Unable to install NixOS

Help
1

When I try to run

sudo nixos-install --show-trace

I get a message

[nixos@nixos:~]$ sudo nixos-install --show-trace
building the configuration in /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix...
error: while evaluating the attribute 'config.system.build.toplevel' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/nixos/lib/eval-config.nix:64:5:
while evaluating the attribute 'config' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:236:9:
while evaluating 'mapAttrsRecursiveCond' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/attrsets.nix:296:36, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:171:28:
while evaluating 'recurse' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/attrsets.nix:298:23, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/attrsets.nix:306:8:
while evaluating the attribute 'matchedOptions' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:487:14:
while evaluating 'flip' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/trivial.nix:138:16, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:455:23:
while evaluating 'byName' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:424:25, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:443:21:
while evaluating 'reverseList' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/lists.nix:393:17, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:163:33:
while evaluating anonymous function at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:313:37, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:159:25:
while evaluating 'filterModules' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:303:36, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:314:7:
while evaluating anonymous function at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:307:31, called from undefined position:
while evaluating 'loadModule' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:249:53, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:290:22:
while evaluating 'unifyModuleSyntax' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:318:34, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:255:14:
while evaluating 'applyIfFunction' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:348:29, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:255:59:
while evaluating 'isFunction' at /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/trivial.nix:364:16, called from /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/lib/modules.nix:348:68:
syntax error, unexpected invalid token, at /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix:71:3

I think my configuration.nix is not the problem but I am not sure.
I have done a hash check.
I am not that good in Linux so I donā€™t know what other logs to provide.
Thanks in advance!!!

2

Welcome. Your configuration.nix is the problem: Nix is telling you that thereā€™s something syntactically incorrect on line 71. If you cant tell what it is, can you post your configuration.nix in full or in part?

2 Likes
3

Yep, that was the issue. I have uncommented one theing that was supposed to be commented. Now after I have installed it I cannot boot into the system. I boot to the BOIS settings. I think the bootloader. Here is the GitHub repo for my config GitHub - DokStook/nixos

4

I imagine the lines here arenā€™t present in what you actually installed? Those shouldnā€™t work at all, and nix should complain that the syntax is wrong.

For reference, any configuration options need to be set in between the { and }. Think of it as a JSON object, if youā€™re familiar with that.

As for your boot issue, thereā€™s nothing else obvious from the configuration you shared, though we canā€™t see the hardware configuration part of it. What exactly do you see when the boot happens? Any error messages?

5

So I fixed the first error. I donā€™t have any idea why the second thing is happening. The lines you talked about I have added from DistroTubeā€™s video about the os. I just realised that he is on an older version. And no, I dont see any errors while booting. Straight up boots to BIOS.

Edit: when I get home I will publish the hardware cofiguration.

6

I suspect you likely didnā€™t install NixOS, but quit the installer with an error still present - the lines themselves are correct (although they will conflict with systemd-boot, and will therefore give you an error), they just arenā€™t in the right place.

7

Shameless plug but I created a tool to simplify the whole install process for people that want a ā€œjust worksā€ solution to get up and running with NixOS: GitHub - samuela/nixos-up: The fastest NixOS install there is! šŸŽļøšŸ.

Give it a shot if you like and let me know if anything doesnā€™t work!

3 Likes
8

Hello, thanks for your help! I used your script. It installed the system but without any programs. I tried edditing your config to include some programs but no, nothing is installed. While during the initial install I saw package names like LibreOffice. Also the wifi isnā€™t working. I uncommented the networking.wierless.enabe = true and rebuilt the system

9

Yes, the idea is that your can configure the system with whatever programs you like once NixOS is installed.

10

I got that idea but after I wrote the comment. What could cause the wifi issue?

11

Thatā€™s a good question. IIRC wireless services are turned off by default but I donā€™t remember the reference for that. The place to start is probably the installation section of the manual for those sorts of things.

12

What exactly do you mean by ā€œnot workingā€? As in the installation manual, youā€™ll need to also either set up networkmanager or configure wpa_supplicant.

Which of those do you use, if any? The easiest for someone with no experience, but at least GNOME set up is probably networkmanager, with a config like the one documented here.

If youā€™re setting up a non-graphical system, follow this section a bit further down instead.

Itā€™s probably worth looking at the post-install section from that page in general at this point :slight_smile:

13

Hah, ok I missed that part of the manualšŸ˜…. I thought it was going to be an option in the bottom right like it was on my previous os. Now probably the last issue I will have with the setup: Nvidia Driversā€¦ as the manual suggests I add the needed lines to my configuration (and also updated my github repo). I donā€™t think I will need your help for this. I will try to do itt by myself. If any help is needed I will either start a new thread or reply here again. Thanks again for your and @samuela help

14

No problem @DokStook, happy to help! For NVIDIA drivers I do the following in my /etc/nixos/configuration.nix:

  # NVIDIA drivers, etc.
  nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;
  services.xserver.videoDrivers = [ "nvidia" ];
  hardware.opengl.enable = true;

See also Nvidia - NixOS Wiki for way, way more info!

15

I already did that. After rebuilding and rebooting I get to tty and it stays like that forever. In the previous os I was using (ArcoLinux) I had the same issue and fixed it by changing the display manager from sddm to lightdm. I tried the same thing here too and it didnā€™t work :frowning:

16

Ah yeah that sounds like a display manager issue. Iā€™m running on a server so I donā€™t have those particular issues. I would suggest opening a separate discourse thread/github issue for that. Def seems like the kind of thing someone more knowledgeable than I has probably encountered before!