Problem installing StartOS on Minisforum Venus Serie UM790 Pro mini-PC

[erzdorf]

Thank you for the reply.

With Kernel Issues I wouldn’t know any remedy if there was one.

Boot Mode is excluded, since the machine has only UEFI mode.

Firmware/BIOS Settings is rather truncated on UM790 Pro and there is not much to play with. I don’t see what would be wrong with the way it’s set, considering, that UM780XTX has almost the same settings and I’m running StartOS on it after upgrading the BIOS to the latest version.

Corrupt EFI Variables: is there any way to detect/identify it? - I don’t know.

As far as formatting, I did what you’ve suggested: as I said in my initial post, after I erased and formatted w/GParted first, I installed Linux Mint on one drive and wiped another one (did w/each drive), using the same command. I then tried it with clean disk and the formatted one with ext4 - nothing worked, StartOS just wouldn’t install. I also inserted the disk with SrartOS installed on UM780XTX but UM790 Pro didn’t see it.

Minisforum replied and suggested to ask StartOS support - so much for that.

I will try it again with the wipefs command and if the same persists, will wait for the BIOS update - might do the trick just like for UM780XTX.

Thanks again.

[Lighthouse]

I also use the Minisforum Venus Serie UM790 Pro hardware.

Minisforum Venus Serie UM790 Pro

• AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS Processor, 8 Cores/16 Threads
• AMD Radeon 780M Graphics
• Crucial 32 Gb RAM DDR5-5600 (2x 16 Gb)
• Lexar NM790 2 Tb SSD M.2 2280 (PCIe4.0 Gen4x4 NVMe 1.4)

The two settings I modified were:

BIOS > Advanced > Security Device Support > Disabled
BIOS > Security > Secure Boot > Disabled

[erzdorf]

Thank you, I have modded the BIOS in the same way from the off - I always disable Security Device. And Secure Boot, of course.

What version of BIOS do you have - 1.06 or 1.09? I was thinking of downgrading to 1.06 in case it helps - don’t know if it’s possible on that machine though.

Thank you.

[Lighthouse]

Before installing Start9, I set up Windows 11 and applied all its updates, including updating the BIOS to version 1.09. During the StartOS installation, it will prompt you to overwrite or delete existing partitions.

[erzdorf]

Thank you, I will try that - I guess I should try everything, including Windows, although I did that with Linux Mint partition.

[Lighthouse]

And only the x86_64-nonfree.iso file will work.

[erzdorf]

Confirmed. Free .iso installation didn’t go all the way and stopped, supposedly for video driver reason.

[erzdorf]

Hello there.

Thanks again for the suggestions and I just did it again according to your advice and again to no avail.

Attached please find the screen shots:

1. Same result after wiping the drive using “sudo wipefs -a -f /dev/[driveIdentifier]” - unformatted drive, clean install.

2. This is how the drive looks after the failure of installing on clean, unformatted one.

3. Wiped the drive again with “sudo wipefs -a -f /dev/[driveIdentifier]”

4. Formatted w/ext4 and re-installed.

5. Same error message.

Thanks again.

[erzdorf]

Hello.

Tried with Windows 11 as you’ve suggested - all updates etc. - no luck. Same errors as the rest of my screen shots posted.

Thank you.

[Lighthouse]

@erzdorf

Thanks again for the suggestions and I just did it again according to your advice and again to no avail.

To clarify my understanding, were you able to install Windows 11, yes or no?

If you successfully installed Windows 11:

Did you check the partitions after the installation and remove any non-Windows partitions using free software like “EaseUS Partition Master Free”?

Here’s how my Device Manager appeared on my Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro after installing Windows 11.

I kept Windows 11 intact (did NOT delete any of the Windows partitions) and proceeded to install StartOS.

During the StartOS installation I did overwrite Windows.

[erzdorf]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I did successfully install Windows 11 but didn’t check for any non-Windows partitions as it was not mentioned in your first reply - I just installed/tried to on it.

I re-installed Windows 11 to follow your advice. I didn’t quite understand what Device Manager has to do with it all but attached is how mine looks like.

Windows Disk Manager shows 3 partitions, which are obviously Windows-created (screen shor 2) and Macrium and Paragon show 4 (screen shot 3).

As it often is with Windows and all of my Windows installations, Micro$oft creates this 16 MB unformatted partition, called “Micro$oft Reserved”, hence the Windows icon on it. I’ve never tried deleting that tiny partition, despite any time during the backup, Paragon’s asking for permission to process it as RAW bit by bit.

If you were referring to the same partition, please let me know and I will wait just to make sure I delete the right one.

Attached please find the screen shots:

01. Device Manager
02. Windows 11 Disk Manager
03. Macrium Reflect screen shot of Windows 11 disk.

Thank you.

[Lighthouse]

I suggested installing Windows because we have the same hardware configuration, with the only differences being the RAM and SSD. By following the same steps, we should achieve the same result: a device running StartOS without any issues.

I have a hunch that your SSD might have a partition that is preventing the installation of StartOS. It’s a bit of a long shot, I admit.

Thank you for sharing the screenshots. The “Macrium Reflect” software appears to be similar to “EaseUS Partition Master Free.” However, I don’t see any partitions that I would recommend deleting.

From the device manager, I noticed that you have two hard drives installed: a Samsung 4 TB SSD and a Western Digital 500 GB SSD.
Does it make a difference if you remove the Western Digital SSD and attempt to install StartOS again?

If your Samsung 4 TB SSD is not detected (after you’ve removed the Western Digital SSD), try placing the Samsung drive in the other SSD slot.

[erzdorf]

Thank you for the reply.

Samsung 4 TB SSD has nothing to do with any installation - it’s a USB connected storage drive with my soft, some of which I installed after I installed Windows 11. It’s not present during the StartOS installation.

As for partitions, I posted the screens how my drive looks before and after the StartOS installation above. I also tried to install on 3 different drives.

Thanks again.

[Lighthouse]

Thank you for the clarification regarding your external 4TB SSD. Setting aside the fact that a 500GB SSD is insufficient for running a full node, StartOS should install on your drives too.

I’m at a loss for any additional suggestions that could help resolve this issue. If you’re located in the Netherlands, I’d be open to meeting up to compare our settings in detail.

[StuPleb]

I’m a fan of Minis Forum, I’ve used their mini PCs for years. I haven’t installed StartOS on all of them obviously, but the couple I have worked fine.

One of the things I really liked was the old-school text based BIOS setup, really simple to switch things on and off for something like StartOS, which would obviously be tripped up by secure boot and other nonsense.

I wonder… since your error is specifically related to secure boot and other “EFI” nonsense, whether there’s something new in the BIOS/UEFI in these newer models?
Perhaps show us what it looks like and what options are there?

The only other thing I can thing of trying, just to get a better understanding of what’s happening, is remove the drive you’re working with. Place another in its place, and see if that one works and boots. Preferably another type of drive with a different interface (i.e. perhaps a SATA drive instead of a M.2).

[erzdorf]

Thank you so much for your attention .

Love your country (football, Oranje, landscapes, history, arts and culture, people, ladies - in no particular order) but I’m afraid at this point it’s impossible - I’m in New Jersey, US lol.

Last thing I may try could be a particular drive(s) - I meant to ask you how you like your Lexar NM790 2 Tb, is it working well? I never had that drive. My StartOS running on UM780XTX is installed on SAMSUNG 990 PRO, which I have no complains about whatsoever. I also tried to install on TEAMGROUP T-Force A440 Lite 2TB Graphene and now have my Windows Servers 19 and 22 installed on them and they’re very good as well. Other drives I tried were Kioxia and SK Hynix - all failed with the same error posted.

I actually have another Minisforum Venus Serie UM790 Pro, which I bought shortly after the first one and it should have the older BIOS v. 1.06 and I didn’t even open it yet. So I’m going to try that one w/o upgrading the BIOS and, perhaps, using different drives, possibly your Lexars and will see what happens.

I will let you know how it goes, meanwhile I installed Windows 11 on UM790 Pro in RAID 0 setup and it looks very good, although it’s my first try of Windows 11.

Thank you again and I appreciate your attention very much.

Cheers!

[erzdorf]

Thank you for the reply.

As you may know the UM790 Pro BIOS is rather limited, truncated UEFI one - not a good old-fashion BIOS, which I share your sentiment about as well.

“…since your error is specifically related to secure boot and other “EFI” nonsense” - not quite sure what makes you think, that it is related to secure boot but regarding some other ““EFI” nonsense” I did submit some settings to MinisForim Support, which still remains unanswered and don’t think it ever will be.

As I mentioned above, being not so much experienced in Linux, nevertheless I know it’s a rule of thumb to disable Secure Boot from the off and that’s how I had my Linux distros installed in the past - so my Secure Boot is always disabled irrespective of the OS I use. On the other hand some of those settings were unknown to me and even after googling I was not sure about one or two of them.

This is what I sent to MinisForum Support regarding some EFI settings:

NX Mode dis or en ?

PSS Support en

Re-Size BAR Support en

Above 4G Decoding en

SR-IOV Support en

Global C-state Control auto or en ?

SVM Lock auto or en ?

SVM Enable auto or lock ?

PSPP Policy auto or lock ?

Special Display Features Hybrid graphics or Disabled

Primary Video Adaptor Int Graphics (IDG) or Ext Graphics (PEG) ?

Secure Boot Mode Standard or Custom Restore Factory Keys/Reset to Setup Mode ?

In order not to be only verbal, I took the screen shots of the EFI BIOS settings how I have them so you can see the settings I was asking about as well as the Secure Boot settings, which also was mentioned to MinisForum Support - attached please find them and apologies for not so high resolution.

As for the drive w/different interface, may be you can suggest how - there are only two M.2 interfaces inside UM790 Pro. I have some SATA drives and they only can be connected through the USB cable and I don’t think StartOS supports that kind of installation, which I would not want to install the Server on external SATA drive anyway. As for different drives, I tried to install on SAMSUNG 990 PRO, TEAMGROUP T-Force A440 Lite 2TB Graphene, Western Digital 500 GB SSD, Kioxia, SK Hynix and Corsair Force Series MP510 2TB. All failed.

Thanks again for your attention to this.

[Lighthouse]

There are certainly many positive aspects to the Netherlands, although, like many places around the world, it is undergoing changes—some of which may not be for the better. That said, we apparently rank fifth among the countries with the happiest people

I’m pleased with my Lexar SSD. I selected this drive based on a review I read, as well as its relatively high read and write speeds.

Lexar NM790 2 TB SSD M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 Gen4x4 NVMe 1.4)

• Read: 7400 MB/s
• Write: 6500 MB/s
• P/N: LNM790X002T-RNNNG

The UM780XTX features an AMD processor, which I’m told is often a better match for running a Linux distri. The UM790 Pro is my first Minisforum PC, and I chose this model because it has received numerous accolades in reviews for being an outstanding piece of hardware. Having a nearly silent node is essential for me.

Keep me updated! I have a strong feeling that you’ll find a way to make it work!

[erzdorf]

Thank you!

As far as “undergoing changes—some of which may not be for the better”, you don’t have to tell me - I live in States (at least for now). So, lucky you

I like the UM780XTX a lot and it’s also silent. I removed the top, turned off the lights, disabled in BIOS, removed the gobo etching sheet rubbish, put on top AC Infinity MULTIFAN S3, Quiet 120mm USB Fan, which fits perfectly and it’s running super cool between 47° - 51° Celsius. But they have same Ryzen7 7840HS Processor and I was able to install Linux w/o problem just like any other Windows. I just want to have my server on UM790 Pro and have the Operating System on UM780XTX to utilize it’s Oculink Port for external GPU - thing is AMD’s integrated Radeon 780M doesn’t support Windows Server video capabilities at full 3840x2160 resolution, only @1920x1080. I tried some tricks by modifying the InstallManifest.jason in driver’s files but it didn’t work for me. I agree on UM790 Pro though - it’s fine piece of hardware and I think they added the Oculink Port to its newer model, which is great.

Thanks for kind words and I will let you know if I succeed in taming of that shrew.

Cheers!

[George]

Anyone having this issue should see this post:

How to make StartOS run on Minisforum UN1290

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