[colug-432] Weird problem: Linux runs fine, but won't install?

[Joshua Kramer]

Hello All,

Has anyone ever encountered hardware that is bad because it'll let you run
Linux just fine (memtest86 passes) but the Linux installer freezes up at
various points and won't run?

I have a Gigabyte motherboard, 1155, with an i3.  A while ago, when I first
put this system together with all new parts (8g ram, one 1T disk), the
installer ran fine, and the box has been running a few VM's since then.

I decided that I wanted to put another disk in the system to have a RAID1
setup, and replace the RAM with 16G.  So I put the new drive and RAM in,
and backed up my data.  Popped in my CentOS 6.5 install DVD, and... I can't
install.  The installer freezes up at various points, usually when it is
first detecting the storage.

I got a new power supply (600w), thinking that the cheapo 400w unit wasn't
delivering enough power.  Same problem.  Put the old RAM back in.  Same
problem.  Disconnected the new disk.  Same problem.  Disconnected the
original disk, connected the new one.  Same problem.  Most recently, I got
another motherboard - an exact duplicate of the first - and, same problem.
(Actually, the first time I installed on the new motherboard, I got past
the "detecting volumes" screen, but realized the partitioning and RAID
wasn't set up how I wanted it, so I cancelled that install.  Subsequent
install attempts result in the same problem as the original motherboard.)

But the OS that is currently on there runs just fine... no kernel panics,
no weird messages in dmesg, etc.

I'm not sure what has failed now that was working the first time I
installed the system.

I also attempted to create a RAID array on the properly-running system by
using sfdisk to clone the partition table to the new drive, then creating a
RAID device and extending the Volume Group to that device, then doing a
pvmove to move the logical volume to the new RAID device.  I used this
guide:

http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/340-lvm-single-drive-to-lvm-raid-1-mirror-migration

Unfortunately, sfdisk does not accurately clone the partition table if the
partitions don't end on cylinder boundaries, which is the case here.  So
the pvmove failed (and probably ate some data).

I think my next step is going to be to put the two hard drives in external
enclosures, plug them into my laptop, and then install the system using
that.  It will probably boot and run just fine after that.  Does anyone
have suggestions as to what else I might do?

Thanks!
-JK
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