Installation stuck at 38% ...

[Inxsible]

I am trying to install the 21.1 on the following hardware:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66GHz
• 8GB RAM
• 500GB Seagate Constellation HDD

However, the installation hangs at 38% when it's trying the following command as per the install window

Code: [Select]

/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /usr/bin/mnt/usr/bin
I got tired and canceled and retried it to see it gets hung at the same spot again. This time I left it overnight and then I saw a FAILED

Code: [Select]

Execution of the command
/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /usr/bin/mnt/usr/bin

FAILED with a return code of 1.
The View Log option indicates:

Code: [Select]

BSD Installed starded
DFUI connection on tcp:9999 successfully established
,- opened pty to '/sbin/sysctl -n hw.physmem'
[Mon Feb 15 06:24:08 2021]
<8401756160
` - closed pty to '/sbin/sysctl -n hw.physmem'
`/sbin/sysctl -n hw.physmem` returned: 8401756160
, - opened pty to '/sbin/sysctl -n kern.disks'
<da0 ada0 cd0
` - closed pty to '/sbin/sysctl -n kern.disks'
'/sbin/sysctl -n kern.disks` returned: da0 ada0 cd0
Testing da0
Invoking survey for da0
Surveying Disk: da0 ...
, - opened pty to '/sbin/fdisk da0'
< ******* Working on device /dev/da0 *******
< parameters extracted from in-core disklabel are:
< cylinders=243 heads=255 sectors/track=63 (16065 blks/cyl)
<
< parameters to be used for BIOS calculations are:
< cylinders=243 heads=255 sectors/track=63 (16065 blks/cyl)
<
< Media sector size is 512
< Warning: BIOS sector numbering starts with sector 1
< Information from DOS bootblock is:
< The data for partition 1 is:
< sysid 238 (0xee), (EFI GPT)
...
...
...
...
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /home /mnt/home'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /lib /mnt/lib'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /libexce /mnt/libexec'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /media /mnt/media'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /proc /mnt/proc'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /rescue /mnt/rescue'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /root /mnt/root'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /sbin /mnt/sbin'
[Mon Feb 15 06:25:16 2021]
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /sys /mnt/sys'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/bin/mkdir -p /mnt/usr/'
` ->>> Exit status: 0
, -<<< Executing `/usr/local/bin/cpdup -vvv -o /usr/bin /mnt/usr/bin'
[Mon Feb 15 08:31:55 2021]
` ->>> Exit status: 1

The log was long... so I have only put up what is visible on the first page and the last.

Is this an issue with the hard disk that I am using or some other hardware issue in the machine? I am going to try to install to another HDD/SSD and see if that works, but I thought I'd create a post in case someone else has encountered any such issue...

[opnfwb]

Device da0 is the USB stick. It could indicate a bad USB stick, a bad image on the USB stick, or if you are booting from the USB stick and selecting the USB stick as the install source, that will also cause problems.

Device ada0 is the internal hard disk.

During install, how are you booting OPNsense and which device are you selecting to receive the installation?

Generally if you're booting from a USB stick you'll want to pick device ada0 as the installation destination, as that is the first physical hard disk that is enumerated for bootup.

[Inxsible]

Yeah, that's not the issue. I created the USB installer using dd and correctly selected ada0 as the installation drive.

What's worse is that I created a different USB with pfSense installer and that installed on the same computer and HDD without a hitch.

I did have similar issues back in 2016 when I first forayed into router builds. I was trying to install OPNsense on a PATA drive (salvaged from a very old laptop via a PATA -> SATA adapter) and the OPNsense installer wouldn't even see the drive, whereas the pfSense install worked fine. I still use it as my primary router/firewall.

I was in the process of migrating to OPNsense after the announcement of pfSense+ -- but it seems I can't get past OPNsense installation on 2 separate hardwares.

I am going to give it another go with a 1TB drive that I have lying around -- but I sure didn't want to waste 1TB of space for OPNsense....

[opnfwb]

The system used for install is nearly 15 years old at this point. Most of those early Core2 systems were right at the cusp of UEFI support, they can have issues with GPT partitions especially when using an older BIOS.

I'd make sure the BIOS is the latest version available, and also run a memtest just to rule out any hardware weirdness. Try enabling UEFI in the BIOS (if it's available) and try to use GPT partitions. If that won't work, turn off UEFI and choose MBR, one of them should get you up and running on old hardware like that. The install log you posted seems to indicate it's attempting a GPT EFI partition. Maybe also try to re-write the OPNsense image to a different USB stick, just to rule out a USB stick issue, and try to use it in a different USB port? Just throwing out some other possible ideas that may help.

I'm also a migrant from pfSense and every system I have used pfSense on easily runs OPNsense and the install process has been identical. I've had some small issues when installing on a VM but on bare metal hardware, it was always the same steps for installation.

[Inxsible]

The system used for install is nearly 15 years old at this point. Most of those early Core2 systems were right at the cusp of UEFI support, they can have issues with GPT partitions especially when using an older BIOS.

Agreed and agreed !!

I'd make sure the BIOS is the latest version available, and also run a memtest just to rule out any hardware weirdness. Try enabling UEFI in the BIOS (if it's available) and try to use GPT partitions. If that won't work, turn off UEFI and choose MBR, one of them should get you up and running on old hardware like that.

I am using MBR partioning when installing OPNsense. The machine and BIOS is obviously old (but latest as per Dell's website and doesn't support UEFI.

The install log you posted seems to indicate it's attempting a GPT EFI partition.

The logs did mention EFI GPT -- but I am sure I used MBR partioning, I don't think Opnsense even offered me the option to use GPT -- as my system is quite old and doesn't support it.

Maybe also try to re-write the OPNsense image to a different USB stick, just to rule out a USB stick issue, and try to use it in a different USB port?

That will be the next test --especially if the install on the 1TB also gets stuck....

Just throwing out some other possible ideas that may help.

Thank you, I do appreciate the ideas...I am pretty sure it is possibly the old hardware -- because during my migration evaluation, I did try out opnsense in a Proxmox VM and that worked flawlessly -- so I have the whole configuration that I want ready to go. I was going to install on the actual hardware and simply load that config and change the interface names.

I'm also a migrant from pfSense and every system I have used pfSense on easily runs OPNsense and the install process has been identical. I've had some small issues when installing on a VM but on bare metal hardware, it was always the same steps for installation.

Hopefully I can figure out if the hardware issue is with the drive (easy fix) vs some other component (which might mean I would have to buy a new to me used desktop based on core i3 or i5

[opnfwb]

One other thing that may be worth trying, did you download the ISO installer or the VGA .img installer? The wording on the OPNsense website seems to indicate the ISO may have better support for non-UEFI MBR systems like this one (they specifically state the vga installer boots as GPT). If you haven't tried the ISO, I would download that and you can use dd to write it to the same USB stick, then boot it from there and see if the install works better?

[Inxsible]

One other thing that may be worth trying, did you download the ISO installer or the VGA .img installer? The wording on the OPNsense website seems to indicate the ISO may have better support for non-UEFI MBR systems like this one (they specifically state the vga installer boots as GPT). If you haven't tried the ISO, I would download that and you can use dd to write it to the same USB stick, then boot it from there and see if the install works better?

Oh, I must have missed that.

I downloaded the VGA .img installer since I was using the USB to install. Ok, I'll add that to the list of things to try next.

[Inxsible]

Currently stuck at the exact point -- 38% when trying to install to the 1TB drive. So it was probably not the drive.

Now creating a new USB installer on the one with pfSense to see if that will work while simultaneously downloading the DVD iso version in case this new USB installer fails as well.

[Inxsible]

Turns out it was the USB installer. I created it on my Archlinux box but used the USB3 port. I realized that when I was trying to create the new USB installer from the DVD iso. I then used the USB2 port to create the installer from the vga.img and lo and behold, I was able to install OPNsense on both the 1TB drive as well as the original 500GB drive that I was using.

I have read reports about USB3 vs USB2 and creation of usb installers, but with USB3 ports being more ubiquitous compared to USB2 on newer desktops/laptops (i have 4 USB3 ports compared to 2 USB2 ports on this desktop from 2016), I guess it slipped my mind. Not really sure why the installers behave so differently based on the ports they were created on... but that's life

Man !! what a waste of hours today !!

[karotti]

I have read reports about USB3 vs USB2 and creation of usb installers, but with USB3 ports being more ubiquitous compared to USB2 on newer desktops/laptops (i have 4 USB3 ports compared to 2 USB2 ports on this desktop from 2016), I guess it slipped my mind. Not really sure why the installers behave so differently based on the ports they were created on... but that's life

This is the solution for me as well. The USB has to be written from USB 2.0. Maybe this is the reason why some computers still have USB2 ports.

[ofh]

Hi have had same experince on old lenovo desktop PC running with a sata HDD.
No matter if I use USB2 or 3 for burning, always same result.
Stuck at 23% or 38%.