highascg

Install HighAsCG to internal disk (Calamares)

Graphical install-to-disk from the live USB stick using Calamares (eggs integration). Use this for a permanent playout machine — not for preparing the USB stick itself.

Related: LIVE_USB_IMAGE.md (build/flash stick), STICK_QUICK_START.md (Windows/macOS stick prep), WO47_ISO_VS_EXFAT.md (exFAT operator data after install).

Launch the installer

From the live session (operator display or SSH):

# Web UI: Settings → Nuclear → Install to disk
# Or:
sudo -n /usr/local/bin/launch-calamares.sh

Requires passwordless sudo for launch-calamares.sh (baked on factory ISO). Calamares opens on :0.

Note: eggs krill (text installer) exists on the eggs build host, not on the live ISO (penguins-eggs is excluded from squashfs). On the stick, use Calamares.

Before partitioning

1. Pick the correct disk

lsblk -o NAME,TYPE,SIZE,MODEL,TRAN,FSTYPE,PARTLABEL

What you see	Install here?
`TRAN=usb`, SanDisk ~57 G, `iso9660`	No — live USB stick
Internal SSD/HDD/NVMe (Kingston, Samsung, `nvme0n1`, SATA `sdX` without `usb`)	Yes

Device letters (sda / sdb) swap depending on USB port order. Use MODEL and TRAN, not the letter alone.

Never install to the stick’s exFAT partition (HIGHASCGEXF, often sda3 on the USB layout). That partition is operator data only.

2. Make the internal disk visible

sudo /usr/local/lib/highascg/probe-internal-storage.sh --check

NVMe missing, dmesg mentions RST/RAID: set BIOS storage to AHCI (not Intel RST/RAID), reboot from USB, confirm nvme0n1 in lsblk.
SATA SSD (e.g. Kingston SKC600): should appear as /dev/sda or /dev/sdb without TRAN=usb.

3. Firmware mode — disable CSM (recommended)

CSM (Compatibility Support Module, also Legacy boot, Launch CSM) lets UEFI PCs boot in old BIOS mode. With CSM enabled, the live USB often boots as Legacy BIOS even though the machine is UEFI-capable. That leads to bios_grub layouts, missing grub-pc on older ISOs, and “The bootloader could not be installed” (error code 1).

Recommended before Calamares:

Enter firmware setup (F2, Del, F12, or Esc at POST).
Disable CSM / set boot mode to UEFI only (wording varies by vendor).
Disable Secure Boot if the stick does not boot (some boards require this for unsigned live ISOs).
Save and reboot; pick the USB entry labeled UEFI: … (not plain USB/Legacy).
Confirm from the live session:

[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo 'Firmware: UEFI — OK for Erase disk' || echo 'Firmware: Legacy BIOS — disable CSM and reboot'

With UEFI boot, use Erase disk and install — Calamares creates ESP + / automatically. You do not need manual bios_grub.

Boot mode	Partition table	Boot slice needed
UEFI (recommended — CSM off)	GPT	EFI System Partition — FAT32, ~300 MiB+, mount `/boot/efi`, flags boot + esp
Legacy BIOS + GPT (CSM on — avoid if possible)	GPT	`bios_grub` — 1–2 MiB, leave unformatted (no filesystem), flag `bios_grub` only
Legacy BIOS + MBR	msdos	Often no extra slice; Calamares Erase disk is easiest

If the firmware shows “missing GPT” or “create an EFI partition” after a failed install, you likely booted Legacy (CSM on) while using a UEFI layout, or skipped ESP / bios_grub in manual layout.

Recommended: Erase disk

Prerequisite: firmware CSM disabled, USB booted in UEFI mode (see §3).

On the Calamares partition page:

Select the internal disk (e.g. KINGSTON …, nvme0n1 — not the USB stick).
Choose Erase disk and install (or equivalent).
Calamares creates GPT, ESP (UEFI) or correct layout for firmware, and ext4 /.
Swap: none (matches ISO defaults).

This avoids manual bios_grub / ESP mistakes.

Manual partitioning

Use Manual partitioning when Windows/other OS partitions must stay, or Erase fails.

UEFI + GPT (most new PCs)

Partition	Size	Filesystem	Mount point	Flags
EFI	≥ 300 MiB (512 MiB is fine)	fat32	`/boot/efi`	boot and esp (set both in Calamares; “EFI System Partition” preset is OK)
root	rest (≥ 32 GiB recommended)	ext4	`/`	(none)

Partition table: GPT. Do not use ext4 on the EFI slice — only fat32 on /boot/efi.

Legacy BIOS + GPT

GRUB on GPT without UEFI needs a bios_grub slice (this is what fixed installs that failed with partition / rsync errors):

Partition	Size	Filesystem	Mount point	Flags
GRUB BIOS	1–2 MiB	unformatted (do not assign ext4/xfs)	(none)	`bios_grub`
root	rest (≥ 32 GiB recommended)	ext4	`/`	(none)

Partition table: GPT.

In Calamares manual editor:

New partition table → GPT (wipes target disk — confirm correct disk).
Add 1–2 MiB partition → leave filesystem unformatted → set flag bios_grub.
Add large ext4 partition → mount /.
Do not mount Windows NTFS partitions; do not use stick sda3 exFAT.

Alongside Windows

Only if you have unallocated space or you shrink Windows deliberately. Prefer manual layout: keep Windows partitions, add ESP + / (UEFI) or bios_grub + / (BIOS) in free space. Do not install / onto an existing NTFS volume.

Swap

Choose none unless you have a specific reason to add swap.

After installation

Remove the USB stick when prompted.
Boot from internal disk (UEFI boot order: internal SSD/NVMe first).
First boot: nodm → Openbox → a “Start operator here / Run headless” window on each screen; Caspar starts once you answer (autostart is an opt-in under Settings → Start-up, WO-645). HighAsCG serves :4200.
Operator exFAT on the stick (HIGHASCGEXF) is optional for updates; internal playout does not require the stick.
The login is casparcg / highascg (public). Open a terminal and run passwd to change it — see DEFAULT_LOGINS.md.

Troubleshooting

Read the log

grep -iE 'partition|unpackfs|rsync|fail|error' ~/.cache/calamares/session.log | tail -40

“Failed to create partition on disk …”

Wrong disk selected, or disk locked (BitLocker).
Manual: missing bios_grub (BIOS+GPT) or ESP (UEFI).
Try Erase disk on the internal drive after backup, or wipefs + new GPT (see below).

`rsync failed with error code 11` / “Failed to unpack filesystem.squashfs”

Rsync exit 11 = file I/O error while copying the ~4 GiB live image to /. Common causes:

/ partition too small (need ≥ ~8 GiB minimum; 32 GiB+ recommended).
/ on wrong filesystem (exFAT/NTFS instead of ext4).
Target is a USB stick partition (sda3 exFAT), not the internal SSD.
Failing SATA cable / SSD errors — check dmesg for I/O errors.

Verify live image on stick:

ls -lh /run/live/medium/live/filesystem.squashfs
unsquashfs -s /run/live/medium/live/filesystem.squashfs

Wipe internal disk and retry (destructive)

Double-check MODEL= your internal SSD, not USB:

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,MODEL,TRAN
# Example: /dev/sdb is Kingston, /dev/sda is USB
sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdX
sudo parted /dev/sdX mklabel gpt

Then run Calamares again with Erase disk on that device.

Calamares shellprocess / exit 127 at end of install

If install fails at the last step with exit 127, the stick ISO may need Calamares shellprocess patches — on stick:

sudo bash ~/highascg/tools/eggs/live-usb/fix-calamares-shellprocess.sh

(Rebuild ISO with latest patch-iso-squashfs-calamares.sh for a permanent fix.)

“The bootloader could not be installed” (error code 1)

Calamares failed running grub-install on the target disk. Read the exact command:

grep -iE 'bootloader|grub-install|grub' ~/.cache/calamares/session.log | tail -40

Check how the USB stick booted:

[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo 'Firmware: UEFI' || echo 'Firmware: Legacy BIOS'
dpkg -l grub-pc grub-efi-amd64 2>/dev/null | grep ^ii
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,PARTTYPE,PARTFLAGS,MOUNTPOINT,MODEL,TRAN

Situation	Fix
CSM enabled — live shows `Firmware: Legacy BIOS`	Disable CSM in firmware, reboot from UEFI: USB entry, Erase disk (ESP + `/`). This fixed bootloader error 1 on several playout PCs.
Legacy BIOS + GPT manual layout	Need 1–2 MiB unformatted `bios_grub` + ext4 `/`. Bootloader target must be the whole internal disk (`/dev/sdX`), not a partition.
Legacy BIOS, log shows `grub-install --target i386-pc` failed	ISO may lack `grub-pc` (older sticks). Preferred: disable CSM, boot USB in UEFI, Erase disk. Permanent: rebuild ISO after `install-grub-for-calamares-iso.sh` + `fix-calamares-shellprocess.sh`.
UEFI boot	Need fat32 ESP mounted `/boot/efi` (flags boot, esp). Do not use `bios_grub` only.
Bootloader installed to USB stick	Wrong disk — pick Kingston / internal in Calamares; `TRAN` must not be `usb`.
Install fails and the bridge partition (`HIGHASCGDAT`) is on the target disk	The kernel refuses to re-read a partition table while any partition on that disk is mounted — even one you left untouched. `launch-calamares.sh` unmounts `~/bridge` and its media bind before starting the installer and remounts them after (WO-475). If you started Calamares by hand instead, release it first: `sudo systemctl stop home-casparcg-highascg-media-bridge.mount home-casparcg-bridge.mount`.
Files copied but bootloader step failed	See manual GRUB recovery below.

On the live stick, apply Calamares patches (includes BIOS grub-pc install step):

sudo bash ~/highascg/tools/eggs/live-usb/fix-calamares-shellprocess.sh

If grub-pc is missing on the stick (dpkg -l grub-pc empty) and you must stay on Legacy BIOS, you need a rebuilt ISO — the squashfs image does not include BIOS GRUB on older builds.

Manual GRUB recovery (install copied, bootloader failed)

Only if Calamares finished unpackfs (system files on internal disk) but failed at bootloader:

# Replace sdX with internal disk; sdX2 = ext4 / ; sdX1 = ESP (UEFI) or bios_grub slice
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT,MODEL,TRAN
sudo mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt
# UEFI only:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi && sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/boot/efi
sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
sudo chroot /mnt bash -c '
  export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
  apt-get update
  apt-get install -y grub-pc grub-pc-bin grub-efi-amd64-signed
'
# Legacy BIOS + GPT (bios_grub present):
sudo chroot /mnt grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdX
# UEFI:
sudo chroot /mnt grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=GRUB
sudo chroot /mnt update-grub
sudo umount -R /mnt

Requires network in the live session for apt-get if grub-pc was not baked into the install image.

“External command finished with errors” / logs-helper exit 1

Often appears at the very end after partition copy, GRUB, and cleanup — the failing step is usually calamares-logs-helper.sh (archives session log to /var/log/installer/ on the target). Eggs’ default helper uses set -ex and aborts if /var/log/syslog or .disk/info is missing on the live session (common on our ISO).

The install may still have succeeded. Check:

grep -iE 'logs-helper|shellprocess@logs|external command' ~/.cache/calamares/session.log | tail -20
lsblk -o NAME,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT,MODEL,TRAN
# If Kingston/NVMe has ext4 + fat32 EFI partitions with data, try booting without USB:
sudo reboot

If only the logs step failed, internal disk boot often works. Remove USB, set firmware to boot internal UEFI first.

On the stick (before retry or for next machine):

sudo bash ~/highascg/tools/eggs/live-usb/fix-calamares-shellprocess.sh

That installs an offline-safe calamares-logs-helper.sh. Rebuild ISO with patch-iso-squashfs-calamares.sh for a permanent fix.

If earlier steps failed (not just logs), session.log will also show bootloader, unpackfs, or mkinitramfs errors — read the full tail:

tail -80 ~/.cache/calamares/session.log

Quick checklist

Firmware: CSM disabled, USB booted as UEFI (/sys/firmware/efi exists)
lsblk — internal disk visible, USB identified
probe-internal-storage.sh --check passes (NVMe/AHCI if applicable)
Calamares target = internal disk, not USB
UEFI (recommended): Erase disk → ESP fat32 /boot/efi + ext4 /
Legacy only (CSM on): 1–2 MiB unformatted bios_grub + ext4 /
Swap none
Root partition ≥ 32 GiB recommended

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