elementary OS 8 install error: error installing packages

[cameralibre]

What Happened?

I've had multiple failed attempts trying to install elementaryos-8.0-stable.20241122rc.iso on a laptop that previously had an (encrypted) elementary OS 7 installation.

I can run Demo mode, but every combination that I have tried has failed: encrypt/don't encrypt, install / don't install drivers, and erase and install / custom setup (advanced mode).
This feels related to both #520 and #584 but it's not exactly what is described there. (or at least, it's not only what's described there - I initially had errors regarding an LV group that already existed, so I removed all partitions, groups etc and tried again with an empty unpartitioned hard drive)

What is consistent is that each time I have got:

Could Not Install
Installing elementary OS 8 failed, possibly due to a hardware error.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Confirm hash of downloaded iso
2. Create bootable USB drive using Etcher
3. Boot device from the USB drive
4. Choose to try or install elementary 0S
5. Set up language & keyboard, connect to Wi-Fi
6. Attempt to install using 'Erase Disk and Install' option
7. Choose to encrypt disk using LVM (it doesn't work without encryption either though)
8. Choose to install drivers (doesn't work without this checked either)
9. Open the terminal display, the file extraction process begins, and gets to 100%.
10. Next up some kind of 'configuring system' command starts running
11. Could Not Install screen appears. When I click on Details, I see:

ERROR: configuring chroot error: error installing packages: command failed with exit status: 100
ERROR: errored while installing system: error installing packages: command failed with exit status: 
exit status: 100
INFO: Install error: error installing packages: command failed with exit status: exit status: 100

Expected Behavior

Installation completes without error

OS Version

8.x (Circe)

Session Type

Classic Session (X11, This is the default)

Software Version

Latest release (I have run all updates)

Log Output

Hardware Info

Lenovo Carbon X1 Carbon
12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P
Intel Aider Lake-P GT2 (Iris Xe)
32GB RAM, 1TB storage

[cameralibre]

I had some useful suggestions from Uncle Tallest in the elementary OS discord, but unfortunately didn't get any further.

I tried:

• all the default US settings for the locale
• no encryption
• no installing drivers

Result:

INFO: executing vgcreate with [".ffy", "data", "/dev/nvme0n1p2"]
ERROR: partitioning error: failed to commit logical partitions: unable to create volume group "data" on "/dev/mapper/data": vgcreate failed with exit status: 5
ERROR: errored while installing system: failed to commit logical partitions: unable to create volume group "data"...

Then I tried it, cleaning up the partitions in demo mode first:

1. lvremove on the root and swap partitions set up during the previous failed install.
2. fdisk to delete the partitions nvme0n1p1 and nvme0n1p2
3. reboot

then I tried to install with:

• US defaults
• encryption
• no driver installation

Result: error copying packages

As my failed to commit logical partitions error seems similar to #584 and #859 , I also tried the fix from that issue, but got error copying packages again.

[RodrigoFreireDev]

I had the same issue during installation. I checked the ISO, adjusted BIOS settings, switched the USB drive (from 8GB USB 2.0 to 16GB USB 3.0), and tried different partitioning setups — no success.

I noticed that I was flashing the USB using Balena Etcher on Windows. After repeating the same process on Linux (Ubuntu), the installation worked perfectly on both attempts.

This seems to be a recurring issue in the community, especially related to USB drives flashed from Windows.

Suggestion: Try flashing the USB using Balena Etcher, but this time on a Linux system (like Ubuntu), and prefer the simple installation mode before attempting manual partitioning.

I hope I could help you

[NebulaMik3x]

I have yet been able to install v:8, tried at least 50+ times. Used every available usb creator i have found from binary like etcher to deb, dnf, pacman, exe, appimage and flatpak versions. Tried creating a live usb from every available OS on the market and tried every tips and trix in different combinations but haven't been able to install it.. It fails with portioning every time even if i partion my self with custom install.. Have tried with ssd disk and nvme disk,, with and without gpu (amd and nvidia) but no luck on my 2 year old computer.
When i try on my old computer 6-7y old it works to install every time both on ssd and nvme disks but as soon i try in my newer pc it fails every time.. Kinda frustrating error so any idea how i should do??

[RodrigoFreireDev]

Hi, @NebulaMik3x.

I don’t think the issue in your case is the installation file or the USB drive (although I still recommend using Etcher, preferably on a Linux system, at least to format the USB drive).

The “partitioning failed” error during the installation of elementary OS 8 is fairly common on newer computers and, in most cases, is related to the default BIOS settings.

Try the following:

• In the BIOS, locate and disable Secure Boot, as it may be preventing certain actions of the installer.
• Next, disable Fast Boot (it can interfere with hardware detection during installation).
• After that, try running the installation again.

If it still doesn’t work, you can try switching the Boot Mode. This option is usually under Boot > Boot Mode. Change from UEFI to Legacy Boot.

Note 1: Keep the previous settings: Secure Boot disabled and Fast Boot disabled.
Note 2: If you’re creating the partitions manually, try increasing their size a little.
For example: FAT32 partition → at least 512 MB.

[neliavaal]

@cameralibre the initial issue is pretty clear (and the installer is affected at least since 7.0 OS release) to me but lacks the full log entry:

INFO: installing packages: ["grub-efi", "grub-efi-amd64", "grub-efi-amd64-bin", "grub-efi-amd64-signed", "shim-signed", "mokutil", "fwupd-signed", "linux-image-generic", "e2fsprogs", "dosfstools"] INFO: running "chroot" "/tmp/distinst.nINSepC99cI5" "apt-get" "install" "-q" "-y" "-o" "Acquire::cdrom::AutoDetect=0" "-o" "Acquire::cdrom::mount=/cdrom" "-o" "APT::CDROM::NoMount=1" "grub-efi" "grub-efi-amd64" "grub-efi-amd64-bin" "grub-efi-amd64-signed" "shim-signed" "mokutil" "fwupd-signed" "linux-image-generic" "e2fsprogs" "dosfstools" ERROR: configuring chroot error: error installing packages: command failed with exit status: exit status: 100 ERROR: errored while installing system: error installing packages: command failed with exit status: exit status: 100 INFO: Install error: error installing packages: command failed with exit status: exit status: 100

the error indicates that for some reason the packages inside ISO are either missing or broken.
the fix is easy (heh) : make sure the packages are present
UPD
it also can be the apt lists (/var/lib/apt/lists/) is broken (missing or outdated(?)) and despite the packages being present it will throw out the same error: 100.

the partitioning issue (№2) is also a known one - OS can be installed only on a clean drive:
the workaround: boot live system, delete all VGs (sudo vgremove -ffy $(sudo vgs --noheadings -o vg_name)) , install the os.
IDK why it's not fixed for years...

UPD2: the error 6 (I assume) is related to libdistinst bug:

pop-os/distinst#326 and pop-os/distinst#328

UPD3 the error 6 is caused by the installer not being able to deactivate the volume groups on the target disk and the solution is to get rid of them

public void install_with_default_disk_layout (InstallConfig config, string disk, bool encrypt, string encryption_password) throws GLib.Error {
        var disks = new Distinst.Disks ();    
        
    try {

        string[] vgs_cmd = {"vgs", "--noheadings", "-o", "vg_name"};
        string vgs_output;
        string vgs_error;
        int vgs_status;
        
        if (GLib.Process.spawn_sync(null, vgs_cmd, null,
            GLib.SpawnFlags.SEARCH_PATH, null, 
            out vgs_output, out vgs_error, out vgs_status)) {
            
            if (vgs_status == 0) {
                string[] vgs = vgs_output.strip().split("\n");
                
                foreach (string vg_line in vgs) {
                    string vg_name = vg_line.strip();
                    if (vg_name != "") {
                        info("Removing VG: %s", vg_name);
                     
                        string[] vgremove_cmd = {"vgremove", "-ffy", vg_name};
                        string remove_output;
                        string remove_error;
                        int remove_status;
                        
                        GLib.Process.spawn_sync(null, vgremove_cmd, null,
                            GLib.SpawnFlags.SEARCH_PATH, null,
                            out remove_output, out remove_error, out remove_status);
                        
                        if (remove_status != 0) {
                            info("Failed to remove VG %s: %s", vg_name, remove_error);
                        }
                    
                        GLib.Thread.usleep(100000);
                    }
                }
                
                info("Removed %d Volume Groups", vgs.length);
            } else {
                info("No Volume Groups found or error: %s", vgs_error);
            }
        }      
 
        GLib.Process.spawn_command_line_sync("sync");
        
        
        GLib.Thread.usleep(2000000);
        
    } catch (GLib.Error e) {
        warning("Volume Group removal failed: %s", e.message);
 
    }
        default_disk_configuration (disks, disk, encrypt ? encryption_password : null);

        install (config, (owned) disks);
    }