Cannot install Debian 12.1 on VirtualBox

[Piscium]

Installation of Debian 11.7 on VirtualBox works fine. This video shows
the beginning of the process, I press Return on the default first
option, Graphics Install:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tSRFAPvcO6YTkxPPinO0EQjnBMJWAegg/view?usp=sharing

Installation of Debian 12.1 on VirtualBox fails at the beginning of
the process, again I press Return on the default first option,
Graphics Install. Basically the installer gets into a loop with an
issue in X:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OtpFRPxewTOw0iVV-tMQIoM3c7sLSim9/view?usp=sharing

A couple of weeks ago I searched the Debian Forums. Someone there had
the same issue. The solution found was to install 11.7 and then
upgrade to 12.1. I am sure that would work, however I wanted to ask
here if anybody knows another solution. Although I don't have a need
for a fix, it would be nice to know if there is one. This test was
done on a ArchLinux host on the desktop (I run Debian on my server, in
case someone wants to know why I care about Debian!).

[we...@acu.edu]

How about selecting the non-graphical install (one downarrow-press
away, I believe)?

--
Kent

[Piscium]

On Sat, 12 Aug 2023 at 13:16, <we...@acu.edu> wrote:

> How about selecting the non-graphical install (one downarrow-press
> away, I believe)?

I had tried that too. In that case the screen becomes gray and nothing
visible happens. Clearly something changed in Debian itself, because
in these tests I use the same VB vm, I only switch from one iso to the
other and back keeping the rest of the configuration. I am using the
netinst isos, which are the recommended ones.

[we...@acu.edu]

Interesting....

I notice on the video you provided a reference to not finding a virtual
core keyboard, in addition to the xf86SetGamma message. Maybe there's
something in the keyboard and/or USB settings for the VM?

I'm also wondering how much video memory you've given this machine;
perhaps 12 needs more than 11 did?

--
Kent

[Piscium]

On Sat, 12 Aug 2023 at 13:35, <we...@acu.edu> wrote:

> I notice on the video you provided a reference to not finding a virtual
> core keyboard, in addition to the xf86SetGamma message. Maybe there's
> something in the keyboard and/or USB settings for the VM?

There are USB settings in the VB VM configuration, however I believe
that those are to connect the USB devices directly to the VM. I am not
doing anything fancy, it is just normal keyboard input. The keyboard
works because I press Return on it to start the installation, which
fails after that. If the keyboard did not work at all, pressing Return
would do nothing.

> I'm also wondering how much video memory you've given this machine;
> perhaps 12 needs more than 11 did?

For the display, I have allocated the maximum amount of memory allowed
by VB, 128 MB.

P. S. Here is the thread at the forum that I mentioned. In this case
the OP tried to do the non-graphical install and got the grey screen
(the same I get with the non-graphical install). I believe it is the
same underlying issue, only it manifests differently if one tries to
do graphical or non-graphical installation.
https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=155301

[we...@acu.edu]

I see there that he has two possible solutions:

- Install 11, then upgrade to 12, which option you don't care for.

- Install in legacy-boot mode, rather than in UEFI mode.

Is the second option viable for you?

--
Kent

[Piscium]

On Sat, 12 Aug 2023 at 17:40, <we...@acu.edu> wrote:

> I see there that he has two possible solutions:
>
> - Install 11, then upgrade to 12, which option you don't care for.
>
> - Install in legacy-boot mode, rather than in UEFI mode.
>
> Is the second option viable for you?

That was it, EFI! Normally when I install an OS on VB for the first
time, if it does not work with EFI I disable it, or vice versa.
However in this case I created this VM long ago, so it never occurred
to be that it would go backwards, so to speak, from working with EFI
to not working! Oh well, in hindsight it is obvious. Sometimes one
misses what is in front of one's nose! One reason I missed it is
because in my past experience if it does not boot due to EFI or not
EFI, it stops at the very beginning, unlike in this case where I got
to the first screen that has the menu for graphical install, etc.

Thanks for your help. However the root cause is still unknown, why
Debian 11 and some earlier versions can be installed with EFI enabled
in VB but not Debian 12. But I won't worry about that.

[Piscium]

On Mon, 14 Aug 2023 at 12:47, Andrey Dogadkin <adog...@outlook.com> wrote:

> Should you specifically need UEFI next time, an alternative solution
> can be to temporarily disable KVM paravirtualization (default for
> Linux-based guests). It can be reenabled back after you are done with
> installation. See
> https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1036310

Thanks for that! I think I had searched the bug list but somehow did
not find that bug. Glad to know that it has already been reported.
There is plenty of detail in there so no need for me to add to it. I
did a quick test a few minutes ago and can confirm that disabling
paravirtualization fixes the issue, as stated in the last comment in
the bug report. So it is good that there are two workarounds, and this
one is better than disabling EFI in some use cases.