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PowerEdge R730 and CentOS 7.4
I have a new, out of the box R730 and I'm attempting to install CentOS7.4.
I have attempted to boot PXE and as soon as it begins to execute my kickstart file, it locks up with a gray screen.
I attempted to boot from the cd, once it begins to load ISOLINUX, it locks up with a gray screen.
I attempted to use the Lifecycle Controller. Setup the RAID, (Used both BIOS and UEFI w/no secure boot)... It reboots from CD to first menu asking to Install CentOS, press enter. System displays the Penguins across the top and locks up.
How in the world do you install CentOS on the R730???
DELL-Josh Cr
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November 7th, 2017 09:00
Hi,
You may want to try disabling usb 3 during the install, it can cause issues. If you do ctrl+alt+f2 does it bring up a console?
barebrad
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November 7th, 2017 11:00
USB 3.0 is disabled... But why even think USB is an issue? I'm not using a USB stick. Trying to boot from CD or PXE...
DELL-Josh Cr
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November 7th, 2017 11:00
If there are not drivers for it as part of the install it may get hung during the install trying to figure out what the device is.
barebrad
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November 7th, 2017 13:00
I appreciate the support, but this provides me no help. How do I install CentOS 7.4 on my new R730? So far it appears I can't do this and I bought a very expensive paper weight!
DELL-Josh Cr
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November 7th, 2017 14:00
Can you try a different version of Centos? Also make sure that secureboot is disabled in system setup. Are you accessing the server from console or remote?
barebrad
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November 7th, 2017 17:00
I am able to install CentOS 7.2 via LC. Secureboot is disabled. I'm using a console...
DELL-Josh Cr
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November 8th, 2017 09:00
It seems like something that was changed between versions is causing the problem. You may just need to run 7.2 for now.
barebrad
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November 9th, 2017 13:00
So, I installed 7.2, then used yum to update to 7.4. The 7.4 kernel (3.10.0-693) won't boot. No debug info, just locks up when it display's the penguins. Downloaded the corresponding kernel source and built it. Same problem. Downloaded kernel 3.18.79 from kernel.org. It locks up at the same point. What am I missing in my .config file? I have the megaraid_sas included (tried both m & y)...
lklimek
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December 29th, 2017 16:00
I also have issues with R730 and CentOS 7.4
I've tested CentOS 7.4 installer on 3 R730 servers - all of them fail to boot with gray screen.
I also made some further testing on one of them. Standard Centos 7.4 kernel does not boot. I found a workaround: adding acpi=off to kernel boot parameters allows the server to boot but this is not a solution because ACPI is definitely needed (for example, remote console keyboard doesn't work with disabled ACPI).
To summarize, working version of kernel: kernel-3.10.0-327.el7.x86_64
Not working, tested versions:
* kernel-3.10.0-693.11.1.el7.x86_64
* kernel-lt-4.4.108-1.el7.elrepo.x86_64 - installed from elrepo.org repositories
I've also tested ubuntu 17.10 installer (kernel ) - it hangs with black screen.
I'm using PowerEdge R730 with BIOS 2.6.0 and firmware 2.50.50.50.
lklimek
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January 23rd, 2018 00:00
We have discovered that the issue was caused by Broadcom BCM5721 network adapter. Disabling PCI slot with this adapter fixed the issue for us.