Arch Linux

lenhuppe

Member

From: New Hampshire USA

Registered: 2018-12-10

Posts: 321

Website

SOLVED grub-install stopped working

For a long time I have been using the following code to install grub:

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Recently this code stopped working unless I run it a second time.

If I run efibootmagr after the first pass I get the following:

efibootmgr after pass #1

BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001
Boot0001* UEFI: VerbatimSTORE N GO PMAP PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x8,0x3)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/USB(0,0)/USB(1,0)/USB(3,0)/USB(2,0)/CDROM(1,0x158000,0x30000)0000424f

And then after the second pass:

efibootmgr after pass #2

BootCurrent: 0000
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0000,0001
Boot0000* GRUB  HD(1,GPT,f5bb79c8-41f3-4bbf-a4b6-1ec363e39949,0x800,0x7f800)/\EFI\GRUB\grubx64.efi
Boot0001* UEFI: VerbatimSTORE N GO PMAP PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x8,0x3)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/USB(0,0)/USB(1,0)/USB(3,0)/USB(2,0)/CDROM(1,0x158000,0x30000)0000424f

As you can see GRUB is missing after pass #1. I don't know what can account for this. I tried creating the entry manually by following the instructions I fond here:

efibootmgr -c -d /dev/nvme0n1 -p 1 -L GRUB -l '\EFI\BRUB\bootx64.efi'

This did not work so so either I am doing it wrong or it does not address the issue.

Any ideas?

Last edited by lenhuppe (Today 12:46:11)

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 2,385

Re: SOLVED grub-install stopped working

what hardware EXACTLY?
have you recently updated the bios?
have you tried older versions of grub and/or efibootmgr?

lenhuppe

Member

From: New Hampshire USA

Registered: 2018-12-10

Posts: 321

Website

Re: SOLVED grub-install stopped working

what hardware EXACTLY?
have you recently updated the bios?
have you tried older versions of grub and/or efibootmgr?

I updated the firmware this am, and that did the trick.

The mobo is an MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi.
I bought it in March 2026 and updated firmware then.
It works for Linux but the firmware runs rather slowly.
What annoys me is having micrislop crap in the firmware.
Been building white boxes for 35 years and never had this problem.
The hunt for mobo with great Linux support continues ...

Last edited by lenhuppe (Today 12:47:43)

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 2,385

Re: SOLVED grub-install stopped working

well, unless you go for arm/risc-v or a system compatible with open bios like uboot and the few others out there there're two things to look out for:
- avoid anything marketed for gamers: i looked up the board and aside from you likely utilizing less than half of it these boards come with the rather stupid caveat that, although they could run all what they offer, most are artificial locked down to have several mutual exclusive options, like: one or more pci-e slots "share the same lanes" as some of the nvme slots - and hence [artificial] "mutual exclusive" - that's complete bullshit! modern cpus are usually provide 20 or 24 high speed lanes: 16 for the peg slot, 4 for the chipset and some extra 4 for the master nvme - everything else runs through the chipset which is just a big pci-e lane switch;  and there is NO practical reason why it should not be able to handle everything connected to it at once but it's artificial locked down
- use server-grade hardware like asrock-rack (the other known brands have similar lines)

i also gone thru the bios history - and if i understand it correctly the early versions seem to where uefi only with csm added later
there's no reason for that: for linux and bsd it just doesn't matter and as for windows i'm not sure if win 11 would still be able to run on such a system even as an update from win7 (which would invalidate the original activation of the key anyway due to complete change of the entire hardware)
several red flags for that one ... seems you paid quite a premium ontop for several features you likely will never use

Last edited by cryptearth (Today 14:19:42)

lenhuppe

Member

From: New Hampshire USA

Registered: 2018-12-10

Posts: 321

Website

Re: SOLVED grub-install stopped working

well, unless you go for arm/risc-v or a system compatible with open bios like uboot and the few others out there there're two things to look out for:
- avoid anything marketed for gamers: i looked up the board and aside from you likely utilizing less than half of it these boards come with the rather stupid caveat that, although they could run all what they offer, most are artificial locked down to have several mutual exclusive options, like: one or more pci-e slots "share the same lanes" as some of the nvme slots - and hence [artificial] "mutual exclusive" - that's complete bullshit! modern cpus are usually provide 20 or 24 high speed lanes: 16 for the peg slot, 4 for the chipset and some extra 4 for the master nvme - everything else runs through the chipset which is just a big pci-e lane switch;  and there is NO practical reason why it should not be able to handle everything connected to it at once but it's artificial locked down
- use server-grade hardware like asrock-rack (the other known brands have similar lines)

i also gone thru the bios history - and if i understand it correctly the early versions seem to where uefi only with csm added later
there's no reason for that: for linux and bsd it just doesn't matter and as for windows i'm not sure if win 11 would still be able to run on such a system even as an update from win7 (which would invalidate the original activation of the key anyway due to complete change of the entire hardware)
several red flags for that one ... seems you paid quite a premium ontop for several features you likely will never use

I have been wanting to build an ARM system to run Arch but I have no knowledge of or experience with ARM hardware.

Suggestions?

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 2,385

Re: SOLVED grub-install stopped working

actually no, all i have is standard x86 hardware ... even my "home-server" (a single-board called PC Engines APU; original with a legacy bios but i was able to convert it to uefi, although that was quite a story in itself)
as for arm and risc-v: the major difference is that in difference to x86 there's no auto configuration via acpi but you have bring along a DeviceTree/DeviceTable - hence one is usually bound to whatever the vendor supplies - unless the hardware is fullly open and one can build everything from source from scratch (but if you go that route you should have a spi flasher on hand)
i personal plan to look forward towards risc-v instead of arm - just personal preference

but overall, no, i can't give any recommendations because i have experience myself