I’ve been using tails OS for a few years already and have manually upgraded my USB stick a few times but this is my first time encountering this problem. My USB stick has Tails 6.17 on it and I’ve been trying to manually upgrade it to Tails 7.8.1. The installation of Tails 7.8.1 onto a USB stick itself isn’t a problem, my problem is having it boot on my pc. For some reason, my old tails can boot on my pc without a problem but the new tails just won’t boot. I get a “Missing OS” error everytime I try and I’ve already used 3 different USB sticks to see if I can get any of them to boot.
I figured that maybe the problem is that the pc I used is very old so I tried to boot Tails 7.8.1 on my newer pc. This time I finally get to the boot menu but I end up on a black screen when I try to run it (See Boot Message below). I did a quick search on what SGX was and enabled it in the BIOS but I still get the same boot message. I’m not sure how else I can manually upgrade my old tails…
Boot Message
Booting ‘Tails 7.8.1’
Loading the Linux kernel…
Loading the initramfs…
Booting…
[Screen clears]
x86/cpu: SGX disabled or unsupported by BIOS.
hid-generic [the hid]: No inputs registered, leaving
[Black screen]
The SGX line is usually not the real error; it often appears on machines that boot fine. I’d first verify the Tails image checksum, then recreate the USB with the recommended tool and try both UEFI/legacy boot modes if the machine offers them. Since 6.17 boots but 7.8.1 does not, also check whether Secure Boot or graphics mode changed. On the black-screen machine, try the troubleshooting mode from the Tails boot menu if it is available, and note the exact GPU model when reporting it.
Tails 7.8.1 image downloaded and verified (I followed this guide and verified the image using the “Select your download to verify” button), I got the “Verification successful! (tails-amd64-7.8.1.img)” message. Rufus was used to create the bootable USB by following the same guide. Still can’t run 7.8.1 on my old pc (“Missing OS” error).
| Action |
Old Computer |
New Computer |
| Boot Tails 6.17 |
Works Fine |
Black Screen (After selecting mode on GNU GRUB screen) |
| Boot Tails 7.8.1 |
“Missing OS” error |
Black Screen (After selecting mode on GNU GRUB screen) |
| Check Graphics Card |
GTX 980 Ti |
RTX 3090 Ti |
| Check BIOS Mode |
Legacy+UEFI (On BIOS), UEFI (On Sys Info) |
UEFI |
| Check Secure Boot |
Off |
On |
I’m not sure what you mean by graphics mode but both computers are using one 1080p monitor with their respective GPUs.
I ran 7.8.1 on troubleshooting mode on the new computer but the only line that seems related to the graphics card is “nouveau 000:01:00.0: NVIDIA GA102 (b72000a1)”.