Arch Linux

mibadt

Member

Registered: 2009-09-25

Posts: 396

Fresh install: GRUB2_BIOS error

Hi,
Just fresh installed Arch_X86-64 on my system. During the install, I skipped GRUB legacy alltogether, and chrooted to get and install GRUB2-BIOS instead (per GRUB2 wiki) in the first 440 bytes of /dev/sda. My system is a dual HD dual OS (win 7 as well), with a separate /boot partition). Afterwards I exited chroot, reboot, and got the following error message:
missing /boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod 
Please advise!

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Best regards,
Michael Badt

DSpider

Member

From: Romania

Registered: 2009-08-23

Posts: 2,273

Re: Fresh install: GRUB2_BIOS error

Assuming that pacman installed the grub2-bios grub-bios package successfully, chroot from a LiveCD, reinstall GRUB 2 and re-generate a .cfg:

mount /dev/sdaX /mnt                 <-- your "/"
mount /dev/sdaY /mnt/boot            <-- your boot partition (if you have one)
cd /mnt
for i in /proc /sys /dev; do mount -B $i .$i; done
chroot .
grub-install /dev/sda             <-- don't use sdaX here; you want to install to the MBR
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

(Edit: it's now called grub-bios)

Last edited by DSpider (2012-07-22 22:20:49)

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"How to Succeed with Linux"

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the.ridikulus.rat

Member

From: Indiana, USA

Registered: 2011-10-04

Posts: 765

Re: Fresh install: GRUB2_BIOS error

@DSpider: Simple

grub-install --recheck /dev/sda

will not work. You need to specify --target option. See the Archwiki GRUB2 page.

Last edited by the.ridikulus.rat (2012-07-22 13:36:23)

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DSpider

Member

From: Romania

Registered: 2009-08-23

Posts: 2,273

Re: Fresh install: GRUB2_BIOS error

Well, it worked like that from a VM (chrooted from a LiveCD hooked up to an Arch install). It was GRUB 2.00rc1. Maybe the wiki was written when it was still at 1.98 or 2.00beta.

Last edited by DSpider (2012-07-22 13:50:20)

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"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

the.ridikulus.rat

Member

From: Indiana, USA

Registered: 2011-10-04

Posts: 765

Re: Fresh install: GRUB2_BIOS error

Well, it worked like that from a VM (chrooted from a LiveCD hooked up to an Arch install). It was GRUB 2.00rc1. Maybe the wiki was written when it was still at 1.98 or 2.00beta.

No. The wiki was actually updated for 2.00 (and I updated it). \grub-install 2.00 beta refused to execute grub-install without --target or --directory option (--directory preferred).

But the code in 2.00rc1 (and 2.00 final) seems to have been changed to guess the target in grub-install. Still upstream recommends using --target.

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Lenovo Thinkpad E430

cfr

Member

From: Cymru

Registered: 2011-11-27

Posts: 7,152

Re: Fresh install: GRUB2_BIOS error

I noticed that the instructions which pacmatic spat out the other day announcing grub2's move to core suggested

grub-install /dev/sda 

as well. I thought maybe this was a change for the updated version.

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DSpider

Member

From: Romania

Registered: 2009-08-23

Posts: 2,273

Re: Fresh install: GRUB2_BIOS error

The new install method also uses the simple form: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ar … ll_Scripts

Definitely an improvement over:

# grub-install --directory=/usr/lib/grub/i386-pc --target=i386-pc --boot-directory=/boot --recheck --debug /dev/sda

Ugh.

Last edited by DSpider (2012-07-22 22:26:52)

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"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

cfr

Member

From: Cymru

Registered: 2011-11-27

Posts: 7,152

Re: Fresh install: GRUB2_BIOS error

The new install method also uses the simple form: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ar … ll_Scripts

That might be where I saw it, actually, as I read through that page (and got very, very scared...).

Definitely an improvement over:

# grub-install --directory=/usr/lib/grub/i386-pc --target=i386-pc --boot-directory=/boot --recheck --debug /dev/sda

Ugh.

Definitely but how smart is it? That is, will it figure out correctly what it is meant to do and where it is meant to install? I usually need to do this when grub2 is updated:

modprobe efivars
grub-install --directory=/usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=arch_grub --boot-directory=/boot --recheck

Then I need to use efibootmgr to delete the extra entry this creates in the boot menu ("arch_grub") since that doesn't match whatever I have.

Is it smart enough to figure all that out?

Last edited by cfr (2012-07-22 22:32:55)

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