Boot problems on HP Elitedesk 800 G2

I’ve recently added an HP Elitedesk 800 G2. I was planning on installing Windows 10 (still need the blasted thing sometimes) and Arch. But I would prefer to use EOS - nice clean install for UEFI systems.

Small problem though - any attempt to boot the EOS USB fails. I get the initial boot menu, select EOS, at which point I get a single text line (sha256sum verified). Then the screen goes blank and nothing further happens. Video sync fails and the machine just sits. As a cross check, I’ve booted the same USB drive on my Thinkpad 430S and a couple of other machines. Also, I can boot Manjaro or MX Linux on the Elitedesk without any problems. Here’s a summary of the hardware, taken from an MX 19 live boot:

System:    Host: mx1 Kernel: 4.19.0-6-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.14.1 tk: Gtk 3.24.5 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
           Distro: MX-19_x64 patito feo October 21  2019 base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: HP product: HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF v: N/A 
           serial: <root required> Chassis: type: 4 serial: <root required> 
           Mobo: HP model: 8054 v: KBC Version 05.22 serial: <root required> UEFI: HP 
           v: N01 Ver. 02.16 date: 08/08/2016 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-6500 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Skylake-S 
           rev: 3 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 25536 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:1912 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1600x1200~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 530 (Skylake GT2) v: 4.5 Mesa 18.3.6 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-H HD Audio 
           vendor: Hewlett-Packard 100 Series/C230 Series Family driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:a170 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-6-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k 
           port: efa0 bus ID: 00:1f.6 chip ID: 8086:15b7 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 94:57:a5:f2:2a:a0 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.15 TiB used: 24.3 MiB (0.0%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Micron model: 1300 MTFDDAK256TDL size: 238.47 GiB 
           speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: 193723C8FB03 rev: U000 scheme: GPT 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Seagate model: ST1000DM003-1SB10C size: 931.51 GiB 
           speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: Z9A0JYYQ rev: CC43 scheme: GPT 
           ID-3: /dev/sdc type: USB vendor: Kingston model: DataTraveler G3 size: 3.66 GiB 
           serial: 001372982B41BBC095D200DB rev: PMAP scheme: MBR 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 6.09 GiB used: 24.3 MiB (0.4%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102 
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 24.00 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sdb1 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 39.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 190 Uptime: 2m Memory: 7.68 GiB used: 488.8 MiB (6.2%) Init: SysVinit 
           v: 2.93 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3 
           running in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.0.36

Other than some sort of video incompatibility, I have no idea what could cause this problem. I would be grateful for any ideas as to how to get past it…

Hi @toothandnail tooth

In your bios desactive secure boot for UEFI and check that you boot on the UEFI USB key not only Usb key.

Which Iso did you take, october or last one refreshed ISO from yesterday ?

Secure boot is disabled and the only option I was given for the USB boot was UEFI

:smile: Didn’t know there was a December one. I’ll download it and see if it does anything different. I have been using the October one.

The last Iso is called Refreshed Iso not december cause, devs are working on a december Iso that will come later, to not make confusion.

:smile: Downloading now…

In waitting the download, you could read good tips here for install EnOS

https://endeavouros.com/docs/installation/calamares-offline-installer-tips/

Thanks. I’ve used Calamares before. Tried the zen installer, and used it to install a copy of the October EOS release on an older machine.

Generally a good installer, though I always use Gparted to create partitions before I use the installer.

Finally got a chance to try the 12.03 iso. I’m don’t know what has changed between it and the October iso, but it boots fine and gets me to the desktop on the Elitedesk. Hopefully get time to install it tomorrow sometime…

You should flash the last available UEFI 02.44 Rev.A (2019-11-11).

:slight_smile: Downloaded, should get it flashed before I start installing… Thanks.

Sure. Your Windows is working. :wink: Before flashing you should cut the internet connection and disable a malware scanner and shutdown possibly interfering tasks.