"OS not found" after installation on old Lenovo

JF81 · July 23, 2024 at 9:10 PM

I'm trying to install LibreELEC on an old Lenovo M72e SFF PC I had laying around. It's a 3rd gen Core i3, 12 GB RAM, 2TB HDD. I was able to install this on a similarly aged Dell for my dad so he could watch movies now that DVDs are no longer a thing and he has no internet, and that worked very well.

However, this Lenovo is being more of a challenge. I can get through the install process, but when I reboot I get an "OS not found" error. I don't see any errors in the log, but I also don't know what I'm looking for.

I have tried:

Using the LibreElec tool to write the "Generic (AMD/Intel)" image to my USB drive
Using the LibreElec tool to write the "Generic Legacy (AMD/Intel)" image to my USB drive
Using Balena Etcher to do both of the above
Repeating all of the above on a different USB drive
Toggling UEFI/Legacy boot on the machine
- Note: The USB drive will not boot in Legacy mode
Booting to a Debian Live USB and accessing the 2tb HDD, only to see it is blank.

Not sure if this machine is too old or if I'm missing something.

Attached is my log file from the last installation attempt using "Generic (AMD/Intel)" image via Balena Etcher on the 2nd USB drive I tried.

**Da Flex** · July 23, 2024 at 11:55 PM

Please check your attachment. I can't download the file.

Does Balena Etcher verification work for the written image?

JF81 · July 24, 2024 at 3:14 AM

Quote from Da Flex

Please check your attachment. I can't download the file.
Does Balena Etcher verification work for the written image?

Odd... it downloads and opens for me. Here it is in text:

Code

LibreELEC Installer - LibreELEC (official): 12.0.0 started at:
Tue Feb 27 17:26:10 UTC 2024
#################################################################
# System status
#################################################################
# cat /proc/mounts
devtmpfs /dev devtmpfs rw,relatime,size=5831512k,nr_inodes=1457878,mode=755 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,relatime 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /run tmpfs rw,nosuid,nodev,size=2387284k,nr_inodes=819200,mode=755 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /flash vfat ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/loop0 / squashfs ro,relatime,errors=continue 0 0
none /storage tmpfs rw,relatime 0 0
securityfs /sys/kernel/security securityfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs rw,nosuid,nodev 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000 0 0
cgroup2 /sys/fs/cgroup cgroup2 rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot 0 0
efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars efivarfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
bpf /sys/fs/bpf bpf rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs rw,nosuid,nodev,nr_inodes=1048576 0 0
tmpfs /var tmpfs rw,relatime 0 0
mqueue /dev/mqueue mqueue rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
tracefs /sys/kernel/tracing tracefs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
configfs /sys/kernel/config configfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
fusectl /sys/fs/fuse/connections fusectl rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
# df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs               5831512         4   5831508   0% /dev
tmpfs                  2387284     17544   2369740   1% /run
/dev/sdb1               524008    355536    168472  68% /flash
/dev/loop0              320512    320512         0 100% /
none                   5968204       172   5968032   0% /storage
tmpfs                  5968204         0   5968204   0% /dev/shm
efivarfs                   128       125         0 100% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
tmpfs                  5968204         4   5968200   0% /tmp
tmpfs                  5968204         4   5968200   0% /var
# df -h
Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs                  5.6G      4.0K      5.6G   0% /dev
tmpfs                     2.3G     17.1M      2.3G   1% /run
/dev/sdb1               511.7M    347.2M    164.5M  68% /flash
/dev/loop0              313.0M    313.0M         0 100% /
none                      5.7G    172.0K      5.7G   0% /storage
tmpfs                     5.7G         0      5.7G   0% /dev/shm
efivarfs                128.0K    125.0K         0 100% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
tmpfs                     5.7G      4.0K      5.7G   0% /tmp
tmpfs                     5.7G      4.0K      5.7G   0% /var
# parted -s -m -l
Warning: Not all of the space available to /dev/sdb appears to be used, you can fix the GPT to use all of the space (an extra 29505024 blocks) or continue with the current setting? 
BYT;
/dev/sda:2000GB:scsi:512:4096:gpt:ATA ST2000DM001-1CH1:;
1:4194kB:541MB:537MB:fat16:System:boot, legacy_boot, esp;
2:541MB:2000GB:2000GB:ext4:Storage:;
BYT;
/dev/sdb:15.7GB:scsi:512:512:gpt:SanDisk Ultra:;
1:4194kB:541MB:537MB:fat16:system:legacy_boot, msftdata;
2:541MB:575MB:33.6MB:ext4:storage:;

# blkid
/dev/sda2: LABEL="Storage" UUID="0cb15180-4053-40fc-9833-8b48cc435176" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTLABEL="Storage" PARTUUID="807b3d6d-acfa-4428-b284-9072e248f4ea"
/dev/sda1: SEC_TYPE="msdos" LABEL_FATBOOT="System" LABEL="System" UUID="B485-1B53" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="System" PARTUUID="bd9f7026-1cb9-499e-8768-d8c30d56d909"
/dev/sdb2: LABEL="STORAGE" UUID="67c757ac-020d-463b-bd59-dc01388d7905" BLOCK_SIZE="1024" TYPE="ext4" PARTLABEL="storage" PARTUUID="82677369-10f9-4021-a58c-0382ce34a88a"
/dev/sdb1: SEC_TYPE="msdos" LABEL_FATBOOT="LIBREELEC" LABEL="LIBREELEC" UUID="2504-5415" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="system" PARTUUID="7080c62a-c084-4e40-9862-f35af8f45371"
/dev/loop0: BLOCK_SIZE="1048576" TYPE="squashfs"
# UEFI (if directory exists)
total 0
drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root             0 Feb 27 17:26 .
drwxr-xr-x    6 root     root             0 Feb 27 17:26 ..
-r--r--r--    1 root     root          4096 Feb 27 17:26 config_table
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             0 Feb 27 17:26 efivars
-r--r--r--    1 root     root          4096 Feb 27 17:26 fw_platform_size
-r--r--r--    1 root     root          4096 Feb 27 17:26 fw_vendor
-r--r--r--    1 root     root          4096 Feb 27 17:26 runtime
-r--------    1 root     root          4096 Feb 27 17:26 systab
# Disk sizes (bytes)
/sys/block/loop0/size:639936
/sys/block/nbd0/size:0
/sys/block/nbd1/size:0
/sys/block/nbd10/size:0
/sys/block/nbd11/size:0
/sys/block/nbd12/size:0
/sys/block/nbd13/size:0
/sys/block/nbd14/size:0
/sys/block/nbd15/size:0
/sys/block/nbd2/size:0
/sys/block/nbd3/size:0
/sys/block/nbd4/size:0
/sys/block/nbd5/size:0
/sys/block/nbd6/size:0
/sys/block/nbd7/size:0
/sys/block/nbd8/size:0
/sys/block/nbd9/size:0
/sys/block/ram0/size:32768
/sys/block/ram1/size:32768
/sys/block/ram10/size:32768
/sys/block/ram11/size:32768
/sys/block/ram12/size:32768
/sys/block/ram13/size:32768
/sys/block/ram14/size:32768
/sys/block/ram15/size:32768
/sys/block/ram2/size:32768
/sys/block/ram3/size:32768
/sys/block/ram4/size:32768
/sys/block/ram5/size:32768
/sys/block/ram6/size:32768
/sys/block/ram7/size:32768
/sys/block/ram8/size:32768
/sys/block/ram9/size:32768
/sys/block/sda/size:3907029168
/sys/block/sdb/size:30629376
/sys/block/sr0/size:2097151

#################################################################
# Get all partitions /dev/sda
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Wiping disk /dev/sda
#################################################################
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
4194304 bytes (4.0MB) copied, 0.022870 seconds, 174.9MB/s
#################################################################
# Creating label on /dev/sda
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Writing Master Boot Record on /dev/sda
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Creating partition on /dev/sda
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Creating partition on /dev/sda
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Setup bootflag on partition 1 of /dev/sda
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Tell the kernel we have a new partition table on /dev/sda
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Creating filesystem on /dev/sda1
#################################################################
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
#################################################################
# Set uuid and disklabel System on /dev/sda1
#################################################################
fatlabel: warning - lowercase labels might not work properly on some systems
#################################################################
# Creating filesystem on /dev/sda2
#################################################################
mke2fs 1.47.0 (5-Feb-2023)
Creating filesystem with 488246422 4k blocks and 122068992 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 3faf9fc8-b9bb-4b26-abc2-a580f63d7bab
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
    32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208, 
    4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872, 71663616, 78675968, 
    102400000, 214990848
Allocating group tables:     0/14901           done                            
Writing inode tables:     0/14901           done                            
Creating journal (262144 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information:     0/14901           done

#################################################################
# Set uuid and disklabel Storage on /dev/sda2
#################################################################
tune2fs 1.47.0 (5-Feb-2023)
UUID_SYSTEM : B452-1456
UUID_STORAGE: c43450f4-d496-41ba-a328-a00bdea74a65
#################################################################
# Creating /tmp/installer/part1
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Mounting /dev/sda1 to /tmp/installer/part1
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Installing syslinux to /tmp/installer/part1
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Installing Kernel
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Installing System
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Setup bootloader with boot label = System and disk label = Storage
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Unmount /tmp/installer/part1
#################################################################

#################################################################
# Remove /tmp/installer/part1
#################################################################

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**Da Flex** · July 24, 2024 at 3:58 AM

Thanks, probably my Firefox has a bug.

**chewitt** · July 24, 2024 at 8:28 AM

If the intention is to boot/run from a USB drive (not an internal drive)? - Write the LE image to the 2TB USB drive then boot from the drive but interrupt boot at the syslinux prompt and type 'run' to boot from the USB drive instead of booting into the installer which is used to install to another drive target. I can't explain why the normal installer approach isn't working (there are no errors in the log file you shared) but if the device is booting to the installer from a USB device, see if that continues?

**mglae** · July 24, 2024 at 9:36 AM

First a few notes of things that may confuse you:

a) The LE image is able to boot on UEFI and old legacy only systems. A "good" modern UEFI firmware refuse to boot such a disk in Compatibility Support Module (CSM) .

b) The installation was successful. When booting Debian the EFI System Partition (ESP) is suppressed and you only see the empty STORAGE partition.

c) LE installation on HD rely on auto booting "\EFI\BOOT\bootx64.efi" but according to the UEFI standard this is only optional.

For a fix see my old post.

Edit: Just noticed the notebook is a M72e. That is more worse, you have to follow the original tutorial.

PS: to create some pressure I'm announcing a matching installer PR.

JF81 · July 24, 2024 at 1:41 PM

Quote from chewitt

If the intention is to boot/run from a USB drive (not an internal drive)?

No, I'm installing to the 2tb internal hard drive.

Quote from mglae

a) The LE image is able to boot on UEFI and old legacy only systems. A "good" modern UEFI firmware refuse to boot such a disk in Compatibility Support Module (CSM) .

I have tried with CSM both enabled and disabled

Quote from mglae

b) The installation was successful. When booting Debian the EFI System Partition (ESP) is suppressed and you only see the empty STORAGE partition.

I did not know this. I'm also not used to the entire OS being stored in the EFI partition as it apparently is with LE...

Quote from mglae

Edit: Just noticed the notebook is a M72e. That is more worse, you have to follow the original tutorial.

Yes, the M72e is a turd LOL. They were sub-par when they were brand new (even for an i3). I got several of them for free when a client went out of business. I'll check out your tutorial and see what I can come up with.

**mglae** · July 24, 2024 at 4:40 PM

For the records: it is not my tutorial, I never used a M72e.

**chewitt** · July 25, 2024 at 11:45 AM

Boot Debian or Ubuntu in Live mode. Erase the drive and:

- Create a GPT partition 512MB in size with a VFAT or EXT4 filesystem labelled BOOT and enable it for boot

- Create a GPT partition with EXT4 filesystem that fills 100% remaining space

- Install Grub (not syslinux) to the internal drive and create a boot entry (crib the APPEND content from the LE installer usb).

- Copy KERNEL and SYSTEM to the BOOT partition

Shutdown Debian and see if it boots?

JF81 · July 25, 2024 at 1:31 PM

I wound up ditching the M72e and grabbed an M83 that I also had. Aside from also being an i5, it's a bit newer and has a newer BIOS version available. I just swapped the HDD from the M72e over to the M83 and it booted right up. Much less effort than trying to get the M72e to work.

The goal of this machine is to have something that I can load all my media on and take it on vacation in the mountains where I will have limited internet. The last thing I want is to deal with a failure due to a crappy BIOS/UEFI when I am trying to relax and take my first vacation since before Covid.