Can't boot after installing Vicibox 64 bit standard

[dspaan]

I've installed quite some vicidial servers with vicibox over time but i've never come across this problem. I boot the server with the CD and everything goes like normal, i type os-intall and follow all the steps, it deletes existing partitions and creates new ones and then copies all the files. When i reboot i disable the CD ROM drive (it's a remote machine so i can't eject) and then it says 'No active partition'.

I've tried a lot like resetting BIOS to default settings, disabling the 2nd harddrive. An engineer now has removed the 2nd drive entirely and still the problem remains. Tips how i can troubleshoot this issue are welcome. I'm installing on a HP Proliant DL120 with a 500GB SATA drive.

Here some partition information i get after i enable the CD-ROM drive again and boot with the CD:

hosted-by:~ # parted -l
Model: ATA MB0500EBZQA (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 4302MB 4301MB linux-swap(v1) primary
2 4302MB 500GB 496GB ext4 primary boot


Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr0 read-write (Read-only file system). /dev/sr0
has been opened read-only.
Error: Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sr0.
Ignore/Cancel?


hosted-by:~ # cat /proc/partitions
major minor #blocks name

8 0 488386584 sda
8 1 4200448 sda1
8 2 484185088 sda2
7 0 7210624 loop0

Also when i open YAST and go to System > Boot Loader it says "Because of partitioning, the boot loader cannot be installed properly". It does not show this on other vicidial server which i've installed with vicibox 3.x and neither on my VMWare machines which are installed with vicibox 4.0.3.

This is what shows in the vicibox install wizard:

The bootloader is installed on a partition that does not lie entirely below 128 GB. The system might not boot if BIOS │
│support only lba24 (result is error 18 during install grub MBR). │
│ │
│ * Boot Loader Type: GRUB │
│ * Status Location: /dev/sda2 ("/") │
│ * Change Location: │
│ + Boot from MBR is disabled (enable) │
│ + Boot from "/" partition is enabled (disable)

[williamconley]

I note your description of the problem .iso only includes "64 bit standard". It would be helpful to list the full .iso identity. Also: Is RAID enabled? And have you tried this with a fresh unformatted drive? Every install .iso at some point has issues with previously formatted drives which often require someone to completely UNpartition them with another boot disk before they can be properly partitioned and formatted for use.

You may also want to look up that reference to "Error: Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sr0" recursive partition?

[dspaan]

Thanks for the feedback Bill, your tips saved the day.

The guys in the datacenter said there was a GPT partition from the previous CentOS installation on the harddisk which was invisible for me. They used gparted to completely wipe the disk and after that vicibox installed like a dream

[williamconley]

Excellent postback.

so ... the next guy should use gparted to wipe their disk (apparently it does a good job) and not have to go through all this. LOL

I think we even used a Windows boot disk to delete partitions a couple times. But gparted seems like a good way to go!