Unsolved
1 Rookie
•
16 Posts
0
2230
July 19th, 2021 06:00
Unable to install CentOS 7 from thumbdrive
The mouse and keyboard freezes on my brand-new XPS 8940 when I try to install CentOS 7 from a USB3 thumb drive.
I've created an apparently valid thumb drive from the standard CentOS 7 DVD ISO (from centos.org). I created it using "Rufus". (v3.14) I've changed the boot order so that the XPS 8940 attempts to boot from the thumb drive.
It loads up the CentOS install program as expected. As soon as I attempt to move the mouse, everything freezes. It appears that the USB mouse and/or USB keyboard are interfering with the USB thumb drive.
Since the entire purpose of buying this machine was to run CentOS 7, I'm at an impasse. Any suggestions?
No Events found!
ejn63
10 Elder
•
28.7K Posts
0
July 19th, 2021 06:00
Since your system is new enough that it won't have a legacy (CSM) mode, you must use a Linux distribution that supports UEFI install and boot. That will almost certainly require preparing a custom install image of Centos 7, which dates from over a decade ago.
See here:
https://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/UEFI
It may be you'll be better off with a more current version of CentOS (8 is the current one).
This is not an OS Dell supports -- so you will need to work with CentOS for installation tools.
SomervilleTom
1 Rookie
•
16 Posts
0
July 19th, 2021 06:00
I guess I'll try Rocky (the new CentOS 8).
I appreciate your quick response.
SomervilleTom
1 Rookie
•
16 Posts
0
July 19th, 2021 06:00
I think I'll try a more modern Linux. My main purpose is to purge Microsoft from my environment. Once I've got Linux installed and running, I intend to run anything from Microsoft inside a guest VM that I can readily nuke and rebuild.
speedstep
9 Legend
•
47K Posts
0
July 19th, 2021 06:00
@ejn63 @SomervilleTom
CENTOS 7 works fine with UEFI.
standard UEFI BOOT can read FAT32, but cannot read NTFS, EXFAT, ext2/3/4fs, HFS+, or any other filesystem.
bios loads the fat32 uefi and then the os.
One of the carry overs from UEFI is that they REQUIRE usb 2.0 FAT32. This means the most compatible units are USB 2.0 16 or 32 gigs max. Larger than 32 gigs is EXFAT.
This also interferes with Other OS installs when there are no USB2 ports.
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-in/000155194
The only other way to get around this is to use DVD - R media recorded at 2X 4X 8X max for your ISO with SATA Operation set to AHCI not Raid.
Windows 10 after 1803 iso will not fit on a 4.7 gig dvd however so you need optical drive that can burn DVD dual Layer media.
I recommend buying these retail as they are often counterfeited.
They are not horribly expensive but when they are gone they wont be making more.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-cruzer-32gb-usb-2-0-flash-drive-black/9288807.p?skuId=9288807
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
July 19th, 2021 10:00
@SomervilleTom Have you tried leaving the boot order as it was (Windows Boot Manager first), plugging your USB into the PC with power off, then powering on and start tapping F12 to open the boot menu.
Select the option to boot from USB from that menu and see what happens...
SomervilleTom
1 Rookie
•
16 Posts
0
August 2nd, 2021 06:00
I have given up on CentOS 7 and instead installed Rocky Linux 8.4.
The XPS 8940 is reporting hardware errors at least daily. I have reported the specifics on another thread .