[lubuntu-users] Three unsuccessful installs of Lubuntu 20.04

[Parke]

Hello, lubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com,

I have used Ubuntu since 2007.  I typically use LUKS to encrypt my
root partition.

I decided to try Lubuntu as I use Openbox as my window manager, and I
have a 2011 laptop that is painfully slow running Ubuntu 20.04.

On Saturday, I performed three installations of Lubuntu 20.04 onto an
Intel NUC.  All three installations failed to boot.  I suspect the
failures were due, at least in part, to my attempts to encrypt my disk
via the Lubuntu installer.

Attempt #1:

At first, I could not find the option to enable encryption.  So I
created a single btrfs partition to be the root partition.  Then, upon
(re)editing that partition, I found the "encrypt" checkbox.  So I
checked it.  The installation completed.  Upon attempting to boot, the
following prompt is displayed on the screen:

    Attempting to decrypt master key...
    Enter passphrase for hd0,gpt2 (<hex_sting>):

However, there was not blinking cursor, and nothing I typed on the
keyboard caused anything to change.  I tried 3 different keyboards.
Pressing enter had no effect.  Pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del would cause a
reboot.

Attempt #2:

Disk GPT partitioned as follows:
    /dev/sda1  bios_boot
    /dev/sda2  /boot  unencrypted ext4
    /dev/sda3  /      luks encrypted btrfs
After the install, I rebooted.  Kernel booted.  Init ramdisk loaded.
The following message then displayed on the screen:

      cryptsetup ERROR: luks-<uuid>: maximum number of tries exceeded

Then, after 30 seconds to several minutes, the message went away and
was replaced with a Busybox initramfs prompt.

Attempt #3:

Using the Lubuntu installer, I selected "erase entire disk".  I then
selected the encryption option.  Install completed.  Upon reboot, the
results was the same as attempt #1.  I could see the following
message:

      Attempting to decrypt master key...
      Enter passphrase for hd0,msdos1 (<hex_string>):

However, nothing I typed on the keyboard (except Ctrl-Alt-Del) had any effect.

----

I would consider myself an experienced Ubuntu user.  I have
successfully used the Ubuntu installer many times to install onto GPT
disks with a "BIOS" partition to hold GRUB, an unencrypted /boot
partition, and an encrypted / (root) partition.

I have also written a shell script so that I can manually install
Ubuntu without using an installer.  If you are curious, the script is
here:
https://github.com/parke/minibuntu/blob/master/minibuntu.sh

I hope you find the above feedback useful.

Cheers,

Parke