member

Registered: 2017-08-14

Posts: 6

New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

Edit: flashed with the latest firmware version; systemd boot still fails, but grub works just fine.

I got a Thinkstation E31 off ebay the other year, finally got around to actually installing on it this weekend.

I followed the installation guide closely.
The computer boots just fine from all my LiveUSBs and CDs, and it gave me no errors as I installed.
I made a separate boot partition. It was mounted when I installed everything. I confirmed I was booted in UEFI mode.

I decided to try out Systemd boot. When I restart, it gives me "Error 1962: No operating system found." This seems to be a Lenovo special error message.

Boot priority is UEFI first.

I tried installing GRUB, which I use on my main computer. Same error.

Out of frustration I tried a complete reformat reinstall just in case, and the problems are identical.

Everything I find when searching this error and linux installation is years old and seems to be about BIOS/UEFI compatibility issues.

Any insight for a potential fix, or further information I should supply?

Last edited by jingubang (2024-02-21 23:29:44)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,892

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

Post

efibootmgr -uv

and in doubt try adding --removable to the set of flags you pass to the grub-install command. If you have a funky UEFI implementation they won't boot anything other than the fallback path. Also make sure secure boot is disabled.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,641

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

systemd-boot installs to the default loader location by default, so grub-install's --removable option probably won't help.

Post the output of lsblk -f while you've got everything mounted and set up before chrooting.

jingubang

Member

Registered: 2017-08-14

Posts: 6

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

Thank you for the replies. This took a minute because I had some trouble getting scp working. Silly mistake.

I noticed something, not sure if it means anything: when I turn the computer on, it gets to the "no operating system found" error message, it also says "Press any key to repeat boot sequence". If I insert the live-usb then, and press a key, the computer just immediately repeats the error 1962 message anyways.

efibootmgr -uv:

BootCurrent: 0005
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0000,0006,0001,0004,0005,0003
Boot0000* Linux Boot Manager	HD(1,GPT,28399b1b-c942-4c20-9b92-5edec62098dc,0x800,0xf3800)/\EFI\systemd\systemd-bootx64.efi
      dp: 04 01 2a 00 01 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 38 0f 00 00 00 00 00 1b 9b 39 28 42 c9 20 4c 9b 92 5e de c6 20 98 dc 02 02 / 04 04 46 00 5c 00 45 00 46 00 49 00 5c 00 73 00 79 00 73 00 74 00 65 00 6d 00 64 00 5c 00 73 00 79 00 73 00 74 00 65 00 6d 00 64 00 2d 00 62 00 6f 00 6f 00 74 00 78 00 36 00 34 00 2e 00 65 00 66 00 69 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0001* PLDS DVD-RW DH16ACSH	BBS(CDROM,,0x0)䵁佂
      dp: 05 01 09 00 03 00 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
    data: 41 4d 42 4f
Boot0003* IBA GE Slot 00C8 v1381	BBS(Network,,0x0)䵁佂
      dp: 05 01 09 00 06 00 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
    data: 41 4d 42 4f
Boot0004* ST31000524AS	BBS(HD,,0x0)䵁佂
      dp: 05 01 09 00 02 00 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
    data: 41 4d 42 4f
Boot0005* TOSHIBA TOSHIBA USB DRV PMAP	BBS(HD,,0x0)䵁佂
      dp: 05 01 09 00 02 00 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
    data: 41 4d 42 4f
Boot0006* UEFI: TOSHIBA TOSHIBA USB DRV PMAP	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1a,0x0)/USB(1,0)/USB(1,0)/HD(1,MBR,0x962fa445,0x1ca800,0x7800)䵁佂
      dp: 02 01 0c 00 d0 41 03 0a 00 00 00 00 / 01 01 06 00 00 1a / 03 05 06 00 01 00 / 03 05 06 00 01 00 / 04 01 2a 00 01 00 00 00 00 a8 1c 00 00 00 00 00 00 78 00 00 00 00 00 00 45 a4 2f 96 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 01 / 7f ff 04 00
    data: 41 4d 42 4f

That seems a bit odd. If I skip the unicode flag, the hanzi are replaced by "AMBO"

lsblk -f (after mounting root and boot, and turning swapon, before arch-chroot /mnt)

NAME   FSTYPE   FSVER            LABEL       UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
loop0  squashfs 4.0                                                                     0   100% /run/archiso/airootfs
sda                                                                                              
├─sda1 vfat     FAT32                        E686-AECB                             349.2M    28% /mnt/boot
├─sda2 ext4     1.0                          72bcd0ef-e751-4010-8db4-44a9b3e71645  858.4G     0% /mnt
└─sda3 swap     1                            252b1001-9ed1-4872-a73e-e7a850b7e3a2                [SWAP]
sdb    iso9660  Joliet Extension ARCH_202402 2024-02-01-12-07-52-00                              
├─sdb1 iso9660  Joliet Extension ARCH_202402 2024-02-01-12-07-52-00                              
└─sdb2 vfat     FAT16            ARCHISO_EFI 9C7A-9A67                                           
sdc                                                                                              
sdd                                                                                              
sde                                                                                              
sdf                                                                                              
sdg                                                                                              
sr0                                                                                              

What on Earth are those extra devices? They don't show up on fdisk -l.

Last edited by jingubang (2024-02-15 04:51:35)

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,641

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

Hmm, if you hit whatever key brings up your firmware's boot manager, can you select "Linux Boot Manager"?

jingubang

Member

Registered: 2017-08-14

Posts: 6

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

No, I get a "Startup Device Menu", I'll transcribe the whole thing just to be safe:

USB KEY: TOSHIBA TOSHIBA USB DRV PMAP
├─Legacy: TOSHIBA TOSHIBA USB DRV PMAP
└─UEFI: TOSHIBA TOSHIBA USB DRV PMAP
SATA 1: ST31000524AS
SATA 2: PSDS DVD-RW DH16ACSH
Enter Setup

Fascinating.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,641

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

Strange, but assuming ST31000524AS is sda, that should work

jingubang

Member

Registered: 2017-08-14

Posts: 6

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

Yes, it is. Sorry I didn't confirm, that's how it's listed in fdisk -l. And yet, when I select it from the startup device menu Error 1962.

Both of the USB options work, and the DVD drive works when I put a livecd in and select that. But not the hard drive.

jingubang

Member

Registered: 2017-08-14

Posts: 6

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

Searching again for installing Linux on a Thinkstation e31 now brings up this thread as the second result, and the first one is a two year old reddit post, where the poster eventually got it working, but describes options ("non-traditional operating systems") I don't seem to have.

I've seen several recommendations to make sure secure boot is turned off but I don't see an option for that either.

jingubang

Member

Registered: 2017-08-14

Posts: 6

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

I thought I'd flashed the BIOS to the latest version when I got this, but apparently not. It still read revision 39. The latest is 98.

Flashing went without a hitch, and Linux Boot Manager now showed up on the Startup Device Menu, however, when I selected it, I'd just get a screen with the only option "Reboot to Firmware".

Installed grub, made the config file, did bootctl remove just in case, and the computer boots just fine. No idea why the systemd one wouldn't.

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 74

Re: New install on Thinkstation fails to boot [Solved]

As for missing option to toggle secureboot:
In the past I encountered several bios which require to have a bios password set before this option becomes visible or active.
If you don't see an Option for secureboot you could try set a bios password and cold boot for it to show up. But as you got Linux running without Shim it seems secureboot is disabled anyway.