(Intel x86) LibreELEC doesn't properly install

Quote from tokul

Librelec uses bootloader that can't install itself into 4096 sector size device. Regular Linux tends to use grub, which is more widespread and gets updates/fixes faster than syslinux. Libreelec does not use grub cause they care about size and not about grub's bells and whistles.

I guess you did not read the link.

Could you boot your laptop with Live ubuntu disk and show 'smartctl -c /dev/nvme0n1' output for your Toshiba NVME. Dunno if live ubuntu includes smart monitoring tools in their build. I used different live os to check drives.

I find that incredibly odd, is it based on a very old and unupdated bootloader?

I did but I fail to see why it's even relevant unless this is a profoundly old thing that isn't working.

I have no idea what you need from it, is it here? https://i.imgur.com/CsLvK3T.png

Quote from chewitt

Random suggestion: boot into Ubuntu and "dd" the LE image directly to the NVME drive, then see if it can boot?

How would I do this?

Quote from tokul

You told me current and supported LBA sizes on your device and confirmed that reading wikis is hard.

Run 'nvme format --lbaf=0 /dev/nvme0n1' on live ubuntu to switch your nvme disk to 512 sector size.

Restart, boot from libreelec installer disk, install libreelec. Lets hope that your selected libreelec version can handle RTX10

Tested with WD Blue NVME and confirmed that 4096 sector size results error in installer logs and switching back to 512 size works. Test system was using UEFI boot. So probably no need to run in legacy boot mode on your laptop.

If you want to argue about 4k sector performance and old software, your choice. I prefer stuff that works without bolts flying in all directions.

I had to install nvme-cli as that didn't come with the Ubuntu Live USB, but I did run it.

Unfortunately, nothing's changed. Still not booting. Attached the log, I don't know if anything has changed.

I've heard (today from looking at sector size---this isn't something that I've ever come across) there's a "maybe 10% difference" (some of the posters were actually unsure there was any difference) in performance, I can assure you I wouldn't notice because before LibreELEC I never knew what sector size was for SSDs, lol. I thought that was something only on really old HDDs for the platters.

Quote from tokul

Which boot mode is selected in BIOS boot settings (Legacy, UEFI or UEFI with something)?

Is secure boot turned off in BIOS?

Currently UEFI with CSM (which seems to be some hybrid compatibility thing), but I tried all three of Legacy, UEFI, and UEFI with CSM, nothing works.

Secure Boot is indeed off. The USB installer for LibreElec won't work without it off, so I just left it off, especially since nothing needs it anyway.

Quote from tokul

The only strange thing in last install log is that you have partitions on device. I would expect to see blank device after changing sector size. I did not check how my nvme looked during test.

I think that was the second one I did. Got confused because I had two logs there (and because of the time spent in BIOS menus, the timestamps on the logs are very confusing and not accurate) that one was the second installation in Legacy mode. Here's the first one when I was still in UEFI mode. It shouldn't have any partitions yet?

The Generic-Legacy branch actually installed! With BIOS set to Legacy as well (UEFI and UEFI with CSM DID NOT WORK). I... was very shocked when it booted into LibreELEC. I thought I left the USB stick in, but I didn't.

https://i.imgur.com/96xFKYF.jpeg

I'm really surprised that branch was needed since it seems like it would only be necessary if the machine was driving graphics off of an nVidia GPU (as it mentions AMD/Intel/Nvidia) and my laptop can't do that, all outputs are 100% tied to the Intel integrated.

Problem solved finally. Hurray!