Installation impossible

[py-thon]

A few months ago I bought a new PC and wanted to install Sparky which I had already done on a handful of systems past.
Secure boot was already deactivated (according to BIOS setup). I tried to boot Sparky semi-rolling (I think it was 2021.10) from DVD to install but it didn't even boot completely, always got stuck at some point, mostly, but not always, at "switching to i960 from EFI VGA". I supposed the hardware was too new and waited for the next Sparky live medium (2021.11 or .12) and failed again. I tried with USB stick instead of DVD and with the different modes (fail safe, etc.). No success.

For lack of time I didn't pursue the matter until a few days ago, this time with Debian testing (no live medium). The installation process ran smoothly, but after installation the system didn't boot. It displays "loading initial ramdisk" and then the screen goes blank and nothing happens anymore. With Debian in recovery mode I get a bit further, but at some point in the boot process it stops, not always the same. Sometimes I got a bit further into emergency mode. Details say "failed to mount /boot/efi" and "See 'systemctl status boot.efi.mount' for details". It offers to show the journal (or something like that) and there one of the red entries says "secureboot could not be determined". I then activated secure boot, made a fresh install and tried again, but no change, no success.

Today I tried with current Sparky 2022.03. Delighted I saw the Sparkylinux splash screen come up, but after having had "Sparkylinux" and the infinity loop below on the screen for more than 20 minutes I gave up.

Any ideas what to do to make the system boot the live media or the supposedly installed system from SSD?

[py-thon]

Sparky 2022.04 is no better. Live System does not start.

[nevertheless]

How new is this computer? Is it the latest/greatest 11gen or zen 3? (Has the model been around for awhile?). I had a Ryzen 5 Vega 8 that took a few months before I could get Linux to install. I'd try other distros like MX 21 (the "advanced hardware support" edition might work when the normal edition wouldn't, or vice versa).

Does the grub menu have a "safe mode?" Are you able to run "inxi -Fxxxrza" from the live desktop or a "safe mode" session? You're probably going to have to provide more info about the detected cpu & graphics. It could be as simple as just a grub startup parm like "nomodeset."

Have you googled your computer make/model to see if others have reported difficulty? (even the cpu, graphics across makes & models?). That's how I found I was dead in the water with that Ryzen for awhile.

[py-thon]

Sorry, got confused about what I wrote where, so the information about the system was missing:

HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-2117ng
Intel Core i5-11400 with integrated Intel UHD Graphics 730 on HP Stark Mainboard
16 GB DDR4-2933 MHz RAM (1 x 16 GB)
512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
Realtek RTL8821CE-M 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Secure Boot deactivated

That would make it 11th generation but a year old by now (the processor type, not my PC)

I don't get the live system running so I can't enter anything. At some point it stops without giving information.
I tried Sparky 2021.12, 2022.03 and .04, Ubuntu 22.04 (snapshot) and MX-21.1 ahs x64 (April 9,2022). None of the live systems starts. Standard boot procedure (and Sparky's failsafe mode) ends without result. Text mode ends at some useless point ("Starting sensors limits"), too. I tried some of MX's options so far, but to no avail. Not understanding the details doesn't help, either.

With Debian testing (no live system, but current snapshot including non-free packages) the installation process seems to run normally. It connects with the repo for additional or updated packages and after reboot I get two different kernels in GRUB, so something took place and till that point everything seems ok. But the normal boot doesn't work at all (stops shortly after GRUB without information like the aforementioned live systems) and booting in recovery mode (the second option, or is it called rescue mode?) takes some time and ends in "emergency mode" where I get a prompt to login as root. If I am quick after login I can get one command into the system but after maybe 20 seconds the system writes more text and after that I cannot enter anything anymore (I tried, supposing that the prompt is just off screen).
I think that was the time it said

Code Select Expand

Failed to mount /boot/efi.
..
Started Emergency Shell
Reached target Emergency Modebut it is difficult to remember after so many trials with different versions.

Even though during installation the system was connected successfully to the internet via LAN/Router the system after reboot is not connected anymore.

I tried with GRUB parameters nomodeset, 3, and deleting quiet. But that didn't help. Choosing recovery I filmed the output to see if there are any error messages. The only error message (apart from some acpi-warnings which I get on my laptop for years without bothering) is

Code Select Expand

intel-lpss: probe_of 0000:00:19.0 failed with error -22

[nevertheless]

HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-2117ng
Intel Core i5-11400 with integrated Intel UHD Graphics 730 on HP Stark Mainboard
16 GB DDR4-2933 MHz RAM (1 x 16 GB)
512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
Realtek RTL8821CE-M 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Secure Boot deactivated

You said your wifi(?) dropped out. I googled that wifi card and it seems to be problematic with Linux. You can buy an Intel AX200 for about $20 USD and it will work. (Eventually your card may work. Some cards are always a problem. Upgrading to one that isn't is a better option for me than constantly installing drivers.). I'm assuming it's an m.2 card, not soldered onto motherboard.

Same thing with your computer make/model (and cpu). I googled that, and there are threads about being unable to install Linux. So, it appears Linux isn't ready yet. You may have to wait 6-12 months (or do some googling to see if someone found a kernel version, or recompiled a kernel version). MX Linux is pretty good about supporting new stuff. That's a contradictory statement because it's actually more stability focused. But, one of the devs (steveo) produces an ISO with the latest kernel to help people like you. That led to the "ahs" edition. He may still spin his own iso between ahs releases. If I were you, I'd look into that. That's the most favorable/accommodating help for hardware like yours. You'll probably find someone with the same cpu there and how they got it to run (if you found that anywhere, I think it would be there. Which is strange because MX is traditionally known as being pretty far behind the latest version of everything, and more stability oriented. It's just a "sect" within the community who push the latest. That's how I remember it anyway.).

I had a rather cutting-edge laptop a couple years ago that I couldn't get any linux to install on. I had to wait 4-6 months. Maybe I could have poked around and found a solution recompiling kernels, and proprietary drivers. I personally didn't want to spend my time that way, so I waited. For the past year it's been no problem at all. (Moral of the story: google before buying a computer. :) ).

[py-thon]

You said your wifi(?) dropped out.

No, I didn't. I tend not to use Wifi anyway. The PC is connected to the router by LAN and it works during installation.

Same thing with your computer make/model (and cpu). I googled that, and there are threads about being unable to install Linux. So, it appears Linux isn't ready yet. You may have to wait 6-12 months (or do some googling to see if someone found a kernel version, or recompiled a kernel version).

I did check before buying and only found older posts about problems which were said to be solved with kernel 5.14. And 5.14 was already in Debian testing when I bought the system about six months ago.

[nevertheless]

found older posts about problems which were said to be solved with kernel 5.14. And 5.14 was already in Debian testing when I bought the system about six months ago.

The laptop I mentioned couldn't do Linux for 3-4 months. Then one version worked. Then it stopped again. Then another worked. Then it stopped again. Now it's seems settled. But, for awhile, my choices were limited.

It would be interesting to try installing whatever 5.14 iso someone said worked with theirs. See if you can at least recreate that success. Look at the inxi output to note the details of drivers and such to know what worked.

Otherwise, maybe the logs would contain some clues about the problem. I couldn't guide you on that.

[nevertheless]

Something came to mind (forgive me if you've mentioned already considering this): are you on the latest bios version for your computer? I don't chase the latest version (that can put you at risk of a failed update bricking your computer for no reason). I wait till there's something I really need from a bios update, and usually that's when the computer won't install or boot a distro. If there's some weird problem, the first thing I do is update to the latest bios (as long as things work, I don't even look at it.).

Similarly, if you haven't run memtest86, that could be worth doing. What you describe doesn't sound like it would be bad memory. But, I have seen strange stuff that I would never have thought was memory, and it was. It doesn't take much work to run it and walk away for a few hours.

I've seen people have problems with iommu & svm that sound a little like yours, but those were new Ryzen systems. If you have a way to disable in your bios, you might try that.

Otherwise, I'd start with an exact iso someone got to work, save the inxi output, and start figuring out what's different with isos that don't work (kernel and driver versions; what works, what doesn't. I was stuck in that boat for a few months with my then-cutting edge Ryzen 5/vega 8.).