Subject: bug#35722: closed (Re: bug#35722: Filesystem error in the installer)

From: [email-masked] (GNU bug Tracking System)
Date: Tue, 14 May 2019 16:31:02 +0000

Your bug report

#35722: Installer does not handle FAT16 file systems

which was filed against the guix package, has been closed.

The explanation is attached below, along with your original report.
If you require more details, please reply to [email-masked].

-- 
35722: http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=35722
GNU Bug Tracking System
Contact [email-masked] with problems

Subject: Re: bug#35722: Filesystem error in the installer
From: Ludovic Courtès <[email-masked]>
To: Graham Lee <[email-masked]>
Cc: Danny Milosavljevic <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 14 May 2019 18:30:40 +0200
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

Hello,

Graham Lee <[email-masked]> skribis:

> I'm trying to install from the GNU GUIX 1.0.0 ISO, which I've copied to
> USB. I pick the graphical installer, run through the language,
> timezone, and keyboard choices. Then I either pick "guided" or "guided
> with encryption" partition scheme, and I choose one big partition
> instead of separate /home. Then the error appears.
>
> I've attached a scaled down photo of the trace, as that was the easiest
> way to get it off of the system I'm running on (which isn't networked
> at the time of error). For clarity, the error message is:
>
> ice-9/eval.scm:159:9: Unhandled fat16 fs-type

I tried in a VM to provide a disk with a FAT16 partition to reproduce
this bug.  I could hit this particular error when choosing the “manual”
partitioning method and then selecting the FAT16 partition.  However I
could not reproduce the bug when choosing the “guided” methods.

I think we don’t need the installer to be able to create FAT16
partitions; we merely need it to recognize and gracefully handle them
when they exist (which I think is quite unusual: the EFI System
Partition seems to be FAT32 usually, no?).

Anyway I think this is fixed by commit
628d09ae53047ea666f4f84ae5e5be911647fe8c, which Danny just pushed.  :-)

Thanks,
Ludo’.

Subject: Filesystem error in the installer
From: Graham Lee <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 13 May 2019 23:01:10 +0100
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

Hi folks,

I'm trying to install from the GNU GUIX 1.0.0 ISO, which I've copied to
USB. I pick the graphical installer, run through the language,
timezone, and keyboard choices. Then I either pick "guided" or "guided
with encryption" partition scheme, and I choose one big partition
instead of separate /home. Then the error appears.

I've attached a scaled down photo of the trace, as that was the easiest
way to get it off of the system I'm running on (which isn't networked
at the time of error). For clarity, the error message is:

ice-9/eval.scm:159:9: Unhandled fat16 fs-type

My hardware is a Dell Latitude E7450 and I'm trying to use a (currently
GPT-partitioned) Samsung SSD PM871 mSATA 256GB disk. If the installer
is confused by the existing FAT16 partition, that's the EFI partition.

Presumably I could work around it by repartitioning and removing the
EFI partition before running the installer. If so, should I switch to
an MBR partition table? Or is there a fix, or another workaround?

Thanks for your help,
Graham.