Linux – Cannot install CentOS 6.5 using UEFI usb boot

bootcentoslinuxuefi

I am trying to dual-boot CentOS 6.5 on my desktop that is currently running Windows 8.1. I have two storage devices: an SSD that has my Windows installation, and an HDD that has all of my data. Both are formatted using GPT, and Windows boots using UEFI.

I used the CentOS 6.5 live DVD (CentOS-6.5-x86_64-LiveDVD.iso) to create an EFI-bootable flash drive (it does boot properly in EFI mode). I receive an error, however, when CentOS is booting (error is below). I have a 6.4 boot DVD which boots as expected, but it does not boot in UEFI mode and therefore doesn't play nicely with my Windows installation (I have no way to access it, even using rEFInd or any other similar tools). What do I need to do to get the device to boot properly in UEFI mode?

Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!
Pid: 1, comm: init Not tainted 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64 #1
Call Trace:
 [<ffffffff815271fa>] ? panic+0xa7/0x16f
 [<ffffffff81077622>] ? do_exit+0x862/0x870
 [<ffffffff8118a865>] ? fput+0x25/0x30
 [<ffffffff81077688>] ? do_group_exit+0x58/0xd0
 [<ffffffff81077717>] ? sys_exit_group+0x17/0x20
 [<ffffffff8100b072>] ? system_call_fastpath+0x16/0x1b
drm_kms_helper: panic occurred, switching back to text console

Best Answer

The article Problem with installing Centos 6.3 on USB Stick might pertain to your problem :

If you ever face a "kernel panic" issue when trying to boot Centos 6 from your USB stick, this is due to the EFI bootloader not pointing to the root of your USB stick.

To fix this, go under the EFI folder in your USB stick, then find those files ending with *.conf and use a text editor to change the root= to your USB device. In my case, it is some things like live:UUID=UUID_OF_Partition or live:label=Label_OF_Partition

Another note to take care is instead of installing using UNetBootIn or ISO2USB, we can actually use Fedora Live USB Creator. The good thing about using it is that you can find your USB device's UUID under syslinux\syslinux.cfg.

See also this link suggesting adding rootdelay=90 reboot=a,w in grub.cfg.

Check also for BIOS update from the manufacturer of your computer.

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