Can’t boot from disk; stuck at verifying DMI pool RESOLVED

[Member ghost_order]

User approved, EDIT BY Moddit: PROBLEM WAS USER ERROR GRUB NOT INSTALLED

I’m new to Linux and am trying to install AntiX on a HTPC. After some effort, I was finally able to install it to an old SSD with no apparent issues. However, when I try to actually boot from that drive, the computer gets stuck at “verifying DMI pool data”. I did some Googling, and I think that means there’s a problem with how I formatted the drive in some way that’s preventing the OS from being able to boot. But I have no clue what I did wrong.

Not sure what information you need, but here’s the fdisk output for the drive in questionn. I formatted it as ext4 and was able to run sudo cli-installer with no issues. I changed the boot flag afterwards because I didn’t realize that was needed.

Disk /dev/sda: 232.9 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 sectors
Disk model: Samsung SSD 850
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x2a06df21

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 2048 488397167 488395120 232.9G 83 Linux

• This topic was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ModdIt.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ModdIt.

[Member ModdIt]

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I assume you checked the ISO download was ok.

Maybe experts will disagree :-).
As a very new user maybe you could be pragmatic, do a semi automated full install, that sets up your drive for you.
Then you can better understand what you need and make any changes from there, if you want to. I did that more than once.

I attached my main Partition scheme for reference as a screenshot Sorry twice failed to upload.
If semi auto fails or you do not wish to do so please take a screenshot of your partitioning, and post.
Maybe also useful, how you prepared the USB boot stick.

Often small problems trip us up. Somebody helps you get on your feet again :-).

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ModdIt.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ModdIt.

[Moderator caprea]

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Also, which antiX did you install ?
Did it run live ?
Why did you use the cli-installer ?
The more information you give us, the more we are able to help.

Looks you have to start from the beginning
Computer stops at verifying DMI pool data

[Member ghost_order]

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• I used AntiX 19.3.
• I’m not sure what you mean by “run live”. I made a bootable USB drive which I’m able to run 19.3 from with no issues.
• I used cli-installer because I couldn’t find another way to install. The installer on the desktop never seemed to load anything, so I disregarded it. I tried it again today and found it just takes a while to load. I went through the install with that and let it format the entire disk which finished a few minutes ago. Still the same problem though.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ghost_order.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ghost_order.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ghost_order.

[Member Xecure]

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If the installer takes so long to launch, it means there is a problem with your SSD or the connection to it.
I believe the installer will check your HDD/SSD’s health before starting the installation, to determine if the device is bbroken or has problematic sectors, and it takes so long on your computer because it has problems talking to the drive.
You need to do as caprea’s link mentions and see how the SSD is detected in the BIOS (Sata mode should be AHCI or maybe some other depending on your hardware). It could be a connection issue, and you need to replace the sata cable.

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member ghost_order]

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His link doesn’t say anything about that,specifically, but I’ve got some spare SATA cables lying around so I gave it a shot. Here’s what I tried:

1. Same port, new cable
2. All 6 sata ports on my mobo.
3. Adjusted the extended IDE setting in the BIOS (turned it off). After the DMI pool data message it say “DISK BOOT FAILURE”.
4. Reset BIOS to fail-safe defaults

Still the same result after all that. I’ve got some old hard drives lying around too. I’ll try installing on one of those. If it works, then it means there’s a problem of some kind with the SSD.

[Member ghost_order]

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Just finished trying with an old HDD. Same result. So, I don’t think it’s a hardware problem. I’m going to revisit the installation options for AntiX. Maybe something in there I don’t understand and am setting wrong.

[Member ModdIt]

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Having been bitten by assuming a second drive was ok and wasting hours maybe you could
do a full fat 32 format with gparted then run
sudo smartctl -i -a /dev/sdx to read out disk state, you can read out the ssd too that way
we get more clues..
The situation which had me running in circles was a defective new SSD and
a disk which had worked until removed. But defective sectors found on test.

I have also found SSD and USB sticks SD Cards with some kind of weird corruption a normal
format did not fix. I had boot to black screen or not at all.
Format from command line to msdos format allowed me to reach a working install.

One more question, you wrote antiX 19.3, full version I guess.
Did you update your live stick and remaster it, or is it as downloaded.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ModdIt.

[Member Xecure]

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The thing is that the error “Verifying DMI Pool Data” is a BIOS message and unrelated to the operating system. It is related to the BIOS trying to read something like the boot table order and getting stuck. On the net it says (for most cases) this is a hardware related problem or a Bios option that needs to be enabled/disabled.

Don’t try to install anew and, instead, try to boot to your installed system using the Advanced options in antiX live Bootscreen.

When the live boot menu loads, don’t enter the antiX live system, but try to launch the Boot Rescue Menus to search for your installed system.
If booting on a LegacyBios system, you first need to choose the Switch to Grub Bootloader boot option from the menu. This will load the Grub menu, from where can select the Boot Rescue Menus.
Inside the Boot Rescue Menus, try the “Find GRUB menus” or “Find Grub entries” to see if your installed antiX can be found. If found, select it and see if you can boot into it.

This way we can know if it gets stuck in the same step or if it possible to circumvent the error.
If you can get inside, try using the “Repair Boot” option, just in case this helps.
If nothing works, on the live system try to give us the output of
inxi -Fxz
Maybe this problem is related to the motherboard or a certain Bios version. It may be helpful to figure out the source of the problem.

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member ModdIt]

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Is your USB Stick still plugged in ???. I could get the message when the bios trys to boot from stick but I want to boot dfrom the drive

Make sure no cd dvd in drive, can get same error.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by ModdIt.

[Member ModdIt]

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BIOS set drive detection to AUTO.
But still check boot drive order is correct.

booting from a removable disk, such as your operating system’s installation disks or a bootable recovery USB drive. WORKED BUT.

Try disconnecting all disk drives that are not necessary to boot the computer. INCLUDE STICK.
If the computer boots correctly after doing this, reconnect one drive at a time. Do not plug in your live stick.
and try booting again to determine the drive causing the problem.
Pretty much related to above

Reseat all RAM, and any PCI cards. OK

NO Remove any cards Try again.

Messed up MBR on your drives could also cause the problem. Now know that was my issue mentioned early in thread.

[Member ghost_order]

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Thanks for all the tips, everyone, but I found the solution. During installation, I was skipping the GRUB installation. I’m not familiar with GRUB, so I skipped it because I didn’t plan on ever dual-booting (this is a Linux system for life). Since I had the option to not install it, I assumed it wasn’t necessary. Turns out it is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Moderator caprea]

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Good that you found what caused the error. Have a nice time with antiX.

[Member ModdIt]

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Good you have the system up, we all fell for assuming you had intalled the bootloader.

We Live and learn. enjoy antiX

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