Bug#778922: Installer hangs during disk formatting
Package: installation-reports
Hi,
I just managed to install Debian Testing on the second try.
I send this report in to point you to a problem I had on the first try.
I got the suggestion how to write this report from:
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/ch05s04.html#submit-bug
Boot method: USB stick with DVD1 image on it; image downloaded via jigdo.
Image version: http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/weekly-builds/amd64/jigdo-dvd/debian-testing-amd64-DVD-1.jigdo
It says: This is a Debian 8 (jessie) installation CD-ROM.
It was built 20150216-06:34
Date: 2015-02-21
Machine: Self-assembled PC
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Memory: 8 GiB
Partitions: There are multiple drives. Here is the partition table from
/dev/sdc on which I wanted to install Debian:
Disk /dev/sdc: 960.2 GB, 960197124096 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 116737 cylinders, total 1875385008 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x3b967068
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 2048 2099199 1048576 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2 2099200 85985279 41943040 83 Linux
/dev/sdc3 85985280 253757439 83886080 83 Linux
/dev/sdc4 253757440 1875385007 810813784 83 Linux
Output of lspci -nn:
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: ATI Technologies Inc RX780/RX790 Chipset Host Bridge [1002:5957]
00:02.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD790 PCI to PCI bridge (external gfx0 port A) [1002:5978]
00:09.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD790 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port E) [1002:597e]
00:0a.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD790 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port F) [1002:597f]
00:11.0 SATA controller [0106]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [1002:4391] (rev 40)
00:12.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller [1002:4397]
00:12.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller [1002:4396]
00:13.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller [1002:4397]
00:13.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller [1002:4396]
00:14.0 SMBus [0c05]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller [1002:4385] (rev 42)
00:14.3 ISA bridge [0601]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 LPC host controller [1002:439d] (rev 40)
00:14.4 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge [1002:4384] (rev 40)
00:14.5 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI2 Controller [1002:4399]
00:15.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc Device [1002:43a0]
00:16.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller [1002:4397]
00:16.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller [1002:4396]
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration [1022:1200]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map [1022:1201]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller [1022:1202]
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control [1022:1203]
00:18.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control [1022:1204]
01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 06)
02:06.0 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: ESS Technology ES1969 Solo-1 Audiodrive [125d:1969] (rev 01)
03:00.0 USB Controller [0c03]: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller [1033:0194] (rev 03)
04:00.0 IDE interface [0101]: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB368 IDE controller [197b:2368]
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc NI Caicos [AMD RADEON HD 6450] [1002:6779]
05:00.1 Audio device [0403]: ATI Technologies Inc Device [1002:aa98]
Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Initial boot: [O]
Detect network card: [O]
Configure network: [ ]
Detect CD: [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [E]
Install base system: [ ]
Clock/timezone setup: [ ]
User/password setup: [ ]
Install tasks: [ ]
Install boot loader: [ ]
Overall install: [ ]
Comments/Problems:
Prior to the install the PC contained two Ubuntu installations and one
LMDE installation, distributed over several disks. I wanted to overwrite
the LMDE one with Debian.
During partitioning I chose the manual variant.
I selected /dev/sdc1 for /boot and /dev/sdc2 for /, to format with ext3
and ext4 respectively.
These partitions were in use by LMDE before with the same mount points
and the same types of filesystems.
The installer additionally wanted to use /dev/sdd2 for swap which was OK
with me (it contains a swap partition that had been used earlier by the
other installed operating systems).
I proceeded to applying the chosen formattings.
The installer hung with its progress bar at 33 percent while making the
filesystem on /dev/sdc2.
The hard disk light was off.
I changed to a console where ps showed all processes in S state.
There was an mkfs process for /dev/sdc2, also in S state.
In /var/log/syslog I found a message from partman saying
"Found a dos partition table in /dev/sdc2".
(Just googled it: this has been seen in Ubuntu, see launchpad 1361951)
To resolve this I booted from the USB stick again; this time choosing
to write zeroes all over /dev/sdc2 before formatting it. This time the
installation finished without problems.
So it seems that the / filesystem of LMDE contains something that
confuses partman and that the installer can't cope with a confused
partman.
That LMDE was the following version:
Linux Mint 17, Edition "201403 MATE 64-bit".
In case it matters: I couldn't install LMDE with separate /boot and /,
so I installed it with a / partition only, in /dev/sdc2, and later moved
its /boot directory over to /dev/sdc1.
Thanks for providing Debian!
Kind regards,
Lutz Euler
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