Ubuntu
grub2 package

upgrade-from-grub-legacy installed grub2 somewhere different from grub

Bug #442667 reported by Joe
8
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
grub2 (Ubuntu)
Expired
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: grub

I first installed Grub 2 as a chainloader following instructions from Kernel Team/Grub 2 testing at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/Grub2Testing. I verified I could successfully boot into Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows Vista several times. I then performed the final upgrade to Grub 2. I restarted and Grub fails to load:
Grub loading stage 1.5.

Grub loading, please wait...
Error 15

and everything stops.

To resolve the problem, I followed the directions found in https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows and rebooted. This actions cleared up this problem. Basically, installed grub from scratch and mounted the appropriate partitions. The point is that a "successful" upgrade to Grub 2 should not have wiped out whatever critical information was wiped out.
1. lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu karmic (development branch)
Release: 9.10
2.
apt-cache policy grub2
grub2:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.97~beta3-1ubuntu6
  Version table:
     1.97~beta3-1ubuntu6 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages
3. I followed the instructions for upgrading to Grub 2. I expected to be able to boot using Grub 2 just as before with Grub legacy.
4. I followed the instructions for upgrading to Grub 2, and my system was not able to boot at all because critcal data had been wiped out by upgrade process.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Oct 4 18:05:10 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: grub 0.97-29ubuntu56
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-11.38-generic
SourcePackage: grub
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-11-generic x86_64

Revision history for this message
Joe (jgsylvesterjr) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Colin Watson (cjwatson) wrote :

Where was the GRUB boot sector installed on your system?

It looks like what happened is that you ran upgrade-from-grub-legacy, but didn't choose to install GRUB 2 to the same place as GRUB Legacy; so you now have a little stub of GRUB Legacy installed somewhere or other, which you're booting from, and GRUB 2's boot sector code installed somewhere else. In order for the upgrade to work properly, these two need to match.

Did upgrade-from-grub-legacy ask you any questions? If so, what did you answer to these?

affects: grub (Ubuntu) → grub2 (Ubuntu)
summary: - Grub Error 15 after upgrading to Grub 2
+ upgrade-from-grub-legacy installed grub2 somewhere different from grub
Changed in grub2 (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
importance: Undecided → Medium
Revision history for this message
Joe (jgsylvesterjr) wrote :

Colin:
I seem to remember the upgrade asking me what partition I wanted to install /sda and/or sdb. I chose /sda . The question seemed to be allowing me to choose both, but there was no way to enter or choose both. Based on your comment, I am concerned about what I now have. It says Grub 1.97~Beta 3. Is this correct? Have i really upgraded to Grub 2.

Revision history for this message
Koen Verweij (kfverweij) wrote :

Grub 1.97 Beta 3 is the current Grub2 version in Karmic. Grub2 should imo allow you to install it on all harddrives, if this doesn't work properly that is a pitty.

Revision history for this message
Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n) wrote :

The same thing happened to me when running upgrade-from-grub-legacy.

I think the problem was that I needed to choose the drive where to setup grub2 in a ncurses dialog:
[ ] /dev/sda

I selected /dev/sda using the keyboard arrows and then I pressed "ENTER". Everything seemed to be OK, until I rebooted and got the same error as you. I think that probably, I should have checked the checkbox with SPACE before hitting ENTER key:
[X] /dev/sda

If this is really the reason why I experience the problem, I think the ncurses dialog should check if at least one drive was actually selected before continuing. This is even more annoying because I have only one drive anyway.

I might be wrong that the problem might not be due to this but I think it would be best if someone checked.

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

[Expired for grub2 (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

Changed in grub2 (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Expired
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