ERROR: libdistinst: pointer in FFI is null

[dcharles525]

What Happened

When trying to install the os I keep getting the repeated error ERROR: libdistinst: pointer in FFI is null. I have tried different iso downloads (checksumed), usb sticks, usb ports, etc. I also tried unplugging my 3 of 4 hard drives that it won't be installed on in within my desktop. The hard drive has been formatted ext4, but I have t tried unallocated and unformatted. I was able to get it to install just once out of my dozens of attempts, but wanted to have a different hard drive encryption pw, It will sometimes 'recover' but then get stuck at "Configuring The System (35%)" which I waited over 30 minutes to change before assuming it wasn't going to work.

Note I did use the same usb stick(s) to install on my laptop which was a flawless experience.

Expected Behavior

Should install.

Steps to Reproduce

Plug in usb stick to any port, do any formatting, try to install, get errors.

Logs

Platform Information

Custom desktop: Intel i5, 32 gigs of ram, 120gig ssd, nvidia graphics card.

[davidmhewitt]

Could you add a few more details about the exact configuration of how you're trying to install. For example:

• Are you using UEFI or legacy BIOS?
• What language have you selected?
• Are you installing in "Erase full disk and install elementary" mode, or "Custom"?
• Are you using full disk encryption?
• If you're installing manually, what partition layout are you using?

[dcharles525]

@davidmhewitt So after much debugging I found that the error "ERROR: libdistinst: pointer in FFI is null" was due to using the front two usb ports on my machine, using a back usb port seemed to work fine though, the error did show up, but the system recovered as stated above.

I still had the issue of the install seemingly just freezing at 35-70% but then I realized on boot of the installer the kern.log was being spammed with "pcie bus error severity=corrected type=physical layer id=00e5" and "ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol...". Eventually the memory ran out and about at the same time as I was doing the same process slightly differently each time to debug. To resolve this I just added acpi=off to the grub on boot of the installer.

To solve this issue after installing I permently added it to grub, seems to be some issue upstream with Ubuntu. Even though I am typing this from a fresh install of OS 6 on my desktop, there were a few weird things like my graphics were 480p until I installed nvidia drivers despite it working fine on the installer and first boot.

Anyways here is the info you requested:

1. UEFI
2. English (US)
3. Erase full disk and install elementary
4. I tried both, ended up doing no encyption on my desktop
5. N/A

Edit: I do have a Windows install on a different hard drive, which I know seems to cause a ton of issues with folks.

Appreciate all the work you all have put into this, even though it took me a few days to debug, this is an amazing OS.

[beli]

NOTE: See below - it worked on about the fifth try.

I've got the same problem exactly ( install failed with "ERROR: libdistinst: pointer in FFI is null" ) except that it's failed on multiple USB ports on front and back.

1. UEFI
2. English (US, Dvorak)
3. Erase full disk and install elementary
4. No encyption
5. N/A

Additional info:

• Intel Core i5-4570, 16 gigs of RAM, 128 gig SSD
• I too have Windows installed on a different disk, which shows the SSD I'm trying to install elementary OS 6 on as 'healthy'
• the SSD had a working copy of elementary OS 5
• I've used the same pendrive to install Pop OS on my laptop last month

EDIT: Tried a final install on a front USB port and it worked! Logged in and seems fine.