Ubuntu
grub2 package

sudo update-grub no longer works

Asked by Philip Gray

Good evening

I need your assistance. My issue is that the command sudo update-grub gives an error. I added a wallpaper to '/etc/default/grub' file (GRUB_BACKGROUND="/home/philip/Pictures/kellyhu03_1152x864.jpg"). I then ran sudo update-grub which was successful. I then added 'set color_normal=blue/black' to the same file and ran the sudo update-grub command which was successful but the colour in the grub menu did not change.

I found a web page 'https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/Displays' which advises on how to change the grub colours. I updated '/etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme' file. I ran sudo update-grub which was successfull. The colours I initially chose did not look good so I changed the '05_debian_theme' file again. However when I ran sudo update-grub I received this error message:-

philip@philip-MS-7529:~$ sudo update-grub
[sudo] password for philip:
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found background: /home/philip/Pictures/kellyhu03_1152x864.jpg
/usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig: 280: /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig: /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme: not found
philip@philip-MS-7529:~$

I then found this command on another web site:- 'sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg'. This gave me the same error:-

Generating grub.cfg ...
Found background: /home/philip/Pictures/kellyhu03_1152x864.jpg
/usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig: 280: /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig: /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme: not found

The '05_debian_theme' file is in /etc/grub.d so I do not know why the 'grub-mkconfig' program cannot find it. I also do not know what the '280' number means.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix this?

Regards
Philip

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Ubuntu grub2 Edit question
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Solved by:
N1ck 7h0m4d4k15
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Can you give the output of:

file /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme; lsb_release -a; uname -a

Thanks

Revision history for this message
N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nicktux) said : 		#2

Hi Philip

I will post here an Alternative method to customizing grub.

There is an easy GUI application out there to Customizing Grub .

Check it : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1664134

it has instructions on how to install it and configure grub. It is easier rather to tangle with configuration files.

Thanks

Revision history for this message
Philip Gray (philipgr) said : 		#3

Hi actionparsnip

Here is the response you requested.

philip@philip-MS-7529:~$ file /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme; lsb_release -a; uname -a
/etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme: POSIX shell script, ASCII text executable
LSB Version: core-2.0-ia32:core-2.0-noarch:core-3.0-ia32:core-3.0-noarch:core-3.1-ia32:core-3.1-noarch:core-3.2-ia32:core-3.2-noarch:core-4.0-ia32:core-4.0-noarch
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS
Release: 12.04
Codename: precise
Linux philip-MS-7529 3.2.0-30-generic-pae #48-Ubuntu SMP Fri Aug 24 17:14:09 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
philip@philip-MS-7529:~$

Regards
Philip

Revision history for this message
Philip Gray (philipgr) said : 		#4

Hi NikTh

Thanks for your suggestion. I have followed your suggestion and installed the grub-customizer package. When I run it I get the error that I mentioned in my post.

Regards
Philip

Revision history for this message
Best N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nicktux) said : 		#5

On 09/15/2012 06:20 PM, Philip Gray wrote:
> Question #208585 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/208585
>
> Philip Gray posted a new comment:
> Hi NikTh
>
> Thanks for your suggestion. I have followed your suggestion and
> installed the grub-customizer package. When I run it I get the error
> that I mentioned in my post.
>
> Regards
> Philip
>

Ok ,

Lets install grub again , from a LiveCD/Usb. Take a look here how-to :
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

Follow the second option.

I am waiting for positive results.

Good Luck

                   Thanks

Revision history for this message
Philip Gray (philipgr) said : 		#6

Hi NikTh

I have finally managed to sort my problem out. It took me a few nights. Initially when I ran the boot-repair it displayed my first hard drive which has Ubuntu 9.04 and 10.04 which has Grub 1.89 on it. I made a booboo and forgot to uncheck the 'Apply To All Drives' check box which resulted in the 10.04 grub menu, which is on my 500GB drive which also has Windows XP, being added to my 2TB drive which has 12.04 on as well as to my 1TB data drive.

I still need to figure out how to remove Grub from my 1TB drive without damaging the FAT tables.

This booboo changed my 12.04 Grub menu from 1.99 to 1.89. When I rebooted I got a pipe error and the 10.04 b00t menu, well done Philip. I reran the boot-repair but it did not fix my issue. So tonight I redid it and told the boot-repair to remove grub completely. This worked. When I rebooted I still got the pipe error. I was able to run sudo upgrade-grub without any issues.

After this I got a popup advising me of a distribution upgrade which i did. It was all KDE stuff. I am using GNOME Classic as my desktop. I have also Installed KDE and Cinnamon. I am not sure why this happened. After I rebooted the pipe error was gone.

I have noticed that 12.04 has been added to my 10.04 Grub menu and when I launch it here I get the pipe error. These are the url I received:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/1211755/
http://paste.ubuntu.com/1211762/
http://paste.ubuntu.com/1213076/

Thank you very much for your help I really appreciate it. One last question: how do I remove Grub from my 1TB data drive without damaging my Windows FAT tables? I have done some searching on the net and have seen that the DD command can clear the partition tables with a setting of 512 or keep them with 452 or something.

I will see what happens when I add my wallpaper again.

Regards
Philip

Revision history for this message
Philip Gray (philipgr) said : 		#7

Thanks NikTh, that solved my question.