trixbox 2.6.2.2 ISO installation problem

Sorry maybe my terminology is wrong. All the previous versions of trixbox I have installed use a command line inteface, character based screens, no mouse and they have always installed no matter what hardware I used. With 2.6.2.2 the installation starts with the familar character based screens but then I see a CLI output saying it is loading the x server - can't be sure about this because it goes away quickly. Then I get a full graphics based screen with a mouse & fancy buttons that says it is installing Centos 5 - sorry if I've got it wrong but I thought the former were probably CLI generated screens and the latter a GUI from an x server.

However just to clear this is nothing to do with the web interface, my issue is trying to install trixbox onto a clean machine from the ISO. I suspect it is a hardware/driver problem, probably because the SiS chipset is a little different from the norm.

Anyone got any ideas?

Ok I'll download & burn again . . . but it passed the verify after the burn & the verify check at the begining of the ISO installation.

If there is an error sometimes the iso defaults to a base install of CentOS. I have never seen it go to graphical mode.

Thanks for the help can I clarify what is happening before I take my system down again.

The x server may be a false lead - I saw a message briefly appear & I think it said something about "loading x . .". However what is certain is that after the usual trixbox blue screen & "loading anaconda" message, I go into a very different screen than all previous trixbox installations. It has a white background, an animated mouse, scroll bars etc and starts with a CentOS 5 logo, it then proceeds to a select language screen & a select keyboard screen before freezing. So it looks like my problem is not that one of these screens freezes but that I should not even be there in the first place - correct?

Finally to answer the USB keyboard question, yes with a USB CD drive as well but I went back to a PS2 keyboard & an IDE CD drive & disabled the USB ports in the BIOS just to be safe.

Download a fresh copy of the ISO, burned CD on a different machine and . . . exactly the same as before. There is a couple of messages that appear straight after the "Probing for Video Card" message that definitely say something about "Waiting for X server to start . . ." but it runs to quickly to read. I then go to a full graphics screen with a large CentOS logo and a couple of screens later it freezes.

I tried a 2.6.1.13 CD, reset the PC & it loads fine, so what has changed in the linux loader between 2.6.1.13 & 2.6.2.2

Need some help here please!

I think my issue is something to do with the SiS on-board graphics . If I put in an old PCI video card I stay in the CLI mode but still fail later in the process because it "Cannot open display: 1". Interestingly if I add the "noprobe" option it still probes & finds the SiS video controller even if the output is coming from the PCI board. As this system works fine on 2.6.1.11 there must have been a change in the kernel drivers?

I'm trying to install 2.6.2.2 on an optiplex 755 and am having the problem experienced.. After selecting the keyboard, anaconda starts using a full CPU core and the system essentially hangs.. no error messages in any of the consoles (alt+f1,f2, etc). I am using a USB keyboard as I have no option for a PS2.

I have tried both PBX in a flash and AsteriskNOW, both seem to load OK so I'm not convinced this is a hardware issue. I do not have the time or knowledge to work through the install scripts to find out why it is stalling so it seems the only answer is to either buy Dell hardware . . . or move to one of these distributions.

Interesting, on earlier trixbox installations I have got an error message saying "Incorrect RAID set . . . . something, something" even though I have the SATA RAID disabled in the BIOS. I have always ignored the message and the installation has proceeded OK, maybe this is not the same with the latest trixbox version.

Thanks for the tip. I believe my motherboard isn't true hardware RAID otherwise it would not require special drivers, which is why I disable it in the BIOS and do not use the SATA ports at all. But I still seem to get problems. Maybe my problem is due to Linux finding the RAID chip on the motherboard but it is disabled in the BIOS?

I only found this thread because my machine kept on freezing after I selected U.S. Keyboard but anyways I finally got past this issue by swapping the hard drive. I was using a old 300GB Maxtor SATA hard drive and since I kept having issues with the powerspec I originally wanted to use, I swapped out the drive and installed it in an Optiplex GX580 and I got the same problem. I figured it was either the CD or the hard drive. I swapped the drive with a Seagate 160GB SATA HDD and it got past that step. The very next screen that comes up after you select U.S. keyboard is the disc partioning options. Anyways my install is going now and it looks good so far. I'll keep you guys updated once it's all installed.

***Side Note*** I had the same issue where it would not go past blue screen after checking the CD media. The only way I could get the Cent OS part of the install was if I did "linux skipddc" or "linux resolution 800x600".

OK, I am totally bapheled now. After writing my post last night I went back to my install to realize it was frozen so I called it a night and went home. I spoke with one of the technicians here this AM and we redownloaded the 2.6.2.2 ISO just in case and tried re-installing on the Optiplex GX580 with the same 160GB HDD that the install froze on last night. To my surprise the whole install is completly different. There is no more Cent OS GUI and now my install is complete. I think that the reason we keep getting the GUI is because we used the "linux resolution=800x600" or "skipddc" command. Anyways, I wiped the same 160GB drive and put it in my powerspec with the CD that worked minutes ago on the Optiplex. I did get further then I did get before and I didn't have to use the "linux resolution=800x600" command but it crashed again during the install at the point where it was formatting the drive. I am just going to say that there has to be some kind of hardware compatiblity issue with that machine. I will also recommend redownloading the ISO. The new image for some reason got me much further in the install (even though I still had other issues).

I've tried to clean install 2.6.2.2 on 3 separate system configurations and the all hang after anaconda starts(after you select your keyboard layout).

I got it to install by disabling 1394 in the BIOS and install went fine

System Build:

MB: GA-MA790GP-DS4H
CPU: Phenom 9950 BE
RAM: 2GB OCZ Platinum
HDD: 2x VelociRaptors
NIC: Intel Pro/100 Server Adapter

I'm having many of the same problems listed in this thread. I've been a TB user since 1.1 and have loved it. I've purchased support plans every year since. My company is now out of business and I simply wanted to use TB for my home and 2 VOIP lines. Piece of cake; right? Not so. I'm a serious Windows guy with plenty of experience with old school SCO/Unix as well. I've got to say that this has been the worst TB CE experience to date. I know things are shaking up with personnel and the economy but to release a build that doesn't install for SEVERAL reasons is a little surprising. Ok, enough ranting; now I will help the group the best I can.

I fresh installed 2.6.2.2 on a Dell Dimension 8400. I know it has worked for up to 2.4 on this machine before. I planned on using the built-in HARDWARE RAID 1 but it would hang on the blue screen (and I thought that BSOD was only for Windows...?) Read a thread to disable RAID so I did. I had to disable RAID, disconnect the extra HD and hurray, it installed. I then proceeded to secure my machine, change passwords, etc... Several files were missing, in the wrong place, and started over. I reinstalled clean again, this time proceeding straight to config/status; screen won't come up. Package manager gets 500. Several screens don't look like a tutorial I found on SureTeq site even though they're tagged the same version. I changed the timeout as mentioned in this thread and that works for PMgr, but not for the Status/Config.

Now, this is a simple system and I'm wanting to get on the TBox banner waiving platform again and I'm trying real hard to waive it, but DAMN, it's hard to get motivated. So it appears that one shoudl install an older version, yum it, upgrade it, and it will have better luck? What should I do?

I'm in no time crunch like a lot of you so I'm simply going to install 2.4.2.0 and see how that treats me.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated and I hope the group has learned from my post. Peace

That is a crazy solution. Where there any partitions on the HD that would not work?

You are closer to anyone to actually finding what is tripping folks up with the new version. When I test (and I know most developers do the same thing) I am always installed to a clean VM.

It would be useful to get to the root cause of the issue. I am sure that Randall would slipstream in any changes that would make the install smoother.

By any chance did you try the 2.8 beta?

You never answered by question, was there any type of partition on the HD prior to installation?

There may have been a OEM test or driver partition, often these have a small Linux Kernel to execute the diags.

I use Elastix distro without issues try that it uses Freepbx plus has a Hardware and phone detection tool.

I love these posts:

Every distro has it's strengths and weakneses, however in this case I question your motives for posting this as trix and PBXiaf are on the same CentOS kernels.

Blast you? My original comment was that x was not installed by default, something is wrong.

As I said in my later post to you I would love to define what is going on with the "corner cases" of folks who simply have a disaster of a time installing.

For 99.999% (unscientific of course) of the install it's perfect the first time.

If PBXiaf works for you that's great. They have a good community of folks.

After many time of retry the installation of 2.6.2.2, I have the following conclusion.
A. The anaconda installer in 2.6.2.2 does not like some model/brand of hard disks
B. Some of the hard disks don't like the installer in 2.6.2.2

Here is what I tested with in last week.

System A -

Dell PowerEdge T100 server

1 224-1524 Dual Core Pentium E2220, 2.4 GHz, 1MB Cache, 800MHz Front Side Bus for PowerEdge T100
1 311-9356 2GB, DDR2, 800MHz, 1x2GB Dual Ranked DIMMs
1 341-5815 160GB 7.2K RPM SATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive
1 341-5437 No Floppy Drive
1 420-6320 No Operating System
1 430-0488 On board Network Adapter
1 313-6943 16x DVD Drive, Internal
2 341-5824 160GB 7.2K RPM SATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive
1 341-7772 Onboard SATA, 1-2 Drives connected to onboard SATA controller - No RAID

System B -
Trixbox Appliance - 512MB DDR RAM, 2x 80 GB SATA hard Disk

I added an adaptec 1220SA RAID controller in the DELL server before I started the installation. When I installed the TB 2.6.2.2 on the DELL server, I ran into the system frozen issue just right after I selected KB type and the system is loading the anoconda Trixbox installer. It's right before I can select the time zone screen.

My first thought was crappy RAID controller is not compartible. I removed it and put all the hard disks on the onboard SATA contoller and retried the installation. It ran into the same issue.

My second thought was the hard disks ship from DELL may have utility partition that may be causing issue. I made a DOS disk and ran fdisk to check the disk and saw no partitions. To be sure the disk has nothing in it that may cause interference, I ran low format untilty on the disks to zero out everything in it. Ran the installation again but still the same issue.

My third thought was may the installer has issue creating software RAID on the disks and hung. I removed one of the disks and install it again without "sataraid" option. It's still the same problem. I than tried all other option like the people mentioned above but no luck.

My fourth thought was the bad CD or bad downloaded ISO image. I downloaded the ISO again and burn it to three different brand of CDs (HP, Sony, TDK). Tried the different CD but still the same issue. I tried the installation with the 2.6.2.1 CD but the same issue. I than tried the 2.6.1 CD and it installed successfully. Since I was able to install 2.6.1, I knew the server is good. There is nothing wrong with it.

My fifth thought was the incompartible hard disk. I took both DELL disks (WD 160GB) out of the server and put in a Seage 500GB disk and ran the installer again. It ran into the same hang up issue.

My Sixth thought was the disk size too big. I took the Seagate disk out again and put in a Hitachi 150GB but still the same issue.

I was pretty much stuck there and almost ran out of idea. I stopped what I was doing and took a lunch break. When I came back from lunch, I started my seventh thought.

My seventh thought was the 2.6.2.2 does not like any of my hard disk, I removed all the disks and installed it again. It was able to past the freezing screen and got the "no disk found error".

The conclusion at this point was the system froze right at the moment it's trying to detect the disk size/partition. For whatever reason, it caused the system to hang.

To confirm my conclusion is true, I put a 4GB USB memory stick on the back of the DELL server and started the installation again without any hard disks. The installation ran successfully and put the TB 2.6.2.2 into the memory stick. So the problem is the hard disk.

My eighth thought was still on the hard disk because I had installed this 2.6.2.2 on four other different systems just a month before. I knew It worked. I started look for the systems that I had installed before and I found one Trixbox appliance that I installed with 2.6.2.2 couple weeks ago. It was still in my customer site as demo unit. I ran hurry back to the customer site and pulled the TB appliance back to my office. I ran the installation on the TB appliance to make sure the ISO image I downloaded has nothing different with the one I used couple week ago. I was able to confirm the newly download ISO has no changes and it was able to installed in the TB appliance without any problem.

At this point, I knew I was pretty close to solve my issue. I pulled both disks (WD 80GB) out of the TB applicance and put them into the DELL server. I ran the 2.6.2.2 installation again and it was installed successfully.

So my final conclusion was - 2.6.2.2 installer is incompartible with some disks or some disks incompartible with 2.6.2.2 installer

To confirm my conclusion to be ture, I put the DELL hard disks into the TB applicance and ran the installation again. It hung exeactly like it hung in the DELL server. I tried all other disks in the TB appliance again and they all have the same issue. They are not bad disk since they are brand new. They are just incompatible.

My final challenge was to get the TB 2.6.2.2 installed on the DELL server with the DELL disks. The server needs to have it's original components in order to keep the warranty. I put the TB appliance disks in the DELL server and installed it with 2.6.2.2 with software RAID option. After the installation, I cloned the disk content back to the DELL disks. I put the DELL disks back to the DELL server and resized the RAID partition. Now the DELL server is running TB2.6.2.2 without any problem.

More conclusion - TB2.6.2.2 is compartible with the PowerEdge T100 Server but the installer is not. To solve the problem without engineering change in the install CD, find a compartible disk or install it with compartible disk even a USB stick and clone it back to the incompartible disk.

I have no idea why the TB installer hung with certain hard disks but hope this info can help the TB dev team to diagnose the problem.

I'm going to test the TB 2.8 Beta 2 this week with my disks to see if there is any issue with it.