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Solaris 11.4 Installation Error

runner105Jun 29 2022

I'm running into an issue while trying to install Solaris 11.4. I have created a USB installer drive by downloading the 11.4.0 GA USB Text Installer file. I have tried flashing the .usb file to the drive using both Rufus and Etcher. Both methods created bootable drives, but neither have led to a successful installation. I have tried to use the install disk on multiple PCs and I have tried multiple USB drives, but none were successful.
Now, for the issue itself... The installer drive boots and allows me to run through the entire setup process, choosing target drives, creating user accounts, etc. After starting the installation to the hard drive, the progress bar will reach 99% and read "generate-sc-profile completed". This screen will remain for about 10 minutes before eventually cutting back to a screen that reads "The installation did not complete normally".
I have attached a picture of the resulting log file to this post. It claims that there is not enough space, which I believe to be an issue with the swap size. The swap partition on the USB drive is only around 800MB large and the target system has 8GB of RAM. Do I need to increase the swap size on the live USB? If so, how do I increase it? I also see a line in the log file that says I can add a "--no-backup-be" parameter to skip this step altogether. What do I add this parameter to and how do I do so?
About 2 years ago I installed Solaris to a very similar computer and it worked immediately. I downloaded the exact same file, but am not sure if I used the same methods to flash it to a USB device. Any help is much appreciated, and I apologize if any part of the issue is unclear.
IMG_20220629_105321524.jpg
This post has been answered by runner105 on Aug 30 2022
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Comments

Steffen Moser

Maybe it could help to try the 11.4.42 CBE which should work with 8 GB of RAM: https://blogs.oracle.com/post/building-open-source-software-on-oracle-solaris-114-cbe-release

runner105

I wrote the .usb file for the CBE version and ran the installer, but this time got error 11, "resource temporarily unavailable". I've attached an image of the issue again.
IMG_20220701_125325759.jpgInterestingly, this time I can see a few lines at the top of the log file that reference swap size. The log says that the target device is ~500GB but that the swap file being created is only 1GB. To at least fix the error from the GA installer, is there a way I can specify how big I want the swap partition to be?

runner105

So I ran the install a second time out of curiosity, and encountered the issue in the first post again. The issue here is definitely with the swap size. I either need to increase the size of the swap partition, or use the "--no-backup-be" parameter. Is there a way that I can do either of these things from the terminal?

Steffen Moser

Different behavior when doing the same procedure might also be caused by a faulty USB drive.
I remember of having a similar problem some years ago when installing Solaris. Changing the USB drive solved it. The first one was just unable to deliver the random-access data, maybe the controller overheated and Solaris' setup just quit with a non-helpful error message.

runner105

Just tried a different USB drive, but same problem. Not sure why error 11 showed up that one time, but it doesn't seem to be a real issue.
Is 1GB swap the standard for all installs of Solaris? And if that's normal, then how do I go about running with "--no-backup-be"?

runner105

I've been away from home recently and haven't been able to continue troubleshooting, but am now back and giving it another shot. I've tried multiple USBs on multiple computers and still, the same error. I was able to successfully install Solaris to a VM using the .iso text installer for 11.4 GA, but not physically with a USB. Surely, it must be an issue with how I'm creating the installer. Is there a way that Oracle recommends I create the disk? I have a working Solaris VM that I can use to create one if that is the best way to do so, but I do not know the process.

runner105
Answer

After lots of trial and error, I figured out what the issue was. The computers I was attempting the install on did not have enough memory. I thought that the main PC itself had enough, but had forgotten that I had swapped it out in the past. Which would explain the errno 12, "out of space". After putting more memory in, the install completed. It was a dumb fix, but it's working now!

Marked as Answer by runner105 · Aug 30 2022
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Post Details

Added on Jun 29 2022
#error, #installation, #memory, #oracle-solaris, #solaris, #solaris-11
7 comments
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