Issues with Mageia installer/grub when using an existing and seperate /boot partition and not formating it during installation.
Howdy, this will sound idiotic, because I don't remember HOW it failed exactly and with what error message, but I'm fairly confident this problem can be reproduced consistently (hopefully not just by me). It affects Mageia 7 and Mageia 8 AT LEAST (maybe6?).. If my memory serves me right, this issue was introduced with the new Mageia installer (UEFI/Mageia6?)..
Issue: A new installation of Mageia will fail to boot after installation if you install it with a previously used /boot partition without formatting it.
Note on boot settings: legacy BIOS/traditional using a separate /boot partition
This issue is the same if /boot partition is only used by Mageia or by several distroes. Installing Mageia and using a seperate and previously used /boot partition will create conditions where a new and fresh installation of Mageia will fail to boot. If you during Mageia installation format the separate /boot partition booting the newly installed Mageia will succeed.
Just a guess.. As far as I remember Grub fails to find the Kernel and can't boot. Edit. I think perhaps Grub fails to install at all and the old grub remains
So, I can't fairly remember when I first had this issue, but I did have it with Mageia 7. I didn't understand this isse back then or how I "solved" it, but I had it several times (yes, I installed Mageia 7 several times). This issue came back to me when I moved from Mageia 7 to Mageia 8. Installing Mageia 8, it failed to boot, but then I by instinct remember that if I format the /boot partition, it should boot. And guess what, it did! This leads me to think this issue is not just me, but an issue with the installer in Mageia 7 and Mageia 8, for people who use a separate /boot partition. Not many people do that these days, sure, but some do.
Steps to reproduce:
- Use a laptop with lagacy BIOS option set in UEFI
- Install Mageia with /boot and encrypted / (and /home), this installation will work!
- Install Mageia again with the same partition setup, but only format / --- this installation should fail to boot
Not sure the encrypted part is relevant, but I added it just in case. You could probably reproduce it without using encrypted / as well.