Your message dated Sat, 16 Aug 2025 15:55:37 -0400 (EDT)
with message-id <[email protected]>
and subject line Bug#1110934: Removed package(s) from unstable
has caused the Debian Bug report #482199,
regarding grub: Grub may fail to boot after using 'savedefault --once'
to be marked as done.
This means that you claim that the problem has been dealt with.
If this is not the case it is now your responsibility to reopen the
Bug report if necessary, and/or fix the problem forthwith.
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--
482199: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=482199
Debian Bug Tracking System
Contact [email protected] with problems
--- Begin Message ---
Package: grub
Version: 0.97-27
Severity: normal
Debian's version of grub-0.97 has added the '--once' option to
the 'savedefault' command in grub shell, but it seems that using
it may actually cause the boot time 'savedefault' commands in
grub menu fail later.
The problem is that the upstream grub has a convention that
the file /boot/grub/default must be at least ten bytes long,
but the 'savedefault' command added by Debian to the grub
shell doesn't follow that convention. The savedefault patch
actually removes the length check that savedefault_func() had
in the upstream version. The grub-set-default utility follows
the convention, but it doesn't recognize the '--once' option,
so it is necessary to use grub shell's 'savedefault' command.
After the file /boot/grub/default has been truncated to less than
10 bytes, bad things may happen at boot if a grub menu item uses
the 'savedefault' command. This is because the code in function
savedefault_helper() is fooled to think that the content of the
default file resides in two different sectors on the disk, which
usually is not the case. The sector number, byte offset and length
variables for the second sector have unitialized values when
accessed, which may lead to various errors. The most common
is "Selected cylinder exceeds maximum supported by BIOS", when
the sector number is bigger than the number of sectors on disk.
In the worst case the 'savedefault' action in grub menu just
writes a few bytes to some random location on the disk without
reporting any errors.
The key to the problem is the comparison
if (saved_lengths[0] < sizeof (buf))
in function savedefault_helper(), which is always true if
the default file has length less than 10 bytes.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Apologies; this wasn't sent as part of the dak rm action. I'm doing
this by hand. Since this was manual, this opens the chance for me taking
action by mistake.
I got the list of bugs via UDD, and am closing via -close on BCC. I spot
checked about 10 of the bugs, and they're all src:grub. The COUNT
matches the tracker page, so I'm sending this.
If I have closed a bug that's not about bin:grub or src:grub, please do
re-open the bug.
paultag
We believe that the bug you reported is now fixed; the following
package(s) have been removed from unstable:
grub | 0.97-84 | source
grub-legacy | 0.97-84 | amd64, i386
------------------- Reason -------------------
ROM; dead upstream, replaced by grub2
----------------------------------------------
Note that the package(s) have simply been removed from the tag
database and may (or may not) still be in the pool; this is not a bug.
The package(s) will be physically removed automatically when no suite
references them (and in the case of source, when no binary references
it). Please also remember that the changes have been done on the
master archive and will not propagate to any mirrors until the next
dinstall run at the earliest.
Packages are usually not removed from testing by hand. Testing tracks
unstable and will automatically remove packages which were removed
from unstable when removing them from testing causes no dependency
problems. The release team can force a removal from testing if it is
really needed, please contact them if this should be the case.
We try to close bugs which have been reported against this package
automatically. But please check all old bugs, if they were closed
correctly or should have been re-assigned to another package.
Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed. If you
have further comments please address them to [email protected].
The full log for this bug can be viewed at https://bugs.debian.org/1110934
This message was generated automatically; if you believe that there is
a problem with it please contact the archive administrators by mailing
[email protected].
Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Paul Tagliamonte (the ftpmaster behind the curtain)
--- End Message ---
