why having to run grub-install twice?

pradtf · 2023-07-14 21:28:07

i'm installing on an older i7 hp pavilion notebook laptop with no efi.

partitions:
/dev/sda1 /boot
/dev/sda2 swap
/dev/sda3 /
/dev/sda4 /home

grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda
works fine with no errors
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
is fine too.

however, when i try booting i get thrown into grub rescue being told that
/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod not found

it's there though and i can even find it through rescue:
ls (hd0,msdos1)/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod

playing with the prefixes as suggested in various posts like this:
set prefix=(hd0,msdos1)/grub
insmod normal
normal

still can't find normal.mod because it thinks we start at /grub/i386-pc/...

however, once i arch-chroot back in and again run
grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda

the bootloader finds normal.mod and
i can boot in as i've done with so many other machines.

so why am i having to do this double grubby thing?!

seth · 2023-07-15 06:46:05

Did the iso/update corss https://archlinux.org/news/grub-bootloa … ibilities/ ?
Otherwise I'd check the integrity of the installation,

sudo LC_ALL=C pacman -Qkk | grep -v ', 0 altered files'

as well as of the disk,

smartctl -a /dev/sda

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/SMART

pradtf · 2023-07-15 16:25:22

thx seth.
i'm using the same archiso for more than a year, but i
pacman -Syi
before i
pacstrap /mnt base (etc) as well as grub

so wouldn't that ensure i have an updated grub?
on the otherhand, i will try itafter downloading the iso.again.

something i did find strange is that i use
set 1 boot on

but for non efi the wiki says i should use bios_grub instead of boot:

For parted set/activate the flag bios_grub on the partition.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB#Installation

even though when i tab to see what options are available and the bios_legacy shows up, i get an error that it doesn't exist.

anyway, i'll try again with a new iso download and see whether that changes anything.

Last edited by pradtf (2023-07-15 17:23:59)

seth · 2023-07-15 16:53:27

pacman -Suy

That's heresy

before i pacstrap /mnt base (etc) as well as grub

I don't think that achieves anything.

something i did find strange is that i use
set 1 boot on
but for non efi the wiki says i should use bios_grub instead of boot:

Err… what?
You mean https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Partit … g_from_GPT ?

pradtf · 2023-07-15 18:24:33

seth wrote:

pacman -Suy
That's heresy

"godless heresy: -Suy # the parameter order technically doesn't matter, but it's logical nonsense and if you use that, you're a creep"

ok ok i won't do it anymore!
actually, i never did it - i've been doing -Syi not -Syu (i typoed - but i'm not sure what Syi is for either - just saw it on some post many months ago and it worked so i didn't think twice about it). EDIT: reading up on pacman, i see the 'i' can represent 'idiocy' on my part!

however, the real problem is though i've been arching for nearly a decade, i don't know what the different flags actually do - i just use Suy, S, Ss, R and when things get full Sc. today, i will bring an end to my ignorance and learn pacman properly! so thx for directing me to your post!

something i did find strange is that i use
set 1 boot on
but for non efi the wiki says i should use bios_grub instead of boot:
Err… what?
You mean https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Partit … g_from_GPT ?

no i saw that, but i don't think that is the issue. i tested this by using fdisk (for mbr) and got the same grub problem.

i'm using parted, so i tried to use bios_grub as per the directions:

Select partition type BIOS boot for fdisk.
Select partition type code ef02 for gdisk.
For parted set/activate the flag bios_grub on the partition.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB

anyway, i'll experiment further and report on progress.

UPDATE:
after getting the most recent iso (i was using one from a year ago), everything went perfectly on one i7, but same normal.mod not found problem on the other.

so it seems as though i should 'update' the iso when doing an install - probably because repositories keep changing.

i'm going to try to understand
LC_ALL=C pacman -Qkk | grep -v ', 0 altered files'
which is giving various mismatches

and
smartctl -a /dev/sda

later and post again.

Last edited by pradtf (2023-07-15 21:21:48)

Arch Linux

#1 2023-07-14 21:28:07

why having to run grub-install twice?

#2 2023-07-15 06:46:05

Re: why having to run grub-install twice?

#3 2023-07-15 16:25:22

Re: why having to run grub-install twice?

#4 2023-07-15 16:53:27

Re: why having to run grub-install twice?

#5 2023-07-15 18:24:33

Re: why having to run grub-install twice?

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