Debian-8-jessie-KDE

[Snowhog]

When I'm at the point where I'm told that the needed two files for WiFi are missing (and which two they are), even though I'm instructed to insert a removable media (USB) where they can be found, the installer doesn't "see" the USB stick after I insert it. So, if I'm installing Jessie from a USB (dd'd the iso to the USB stick; the installer "sees" it as a DVD), how can I get the installer to recognize another USB stick when it's inserted?

[Qqmike]

Well, I'm trying Debian Jessie, debian-live-8.10-amd64-kde-desktop.iso 1.2 GB.

I got it installed on a partition I made for it using GParted on my one and only HDD (where I also have 14.04 and 15.04).

Not sure what to think, with everyone making such a big deal/fanfare of it.

I did get the missing firmware message, rtl_nic/rtl8168g-2.fw and traced that to the Realtek Ethernet adaptor.

UEFI?
The DVD installer. I got the 64-bit, as you see from the iso, but neither my firmware nor rEFInd tagged it as a (U)EFI boot option; the very capable ASUS firmware only sees it as a “regular” DVD device. But I went ahead anyway with the installation, hoping to see some sign that it would be set up correctly, perhaps at the bootloader stage, and thinking I could always Cancel/Quit out of the installation.

During installation, at the end, I did get the question about where to install GRUB, what MBR to put it in! Sounds like it is NOT UEFI. No way to Cancel the installation that I could see, it didn't like my choice to not install GRUB, it gave me the choice to indicate my preference manually, which I did: I put it in a partition I am using as my non-primary UEFI+GPT ESP, sda7! No choice! I could not have it over-write my main ESP. Or risk messing up my Protective GPT MBR somehow; but then I have no BIOS Boot Partition set up, anyway, so what then if it were to go in the sda MBR?!

So that was not a good experience.
→ I will have to check again to see if there is some special (U)EFI Jessie version iso.

No way to Cancel/Quit out of the OS installation DVD—not that I could see.

Finished the installation OK, re-booted, seeing no clue about Debian coming up, tried again re-booting, entered my PC's firmware and selected rEFInd, and it did show the Debian kernel vmlinuz correctly, and so I had rEFInd boot by stub loader the Debian kernel directly, and that got me into the Debian OS. I checked, and I did not get a UEFI installation; the GRUB, for example, is grub-pc, no efi anywhere in the directory tree.

To set up my very vanilla-flavored HP 2050 printer requires I know a URI for it, which, of course, I didn't have a clue about as I sat there trying to Add my printer through Printer Settings, seeing I needed to do some digging and wasn't ready to just start typing in a URI string.

Of course, being KDE, much of it was familiar to me.

But I have to say, guys, you really are doing some geek-play here, as this is definitely not for mainstream Kubuntu users. It is not as geeky as I had expected while reading their voluminous and sometimes unclear and sometimes not-well-organized documentation, but it is more geeky than most mainstream Kubuntu/Ubuntu users would have patience for. This is not a rant or a whine, not at all, I see where you guys are coming from, and that's cool. But before I messed with this, or turned a friend or relative on to this, I'd point more at Mint KDE (assuming no Kubuntu). I mean, why not, for KDE? Just my opinion, based on a rather quick test, first impressions. Personally, I can see getting this configured with not too much effort, but why bother?


EDIT: added to GRUB comments above.

[Qqmike]

I just re-booted from Debian Jessie back into Kubuntu here. I could not Restart the PC using the K > Leave > Restart menu, I tried twice. So then at Konsole "sudo shutdown -r now" worked, but only after I got the lecture about being careful and responsible and respecting the rights of others (in a text box)! I guess that's about using the admin PW? I can safely dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda9 on this little experiment

[Qqmike]

I use both GRUB 2 EFI and rEFInd to boot this PC. From the Kubuntu 14.04 here, I did update-grub, and that put the new Debian 8.1 on this Kubuntu's GRUB boot menu, and so I can boot into Jessie with that or enter my PC's firmware and use rEFInd. So the GRUB Legacy booting (of Debian Jessie that I got) is kind of fixable. Not sure what you would do to get Debian Jessie booting in UEFI mode, I'll have to check on that if I have time, or you guys could tell me.


EDIT: Don't forget Snowhog's question, Post #88, that I've stepped in front of here!

[SteveRiley]

Well, I'm trying Debian Jessie, debian-live-8.10-amd64-kde-desktop.iso 1.2 GB.

UEFI?
The DVD installer. I got the 64-bit, as you see from the iso, but neither my firmware nor rEFInd tagged it as a (U)EFI boot option; the very capable ASUS firmware only sees it as a “regular” DVD device.

I downloaded this file just now. Your PC didn't see it as UEFI capable because the ISO does not contain an EFI system partition or a UEFI boot loader.

The netinst image (http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/...64-netinst.iso), however, does contain the necessary files to boot your computer in UEFI mode. It is not a live image; instead, it's simply an installer. This will require an Internet connection to complete a full install.

[Qqmike]

Thanks, I wouldn't have guessed that. I'm googling "how to boot Debian Jessie in UEFI mode?" and coming up with all sorts of ideas! I also checked the
https://www.debian.org/releases/stab...h03s06.html.en

[Qqmike]

I downloaded this file just now. Your PC didn't see it as UEFI capable because the ISO does not contain an EFI system partition or a UEFI boot loader.

debian-live-8.10-amd64-kde-desktop.iso

I just opened that burned DVD using Dolphin, is that how you checked it? I saw only isolinux on the DVD files. How do you check this iso file, open it at the command line as an iso?
EDIT: or just use a find statement against the accessed iso ?

[Qqmike]

debian-8.1.0-amd64-netinst.iso


That one works better for me. It took much longer, of course, installing from the Internet, but it made better sense to me.

I recall seeing this somewhere in my reading but can't locate it now. Net installer = netinst. About 250 MB, burned to CD. Installs in UEFI mode and is recognized by my ASUS firmware (noted by a string “UEFI” in front of my DVD/CD boot device); and also recognized by rEFInd which, interestingly, sees it as EFI\BOOT\BOOTx64.EFI FROM [and this was left blank in the rEFInd menu line] => that's usually considered the standard default boot loader for UEFI.

(Incidentally, my HP 2050 printer setup went smoothly this time—the printer printed. And I did get the same missing firmware for my Ethernet Adaptor that I mentioned in my post above.)


Summary of high points, particular focus on UEFI booting points, which you will recognize, and without further ado:

Burn the iso to CD using k3b. Re-boot with the CD.
Check that both my UEFI firmware and rEFInd see it as a UEFI boot option: Yep.
Intro screen: Debian GNU/Linux UEFI Installer
Select Graphical Method (other choices also are listed for you).
Select Manual installation method.
Software Selection screen: Select KDE (among other DEs).
Installation complete. Re-boot.
The PC boots to the Debian GRUB boot menu; it shows all my other OSs to boot to.
(Thus, clearly, Debian GRUB took over the PC booting and placed itself first in UEFI firmware BootOrder – that's OK, we can always change that to anything we want later. Everything is working fine so far.)
Select System Setup (from the Debian GRUB boot menu).
Inspect firmware boot settings: Debian is set as #1 in BootOrder.
Re-boot the PC to the Debian GRUB boot menu again.
Boot into Debian 8.1.
kdesudo dolphin (Debian will not allow me access to /boot/efi without doing this).
Inspect /boot to confirm UEFI setup:
The sda1 ESP is mounted at /boot/efi – OK-Good.
Debian boot files appear in the ESP as:
/boot/efi/EFI/debian and contains one file: grubx64.efi – OK-Good.
Check to see this, also: /usr/lib/grub contains x86_64.efi – OK-Good.


Summary:

The installer from debian-8.1.0-amd64-netinst.iso boots in UEFI mode;
is recognized by both the UEFI firmware and by rEFInd;
the Debian GRUB2-EFI takes over the booting of the PC by installing itself in the ESP and setting itself as #1 in the UEFI BootOrder:

sudo efibootmgr
 BootCurrent: 0001
 Timeout: 1 seconds
 BootOrder: 0001,0000,0003,0002,0009,0007,0008
 Boot0000* ubuntu
 Boot0001* debian
 Boot0002* grub_sda5K1504
 Boot0003* rEFInd Boot Manager
 Boot0007* Hard Drive 
 Boot0008* CD/DVD Drive  
 Boot0009* ubuntu

Much better than my first experience, not-ranted about above.

EDIT:

How to fix your UEFI booting after installing Debian.

As you can see, the boot order in UEFI firmware of the PC is
BootOrder: 0001,0000,0003,0002,0009,0007,0008
corresponding to debian, ubutu, refind, etc.

If you want Debian's GRUB to control the boot order, then do nothing.
If you want the boot order controlled by your "preferred" OS, then continue -->

One way to fix the boot order is to use efibootmgr:

Boot into your Debian OS (or into any of your Linux OSs). See man efibootmgr, the examples at the end of that man page, showing how to change boot order.
Here:
sudo efibootmgr -o 0,1,3,2,9,7,8
would put ubuntu first (like mine used to be, corresponding to my Kubuntu 14.04), then debian is second in the boot order (= Debian 8 Jessie), then refind (= rEFInd) is third, etc.
(Note: this is equivalent to the statement
sudo efibootmgr -o 0000,0001,0003,0002,0009,0007,0008
--> there are no spaces between the comma-separated numbers)

Another way, boot into your other OS and fixing things:

In this example (above), ubuntu corresponds to my preferred distribution, Kubuntu 14.04. Thus, I could boot into Kubuntu 14.04 and fix the boot order.
How to boot into Kubuntu?
Boot into Debian (since Kubuntu 14.04 will be on Debian's GRUB boot configuration menu and Debian controls the boot order and so comes first upon booting the PC).
Or, Boot the PC, go into its UEFI firmware setup menus, and select ubuntu from its boot menu (or its boot override menu). Or, if rEFInd is installed, select it, and then choose Kubuntu 14.04 from its boot menu.
Now, booted into Kubuntu 14.04, issue these commands:
sudo grub-install
sudo update-grub
GRUB for Kubuntu will then take over the booting, it will place itself first in UEFI firmware BootOrder, and update-grub will ensure that the GRUB in Kubuntu 14.04 will include the new Debian OS you just installed. You can always check the BootOrder by issuing the command sudo efibootmgr.


My how-to covers this stuff for Kubuntu, Ubuntu derivatives, and probably most other Debian distributions:
UEFI for Kubuntu--simplified. And ... some dual-booting tips for Kubuntu
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post373198

[MrSteve]

thanks for the update on your efforts on installing debian ...
gladly i dont have UEFI our small nettop systems still have the 'old' fashioned BIOS set up but i have been taking a good interest in openSUSE
no more on that here as it would distract from the thread ...

[Qqmike]

Thanks, MrSteve. Yes, let's not get off-topic too much here. UEFI is still fairly new (appearing retail > 2011-2012). I was curious to see how Debian works, where/how easily it installs its ESP boot files; thus the experiment. As for Debian, I can see it working OK, no problem. Except I did express the opinion (above) that it is a bit geeky-DIY here and there, probably not for the average, mainstream, single user. To each his own, though, right? When my OS or PC doesn't boot, I'm OK with that and don't mind trying to fix it with a good attitude. But I have little patience when my printer doesn't get recognized and easily configured. Go figure.

[MrSteve]

believe me i do understand, i just want a system that is supported long term that works. without that much messing about
kubuntu provided that, but ...

[marco07]

When I'm at the point where I'm told that the needed two files for WiFi are missing (and which two they are), even though I'm instructed to insert a removable media (USB) where they can be found, the installer doesn't "see" the USB stick after I insert it. So, if I'm installing Jessie from a USB (dd'd the iso to the USB stick; the installer "sees" it as a DVD), how can I get the installer to recognize another USB stick when it's inserted?

This is exactly what happened to me as well. What I did though was to get into live OS and install the broadcom driver first and connect to my router, then install the system. All went well from there on. Hope this will help.

[Qqmike]

MrSteve: i just want a system that is supported long term that works. without that much messing about
Kubuntu provided that, but ...

Don't write off Kubuntu yet! There's too many people and organizations depending on it. Too much speculation thus far.

[MrSteve]

when kubuntu themselves state that support after the next release is in question then i have to look at alternatives
i have had this before over the years and most likely will face it again ...

[GreyGeek]

I thought I knew the Ubuntu btrfs system fairly well. I was wrong.

I was studying a web page on how to create or convert a Debian Jessie system to btrfs. I was studying the instructions here.

That was when I noticed this on my Kubuntu install, which was installed choosing the Btrfs and set up by the installer:
jerry@jerry-Aspire-7739:~$ sudo su -
root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# vdir /mnt
total 0
root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# mount /dev/sda4 /mnt
root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# vdir /mnt
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 226 Jul 4 15:09 @
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 30 Jul 5 17:52 @home
root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# btrfs subvol list /mnt
ID 257 gen 61835 top level 5 path @
ID 258 gen 61835 top level 5 path @home
root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# cat /mnt/@/etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=215f0509-7e55-475f-b438-78cf100cfc75 / btrfs defaults,subvol=@ 0 1
# /home was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=215f0509-7e55-475f-b438-78cf100cfc75 /home btrfs defaults,subvol=@home 0 2
root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="PQSERVICE" UUID="E81609601609315C" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda2: LABEL="SYSTEM RESERVED" UUID="F6F074C1F0748A1F" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda3: LABEL="Acer" UUID="66A07781A0775691" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda4: UUID="215f0509-7e55-475f-b438-78cf100cfc75" UUID_SUB="9f123d84-669c-4809-8b7d-c67919440979" TYPE="btrfs"



root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# vdir /mnt/@home
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 1 jerry jerry 1528 Jul 5 18:26 jerry



root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# vdir /home
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 1 jerry jerry 1528 Jul 5 18:26 jerry


root@jerry-Aspire-7739:~# vdir /mnt/@/home
total 0
(empty home!)