MX-19: FEEDBACK of latest GRUB 2.04-9~mx19+5 update

[agrendel]

Just wanted to add my two cents worth to this discussion to say that out of three laptops I have running MX19 only one of them rebooted correctly following the latest GRUB update. I had a problem with my first attempt on an ACER E15 with just one big drive where I had created a separate boot partition. I may have missed something in the GRUB device selection during the update, but I ended up with the famous "grub_calloc not found".

I managed to use the MX boot repair tool from a live USB I'd created and as there was only one drive I must have chosen the correct place for the Legacy MBR just pointing at the drive and not a partition and it did the trick and now reboots correctly.

On my second laptop a Thinkpad T440P with two drives, forewarned by my experience, I used the boot repair to backup the MBR and noted the drive where it was located, so that during the update I made the correct choice for the GRUB update and it rebooted correctly. However on my third laptop an old X220 Thinkpad, I had all sorts of problems which I think on reflection was due to the fact I had two MBRs on different drives due to the fact that I originally had a big Windows drive, but installed MX-Linux on an m-sata SSD card then when I changed the Windows drive for a bigger one that would give me a bigger home I must have reinstalled using the second MBR. In any case, it took me several attempts using the grub rescue menu from a live USB then trying to manually change the /etc/grub file to use another drive after a grub-update to reconfigure it. This didn't work so I went back to the boot repair tool as this was the only think I had left, and finally ended up choosing the right MBR on the right drive and it at long last finally reboots correctly, but with a different coloured boot screen - don't know how that happened - but it was not an easy experience for someone who is far from expert in these matters, but I've probably installed MX-Linux on nearly a dozen different machines with never such complications.
Wouldn't it be useful to post some specific HOWTO on this update as it seems to have caused a fair few headaches for other less knowledgeable users like myself.

[oops]

... In fact, basically, I think than the grub installer should check the configuration of the computer before doing or asking something, and propose to the user the most pertinent options to install or update grub into his system.

[SwampRabbit]

Thank you for your experience and feedback.

Wouldn't it be useful to post some specific HOWTO on this update as it seems to have caused a fair few headaches for other less knowledgeable users like myself.

Yes, this has already been discussed. If you look above a few posts in this thread, screenshots were taken, and the whole thread includes a ton of information to help users.

This is GRUB, it is going to be different for almost every system out there. The beauty and flexibility of GRUB is also sometimes a pain. I believe we have gone to great extents so far to reduce issues as best we can.

Anyone is free to create a HOWTO on the numerous items related to updating GRUB under all the different circumstances to help users.
Right now a lot of us (MX dev team) are very very busy (like most people in general), but like discussed above, a "HOWTO" and or maybe basic GRUB info for users has been discussed already. This is FOSS and 100% volunteer work after all.

[SwampRabbit]

... In fact, basically, I think than the grub installer should check the configuration of the computer before doing or asking something, and propose to the user the most pertinent options to install or update grub into his system.

File a issue/request with the developers of GRUB.

[fehlix]

They do provide during upgrade help information in multiple languages:
Either click and the help button:

grub-upgrade-help.png

Or move mouse over the line with the choic

grub-upgrade-mouse-on-hoover-help.png

In text:

The grub-pc package is being upgraded. This menu allows you to select
which devices you'd like grub-install to be automatically run for, if
any.

Running grub-install automatically is recommended in most situations,
to prevent the installed GRUB core image from getting out of sync with
GRUB modules or grub.cfg.

If you're unsure which drive is designated as boot drive by your BIOS,
it is often a good idea to install GRUB to all of them.

Note: it is possible to install GRUB to
partition boot records as well, and some appropriate partitions are
offered here. However, this forces GRUB to use the blocklist mechanism,
which makes it less reliable, and therefore is not recommended.

The main important information:

If you're unsure which drive is designated as boot drive by your BIOS,
it is often a good idea to install GRUB to all of them.

User do simply ignore given help. Not sure what we can do about it.

[PeterPiper]

Hey fehlix, thanks for the quick answer.
I have an ESP partition, strangely enough it is formatted on Fat32. Boot Rescue can't handle this. Do you think I should reformat the ESP partition (ext4?) and install Grub there?
I can't remember where I put Grub during the installation. :(

this entry found in grub.cfg

Code: Select all

set root='hd0,gpt2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2

And thanks for your support. I realize that you probably have other things to do. So... thanks a lot for the support

User do simply ignore given help. Not sure what we can do about it.

i try this 2 .. but what should i do.. nothing works ...

[dolphin_oracle]

Hey fehlix, thanks for the quick answer.
I have an ESP partition, strangely enough it is formatted on Fat32. Boot Rescue can't handle this. Do you think I should reformat the ESP partition (ext4?) and install Grub there?
I can't remember where I put Grub during the installation. :(

this entry found in grub.cfg

Code: Select all

set root='hd0,gpt2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2

And thanks for your support. I realize that you probably have other things to do. So... thanks a lot for the support

User do simply ignore given help. Not sure what we can do about it.

i try this 2 .. but what should i do.. nothing works ...

the ESP should be fat32

[fehlix]

Hey fehlix, thanks for the quick answer.
I have an ESP partition, strangely enough it is formatted on Fat32. Boot Rescue can't handle this. Do you think I should reformat the ESP partition (ext4?) and install Grub there?
I can't remember where I put Grub during the installation. :(

this entry found in grub.cfg

Code: Select all

set root='hd0,gpt2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2

And thanks for your support. I realize that you probably have other things to do. So... thanks a lot for the support

User do simply ignore given help. Not sure what we can do about it.

i try this 2 .. but what should i do.. nothing works ...

The first question to clarify. Do you actually boot in BIOS/MBR or UEFI mode. If you perefer to boot in bios mode,
do this: Shrink the boot partition with Gparted (from the right side and from booted LiveUSB) by about 2-3 MB and within that empty space create a 1MB sized unformatted bios_grub partition as describe earlier.

[PeterPiper]

this command

Code: Select all

[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo UEFI || echo BIOS

answerd with

Code: Select all

UEFI

I will try again tomorrow to fix the problem. I have a Live Systen on USB and will try to fix it then. Many thanks to you

[oops]

... In fact, basically, I think than the grub installer should check the configuration of the computer before doing or asking something, and propose to the user the most pertinent options to install or update grub into his system.

File a issue/request with the developers of GRUB.

... Yes, it will be the most efficient thing to do.