Help! Bizzare issue with Dell workstation only booting some distros

[organist1958]

Hello All,

Been using Linux (Debian Testing mostly, but I've dabbled in Mint and a couple other distros) for a couple years now, managed to get most of my family on it.


I very much want to set up self-hosted cloud storage, and would like to run Nextcloud on Debian stable. To this end, I acquired a Dell Precision 5810 workstation for free a while ago. I upgraded the CPU to a Xeon 2697v3 (not the best the platform supports, but it should be more than enough for my needs) and threw an AMD GPU in it that I also got for free. I am booting off a 120GB SSD I had lying around. The system is pretty cobbled together, but I want something cheap to get started and then I will upgrade once I have it working as a proof of concept.


The Dell workstation works beautifully on Windows (was preinstalled), but has a little bit of a bizzare issue when installing some Linux distros. I want to run Debian, so I grabbed my Debian USB (yes I keep one lying around ready to go , boot it, go through the installer, and all seems well (no errors, everything was successful). However when I reboot the computer, it sat for a second, and said there was no boot device recognized.

I thought I must have messed up something in the installation process, so I did it all again. Nothing. I made several different USB drives with different methods (dd, rufus, etc.). Nothing. Then I decided to try with Mint, and that worked perfectly. Booted, went through installation process just the same, and when I rebooted, it worked perfectly and went right into Mint, which functioned completely normally. I played around a bit more, and found that no matter what I did, what combinations of software/hardware, the ONLY OS/distros that would work were/are Windows, Mint, and MX Linux. And with Mint, the normal Ubuntu based version works normally, but LMDE does NOT work (just like Debian).

It is important to note that EVERYTHING I tried booted and went through the installer just fine with no problems or errors. The problem is when I reboot after the installer was "successful" the computer says there is no recognized boot device. I have searched online and not found anything that seems to be close to this issue, and no combination of software or hardware changes seem to make a difference.

This occurred several months ago, and I played around with the computer in the time since, and it seemed stable on both Windows and Mint. I considered just running Nextcloud from Mint, but I really prefer Debian stable (ideally with no DE, just very simple). I do not have access to the computer at this moment, but wanted to see if people have any ideas/tips for me for when I get back to it (hopefully soon).

 

[Brickwizard]

If you can boot it to Mint, connect to Internet, from the terminal run inxi -Fnxxz and paste back the results we can see if anything jumps out at us

 

[organist1958]

If you can boot it to Mint, connect to Internet, from the terminal run inxi -Fnxxz and paste back the results we can see if anything jumps out at us

I would love to do that but unfortunately I can't access the system right now (on the other side of the world lol). I will ASAP and post back here.

 

[Brickwizard]

Just a thought, this office desktop has 4 USB ports, one of which is USB3 make sure you use that one [no sorry I dont know which as dell did not follow the usual colour coding back then

 

[Brickwizard]

we will be here when your ready

 

[organist1958]

Just a thought, this office desktop has 4 USB ports, one of which is USB3 make sure you use that one [no sorry I dont know which ads dell did not follow the usual colour coding back then

I've tried most, if not all the USB ports on the machine. Front, back, USB2 and 3, different drives, everything.

I am really tempted to just give up and get something else, but I really like the server platform, and this makes me really hesitant to go with anything from Dell.

 

[organist1958]

we will be here when your ready

 

[Techelevate]

Hello All,

Been using Linux (Debian Testing mostly, but I've dabbled in Mint and a couple other distros) for a couple years now, managed to get most of my family on it.


I very much want to set up self-hosted cloud storage, and would like to run Nextcloud on Debian stable. To this end, I acquired a Dell Precision 5810 workstation for free a while ago. I upgraded the CPU to a Xeon 2697v3 (not the best the platform supports, but it should be more than enough for my needs) and threw an AMD GPU in it that I also got for free. I am booting off a 120GB SSD I had lying around. The system is pretty cobbled together, but I want something cheap to get started and then I will upgrade once I have it working as a proof of concept.


The Dell workstation works beautifully on Windows (was preinstalled), but has a little bit of a bizzare issue when installing some Linux distros. I want to run Debian, so I grabbed my Debian USB (yes I keep one lying around ready to go , boot it, go through the installer, and all seems well (no errors, everything was successful). However when I reboot the computer, it sat for a second, and said there was no boot device recognized.

I thought I must have messed up something in the installation process, so I did it all again. Nothing. I made several different USB drives with different methods (dd, rufus, etc.). Nothing. Then I decided to try with Mint, and that worked perfectly. Booted, went through installation process just the same, and when I rebooted, it worked perfectly and went right into Mint, which functioned completely normally. I played around a bit more, and found that no matter what I did, what combinations of software/hardware, the ONLY OS/distros that would work were/are Windows, Mint, and MX Linux. And with Mint, the normal Ubuntu based version works normally, but LMDE does NOT work (just like Debian).

It is important to note that EVERYTHING I tried booted and went through the installer just fine with no problems or errors. The problem is when I reboot after the installer was "successful" the computer says there is no recognized boot device. I have searched online and not found anything that seems to be close to this issue, and no combination of software or hardware changes seem to make a difference.

This occurred several months ago, and I played around with the computer in the time since, and it seemed stable on both Windows and Mint. I considered just running Nextcloud from Mint, but I really prefer Debian stable (ideally with no DE, just very simple). I do not have access to the computer at this moment, but wanted to see if people have any ideas/tips for me for when I get back to it (hopefully soon).

Try the following: BIOS boot mode is set to Legacy instead of UEFI. Check and see if the boot mode is correct.

 

[organist1958]

They the following: BIOS boot mode is set to Legacy instead of UEFI. Check and see if the boot mode is correct.

Pretty sure I checked that...I went through every single setting in the BIOS and tried pretty much every possible combination.

 

[osprey]

Hello All,

Been using Linux (Debian Testing mostly, but I've dabbled in Mint and a couple other distros) for a couple years now, managed to get most of my family on it.


I very much want to set up self-hosted cloud storage, and would like to run Nextcloud on Debian stable. To this end, I acquired a Dell Precision 5810 workstation for free a while ago. I upgraded the CPU to a Xeon 2697v3 (not the best the platform supports, but it should be more than enough for my needs) and threw an AMD GPU in it that I also got for free. I am booting off a 120GB SSD I had lying around. The system is pretty cobbled together, but I want something cheap to get started and then I will upgrade once I have it working as a proof of concept.


The Dell workstation works beautifully on Windows (was preinstalled), but has a little bit of a bizzare issue when installing some Linux distros. I want to run Debian, so I grabbed my Debian USB (yes I keep one lying around ready to go , boot it, go through the installer, and all seems well (no errors, everything was successful). However when I reboot the computer, it sat for a second, and said there was no boot device recognized.

I thought I must have messed up something in the installation process, so I did it all again. Nothing. I made several different USB drives with different methods (dd, rufus, etc.). Nothing. Then I decided to try with Mint, and that worked perfectly. Booted, went through installation process just the same, and when I rebooted, it worked perfectly and went right into Mint, which functioned completely normally. I played around a bit more, and found that no matter what I did, what combinations of software/hardware, the ONLY OS/distros that would work were/are Windows, Mint, and MX Linux. And with Mint, the normal Ubuntu based version works normally, but LMDE does NOT work (just like Debian).

It is important to note that EVERYTHING I tried booted and went through the installer just fine with no problems or errors. The problem is when I reboot after the installer was "successful" the computer says there is no recognized boot device. I have searched online and not found anything that seems to be close to this issue, and no combination of software or hardware changes seem to make a difference.

This occurred several months ago, and I played around with the computer in the time since, and it seemed stable on both Windows and Mint. I considered just running Nextcloud from Mint, but I really prefer Debian stable (ideally with no DE, just very simple). I do not have access to the computer at this moment, but wanted to see if people have any ideas/tips for me for when I get back to it (hopefully soon).

Without offering much hope on the matter, these things came to mind:

What was the "Debian USB" mentioned in post #1? For example, was it a netinst usb, or a complete image called the "dvd iso", or a live disk or a hybrid image? And, was it a most recent one of any of these? There are advantages to using a most up-to-date image to install because they do get upgraded themselves.

If you haven't considered installation from the netinstall media, it may be worth trying since it downloads fairly current software.

Is it possible to bring up a boot menu, and does debian appear on the boot menu? I guess that's a slim hope given that the machine is reporting no installation media with debian, but it's worth trying to see what the machine says I think if possible.

 

[Techelevate]

Pretty sure I checked that...I went through every single setting in the BIOS and tried pretty much every possible combination.

Just a question, Is Secure boot enabled? You may need to add your Debian boot loader to the allowed list in the BIOS

 

[organist1958]

Just a question, Is Secure boot enabled? You may need to add your Debian boot loader to the allowed list in the BIOS

Tried with and without it. There is an option in the BIOS to manually add a boot option (you have to browse and find the EFI file); I tried that several times, with no luck.

Without offering much hope on the matter, these things came to mind:

What was the "Debian USB" mentioned in post #1? For example, was it a netinst usb, or a complete image called the "dvd iso", or a live disk or a hybrid image? And, was it a most recent one of any of these? There are advantages to using a most up-to-date image to install because they do get upgraded themselves.

If you haven't considered installation from the netinstall media, it may be worth trying since it downloads fairly current software.

Is it possible to bring up a boot menu, and does debian appear on the boot menu? I guess that's a slim hope given that the machine is reporting no installation media with debian, but it's worth trying to see what the machine says I think if possible.

It was a netinst image (thats what I usually use), but I did also try with all the other images (DVD, etc), with the same result.

As I mentioned above, I can boot from the installer media no problem, go through the installation process with no hiccups/errors reported, and then reboot. But when I reboot, it is as if nothing happened, as if I never installed anything. Nothing shows up in any boot or BIOS menu.

 

[Brickwizard]

Why Linux fails to load/install direct to HDD, common reasons

1] Corrupt download [check SHA sum]
2] bad burn to installation medium [try again] [if you used Rufus then try Balena Etcher]
3] Wind 8.2 and higher quick start/fast boot or secure boot not disabled [doesn't normally apply to older versions]
4] defective pen-drive/DVD
5] hardware fault,
5A] If old style HDD run integrity check
5B]if SATA SSD check for hidden partition at the beginning of drive [this will stop Grub from loading] and delete it before re-installing Linux
If M2.NVMe check, your system is NVMe compatible [not all older kit is]

 

[KGIII]

But when I reboot, it is as if nothing happened, as if I never installed anything.

What happens if you go back in with that same live USB/DVD/whatever, chroot into the install, and update GRUB - or manually install GRUB?

This really does sound bizarre. I've used a zillion (slightly fewer, I suppose) Dell computers and have never had this sort of issue. (And, yes, I use secure boot/UEFI now that it's an option.)

 

[Techelevate]

Tried with and without it. There is an option in the BIOS to manually add a boot option (you have to browse and find the EFI file); I tried that several times, with no luck.


It was a netinst image (thats what I usually use), but I did also try with all the other images (DVD, etc), with the same result.

As I mentioned above, I can boot from the installer media no problem, go through the installation process with no hiccups/errors reported, and then reboot. But when I reboot, it is as if nothing happened, as if I never installed anything. Nothing shows up in any boot or BIOS menu.

Do you have more then 1 HDD installed in the system? I would trie to unplug one HDD and install Debian again on the ssd. When you are done with the setup, reconnect the other HDD and test the system with a restart. (Just make sure the other HDD is formatted before restarting)

 

[Brickwizard]

Just a thought,
You probably already have done this, but just in case, being a business machine, USB boot is disabled by default for security reasons, look in USB Boot Support in the BIOS under USB Configuration and check if its disabled.

 

[organist1958]

Sorry for the delayed reply... thank you all for the help

Why Linux fails to load/install direct to HDD, common reasons

1] Corrupt download [check SHA sum]
2] bad burn to installation medium [try again] [if you used Rufus then try Balena Etcher]
3] Wind 8.2 and higher quick start/fast boot or secure boot not disabled [doesn't normally apply to older versions]
4] defective pen-drive/DVD
5] hardware fault,
5A] If old style HDD run integrity check
5B]if SATA SSD check for hidden partition at the beginning of drive [this will stop Grub from loading] and delete it before re-installing Linux
If M2.NVMe check, your system is NVMe compatible [not all older kit is]

Hmm. The only thing I have NOT checked in this list is for a hidden partition at the beginning of the drive. I honestly can't remember if I tried installing to a different drive (I really thought I did), but that is now at the top of my list. The only thing that makes me think this is not it is because it works with MX and Mint flawlessly. Also, I tried both manual and automatic partitioning with every combination of partitions and sizes I could think of.

Do you have more then 1 HDD installed in the system? I would trie to unplug one HDD and install Debian again on the ssd. When you are done with the setup, reconnect the other HDD and test the system with a restart. (Just make sure the other HDD is formatted before restarting)

I tried that...no luck.

What happens if you go back in with that same live USB/DVD/whatever, chroot into the install, and update GRUB - or manually install GRUB?

This really does sound bizarre. I've used a zillion (slightly fewer, I suppose) Dell computers and have never had this sort of issue. (And, yes, I use secure boot/UEFI now that it's an option.)

I tried that a couple times and it never worked.

Just a thought,
You probably already have done this, but just in case, being a business machine, USB boot is disabled by default for security reasons, look in USB Boot Support in the BIOS under USB Configuration and check if its disabled.

No that's not it...I tried messing with every switch, dial, and checkbox I could find in the BIOS, to no avail. I tried updating the BIOS but it was already on the latest.

 

[Brickwizard]

it works with MX and Mint flawlessly.

Strange!!!!!

ok lets try something, go through the normal installation routine and re boot,, if ubuntu/mint dosnet start, switch off then on whilst tickling F12 [without the installation USB connected] dose the short boot show either, mint,ubuntu,or debian? if it dose you know its loaded, now click on the distribution [if no distribution showing click on the main drive you are using, and enter,,, does it boot and run? if it does then it will be a bios/UEFI boot loading issue.

 

[organist1958]

Strange!!!!!

ok lets try something, go through the normal installation routine and re boot,, if ubuntu/mint dosnet start, switch off then on whilst tickling F12 [without the installation USB connected] dose the short boot show either, mint,ubuntu,or debian? if it dose you know its loaded, now click on the distribution [if no distribution showing click on the main drive you are using, and enter,,, does it boot and run? if it does then it will be a bios/UEFI boot loading issue.

Already done several times

It does not show anything. Well, it kind of does but it doesn't. The BIOS will detect when there is a NEW OS/boot option, but sometimes it will not detect when one is not present anymore, so I have to remove it manually in the BIOS.

E.g.: I install Mint, and it is functioning normally. I then wipe (reformat) the SSD and try to install Debian. When I reboot and go into the BIOS or F12, it will NOT show any sort of Debian boot option. I cannot even add it manually in the BIOS. However, SOMETIMES it will still show the previous Mint boot option until I remove it manually in the BIOS. Of course if I try to select the Mint option after reformatting it does not work. I should note that while this is very annoying I was never terribly suspicious of it because my main computer, an XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 does this exact same thing, and has never given me any issue.

 

[Brickwizard]

If mint 22 [ubuntu] works have you tried Mint LMDE6 [debian based]