Cannot Select Country from calamares

Issues & Assistance Newbies
1

So i downloaded the latest image and am keen to try this OS. It boots into the OS and I select Online Installation. On the next screen I attempt to change from American English. The symbol at the side starts spinning but never actually stops. So I am unable to open the dropdown list to select my country. If I click on the screen again it return to American English. So it just loops and I am unable to proceed. Using a Lenovo ThinkCentre i3 12th Gen CPU with 64GB RAM

2

What iso are you on? filename if possible

3

I actually have tried two. One last week that was labelled as XFCE minmal IIRC and this one:
https://pub-236acba899534258ba381237ad7d8714.r2.dev/RebornOS-ISO/rebornos_iso-2023.01.20-x86_64.iso

I should point out that I have the arm version too on my Rock 5 and didn’t have issues installing

4

Hi @Alistair

Can you boot into the Iive ISO again, start the installer, and when the problem arises again, open a terminal on the side to run

upload-logs

Then share the URL here so that we can see what is going on… :slight_smile:

5

https://termbin.com/nlnk

6

Thanks. On the surface, everything seems to be running fine. Which installer screen are you on? If possible, would you be able to share a screenshot?

7

16752828682963952095265470766703
167528286829639520952654707667031920×1440 350 KB

8

This is indeed puzzling. Would a reboot help? Is this still the 2023.01.20 ISO?

9

So, as soon as you click on the drop down list, is when it gets in this loop. You are not presented with the drop down list, correct?

Actually, I re-read your initial post, and it appears the loop happens just before the first screen to be able select the language.

To me it appears there’s something wrong with the software media.

Did you try clicking on any other functions from the Reborn ISO Welcome installation screen, such as Advanced Options, Links, Utilities, About? I’m curious to know if those open up and work without problem.

10

I used the same iso on the same usb stick in a very old pc and it doesn’t have this issue. So it’s not the iso or media. Its specific to my Lenovo system only.

11

@Hi-Phile has tested disabling geoip, which you can try out before launching the installer

As the installer updates, it breaks compatibility with older ISOs (which have older libraries that are shared with the installer).

12

Edit the appropriate installer welcome file from a terminal window, can use nano:

sudo nano /etc/calamares/modules/welcomeq_online.conf (or welcomeq_offline.conf).
comment out (#) the last 4 lines in the file starting at geoip:

#geoip:
#    style:
#    url:
#    selector:

save (ctrl-x), then ‘Y’ to save buffer to the file, and then try the installation again.

13

Unfortunately still the same issue. If I click repeatedly on the area where the drop down menu is I can see it is changing the language but no option to proceed.

14

Did you choose online or offline installation for this?

15

online. I did try both ways. I am sure its hardware specific ie my Lenovo. The old system that I tried the same iso image on the same usb stick (sandisk) didn’t have the issue. Using same keyboard (logitech) and monitor (LG TV). I tried some of my SATA USB Enclosures with the iso and they were not seen in the BIOS. Alternative ISO’s eg Mint Cinammon are sen on all devices.

16

I tend to agree with you that it’s hardware related since you said the same USB and ISO don’t exhibit the problem on another older system. I’m wondering if it’s due to the system having 64GB of RAM or there’s a setting in the BIOS which might be impacting this.

Have you checked for any updated BIOS release and/or tried changing any settings which might change possible outcomes?

17

You can try disabling all the checks (RAM, storage, etc.) under advanced options in the ISO welcome app and re-launch the installer from there.

You can also try removing the line that has welcomeq@welcomeq_online from the /etc/calamares/settings_online.conf to skip that module altogether and later set the language/region manually. You have to re-launch the installer after this

18

Another thing you might try, if you chose to. I noticed that Mint uses their own Intel microcode, where as Reborn does not, you could try installing the intel-ucode after booting from ISO and then check to see if it was loaded and then try the install again.

Check for the microcode via terminal:

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i microcode

Load intel-ucode:

sudo pacman -S intel-ucode

Check it is loaded:

sudo dmesg | grep -i microcode

19

  • Removed one of the 32GB stick of RAM - no difference

  • BIOS/Firmware is always up to date - always checking if there is a new one - serial flasher :grinning:

  • Nothing in the BIOS I can see that would stop the install.

  • Remarked out the checks - no difference

  • Remarked out welcome screen - strange behaviour - only allows selection of america and for europe amsterdam.

20

Oh and did the microcode too - no change