[SOLVED] mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

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[SOLVED] mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby magfan » May 3rd, '18, 15:18

On one of my UEFI systems I want to install mga6. This system has several disks (sda, sdb, sdc, nvme0n1) and does not support booting from nvme disks. The EFI partition is /dev/sdc1, the new boot partition is /dev/sdc4. The new system will be installed on /dev/nvme0n1p3. The installation succeeds until the step when I have to choose the booting device. I will be offered only one single choice: /dev/sda which is wrong. But there is no other choice. If I click on the dropdown button the option changes to "EFI system partition" which is not better but cannot even be undone. The installation fails because grub cannot find an EFI directory. But the generated entries in grub.cfg seem to be ok if (hd2,gpt4) is really /dev/sdc4:

Code: Select all
menuentry 'Mageia' --class mageia --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os --unrestricted $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-36349afb-c3d7-415e-9ddb-0f3206aeeed7' {
   savedefault
   load_video
   set gfxpayload=auto
   insmod gzio
   insmod part_gpt
   insmod ext2
   set root='hd2,gpt4'
   if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
     search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd2,gpt4 --hint-efi=hd2,gpt4 --hint-baremetal=ahci2,gpt4  1595fcd8-8138-4b3b-98de-2a8abc28569f
   else
     search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1595fcd8-8138-4b3b-98de-2a8abc28569f
   fi
   linuxefi /vmlinuz-4.14.30-server-3.mga6 root=UUID=36349afb-c3d7-415e-9ddb-0f3206aeeed7 ro   nokmsboot splash quiet noiswmd resume=UUID=26c92a5c-0d1f-4a8b-9ab3-d34cf6f0c90f audit=0
   initrdefi /initrd-4.14.30-server-3.mga6.img
}


Code: Select all
# blkid /dev/sdc1
/dev/sdc1: UUID="1E7E-90C2" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="2a75e560-2eaf-490a-ae5f-56d188cad02f"
# blkid /dev/sdc4
/dev/sdc4: UUID="1595fcd8-8138-4b3b-98de-2a8abc28569f" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="8c27edc0-a5d8-4698-aebe-bc018b0d6868"
# blkid /dev/nvme0n1p3
/dev/nvme0n1p3: UUID="36349afb-c3d7-415e-9ddb-0f3206aeeed7" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="fdbb9840-a4b6-44bf-8e84-3fb2d1d77699"


How can I force the installer to select /dev/sdc as boot device?
Last edited by magfan on May 9th, '18, 09:03, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby gohlip » May 3rd, '18, 19:17

How can I force the installer to select /dev/sdc as boot device?

I don't think we can force installer or even the system to do that.
The boot device must be the nvme device.
However I think we can force $esp to be in the nvme device instead of the current sdc1.

But to be clear, we need to be sure of the following.
Please provide (after booting into sdc4 M6) the following from the terminal (as root)

parted -l
efibootmgr -v
blkid
findmnt -s
findmnt /boot/efi


Note 'parted -l' is small 'L' and provide complete data from all disks.

ps: to explain ahead, what we need to do is to
1. unmount current $esp
2. change fstab to nvme p1 as $esp
3. mount nvme p1 as /boot/efi
4. grub-install to new nvme p1 as $esp
6. Verify again 'efibootmgr' it is in bootentry and top of bootorder.

Also, let us know computer make and model. Some uefi implementations are screwy in some systems.

[EDIT] - A reminder that Mageia does not like its fstab changed.
In the past, a simple change of swap uuid in fstab (after some other distro installs re-arrange the swap uuid) makes Mageia unbootable'
You may want to re-consider if you think you want to take this risk.
I'd recommend you do not proceed..
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby filip » May 3rd, '18, 20:25

gohlip wrote:[EDIT] - A reminder that Mageia does not like its fstab changed.
In the past, a simple change of swap uuid in fstab (after some other distro installs re-arrange the swap uuid) makes Mageia unbootable'
You may want to re-consider if you think you want to take this risk.
I'd recommend you do not proceed..

Thank you gohlip for nice recommendation. I have something to add though.
I edited fstab manually many times. Of course UUID's have to match and nofail option sometimes makes sense there too.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby magfan » May 3rd, '18, 21:51

@gohlip:
after booting into sdc4 M6


That is exactly what I cannot do.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby benmc » May 3rd, '18, 22:27

during the partition setup section of the installer,
do you choose custom disk partitioning (likely) and then choose your /boot/EFI partition? (sdc1)

note the "/EFI" not "/efi"
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby gohlip » May 4th, '18, 02:48

magfan wrote:@gohlip:
after booting into sdc4 M6

That is exactly what I cannot do.


Ok, understood. Then boot into a livecd and at livecd terminal.

mount sdc4 as /mnt
mount sdc2 as /mnt/boot
mount /nvmep1 as /mnt/boot/efi [1]
sudo grub-install --target=x86 xxxxxxxxxx --boot-directory=/mnt/boot --efi-directory=/mnt/boot/efi xxxxxxxxxxxxxx--bootloader-id=mageia
sudo efibootmgr -c -d /dev/nvme -p 1 -L "mageia" -l "\EFI\Mageia\grubx64.efi"
sudo cp /boot/efi/EFI/mageia/grubx64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/boot/bootx64.efi

Then at file manager, amend fstab of sdc4 to remove sdc1 as esp and add nvmepa as $esp.

ps: if you want to go through with it (again at your own risk with magaia fstab modification), let us know.
I need to review the commands to be sure and after we get your output needed from livecd termainal

[EDIT] - And if using Mageia livecd, at livecd, install packages like efibootmgr, dosfstools, grub-efi, etc.. first because mageia livecd does not have these.
But you can safely use other linux livecd as other linux livecd have these in them. grub will apply in whatever distros.

[1] yes, mageia uses /boot/EFI you can use /boot/EFI or /boot/efi, but stick with it all the time.
The rest of linux world uses /boot/efi; your choice, I use /boot/efi and sudo and... but stick with it.
Oh.. grub2-install, /boot/grub2/xxx instead of grub-install, boot/grub/xxx...etc.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby arnesp » May 4th, '18, 21:56

magfan wrote: If I click on the dropdown button the option changes to "EFI system partition" which is not better but cannot even be undone.


This is the correct value for an UEFI install. The installer should map this to /dev/sdc1 in your case (at least as long as this is the only EFI partition in this system).

gohlip wrote:The boot device must be the nvme device.


@gohlip:
What is the reason for this restriction? It does not seem to apply to my Intel NUC system with nvme disk.
I have no problem installing and booting MGA6 with / on nvme and and /boot as well as /boot/EFI on a USB disk. (using the classic installation ISO on a USB stick)
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby gohlip » May 5th, '18, 05:41

arnesp wrote:
gohlip wrote:The boot device must be the nvme device.

@gohlip:
What is the reason for this restriction? It does not seem to apply to my Intel NUC system with nvme disk.
I have no problem installing and booting MGA6 with / on nvme and and /boot as well as /boot/EFI on a USB disk. (using the classic installation ISO on a USB stick)



Good to hear. It's the first time I hear of a $esp partition outside of a nvme device.
Perhaps yours is a special case (having NUC motherboard) which is a small-form computer system.
Does it have windows in it? And its $esp in the nvme partition?
Perhaps newer uefi firmware would allow for $esp outside nvme.

I agree that computer systems should allow users to set $esp wherever they want it to be.
My non-nvme system has 3 disks, each having at least 3 $esp's. Works fine.
Oh.. one $esp for windows, one for linux, one for refind and systemd-boot, and one for my own grub (not OS-dependent).

Thanks for sharing, tell us if it has windows, ya?
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby filip » May 7th, '18, 08:07

gohlip wrote:[EDIT] - And if using Mageia livecd, at livecd, install packages like efibootmgr, dosfstools, grub-efi, etc.. first because mageia livecd does not have these.

I guess you should report this as bug to isobuilders.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby gohlip » May 7th, '18, 15:18

filip wrote:
gohlip wrote:[EDIT] - A reminder that Mageia does not like its fstab changed.
In the past, a simple change of swap uuid in fstab (after some other distro installs re-arrange the swap uuid) makes Mageia unbootable'
You may want to re-consider if you think you want to take this risk.
I'd recommend you do not proceed..

Thank you gohlip for nice recommendation. I have something to add though.
I edited fstab manually many times. Of course UUID's have to match and nofail option sometimes makes sense there too.


Well, it's good to hear it works for you.
It did not for the OP here viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12288.
You could have told him how to fix it at that time. Neither did it worked in the several links in that post either.
So over here, it's best to warn the OP about the possible hazards of modifying fstab in Mageia.

filip wrote:
gohlip wrote:[EDIT] - And if using Mageia livecd, at livecd, install packages like efibootmgr, dosfstools, grub-efi, etc.. first because mageia livecd does not have these.

I guess you should report this as bug to isobuilders.


As shown here viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11973 and much earlier here viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11755, I advised doktor5000 (wrongly, thinking our livecd had those packages - it can't even do a simple 'configfile'), the Mageia livecd { I don't keep livecd's after they are installed} obviously does not have the relevant packages (including grub2), so doing a repair through livecd needs the packages to be installed first before doing the repairs.

As for filing a bug report, I've PM the grub developer for M7 and requested these to be included, the packages weighing about 2 MB. I assure you I do not get the impression it is a bug but is the way Mageia wants to make the livecd. Perhaps it is more appropriate that you take it up with the developers rather than asking me to file a report.

I need to add, if I give the wrong impression, I am much happy with Mageia and particularly the people here. I know I might be a bit 'strong' in pushing for things to be done and I do show my disappointment. And I guess you would not disapprove.

ps: one other thing... 8-)
If we do not want to use dolphin as root (I agree)
Why do we open terminal as root ( su -), can't we use sudo?
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby doktor5000 » May 7th, '18, 18:25

gohlip wrote:If we do not want to use dolphin as root (I agree)
Why do we open terminal as root ( su -), can't we use sudo?

Sure you can use sudo, nobody is preventing you to do so - it just needs to be configured first.
If you're talking about configuring sudo by default, feel free to submit this as mga7 feature: https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Category:Pro ... ureMageia7
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby arnesp » May 8th, '18, 15:04

gohlip wrote:
arnesp wrote:
gohlip wrote:The boot device must be the nvme device.

@gohlip:
What is the reason for this restriction? It does not seem to apply to my Intel NUC system with nvme disk.
I have no problem installing and booting MGA6 with / on nvme and and /boot as well as /boot/EFI on a USB disk. (using the classic installation ISO on a USB stick)



Good to hear. It's the first time I hear of a $esp partition outside of a nvme device.
Perhaps yours is a special case (having NUC motherboard) which is a small-form computer system.
Does it have windows in it? And its $esp in the nvme partition?
Perhaps newer uefi firmware would allow for $esp outside nvme.


No MS Windows on the NUC.
I have no idea if the restriction applies to MS Windows boot, but from my (admittedly limited) knowledge of UEFI and GRUB2, I don't understand why it should apply to UEFI grub2 boot of linux.

My (possibly false) assumptions are:
- UEFI firmware only needs to access the EFI partition (dev/sdc1).
- UEFI firmware will hand over to grub2, which only needs to access the boot partition (/dev/sdc4)
- grub2 will hand over to the kernel, which can load NVME modules from initrd, enabling a switch to the root partition (/dev/nvme0n1p3).

What am I missing?

Anyway, as I understand the original post, the failure occurs already during grub installation.


@magfan
Could you provide more details about the failure like:
exactly when does the failure occur ?
what is the exact failure message ?
which install media are you using ?
did you use the approach described by benmc above ?
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby gohlip » May 8th, '18, 16:35

arnesp wrote:
gohlip wrote:
arnesp wrote:
No MS Windows on the NUC.
I have no idea if the restriction applies to MS Windows boot, but from my (admittedly limited) knowledge of UEFI and GRUB2, I don't understand why it should apply to UEFI grub2 boot of linux.

My (possibly false) assumptions are:
- UEFI firmware only needs to access the EFI partition (dev/sdc1).
- UEFI firmware will hand over to grub2, which only needs to access the boot partition (/dev/sdc4)
- grub2 will hand over to the kernel, which can load NVME modules from initrd, enabling a switch to the root partition (/dev/nvme0n1p3).

What am I missing?

Anyway, as I understand the original post, the failure occurs already during grub installation.



Lenovo, if we recall, had an arrangement with Microsoft such that only Microsoft would boot up.
In some Lenovo models that have this arrangement, there is no way to set a efi entry for any Linux OS (save those using Microsoft keys aka shim). And thus unable to install any other OS.
However if windows is removed (totally - including windows efi files), then it becomes possible to install linux OS's there.

And as said, you are the first I know who had an $esp outside of the nvme device. So I wonder if you too do not have the windows OS.
Not saying that you cannot install linux OS if you have windows, because I don't know. I'm asking to add to my understanding.

In all the cases I know (except yours), setting up an $esp outside of nvme device will cause the installation to fail or OS won't boot up after installation.
In those cases, resetting the $esp to the nvme $esp (from outside nvme) will remedy the situation.

Just to repeat what the OP said, he/she just cannot select the nvme $esp at installation. Selecting the $esp at sdc1 (not nvme) causes the installation to fail (as per expectation).
We are not at the point of talking about nvme modules in the intrd files. Grub 2 is not called at this point.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby arnesp » May 8th, '18, 18:59

gohlip wrote:And as said, you are the first I know who had an $esp outside of the nvme device. So I wonder if you too do not have the windows OS.
Not saying that you cannot install linux OS if you have windows, because I don't know. I'm asking to add to my understanding.


I bought my NUC without any OS installed, so no Windows.

gohlip wrote:Just to repeat what the OP said, he/she just cannot select the nvme $esp at installation. Selecting the $esp at sdc1 (not nvme) causes the installation to fail (as per expectation).


The OP did not state a wish to put the EFI partition on nvme, the OP tried to use /dev/sdc1.
I don't understand why it is to be expected that the installer should fail to "find an EFI directory", just because the root partition is on an nvme device and the EFI partition is not.

Also I is am trying to add to my understanding, so a reference to a more technical explanation for the restriction would be nice.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby gohlip » May 9th, '18, 07:23

arnesp wrote:Also I is am trying to add to my understanding, so a reference to a more technical explanation for the restriction would be nice.


Yes, I too would like to know. The trouble is, there is no 'official' or credible websites that states the $esp has to be on the nvme device.
All I know is that for those who 'inerrantly' installs the $esp not to nvme, resetting the $esp back to the nvme device remedies the situation.
BTW, neither is there any mention in 'official websites' that (some) uefi Lenovo cannot install [1] other linux OS when a windows OS is present.



[1] - without convoluted manoeuvring - (faking linux grubx64.efi as windows bootmgfw.efi)
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby magfan » May 9th, '18, 09:02

Finally it is working! After several attempts of re-partitioning disks and installing mga6 from DVD I discovered something strange. When pressing Ctrl+Alt+F3 at the end of the installation process - just before rebooting - I found out that the installer left /mnt/boot/EFI empty! Maybe there was a problem with my mga6-iso-image?

So, the solution was to run
Code: Select all
sudo grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi --boot-directory=/mnt/boot --efi-directory=/mnt/boot/EFI --bootloader-id=mageia
manually. Besides I could not place $ESP on the nvme disk. So, the final working configuration for my system is: /boot/EFI on /dev/sdc1 (was already present), /boot on /dev/sdc3 and everything else on nvme disk.

Thanks a lot for your helpful comments.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby martinw » May 9th, '18, 23:10

Sorry this is O.T., but I feel it needs a reply...
gohlip wrote:As shown here viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11973 and much earlier here viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11755, I advised doktor5000 (wrongly, thinking our livecd had those packages - it can't even do a simple 'configfile'), the Mageia livecd { I don't keep livecd's after they are installed} obviously does not have the relevant packages (including grub2), so doing a repair through livecd needs the packages to be installed first before doing the repairs.

As you've already been told, the Live ISOs do contain the necessary packages - they just aren't installed by default (because when the ISOs are built, it's not known which of grub2 or grub2-efi is needed). Is it really so hard to type 'urpmi grub2' or 'urpmi grub2-efi' ?
gohlip wrote:As for filing a bug report, I've PM the grub developer for M7 and requested these to be included, the packages weighing about 2 MB.

No, you PM'd me. I am not the grub developer - I just build the Live ISOs. And your request was for extra grub2 modules to be included (not packages), to support booting other systems from the grub2 command line. Your original request was for all grub2 modules to be included, which is quite a lot more than 2MB. I told you I would include the modules necessary for booting other systems on the Mageia 7 Live ISOs, even though that is not really the intent of the Live ISOs.
gohlip wrote:I assure you I do not get the impression it is a bug but is the way Mageia wants to make the livecd. Perhaps it is more appropriate that you take it up with the developers rather than asking me to file a report.

I need to add, if I give the wrong impression, I am much happy with Mageia and particularly the people here. I know I might be a bit 'strong' in pushing for things to be done and I do show my disappointment. And I guess you would not disapprove.

If you want changes, you need to communicate with the developers - nobody else. Complaining in the forum is not going to achieve that. File an enhancement request in Bugzilla, post to the dev mailing list, or best of all, join in the development work yourself. That's what I did.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby gohlip » May 10th, '18, 07:30

martinw wrote:Is it really so hard to type 'urpmi grub2' or 'urpmi grub2-efi' ?

As said in my posts, we need to install the packages at livecd. Hard? Maybe not. But who'd would think it would need to be installed?
You also forgot efibootmgr and dosfstools. And would a typical user (not developer) know he/she needs these packages?
doktor5000 is an accomplished mageia user. Does he know that? I don't.

martinw wrote: I am not the grub developer - I just build the Live ISOs.

So we are playing bureaucracy here? Or being pedantic?


martinw wrote: And your request was for extra grub2 modules to be included (not packages), to support booting other systems from the grub2 command line. Your original request was for all grub2 modules to be included, which is quite a lot more than 2MB. I told you I would include the modules necessary for booting other systems on the Mageia 7 Live ISOs, even though that is not really the intent of the Live ISOs.


So how heavy are these modules? Last I check on other distros, they weigh 2.5 MB. So 'about' 2 MB is technically wrong? And if the modules are included, what is the intent? And why the need for installing (urpmi)? Enlighten us.

martinw wrote:If you want changes, you need to communicate with the developers - nobody else. Complaining in the forum is not going to achieve that. File an enhancement request in Bugzilla, post to the dev mailing list, or best of all, join in the development work yourself. That's what I did.


So are you are suggesting that every user who request changes should be a developer?
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby doktor5000 » May 10th, '18, 18:56

gohlip wrote:And would a typical user (not developer) know he/she needs these packages?
doktor5000 is an accomplished mageia user. Does he know that? I don't.

Not sure why you mention me several times, what do I have to do with that? I know what packages I need

Apart from that I can only concur with Martin. There's not much use in only complaining that something should be changed. Either you adress it with a feature request in bugzilla or discuss it on the -dev mailing list.
And to write a mail to a mailing list or to write a feature request in bugzilla you don't need to be a developer, not sure why you come to that conclusion. Also he's not being pedantic, he just mentions how things are.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby martinw » May 11th, '18, 01:58

gohlip wrote:
martinw wrote:Is it really so hard to type 'urpmi grub2' or 'urpmi grub2-efi' ?

As said in my posts, we need to install the packages at livecd. Hard? Maybe not. But who'd would think it would need to be installed?

That's why I comment on these threads - to share this information. That's what this forum is for, isn't it?
gohlip wrote:You also forgot efibootmgr and dosfstools. And would a typical user (not developer) know he/she needs these packages?

efibootmgr is in the local repo on the Live ISOs and will be automatically installed when you install grub2-efi. dosfstools is already installed on the Live ISOs.
gohlip wrote:
martinw wrote: And your request was for extra grub2 modules to be included (not packages), to support booting other systems from the grub2 command line. Your original request was for all grub2 modules to be included, which is quite a lot more than 2MB. I told you I would include the modules necessary for booting other systems on the Mageia 7 Live ISOs, even though that is not really the intent of the Live ISOs.

So how heavy are these modules? Last I check on other distros, they weigh 2.5 MB. So 'about' 2 MB is technically wrong?

You are forgetting that the Live ISOs need both the i386-pc and x86_64-efi modules.
gohlip wrote:And if the modules are included, what is the intent?

Because you asked for them.
gohlip wrote:And why the need for installing (urpmi)? Enlighten us.

For the modules to be available when GRUB2 is running, they either have to be stored in the iso9660 filesystem or, as I have chosen to do, included in the the GRUB2 core image. But that doesn't make them available to update-grub2 when you are running the live system - for that you need them to be installed in the Linux filesystem.

+1 to doktor5000 for the rest.
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Re: mga6: grub cannot be installed on boot device

Postby yankee495 » Sep 17th, '18, 03:11

magfan wrote:Finally it is working! After several attempts of re-partitioning disks and installing mga6 from DVD I discovered something strange. When pressing Ctrl+Alt+F3 at the end of the installation process - just before rebooting - I found out that the installer left /mnt/boot/EFI empty! Maybe there was a problem with my mga6-iso-image?

So, the solution was to run
Code: Select all
sudo grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi --boot-directory=/mnt/boot --efi-directory=/mnt/boot/EFI --bootloader-id=mageia
manually. Besides I could not place $ESP on the nvme disk. So, the final working configuration for my system is: /boot/EFI on /dev/sdc1 (was already present), /boot on /dev/sdc3 and everything else on nvme disk.

Thanks a lot for your helpful comments.



Hello magfan,

I didn't read all of this thread but I think I got what you did. Back in the Windows 95 days we had to boot to a floppy to install the driver to boot from CD. You couldn't access a CD ROM from a DOS prompt without this driver. I've read people talking about how they can't boot from their NVMe device and I was going to study it in depth, but I got lucky and Asrock released a BIOS that allows booting to NVMe devices on my old Z77 board. I'm thrilled about it and do have it working.

So while I was researching this I did find some info you may be interested in. It appears you have a boot partition on a hard drive that passes control to the OS on the NVMe device. Is that correct? I was going to do something similar and had started researching it but I didn't have to. I'm hoping you can get it booting directly to the NVMe device for convince and speed etc. If you can't use this info, maybe someone else can. Good luck.

This first link explains how to boot any AMI UEFI BIOS board to a NVMe device, so if you have AMI, you can probably do this.

https://www.win-raid.com/t871f50-Guide- ... -BIOS.html


I'm not sure but I think this link uses the two drive method, a boot drive and then the OS on the NVMe device. I did read it but it's been awhile back and I just don't remember the highlights.

https://mrlithium.blogspot.com/2015/12/ ... -bios.html
There are 10 types of people, those who understand binary & those who don't.
Main Desktop
http://www.overclock.net/lists/display/view/id/3960066
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