Booting Solus Live USB on System76 Telio

inkbug

Thanks tflovik !
That might be it - I'll have to look into creating aLive USB with the latest kernel somehow and try it again.

As an Open Collective supporter, I might have access to a snapshot ISO - at least that was the case before the 4.5 ISO was released.
Also, if I can find a way to write a persistent USB of the current ISO, I might be able to update it.

I'll update once I've managed to test either of these options.

Axios

inkbug How are you booting the usb?
Just booting or using the bios boot menu.

brent

inkbug Intending to install Solus on the computer's second drive, I managed to select the Solus Live USB from the boot menu, and get to the Live USB's menu of which version of Solus to boot - but then nothing happens.

you never did say if this was a standalone usb with the solus iso burned right on it. or ventoy.

in my 'spare time hopping' it doesn't matter if ventoy needs an update or not: more often than not it has a 50% boot success rate of any given distro which is poor as he**.....but could indicate an ailing usb.
a standalone stick cures this 100% of the time for me.
If your situation is not ventoy-related then disregard all of this.

Other times the when the I-thought-it-was-properly-burned USB fails I re-formatted/re-burned/re-tried where the third time was the charm and stubborn-pigheadedness was the deciding factor and maybe fussy hardware.
2 cents.

ps--sometime you or someone else has to give a review of Sys76. I'm 10X more exicted about the hardware than software and have coveted one from afar a long time.

inkbug

brent

brent you never did say if this was a standalone usb with the solus iso burned right on it. or ventoy.

The USB is a non-ventoy standalone, which I've used many times for both installing Solus in its various iterations, or for some distro-hopping on my older machine. It's a novelty disk-on-key based on the "Transistor" from the Supergiant Games game of the same name, and has never given me trouble before.
As mentioned earlier, though I did try a different media just in case, this one with Rhino Linux' Live ISO on it, which I've used successfully to install said distro on a Microsoft Surface Pro 6 - so I assume the media are not at fault here.
Still - when I get around to trying again with a newer kernel ISO, I'll be able to verify this.

As for a review of System76 hardware, I'm really quite happy with it 🙂

My laptop is a 17" Gazelle - at the time this was the only laptop available in their return-from-covid store.
The model is something of a beast: heavy and, when the nVidia card is used a little noisy, but has amazing performance. It still runs the Pop!_os it came with, mostly without issues.
The new Thelio Mira which is the reason for this topic, being a new machine, is quite a leap from my previous one.
The performance is extraordinary.
The casing has good points and bad: There's a special slot-and-rail arrangement for easily adding and removing 2.5" SSD cards, but if you want to plug in an older HDD (say, for transferring data from the older machine) or disconnecting one of the M.2 drives (say, in order to install an OS on one without making changes to the other) it gets much more complicated, as the construction used for housing the graphics card prevents access to the motherboard. They have a guide on their site for how circumvent this construction safely, but it is out of date and doesn't match the newer machines.
Also, the snazzy outer wrap-around chassis must be in place in order to switch the machine on - so no more tweaking with an exposed-innards machine for me.
All-in-all, a pretty good balance of aesthetic/functionality, if one doesn't feel the need to muck around with the inner hardware too much.

brent

inkbug There's a special slot-and-rail arrangement for easily adding and removing 2.5" SSD cards, but if you want to plug in an older HDD (say, for transferring data from the older machine) or disconnecting one of the M.2 drives (say, in order to install an OS on one without making changes to the other) it gets much more complicated, as the construction used for housing the graphics card prevents access to the motherboard. They have a guide on their site for how circumvent this construction safely, but it is out of date and doesn't match the newer machines.

that should not be designed so inaccessible--this is important hardware. To a designer, I am guessing, there has to be some trade-offs in a 17"X10" work area--that's not a lot of space.
I'd ask you about longevity because that would be my price point for the $$...at least 15 years of problem-free. Is that realistic? I have run desktops (lenovo mostly) older than that company that never needed anything more than a memory stick.

Every year I go to their website and stare like a hungry dog at photos of their desktop units...sometimes,,even though I don't have the dough...I would fill in all their options when building my dream Sys76 machine and send it to the cart. It's fun to dream! I will have one some day.

More to topic, I've seen so many Solus to Sys76 posts that it seems incredibly easy--something has to give here. Hope you figure it out. That's a handsome home to run Solus on. If you could confirm what @tflovik said about the 14 at least you'd know. And would have to plan for an exciting install 🙂.

Thanks for your thoughtful, nuanced reply.

BuzzPCSOS Depending on what operating system was loaded on your PC previously you might need to wipe the disc partition table to get Solus to install without complications. Plenty written on this forum regarding that already.

He's installing I think, to an always unused second physical drive but I agree that doesn't mean Sys76 formatted it GPT. Good catch there.

BuzzPCSOS

inkbug The USB is a non-ventoy standalone, which I've used many times for both installing Solus in its various iterations, or for some distro-hopping on my older machine.

You don't mention what boot software you are using. Maybe Etcher would be worth a try.
Because your current software has worked on one machine it does not guarantee correct function on another. Ventoy recently needed to update the Secure Boot key on V1.0.98 which stopped it working on my Dell Latitude after a BIOS update. Even on the latest version I get some error reports when trying to boot from a Ventoy prepared USB.
As a result of this I prepared a USB with Etcher (in the Solus repo) and suddenly i could boot without any issues.
Every machine has it's own little ways when it comes to booting from USB. Trying some different software could be the way to success.

inkbug

Hi Axios
Thanks for replying.
I tried both using the one-time boot menu (pressing F12 on boot, and choosing "UEFI SMI USB"), or going into the UEFI/BIOS settings, changing the default boot order to the portable and restarting.
Both gave the same result.
I hope that helps.

Axios

inkbug I saw some people online search having usb boot problems seemed
when they did the one-time-boot things booted.
So thought I would ask.

brent

Axios at solus help re: compatible laptops

is this dated?

we are missing something since inkbug bought a gazelle professional
edit: snip snip. you played Buzz's patience game? I've waiting several minutes on some stuff

Axios

brent Well if it was me I would try arch or fedora and see what happens.
If there is (cms) setting would check it
If neither of those boot I would look at how iso is burnt or something with bios.

I still use Rufus(win only) to burn iso
And usually what causes problems is (Partition Scheme and Target system) settings when they dont boot
seen things act weird on some computers.
Not sure how linux handles those two settings when burning a iso
But changing those settings I usaully get it to boot

inkbug

brent compatible laptops

The problem is with the Thelio Mira desktop, but I'll try my Live Solus medis on the (older) Gazelle to verify that it's not the media.

Axios I would try arch or fedora

Great suggestion - their Live Disks use the latest kernel, right? I'll try that next.

Axios If there is (cms) setting would check it

I dn't remember there being a CMS option, but I'll check it out.

Axios Partition Scheme and Target system

I've used Rufus before, but I think the last time I wrote this particular Live USB was on my older machine running Solus, so it was probably done with either multi-writer or Popsicle (flatpak) - both of which don't give all these options. If the above options don't help me find a solution, I'll re-write the disk from Windows and try that.

brent sys 76 does have arch/fedora instructions only. I read them. They also involve installing a lot of sub-packages and extra drivers.

If I'm not mistaken, those instructions are meant for enabling the control of Sys76 specific hardware for better fan/power control after the OS has already been installed.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, you've really given me a few things to think about and try out.
I'll update when I have any results to report.

brent

-one poster suggested it's too much new laptop for solus kernel--I see the reality of this in some threads.
-solus picture up there is like solus saying, no it's not too much, we got this.
-OP convinced nothing wrong with boot media.
-buzz has great point. I have given up on black screen installs and walked away a while and came back and it was ready for me with a boot menu. 5 minutes for sure. Don't remember 10 minutes but its possible. Inkbug did not discuss if he used the 'walk away' method for a while.
--sys 76 does have arch/fedora instructions only. I read them. They also involve installing a lot of sub-packages and extra drivers. it was exhausting. good idea.

cms and bios are great places to look too. Interesting for sure.

edit--been a while since I've used rufus. I can't believe it can set partition size now. wow.

Axios

brent His usb by what he posted is Silicon Motion's high-performance USB flash drive controller
so would tend think its not that slow.
But I guess anything is possible

brent

Axios absolutely nothing of value doing a 'system76' search on this forum. none were install-related.

usb sounds great!
I read about solus hiccups adapting to huge fast SSDs and how you should never give solus (or a distro) the whole SSD (especially TB size) but instead create a partition for it instead.
like you say, just info, but I remembered this basic theme in threads. edit: that's why I wonder if USB ISO seems unresponsive.

gonna sleep on this one

inkbug

BuzzPCSOS
I wrote this Solus Plasma 4.5 ISO a few months ago, using my older Solus machine. I can't remember exactly which flashing software I used at the time, but it would have been MultiWriter from the Solus repo, or Popsicle from Flathub. It might even have been Balena Etcher, since I remember installing it.
Before I bought this new machine, I was trying various non-Systemd distros in order to speed up the boot time on my older machine - so for a couple of months I would flash an ISO, try out the new distro for about a day, then try another one.
I eventually came back home to Solus 🙂 , but during this time I kept trying different flashing software, and at this time I don't remember which one was the last one.

BuzzPCSOS

inkbug Good call on your favourite iso choice.
Your gen 14 CPU should be supported by the 6.6.9 kernel that Solus 4.5 ships with. Make sure that you are using the 4.5 iso and not one of the earlier ones.
Especially when trying to boot more modern equipment from USB it is important to make sure that you are using the most recent boot media software to ensure compatibility.
In the case of Etcher for example it may be worth using the app image on their website rather than installing from the Solus repo as it is a later build.
Edit: My mistake the etcher App image is only a 32 bit one and quite outdated. Probably best to use the Solus repository after all.

inkbug

BuzzPCSOS
Alright then. So my next step is to create the live media with Etcher, and a second one of Fedora, boot into UEFI options and check for cms, and see which of the two, if either, boots into a live session.
I'll try it later tonight and see how it goes 👍

BuzzPCSOS

Before that....
Your problem could be because of the USB socket you are using. At boot using a USB 3.0 drive and a USB 3.0 socket (blue tang) can cause problems.
Look for a USB socket that doesn't have the blue tang or is identified as USB 2.0 and try to boot from that location instead.

inkbug

BuzzPCSOS
Good point - that would be the easiest thing to try 🙂

inkbug

Hi again everyone,

TLDR: It was the flash media - they were too old. Using a newer flash drive solved the issue.

Details:
After trying and failing the Fedora install using one of the two media I've been using (a novelty 8gb flash drive from 2014, and a 32bg SanDisc Cruzer Blade from about two-three years ago), I opened a support ticket with System76.
Their support representative asked me by email what media and ports I was using.
The Thelio Mira b4 comes with USB-3.0 and USB-4.0 type-A ports, and one type-C port.

I have one extra flash drive with both type-A and type-C connectors, so I used it to try the type-C port - and that booted properly.
I next tried the same media on one of the USB-3.0/type-A ports, and this one also booted.

According to the System76 rep, any USB-2.0 media should work, as long as it has enough storage for the Live ISO.

I must confess to feeling a little embarrassed at not trying the third flash drive before posting here 🤦
Since the various Live disks did reach the pre-boot menu, I had no reason to thing the media were at fault.

Thanks again to everyone for your insights and suggestions!

Edit -
Having managed to boot the Solus Plasma Live session, the Calamares installer crashed before it finished the installation. If I can't figure this one out on my own however, I'll start a new thread, as it is not strictly speaking related to booting the Live Disk.

Axios

inkbug Sandisk cruzer sticks are tough I have worn a couple out but took forever
I was transferring alot stuff back in the day surprised mine lasted that long.

Glad you got it to boot.
Fyi I stick with the usb 3.0 stick nowdays so much faster and price isnt that much higher.