[conspire] Or secure boot, or ... Re: 64-bit hardware, UEFI ... maybe the UEFI is 32-bit? Re: Michael Paoli to be @ CABAL ... RE: CABAL ... Debian "blind" install: RE: (forw) issue encountered during installation

[Michael Paoli]

So ... after the last BALUG.org meeting 2022-07-19
https://lists.balug.org/pipermail/balug-announce/2022-July/000321.html
Rick Moen and I were discussing (okay, small meeting - turned out
just Rick and I showed up) ... and
also wee bit of conversation at today's BerkeleyLUG.com meeting
Tom Lopes and I briefly discussed (not so tiny a meeting, but far
from huge) ... anyway, reviewed bit of thoughts and possibilities
more recently discussed and such.
So ... since speech isn't working (may or may not be trivial work-around)
when booting the multi-arch ISO, might be useful to troubleshoot/isolate:
Try the i386 ISO - probably the netboot + non-free firmware one.
Just try a simple near to entirely default install from that, and
bare bones minimal (deselect everthing at the tasksel stage).
If that not only installs fine, but also boots and functions,
with speech 'n all that, that would eliminate secure boot as being
a probable issue, and would make it more likely issue is 32-bit UEFI
on 64-bit hardware.
If that's the case, there may well be ways of dealing with that and getting
speech working and all.
One possibility would be figure out how to fix or work-around the
multi-arch speech issue - should then likely be able to install fine
from that - with 64-bit operating system, but with it automagically
detecting 32-bit UEFI and installing the requisite 32-bit package(s)
for that.

Another ugly but feasible hack.  It's possible to cross-grade Debian from
32-bit to 64-bit.  Not a supported operation, and not exactly trivial,
but it mostly "just works".  I (and others) have fairly well documented
the process, e.g.:
https://wiki.debian.org/CrossGrading
But on a host with 32-bit UEFI, would want to be careful to
not switch the UEFI package(s) that need be 32-bit to work with
the hardware, while changing all other binary packages to 64-bit.

Was hoping I'd get to look at it further this weekend or earlier,
but have been relatively buried under other stuff at present (things
probably get more sane in a week or two when I'm hopefully more caught
up and have more wiggle room and space on my schedule).

Anyway, though I'd at least share some of our thoughts on it, at least
up to current.  I also haven't searched relevant Debian bug reports, or
asked on IRC ... so maybe there's an easy work-around for the issue with
speech on the multi-arch ISO ... or some other fairly easy way of dealing
with that situation.

Anyway, I'll update as relevant when I find more significant/useful
information of relevance.

Oh, another thought that comes to mind - might also try just the
straight 64-bit (amd64) + non-free firmware on the actual penultimate
target hardware - quite possible that hardware doesn't have same
issue/complication, and it may just install fine there.  Perhaps try
a basic minimal default install first - see if that works ... and if so,
then reinstall - on the 2nd pass, doing more of the customizations one
wants, notably LUKs encryption, partition/filesystem layout and such,
otherwise still probably go for quite minimal - especially the tasksel
step - then once that's all installed and updated, then invoke tasksel
to select desired categories to install (e.g. standard tools), and after
that proceed to install any additional desired packages.

If the target network location has lockdown by MAC address, that can be
determined early in process - even from booted install ISO itself.
And if it's fairly straight-forward proxy configuration needed for most
of the relevant Internet access - notably to download software - that's
also fairly easy to configure at install time.

Anyway, might just happen to be much simpler on the penultimate hardware
if that hardware isn't giving us these install glitches.

 From the earlier:

> From: "Michael Paoli" <Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
> Subject: RE: Or secure boot, or ... Re: 64-bit hardware, UEFI ...  
> maybe the	UEFI is 32-bit? Re: Michael Paoli to be @ CABAL ... RE:  
> CABAL ... Debian "blind" install: RE: [conspire] (forw) issue  
> encountered during installation
> Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2022 01:29:40 -0700

> I'm guestimating that wouldn't make a difference ...
> in that I'd think secure boot may prevent it from booting,
> but wouldn't have prevented it from being installed
> correctly.  But if its not too much trouble, may want to
> give it another shot at trying the install again, most
> notably in case I happen to be guessing incorrectly on that point.
>
> As for multi-arch, in case UEFI is 32-bit and system is otherwise
> 64-bit. I've tried several 11.x multi-arch ISOs, including with and
> without non-free firmware, and on virtual (VM) hardware with
> UEFI, thus far I've not gotten any of those to properly come up with
> speech synthesis from the ISO - thus far they all bomb out there ...
> guestimating there's some glitch in their GRUB configuration or
> possibly the installer itself somehow.  But thus far have only tried
> that on VirtualBox VM - haven't tried it on other virtual or physical
> hardware ... so if it's not too much trouble, you might also want to
> try that - will know about immediately if it doesn't work, as it bombs out
> quite early with various text diagnostics and a kernel panic, and no
> speech synthesis at all - so never make it even into the install.
> I'm also thinking to try it on some different VM virtual hardware,
> notably under qemu-kvm, to see if I get same failure in that manner
> also, or not.  But that's as far as I've gotten at this point.
> Also, I haven't tried Debian's various support yet nor checked or
> searched bug reports, to see if there's bug filed on issue I've
> bumped in trying to boot those ISOs with speech synthesis, and/or
> if any such bug reports might also have work-arounds on them.
> I'm guestimating the manner in which it bombs out, including
> earlier in the diagnostic, briefly on the screen, something like
> "file not found" or similar, that it's more likely some issue with
> the ISO, than the (virtual) hardware ... but I may be guessing
> incorrectly.  I also haven't tried < 11.x multi-arch versions to see
> if those have same issue with attempting to boot them with speech
> synthesis.
>
>> From: "David Chan" <chandtw at pacbell.net>
>> Subject: RE: Or secure boot, or ... Re: 64-bit hardware, UEFI ...  
>> maybe the	UEFI is 32-bit? Re: Michael Paoli to be @ CABAL ... RE:  
>> CABAL ... Debian	"blind" install: RE: [conspire] (forw) issue  
>> encountered during	installation
>> Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2022 15:13:39 -0700
>
>>
>> Secure boot disabled, rebooted and still get the same error, should  
>> I reinstall with secure boot disabled, or it doesn't matter?
>>
>> Note 11.3 official and unofficial non-free yield the same result:  
>> installed but would not boot [unable to find boot device]
>>
>> --David
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Michael Paoli <Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2022 2:24 PM
>> To: chandtw at pacbell.net; conspire at linuxmafia.com
>> Subject: Or secure boot, or ... Re: 64-bit hardware, UEFI ... maybe  
>> the UEFI is 32-bit? Re: Michael Paoli to be @ CABAL ... RE: CABAL  
>> ... Debian "blind" install: RE: [conspire] (forw) issue encountered  
>> during installation
>>
>> So, on may way to BerkeleyLUG today
>> https://berkeleylug.com/meetings/
>> And was talking to Tom via Jitsi Meet before I arrived at the  
>> physical location - he suggested another possible issue.  Secure  
>> boot.  May need to disable secure boot in BIOS/CMOS - that may  
>> possibly be the issue that's preventing the installed Debian from  
>> booting on David's hardware, but boots ISO fine.
>>
>> I did today, also try 11.4 multi-arch + non-free firmware.
>> When I try to boot it with speech synthesis (hit "s" from boot
>> menu) on UEFI VM, it fails, but if I change the VM to MBR (disable
>> UEFI) it then boots with speech synthesis fine off the ISO.
>> So, there's some glitch there - I'm presuming with the installer  
>> and not the VM virtual hardware.  Don't know but maybe that  
>> (presumed) bug snuck in on 11.4 or somewhat earlier or multi-arch  
>> or its version with non-free firmware added.  Let me/us know if you  
>> find differently with physical hardware and/or if you find Debian  
>> already has bug reported on this (and perhaps work-around noted no  
>> the bug).
>> Anyway, I may poke at it again in the not-too-horribly-distant  
>> future, but at least thus far today that's what I've got to add.
>>
>> Anyway, if 11.4 multi-arch + non-free firmware doesn't properly  
>> boot with speech synthesis on physical UEFI hardware, maybe check  
>> out the secure boot situation - see if that's disabled in BIOS/CMOS  
>> - if that corrects it, that may be quite simple enough - and maybe  
>> that's all that's needed to get the install to boot okay.  In any  
>> case, the multi-arch ISO
>> 11.4 + non-free firmware ought boot okay with speech synthesis - so  
>> there's probably some bug there - possibly in how config was  
>> updated for the installer on the ISO.  Who knows, maybe 11.3 (or  
>> 11.2 or ...) works fine.
>>
>>> From: "Michael Paoli" <Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
>>> Subject: 64-bit hardware, UEFI ... maybe the UEFI is 32-bit? Re:
>>> Michael Paoli to be @ CABAL ... RE: CABAL ... Debian "blind"
>>> install: RE: [conspire] (forw) issue encountered during installation
>>> Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2022 11:33:07 -0700
>>
>>> Forward progress was made,
>>> but didn't quite get a successful install completed on David's
>>> hardware.
>>>
>>> Shortly after leaving CABAL, a possible explanation occurred to me,
>>> but first, wee bit of background on where we did get to.
>>>
>>> So, to try and approximately match, at least virtually, for myself,
>>> what David was doing/attempting, I set up Virtual Machine (VM, in this
>>> case under VirtualBox) on my laptop (work laptop I'd taken with me).
>>> First to make sure I had audio (notably David being legally blind and
>>> using speech synthesis), I set up VM, and booted Debian Live with the
>>> non-free firmware.  Had some minor issues fiddling with the VM
>>> configuration, but once that was sufficiently squared away, I
>>> confirmed the audio was working and I could hear it from VM onto
>>> physical machine (GUI didn't come up for me for some odd reason, but
>>> from text console, I just found a .wav file, use aplay to play it, and
>>> was able to confirm audio was working as needed).  From there I went
>>> about reconfiguring VM to do a Debian install (from the 11.3 amd64
>>> ("64-bit") netinst ISO (11.4 was released Saturday, but when I'd
>>> checked earlier, 11.4 wasn't yet available as ISO on the mirrors - I
>>> presume they were still catching up - that generally takes some  
>>> hours to about a day or so).
>>>
>>> Anyway, I was able to do a successful install on VM ... but David
>>> wasn't on his physical hardware (I believe it was laptop).  All seemed
>>> fine through the install, but then when reboot time came ...
>>> apparently "nothing" - no audio, and from what David reported on
>>> regarding earlier attempts, apparently the installation would fail to
>>> boot, although it otherwise seemed to have successfully installed.
>>>
>>> In our poking at it a bit more, determined he was on UEFI, and on my
>>> VM I wasn't.  And also easy to tell - even blind:
>>> "To enable speech, pressing 's' (again, followed by return on BIOS
>>> systems but not on UEFI systems)"
>>> https://wiki.debian.org/accessibility#Debian_installer_accessibility
>>> So, David had hardware that was using UEFI.
>>> So I reconfigured my VM for UEFI and reinstalled, again successfully
>>> on the VM with speech synthesis and it coming up and booting fine and
>>> with speech synthesis active upon boot, and also its installation
>>> behavior confirmed that the installer knew it was being installed on a
>>> UEFI system.
>>>
>>> Anyway, bit after leaving CABAL, it occurred to me - I recalled
>>> hearing of some systems that, though the hardware is mostly or
>>> entirely 64-bit, the UEFI subsystem or essential components thereof,
>>> is only 32-bit.  Though one could install 32-bit - e.g. Debian's i386,
>>> that wouldn't be optimal solution - and I recalled hearing more
>>> generally that there's solution or work-around(s) for 64-bit hardware
>>> that has 32-bit UEFI.  Researching a tiny bit on that, looks like
>>> these days on Debian, the solution for that is actually pretty easy:
>>> "Support for mixed-mode systems: 64-bit system with 32-bit UEFI" ...
>>> "The multi-arch installation media" ...
>>> "include the UEFI boot loaders necessary for both i386 and amd64 boot.
>>> By selecting "64-bit install" from the initial boot menu,
>>> debian-installer will install a 64-bit (amd64) version of Debian.
>>> The system will automatically detect that the underlying UEFI firmware
>>> is 32-bit and will install the appropriate version of grub-efi to work
>>> with it."
>>> https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI#Support_for_mixed-mode_systems:_64-bit_sy
>>> stem_with_32-bit_UEFI So, I'd suggest trying that as a next logical
>>> step - that might very well solve the issue - and isn't too difficult
>>> to attempt as a next step.
>>> I'll probably also try it on VM in a bit, to see if it works as
>>> expected ... although on VM, I may have no way to emulate 32-bit UEFI
>>> on otherwise 64-bit hardware.  But I should at least be able to
>>> likewise use that image and do 64-bit OS install - and with it
>>> automagically probing/checking the UEFI and installing the correct
>>> variant, and doing that all through speech synthesis install and that
>>> then also being enabled and functioning upon reboot at the end of the
>>> installation.  Also, I believe network will generally be required for
>>> this type of install, as I believe that multi-arch media is relatively
>>> minimal and will need network to be able to usefully complete the
>>> install ... or maybe there are versions that have more on them? - I
>>> forget - but at some point network will generally be needed anyway,
>>> and also much easier to do the installation and configuration if
>>> network is available at install time - as then the installation will
>>> be configured with the networking in place and operational - thus one
>>> less set of configuration items to do after completion of install.
>>>
>>>> From: "Michael Paoli" <Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
>>>> Subject: Michael Paoli to be @ CABAL ... RE: CABAL ... Debian
>>>> "blind" install: RE: [conspire] (forw) issue	encountered during
>>>> installation
>>>> Date: Sat, 09 Jul 2022 12:12:39 -0700
>>>
>>>> ... and planning to get myself to CABAL I'll likely bring chips and
>>>> the makings for dip.
>>>>
>>>> So, yep, in person + Jitsi Meet.
>>>>
>>>> And to join Jitsi Meet, you don't need anything special, can do it
>>>> all within browser ...
>>>> https://meet.jit.si/CABAL
>>>> or can also just dial in from
>>>> phone for audio only.  The URL has all the options, links,
>>>> number(s) and/or can expand with a click or two to see all the
>>>> relevant numbers.
>>>> US Dial-in: +1.512.647.1431 PIN: 3654 3335 40# For many "smart"
>>>> phones you can put in:
>>>> + 1512-647-1431,3654333540#
>>>> And that generally works automagically dialing in.  Clicking the
>>>> "right spot" on the web page or link from there will also typically
>>>> have such phones automagically dial that.
>>>>
>>>>> From: "David Chan" <chandtw at pacbell.net>
>>>>> Subject: RE: CABAL ... Debian "blind" install: RE: [conspire]
>>>>> (forw) issue	encountered during installation
>>>>> Date: Sat, 9 Jul 2022 08:21:10 -0700
>>>>
>>>>> The Debian blind install has improved since we last did it, now it
>>>>> is just the press of a key,and it is also using software speech
>>>>> instead of the hardware synthesizer
>>>>>
>>>>> I was using the unofficial version that included the firmware, I
>>>>> will download the official version in a bit and we can try another
>>>>> install using that this evening
>>>>>
>>>>> Do I need to download anything, or just click the link to join in
>>>>> the fun?  Talk in a bit, and thanks again
>>>>>
>>>>> --David
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Michael Paoli <Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
>>>>> Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2022 8:09 AM
>>>>> To: chandtw at pacbell.net
>>>>> Cc: conspire at linuxmafia.com
>>>>> Subject: CABAL ... Debian "blind" install: RE: [conspire] (forw)
>>>>> issue encountered during installation
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm intending to at least make it virtually http://meet.jit.si/CABAL
>>>>> to CABAL today ... maybe even in person, as it sounds mightily
>>>>> deliciously tempting:
>>>>> http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2022-July/012114.html
>>>>>
>>>>> In either case, intending to at least also be there virtually, and
>>>>> also see if I can work out doing a proper blind Debian install.
>>>>> Don't think I'll give myself the extra challenge of doing it without
>>>>> watching - as I'm probably not nearly so adept in navigating it by
>>>>> audio - but hoping I can come up with the full sequence/procedure
>>>>> that should work without having to actually look/watch, and
>>>>> hopefully I'll pay quite enough attention listening also, so if
>>>>> there's any procedural or menu glitch or bug in doing a blind
>>>>> install, that I'd also catch and note it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Intending to do it on a Virtual Machine (VM) ... so there may be
>>>>> hardware differences, but other than that, expecting it ought be
>>>>> about the same.  Most of the time I don't even bother or think about
>>>>> audio on a VM - so I'll have to be sure I get that functional too.
>>>>> Even rather surprises me when I happen to discover I have that, as
>>>>> usually I'm not using audio on a VM ...
>>>>> and sometimes catches my by surprise when I find it's there and
>>>>> fully functional ... e.g.
>>>>> like when I fire up a GUI browser under X and play some video that
>>>>> also has audio, or likewise fire up browser and do Jitsi Meet on
>>>>> that within VM and the audio and video are all perfectly
>>>>> operational.
>>>>> I think I did that about a year or two ago on testing out a system I
>>>>> did a Debian install on - plus Debian VM within.
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, should be bit of exercise/experiment for me, as I don't
>>>>> think I've actually run through Debian's blind installation
>>>>> procedures in ... well, many years.  But it ought work smoothly
>>>>> enough.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'll also download relevant ISOs ahead of time, so I should have
>>>>> those available for the VM to use, and mostly avoid excessive
>>>>> network or download needs, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'll update if/when I'll be on my way to go there in person or if
>>>>> that turns out to be my plan.
>>>>>
>>>>>> From: "David Chan" <chandtw at pacbell.net>
>>>>>> Subject: RE: [conspire] (forw) issue encountered during
>>>>>> installation
>>>>>> Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2022 20:02:38 -0700
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am not sure if I can show up in person, since I am in the middle
>>>>>> of a conference that runs on Central time zone, but I can join
>>>>>> virtually though [at least for this month, maybe I can come in
>>>>>> person next month?]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I was able to get speech during the Debian installation, but when
>>>>>> it comes time to reboot it appears some components are missing from
>>>>>> the installation, and it keeps looking for the boot device, and I
>>>>>> wasn't sure if it is because of the SSD or if it is something else;
>>>>>> the ubuntu installed successfully, I just wasn't able to activate
>>>>>> the speech after the install, and I believe there is no option
>>>>>> installing using speech
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --David
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: Michael Paoli <Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2022 6:17 AM
>>>>>> To: David Chan <chandtw at pacbell.net>
>>>>>> Cc: conspire at linuxmafia.com
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [conspire] (forw) issue encountered during
>>>>>> installation
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Let's see ... has been a while - alas, well over a decade - since I
>>>>>> last assisted a user with a Linux installation for blind user.  I
>>>>>> ought practice more - at least once in a while, make sure it works,
>>>>>> or at least mostly does so, and get myself at least a bit more
>>>>>> familiar with the procedure.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Peeking at some Debian documents, e.g.:
>>>>>> https://wiki.debian.org/accessibility#Debian_installer_accessibilit
>>>>>> y It seems it should mostly "just work" - though there are at least
>>>>>> some specific steps to be followed along the way - e.g. notably
>>>>>> activating speech during install.  Anyway, I'm also much more
>>>>>> familiar with Debian than Ubuntu ... though I'd guestimate Ubuntu
>>>>>> would be relatively similar ... ish?  But don't think I've ever
>>>>>> attempted that with Ubuntu, and I'd guestimate likely that support
>>>>>> is better on Debian.  Perhaps you'll make the next CABAL meeting.
>>>>>> If so, perhaps let us know in advance.
>>>>>> I might make it to the next CABAL meeting.  And also of relevance,
>>>>>> the conspire list, if you've not joined:
>>>>>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/conspire
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyway, also, my guestimates where things might've gone sideways or
>>>>>> failed with the earlier installation, etc. attempts - I comment
>>>>>> in-line further below:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> From: "Rick Moen" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
>>>>>>> Subject: [conspire] (forw) issue encountered during installation
>>>>>>> Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2022 23:44:08 -0700
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sending so more folks look at this.  I've just clarified to David
>>>>>>> that the next CABAL event will be July _9th_.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ----- Forwarded message from David Chan <chandtw at pacbell.net>
>>>>>>> -----
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2022 21:42:43 -0700
>>>>>>> From: David Chan <chandtw at pacbell.net>
>>>>>>> To: installers at linuxmafia.com
>>>>>>> Subject: issue encountered during installation
>>>>>>> Reply-To: chandtw at pacbell.net
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I am not sure if I can make it in person next Saturday, is there
>>>>>>> still virtual meeting option available?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I believe virtual will also be available again - in more recent
>>>>>> many months, generally in-person - with proof of vaccination - has
>>>>>> been available, and also virtual - which started during the pandemic.
>>>>>> Watch the conspire list for confirmation and URL - but I'm also
>>>>>> guesmating the URL for virtual will likely be the same.  And the
>>>>>> archives are open to the public, so anyone can read postings, even
>>>>>> if they're not a member of the list.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Blind user that uses a screen review package called 'speakup'
>>>>>>> which is usually in a kernel module but is sometimes done as a
>>>>>>> kernel patch
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Attempted installation on a Toshiba Satellite CT55 with a Samsung
>>>>>>> 500G SSD
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> With ubuntu server 22.04LTS, OS install was successful, and I can
>>>>>>> see the module was loaded:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As for Ubuntu, Ubuntu-Server would be a good choice for blind, as
>>>>>> it forgoes the ewey GUI stuff, and, at least last I checked, the
>>>>>> installer for Ubuntu-Server is essentially the Debian installer
>>>>>> plus some modest Ubuntu customizations - probably most notably for
>>>>>> many is different color scheme - but there are some other modest
>>>>>> differences too.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> # modprobe speakup_soft
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The 'espeakup' package is then installed to make the computer talk:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> # Apt-get install espeakup
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> However, there was no speech after the install of the package
>>>>>>> finished, and I am unable to figure why it is not talking - maybe
>>>>>>> the firmware driver is incorrect?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not sure, but one thing I might guess as a possibility, and I've
>>>>>> sometimes run across this with Debian installs, and have seen what
>>>>>> looks to be same or similar from at least some fair number of user
>>>>>> installs of, notably Debian, but Ubuntu may be quite similar in
>>>>>> this particular regard.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyway, often on a fresh install, I find folks complain of no audio.
>>>>>> And terse summary of my response is generally along the lines of:
>>>>>> "Volume?"
>>>>>> Most notably, as often I find/observe/hear that at least by
>>>>>> default, though the audio typically installs fine, it often
>>>>>> initially defaults on a fresh new install to having the volume
>>>>>> levels start out set to zero.  So sometimes it's a mere matter of
>>>>>> turning up the volume in relevant configuration and/or controls.
>>>>>> At least that's the most common issue I see with "no sound" on a
>>>>>> fresh Debian installation - and may well be likewise for Ubuntu.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Switched to Debian 11.3, choose 's' for speech at the selection
>>>>>>> prompt, the talking installer starts, and the installation process
>>>>>>> was successful, the CD drive spits out the disk, and hit return to
>>>>>>> reboot
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Yes, Debian, a fine selection - and my favorite distro.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> However, after the reboot, the laptop was unable to detect the OS
>>>>>>> - apparently the files needed to boot were somehow not installed
>>>>>>> [I switched to tty2 and looked around before rebooting after
>>>>>>> installing again, and see the boot folder was missing]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So, I'm guestimating some step was likely missed during install.
>>>>>> Unlike some other distros - and even installers - with the Debian
>>>>>> install - at least using the Debian installer - when it comes to at
>>>>>> least the critical parts that overwrite stuff on drive, it defaults
>>>>>> to not doing so.
>>>>>> So, e.g. typically doing things such as writing the partition table
>>>>>> out, writing the boot information to the drive, etc., will often
>>>>>> default to no, or not pick the device automatically - but give
>>>>>> option of devices, on where to write the boot information.  So, if
>>>>>> one misses one of those steps, one could easily end up with an
>>>>>> install that isn't bootable.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However, if one's already done most all the install work, and might
>>>>>> prefer not to repeat that, may also be relatively easy to fix.
>>>>>> Doing a "rescue" mode boot from ISO, one can often fairly easily
>>>>>> repair a situation like that - notably adding or even otherwise
>>>>>> fixing missing or broken boot bits, without need to reinstall.
>>>>>> And, at least from what I seem to gather glancing through some
>>>>>> relevant Debian documentation, looks like Debian, at least now,
>>>>>> also well supports running "rescue"
>>>>>> mode from fairly common install ISOs, and well supports, e.g.
>>>>>> speech, and other accessibility capabilities there too - quite
>>>>>> similar to when doing install - just slightly different set of
>>>>>> actions to instead go into rescue mode.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Any suggestions & help appreciated, thank you very much for
>>>>>>> looking
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Some additional resources one may wish to consider or utilize,
>>>>>> Debian does also have excellent lists and support.  Might even be
>>>>>> able to search out an answer there or other useful information.
>>>>>> Debian also has pretty darn good live interactive support on IRC,
>>>>>> that can be a quite good resource - I usually find it very good for
>>>>>> faster and/or interactive response/information, when the issue or
>>>>>> matter isn't too horribly complex or rare, etc.  Also, the Debian
>>>>>> IRC stuff is publicly logged, so, e.g. if an answer or useful
>>>>>> response comes later after one has dropped off, can often review
>>>>>> the IRC logs to pick up that information later.  Anyway, IRC there
>>>>>> might be well suited to, e.g. help one go through rescue mode,
>>>>>> examine and repair the current situation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyway, yes, there is also CABAL coming in near future - let us
>>>>>> know, preferably at least wee bit ahead of time, if you'll be
>>>>>> coming
>>>>>> - and in-person, or virtual, and what issues you may still be
>>>>>> facing at that time ... or maybe you'll update to let us know all
>>>>>> has been solved by then ... and it's a cool meeting/event to attend
>>>>>> in any case ... and yummy food if one makes it in person.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Oh, might also be good to let us know, if you continue to have
>>>>>> issues, if you're doing UEFI or MBR install, and if you know if the
>>>>>> hardware supports just one, or both, and if both, which method
>>>>>> you've used on installation.  And thanks for providing the hardware
>>>>>> information - that's important, and we may also be able to figure
>>>>>> out that and/or other relevant information based upon knowing  
>>>>>> what the hardware is.