First, let me say that if you're doing a clean/new installation, I'd recommend installing CentOS 7.5 directly (as opposed to, say, installing 7.0 and immediately upgrading to 7.5). 7.0 is almost four years old at this point and your ThinkPad's hardware may be slightly better supported by 7.5.

Anyways, you might consider posting the details (including verbatim error messages, hardware (partitioning) details, etc.) in a new post on the CentOS forums [0] or inquire about the error message on the CentOS IRC channel [1].

Alternatively, if you continue to run into issues with the installation, feel free to reach out to me if you'd like. I'm not associated with either Red Hat or CentOS but I do run a lot of RHEL/CentOS machines (mostly on servers but I do happen to have a ThinkPad running RHEL 7.5 sitting here by me) and I'd be happy to help troubleshoot the issue with you, if necessary.

[0]: https://www.centos.org/forums/

[1]: https://wiki.centos.org/irc

I was trying to bring up a server with CentOS 7.4 a few months ago. Problem is the stupid thing can't persist EFI variables so it can't remember the installer adding an entry for EFI/centos/icantrememberloadername.efi

It seemed that the EFI/boot/bootx64.efi that would get loaded instead (EFI default loader search) couldn't find grub in the EFI/centos folder. It booted fine after I copied the relavent grub files over to EFI/boot, but it seemed like a really kludgy solution. Fine for a single research box, but not for production.

That's very kind, thank you. I'll try your suggestions and will keep your generous offer in mind.

Your intuition is right, your EFI boot menu entries are pointing to the wrong path for GRUB (grubx64.efi).

Basically this problem is because Anaconda (the RedHat / CentOS installer) puts the files in [/boot]/efi/centos/... when you install into a UEFI-capable system, but efibootmgr, the tool that manipulates your laptop's NVRAM to tell the UEFI boot loader what to display/default boot, was being told they're in [/boot]/efi/boot/... That's the standard location on other Linux types (Ubuntu, Arch, etc.) and is being picked up as a default somewhere.

If you patch or upgrade the system subsequent to your initial installation, it can mess this part up (supposedly this was fixed in RH/CentOS 7.4)

You can make a one-time fix using efibootmgr from rescue mode from the installation DVD as pointed out in the linked mailing list post by others.

But my recommendation would be to blow away the existing partitions and try doing it from scratch using 7.5 if you haven't done anything with the system yet.

Awesome! Thank you. I was hoping someone would recognize the problem. Yes, I have nothing invested in the current install (it hasn't even booted), so I was going to take the opportunity to switch to 7.5 anyway.

Any specific reason why you aren't using latest Fedora instead of CentOS?

If you want to stick with CentOS, I would suggest you try with Secure Boot turned off.

> try with Secure Boot turned off

I tried. I don't have the details, but no luck. Thanks.

I had an issue with one of the 7.x upgrades too. There was a weird efibootmgr upgrade as part of.. 7.3 i think it was? Maybe 7.2?

Anyway, here is a thread that I just found that seems to summarize the pain I went through at the time (alas, my path was far more circuitous)...

https://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/2018-January/16786...

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Echoing others, you may have a much easier time installing linux in a virtualbox(.org) vm than doing so onto a laptop as a bare metal install. CentOS is not targeted at desktop use much; if that's your goal and you're new to linux, Ubuntu may be an easier ride. Good luck!

> CentOS is not targeted at desktop use much; if that's your goal and you're new to linux, Ubuntu may be an easier ride.

Thanks. Here's my reasoning regarding my choice of distro, FWIW:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17070970

I'd certainly agree with you in general but ThinkPads are pretty popular at Red Hat (and at their biggest customer) and, as a result, they are probably better supported than other any model of laptops.

I've been running RHEL on a ThinkPad T420 for years without any major issues. It Just Works(tm).

For some reason I can't edit my post. I wanted to write that I know Hacker News is not a technical support forum, but I'm a little stuck so I was hoping some kind CentOS veteran could help or point me to where I can find answers to questions like this one. Thanks!

This may be related to having an older machine that doesn't support EFI boot.

To solve the problem: 1) Create a partition that is of type bios boot (I believe it needs to be 2K) 2) Create a regular boot partition /boot (I recommend ext4 or 3) 3) Create your other partitions per normal.

> This may be related to having an older machine that doesn't support EFI boot.

The machine is a Thinkpad from the last couple of years. It definitely supports UEFI. I'd think it would have to be a very old machine to not support it at this point, or am I misunderstanding something?

May I ask why you chose CentOS for a laptop? You mentioned this was your first Linux install, which makes me suspect you might do better with another Linux distribution. CentOS, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux from which it is derived, is usually used on server hardware and virtual machines. It certainly can be installed on a portable machine, but you will struggle more than you would with a distribution that is optimized for installation on diverse desktop/laptop hardware. You're already struggling with boot loader problems; you'll face display and wireless driver problems after that. There are easier ways to get a working Linux installation onto a laptop.

Good question. I'm aware there are distros with better laptop compatibility and more features, and that CentOS is a bit of an unconventional choice. Here is my reasoning, but I have very limited experienced with the nuts and bolts of Linux and I appreciate any feedback I can get:

I work professionally in IT and one reason I'm installing it is to better learn my way around Linux. RHEL is the most prominent distro in business so CentOS seems the place to start. There's no better way to learn than to keep burning my hand. :)

I did make sure I used a Thinkpad to maximize the chance of a successful, functional outcome with CentOS or any other distro or 'nix. AFAICT, Thinkpads are by far the most popular machines among the developers of the various 'nixes.

One advantage to CentOS, for me, is its stability. I don't want rapid upgrade cycles. I have no need for the latest and greatest; I'm not gaming; I don't even use Bluetooth. Vim and a web browser should work fine regardless of the distro.

Is it your first foray into Unix? If so, it brings joy and a little tear to my eye to see such a properly motivated new user. Joy, as you hit all the right spots for being a good Unix user (Great Editor Holy War notwithstanding), and tear, well, because of systemd, intelligenti pauca. Maybe one day something like OpenBSD will find its way onto your machine. It works great on ThinkPads and doesn't even support Bluetooth!

That's a really nice line of thought. I'm no linux wizard but I've used Fedora for a few years for my laptop so if you want to ever ask about something basic we can exchange contact info.