I encountered a problem with the boot process while listing available tools on Centos 6.9 Minimal.

[Note: I also encountered this problem near the end of installing Centos 6.9 Minimal on Kalkin, but did not completely map out its behaviour.]


Here is an excerpt that describes the problem:

Press the power button to boot Kalkin.


Screen:

Booting from local disk...

Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.3.63
Copyright (C) 1997-2010, Intel Corporation

Intel(R) Boot Agent PXE Base Code (PXE-2.1 build 089)
Copyright (C) 1997-2010, Intel Corporation

Initializing and establishing link...

Screen:

Booting from local disk...

Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.3.63
Copyright (C) 1997-2010, Intel Corporation

Intel(R) Boot Agent PXE Base Code (PXE-2.1 build 089)
Copyright (C) 1997-2010, Intel Corporation

PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent.

Screen:

Non-System disk or disk error
replace and strike any key when ready

Hm.

Press Enter.

Screen:

Non-System disk or disk error
replace and strike any key when ready

Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.


Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

Centos boots.

Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.


Reboot four more times.

Centos boots each time.


It's as if the first boot changes a setting somewhere, which is stored in a capacitor, the charge in which then fades when the computer is off for a reasonably long period of time.

Excerpt from a source found while installing Centos 6.9 Minimal on Kalkin:
www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/support/articles/000005740/boards-and-kits/desktop-boards.html

PXE-E61 Media Test Failure Error for Intel® Desktop Boards

Last Reviewed: 01-Nov-2017
Article ID: 000005740

What are you seeing?

The following errors display when your Intel® Desktop Board starts:

- PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable.
- PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent.

Why are you seeing it?

PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) is a boot environment that allows the Intel Desktop Board to boot up using a network interface, instead of booting from an installed hard drive. You can enable or disable PXE boot in the BIOS.

If PXE Boot is enabled in BIOS, the PXE-E61 and PXE-M0F errors can happen when both of these are true:

- A bootable hard drive is not detected.
- A network cable is not connected to the Intel Desktop Board.

How to fix it:

1) If a drive is installed

Check that the drive is detected in BIOS:
- Press F2 during boot to enter BIOS Setup.
- Go to the Boot menu.
- Check the Boot Drive Order.
- Press F10 to exit BIOS Setup.

If Boot Drive Order shows No Boot Drive:
- Check that the drive is properly installed in the computer.
- Try installing a different known good drive.

2) If PXE Boot is enabled in BIOS

To check the BIOS option:
- Press F2 during boot to enter BIOS Setup.
- Go to the Boot menu and check for Boot to Network.
- Press F10 to exit BIOS Setup.

If you do not plan to boot to a network, disable this option.

If you do want to boot to a network, check that the network cable connection is working properly.

This article applies to:

Discontinued Products
- Intel® Desktop Boards with Intel® Z75 Express Chipset
- Intel® Desktop Board D2550DC2

Well, even if the product is discontinued, the BIOS code might be quite similar, so the error might indicate exactly the same problem on my motherboard.

No ethernet cable is inserted.

Hm. This is what I think is happening:
- After Kalkin has been off for an appreciable length of time, e.g. 12 hours, the boot process can't detect the hard drive when it is run for the first time.
- If the boot process is run again for a second time soon afterwards, the hard drive is detected and Centos is booted from it. This applies to further reboots as well.




Press the power button to boot Kalkin. Hold Escape as it boots.

Screen:




Press F10.

Screen:



I have used a vertical bar (|) to represent the elements of a horizontal menu.

and are highlighted.


Press Right Arrow.

Screen:



and are highlighted.


Press Down Arrow 3 times. is now highlighted.

Press Enter.


Pop-up box:



is selected.

Press Escape to exit the pop-up box.


[some exploration of the Computer Setup menus occurs here]


Press Up Arrow twice.

and are highlighted.

Press Enter.


Pop-up box:



The data in the pop-up box was originally formatted as a table of items and values. I have inserted equals signs instead.

Pressing Up Arrow or Down Arrow changes which value is selected. Pressing Left Arrow or Right Arrow toggles the value to change between the available options.


While installing Centos 6.9 Minimal on Kalkin, I found that the hard drive appeared to have been formatted to be part of a RAID array.

Perhaps the BIOS is still set to expect a RAID array, rather than a single hard drive. This would explain why SATA Emulation is set to RAID+AHCI Mode.

The value of SATA Emulation can be toggled between RAID+AHCI Mode and IDE Mode. Press Escape to exit the pop-up box with no changes.


Google "sata emulation".

First result:
support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02961221

Excerpt:

HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - About SATA Hard Drives and Controller Modes

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, also known as Serial ATA or SATA, enables mass storage devices, such as hard drives and optical drives, to communicate with the motherboard using a high-speed serial cable over two pairs of conductors.


Selecting which SATA port to use

If you are installing a single SATA hard drive, it is best to use the lowest numbered port on the motherboard (SATA0 or SATA1). Then use the other ports for optical drives.

If you are installing multiple hard drives, but installing the operating system on only one drive, use the lowest numbered port on the motherboard (SATA0 or SATA1) for this drive. Then use the next lowest numbered port for the second drive, and so on.

If you are installing multiple hard drives and using RAID mode to increase storage space or create a backup disk, connect one of the drives to the lowest numbered port (SATA0 or SATA1), then connect the remaining drives to ports on the same controller.


SATA Controller Modes


Serial ATA (SATA) controller modes determine how the hard drive communicates with the computer. You can set a SATA hard drive to function in one of three controller modes: IDE, AHCI, or RAID. Enabling RAID mode also enables the AHCI features.


[...]


Note: HP recommends setting the SATA Controller Mode BEFORE installing the operating system. Changing the mode after installing the operating system can prevent the system from booting.


The following sections describe the different SATA Controller Modes.


IDE:

IDE mode is the simplest mode. In IDE mode, the hard drive is set to run as an IDE or Parallel ATA (PATA) hard drive. A hard drive in IDE mode has the least available features. In general, a hard drive performs more slowly in IDE mode. IDE mode provides better compatibility with some older hardware. If you want to install only one hard drive and do not wish to use the advanced SATA (AHCI) features (such as hot swapping and Native Command Queuing), select IDE mode when installing a hard drive.


AHCI:

Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) mode enables the use of advanced features on SATA drives, such as hot swapping and Native Command Queuing (NCQ). AHCI also allows a hard drive to operate at higher speeds than in IDE mode.


RAID:

Use RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) mode when you want to use more than one hard drive, either to increase storage space or create a backup disk. RAID technology allows several hard disk drives to function as one storage area (the array) to provide either data redundancy (backup security) or faster performance (striped reading/writing data from or to the disk drives).

In RAID mode, the SATA controller enables both AHCI and RAID functions when the computer boots.

If you are installing multiple hard drives and using RAID mode, connect one of the drives to the lowest numbered port (SATA0 or SATA1), then connect the remaining drives to ports on the same controller. On some motherboards the SATA ports are color coded. Connect the drives to ports of the same color.

Interesting phrase: "Enabling RAID mode also enables the AHCI features."

Note: RAID+AHCI Mode may simply be "set this value to allow the computer to use either RAID or AHCI or both". This BIOS may not necessarily be looking for a RAID array. It may just be set to use either RAID or AHCI configurations to connect to whichever hard drive(s) it can find.

The name "SATA Emulation" indicates that the original components have been absorbed into a single component that can emulate any of the protocols, depending on its configuration in the BIOS.



Things to try (separately):
- When Kalkin has been off for a few hours, boot holding Escape. See if "Hard Drive" is visible in BIOS / Computer Setup / Storage / Boot Order / Legacy Boot Sources.
- Disable PXE Boot in the BIOS.
- Change BIOS / Computer Setup / Storage / Storage Options / SATA Emulation to IDE Mode.
-- Note: This may cause the boot process to stop working. If so, change it back to RAID+AHCI Mode.



Press Escape.

Screen:




and are highlighted.

Press Enter.


Pop-up box:



is highlighted.

Press Enter.


Centos boots.

Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.


[some days pass]


Kalkin has been off for several days. If I were to press the power button, and not hold Escape, then I think it would not be able to detect the bootable hard drive.


Press the power button to boot Kalkin. Hold Escape as it boots.

I'm going to see if "Hard Drive" is visible in BIOS / Computer Setup / Storage / Boot Order / Legacy Boot Sources.



Screen:



Press F10.


Screen:



and are highlighted.


Press Right Arrow.

Screen:



and are highlighted.


Press Down Arrow 3 times. is now highlighted.

Press Enter.


Pop-up box:



is selected.


Hm. Hard Drive is visible. Perhaps the option category is always there, but the actual hard drive "HDS722020ALA330 RSD HUA" is not visible to the BIOS. I know the name of the hard drive from previous projects.


Press Escape to exit the pop-up box.


Press Escape.

Screen:




and are highlighted.

Press Enter.


Pop-up box:



is highlighted.

Press Enter.


Centos boots.


Well, this time, I entered the BIOS and looked at some menus, and Centos booted directly afterwards.


Why might a computer be unable to detect the bootable hard disk the first time it boots, but not if the computer is rebooted soon after or if the user first enters the BIOS?


Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.




Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

Centos boots.

Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.


Reboot two more times.

Centos boots each time.

Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.


time: 16:00 saturday.

time: 19:10 saturday.

time passed: 4 hrs 10 mins.


Press the power button to boot Kalkin.


Screen:




Screen:




Screen:



Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.

Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

Centos boots.



So: This test sets a maximum time required for something to reset in Kalkin such that the boot is unsuccessful, presumably because the BIOS can't see the bootable hard drive. This maximum time is 4 hours 10 minutes.

Minimum time is currently at least 2 seconds (the time I usually took between turning Kalkin off and then on again).


Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.

Set timer for 10 minutes.

Wait until timer rings.

Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

The PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurs.

I arrive at this screen:



Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.


So maximum time required is now 10 minutes.


Set timer for 5 minutes.

Wait until timer rings.

Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

The PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurs.

Maximum time required is now 5 minutes.


Set timer for 2 minutes. Repeat.
The PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurs.

Set timer for 10 seconds. Repeat.
The PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurs.

Turn Kalkin off then immediately on again.
Centos boots.

Leave powered on for 5 minutes.


The time taken while powered off (for something to reset so that Kalkin can't see the hard drive), if it is related to a capacitor somewhere, will perhaps be related to the time spent powered on.


Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.
Set timer for 10 seconds of powered-off time.
Press the power button to boot Kalkin.
Centos boots.

Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.
Set timer for 10 minutes of powered-off time.
Press the power button to boot Kalkin.
The PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurs.

Leave powered on for 10 seconds.
Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.
Set timer for 10 seconds of powered-off time.
Press the power button to boot Kalkin.
The PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurs.

Leave Kalkin powered on for a while (5 mins? wasn't counting).
Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.
Set timer for 10 seconds of powered-off time.
Press the power button to boot Kalkin.
The PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurs.
Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.


Hm. Well, there were three tests of 10 seconds of powered-off time, with differing amounts of powered-on time beforehand. Centos booted once, and the PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurred twice. A powered-off time of over 1 minute is probably going to be sufficient for the BIOS to reset and not be able to see the bootable hard drive.


For testing purposes I'd prefer to use a short but definitely sufficient powered-off time. I'll experiment with different settings in the BIOS and see if any of them fix the boot problem. I'll try to keep powered-on time to a minimum and I'll use a powered-off time of 2 minutes between tests.


Next: I'll disable PXE Boot in the BIOS and see if this helps.


From a previous excerpt in this article:

2) If PXE Boot is enabled in BIOS

To check the BIOS option:
- Press F2 during boot to enter BIOS Setup.
- Go to the Boot menu and check for Boot to Network.
- Press F10 to exit BIOS Setup.

If you do not plan to boot to a network, disable this option.

Press the power button to boot Kalkin. Hold Escape as it boots.


Screen:



Press F12.


PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error occurs.


Evidently F12 tells the BIOS to attempt to perform a network boot. It doesn't lead to a configuration menu for network booting.


Press the power button to turn Kalkin off.


Press the power button to boot Kalkin. Hold Escape as it boots.

Screen:




Press F10.

Screen:



and are highlighted.


From a previous excerpt in this article: "PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) is a boot environment that allows the Intel Desktop Board to boot up using a network interface, instead of booting from an installed hard drive."
-> If I can't find an explicit "disable PXE" option, I might be able to find a "disable network boot" option.


[some exploration of the Computer Setup menus occurs here]


Press Right Arrow twice.

Screen:



and are highlighted.

Press Down Arrow 5 times. is now highlighted.

Press Enter.

Pop-up box:



is selected.

Press Right Arrow.

The value for is now Disabled.

Press F10. Pop-up box disappears.


Press Escape.

Screen:




and are highlighted.

Press Down Arrow.

is now highlighted.

Press Enter.


Pop-up box:



is highlighted.

Press Enter.


Centos boots.


Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.

Set timer for 2 minutes.

Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

PXE-E61 + PXE-M0F error does NOT occur.


Kalkin arrives at this screen:




Hm. So now the BIOS is not attempting to boot over the network, but it still can't see the bootable drive.


Turn Kalkin off and on again.

Centos boots.

Ok, so the computer is still usable, even though it currently requires a double boot.

Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.


Next thing to try:

- Change BIOS / Computer Setup / Storage / Storage Options / SATA Emulation to IDE Mode.
-- Note: This may cause the boot process to stop working. If so, change it back to RAID+AHCI Mode.


Press the power button to boot Kalkin. Hold Escape as it boots.

Screen:




Press F10.

Screen:



and are highlighted.


Press Right Arrow.

Screen:



and are highlighted.


Press Down Arrow. is now highlighted.

Press Enter.

Pop-up box:



is selected.

Press Down Arrow.

is now selected.

Press Right Arrow.

Pop-up box 2:



Press Enter.

Pop-up box 2 disappears.


The value for is now IDE Mode.

Press F10.

Pop-up box disappears.

Press Escape.


Screen:




and are highlighted.

Press Down Arrow.

is now highlighted.

Press Enter.


Pop-up box:



is highlighted.

Press Enter.

Centos boots.



Turn Kalkin off and on again.

Centos boots.


Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.

Set timer for 2 minutes.

Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

Centos boots.


Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.

Set timer for 10 minutes.

Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

Centos boots.


Press and hold the power button to turn Kalkin off.


time: 12:29 sunday

time: 14:47 sunday

time passed: 2 hours 18 minutes.

Press the power button to boot Kalkin.

Centos boots.


Excellent.


Problem solved.