Installation error: HD trouble

xzzulz

Trying to install Solus.

Solus impressions

Solus looks very interesting to me.
Have noticed a fast boot time, compared to ubuntu based distros.

The app center is interesting. Better than synaptic (ubuntu)
Some distros have better app centers. Solus's one is interesting,
because it includes all sorts of apps. Including dev tools.
Could be better: app icons, better sorting/grouping, more app info, screenshots...
However, it's a very decent/good start.

Installation error:

Getting HD errors, with multiple hdds, on installation.

HDs disappear, or give errors.

It's doubtful that the HDs are failing. Because
it's happening with multiple disks, that I try
to use for linux.

Is this, maybe, some kind of linux malware,
in the motherboard firmware, or from internet?
I have had similar issues with other distros.

Solus installer says:
"Can't create root partition"
When trying to partition the disk. Either the
installer default, or manual partitioning.
Then, disk is unreachable, with the "Disks" app, or gparted.
Or from the terminal.

Any suggestions?

brent

xzzulz Solus installer says:
"Can't create root partition"
When trying to partition the disk. Either the
installer default, or manual partitioning.
Then, disk is unreachable, with the "Disks" app, or gparted.
Or from the terminal.

Any suggestions?

sounds like target installation drive is 1) improperly formatted [as mentioned by buzz] or 2) somehow target drive is mounted in the live iso and needs to be unmounted.

when it's properly formatted (see help page at main site) the installer will see it. nolan's connection cleaning is a great idea and something I do not do enough of.

Staudey

xzzulz Is this, maybe, some kind of linux malware?

I hope you're not suggesting that this supposed "malware" is part of Solus, because that would be extremely irresponsible to claim without any evidence supporting that at all.

nolan

What I would do is to check the connections and clean them a bit with 90% alcohol then check again if they are detected.
I recommend to open Disks or gparted and if possible check what info about S.M.A.R.T. you get, if it says the disk is faulty or could fail, is better to replace it with another one.

BuzzPCSOS

Under some conditions Solus can have problems trying to install onto a hard drive that has or has previously had an OS installed on it. Install to a completely wiped disk for the best results if possible by wiping the partition table on the disk using the partition tool from the live system (before starting install).
It could also be an issue of choosing the correct UEFI or BIOS boot options.
Good luck

xzzulz

Thanks for replies.

At the moment, have 2 HDs available for this.
After some linux usage, both of them are giving frequent errors.

Both drives are failing SMART tests.

The SATA connection cables are OK, because they are used
without issues, for other OSs.

When trying to partition them manually, with gparted, it also
fails, with errors: Format ok, boot partition ok,
root partition error.
( Gparted: mkfs.ext4: Input/output error while writing out filesystem )

I suspect it may be some kind of malware, because I find
unlikely that the HDs that I use for linux, start giving errors.

Well, looks like I'll have to wait, until I can get another HD.

nolan

xzzulz Both drives are failing SMART tests.

That's your answer, those HDD's are dying. It's not a software thing (malware as you said) is a hardware thing (physically the components are failing), I've read somewhere that normally, the live of an HDD is 5 years, in my experience could be more, the best thing to do is to replace them with another one that can pass the SMART test.

Here are more info about SMART: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Monitoring%2C_Analysis_and_Reporting_Technology

xzzulz

The issue, part of solus? Absolutely NOT!

What I am considering, is if my computer may have some sort
of malware. That sneaked into the motherboard firmware, or something like that.
If that can be possible.

I will keep trying with solus, because I find it a very interesting linux.

xzzulz

Just tested a temporary installation with another drive.
It worked. Installation OK.

However, I'm still worried about the general linux issue,
I've been having. (Let's see how this installation goes.)

On linux in general, I'm getting HD malfunctions. Every week.
the filesystem shows errors. The HDs start failing too fast.
I am wondering if that could be some kind of malware.
From internet, or the motherboard.

Excuse my limited knowledge on this. Don't know if that
may be actually real or possible.
Just wanted to report the problem somewhere. To learn
about it.

thanks for help.