Trying to install CachyOS on a Dell laptop. Downloaded the ISO yesterday.
First attempt, manually setting up some LUKS2 partitions (boot is FAT32, swap and root are LUKS2).
Failed with this log: 8a20a41
2026-04-30 - 16:35:11 [1]: void Calamares::ViewManager::onInstallationFailed(const QString&, const QString&) 2026-04-30 - 16:35:11 [1]: ERROR: Installation failed: "External command finished with errors." 2026-04-30 - 16:35:11 [6]: .. - message: "External command finished with errors." 2026-04-30 - 16:35:11 [6]: .. - details: Command <i>mkinitcpio</i> finished with exit code 2.
Second attempt, tried the default âerase disk optionâ set to ext4. Failed with this log: 0f4099d
2026-04-30 - 17:13:39 [1]: void Calamares::ViewManager::onInstallationFailed(const QString&, const QString&) 2026-04-30 - 17:13:39 [1]: ERROR: Installation failed: "Package Manager error" 2026-04-30 - 17:13:39 [6]: .. - message: "Package Manager error" 2026-04-30 - 17:13:39 [6]: .. - details: The package manager could not make changes to the installed system. The command <pre>pacman</pre> returned error code 1.
Anything that you might suggest to not fail installation ? Ideally with FDE (couldnât figure out how to encrypt the boot partition though). Thanks in advance
For full disk encryption Iâd recommend GRUB as it also encrypts the boot partition
And when it comes the LUKS encryption and all, make sure you choose the erase disk option, it should work better. And ticking the encryption checkbox in the installer should be enough, no need for manual partitioning.
Thanks for the reply.
Duly noted for GRUB.
There is no LUKS option in the filesystem encoding dropdown in the erase disk option in the installer ; and no âencryptedâ button.
Regardless, erase disk failed as well when I picked ext4 from the dropdown (attempt #2 above). So any ideas on that front is also appreciated.
I think you accidentally missed the encryption checkbox, itâs there, and not in the filesystem dropdown menu. Instead, itâs lower, right above the filesystem partition preview rectangular graphic
IIRC the checkbox says âEncrypt systemâ
Iâm also a bit cautious about recommending ext4 for a rolling release distro. Some people like it because it is seen as more âmatureâ but in all cases it makes using a rolling release distro harder. Because snapper integrates with BTRFS for instant roll-back snapshots that can save your installation when a system upgrade causes a regression or having experimented with terminal commands
Nonetheless the installer shouldnât give the option if it breaks, so that may be a bug (not sure if other factors played into it, so Iâm not saying itâs the ext4 option that broke it)
Alright, found the Encrypt System button with your indication, thanks a lot !
Installation went without a hitch this time (GRUB, still ext4, erase disk mode),
However, it doesnât recognize my passphrase at startup (of which I am quite sure). I suspect keyboard shenanigans. Any advice there ?
What is your physical keyboard layout and what did you pick during installation?
My keyboard is French (azerty default), I picked it during installation, but typing into GRUB rescue, it seems like qwerty is used regardless at boot. I tried pretending my keyboard was qwerty (even plugging in a qwerty keyboard I have) and could not resolve the passphrase.
Iâm currently reinstalling to see if it might be an issue with the initial passphrase setup itself, which would be very surprising to me, but you never know.
(thanks for all your help by the way, truly appreciated !)
Edit: finished reinstall, literally copied the passphrase from the âtest your keyboardâ textbox to inspect it, pasted it in the left field of the âEncrypt Systemâ passphrase setup, then typed it by hand in the right field, got a match. So Iâm CERTAIN of my passphrase. I type it in both ways (qwerty and azerty), the qwerty matched the passphrase as it appears in GRUB rescue. Neither way works.
The error given is the same as before:
error: disk/luks2.c: liks2_recover_key:800:Invalid passphrase.
error: kern/disk.c:grub_disk_open:240:disk `cryptouuid/{some big hex hash}â not found
Edit #2: the passphrase works adequately when I boot in via live usb, and unlock the root partition with it. Only the GRUB pre-boot attempt at using this passphrase seems to fail.
I have a similar issue on my latitude 5330 (bought some days ago). A former CachyOS installation with FDE worked just fine. I moved the SSD from an older laptop to this one. M(aybe )arkable difference is that the denial of the encryption password now comes quickly without any delay as the one oft the former installation took several seconds.
As this is my first post here: Big thank you to the CachyOS team!
Not sure, if you still struggle with the issue, but this helped for me:
cryptsetup luksConvertKey --pbkdf pbkdf2 /dev/nvme0n1p4 # encrypted device
I took it from here: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/764872/luks-password-correct-but-not-accepted
It works, but it is not yet the solution.
CachyOS uses grub2 2.14, so this should not be necessary. My guess is the reason why it happens could be found here: Standard Argon2id keys don't work in GRUB 2.14 - #5 by Metam0rph0sis - Support - Manjaro Linux Forum
An issue with memory allocation depending on a device. If someone is intetested I will post my solution if I found one.
To be honest, at this point I gave up on trying to encrypt the boot partition. I set things up with Limine for the bootloader and LUKS for the rest of the disk. At least that works.
Thatâs good honestly. Encrypting the boot partition is kind of hardcore for most people (including myself), especially when doing systemd-boot or Limine is more comfortable to use. And LUKS encryption is a bit odd sometimes because it doesnât work together with the login manager, which can end up as you having to login twice unless you turn on automatic login (which then causes KDE wallet to prompt for keyring unlock for some apps).
I decided to stick with good âol manual OPSEC: keeping the device safe.