** Description changed: Release: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) - Summary: The installation fails with a "GRUB installation failed" message. - Workaround available, see below. + Summary: The installation fails with a "GRUB installation failed" message. + Workaround available, see below. Since 16.04 installed fine, you could see this as a regression... * System setup (relevant part only) - UEFI enabled - Secure Boot disabled - SSD with a pre-install MBR (msdos) partition layout /dev/sda - /dev/sda1 ext4 / (format) - /dev/sda2 ext4 /home (do NOT format) - /dev/sda3 swap + /dev/sda1 ext4 / (format) + /dev/sda2 ext4 /home (do NOT format) + /dev/sda3 swap * During the install (relevant part only) - Installation type: select "Manual" - Prepare partitions: see layout above >>> What I expected to happen: installation success! >>> What happened instead: (see below) After the complete installation is done, an alert box pops up: Alert box: GRUB installation failed """ The 'grub-efi-amd64-signed' package failed to install into / target/. Without the GRUB boot loader, the installed system will not boot. """ Button: OK Side note: I think this alert box fails to fill in the "/target/" part... After clicking on [OK] an "Installer Crashed" window appears. Before I can read anything, the window disappears. (This also looks like a bug!). Then the installer flips back to the live desktop with the "Install" icon on the desktop. I reboot the system. The next error appears: """ error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found. Entering rescue mode... grub rescue> """ At this point I can't do anything because grub is missing files! I consider this also a bug, the installer should always install GRUB full because failures are unforeseen by their very nature. You should always have a full GRUB installation available when this happens, even when the installer assumes(!) it's doing the right thing... Do -not- assume Murphy's law doesn't apply to you, because then it will hit you even harder... My guess on what went wrong: The installer detected that UEFI was enabled, then (wrongly) assumed/detected that Secure Boot was also enabled. Then logic dictates (...) that the HDD/SSD should be a GPT disk with the appropriate layout and (wrongly) "thinks" MBR is not an option. Now GRUB fails because it encounters a MBR disk. ====================== === The Workaround === ====================== The simple workaround is; use a GPT disk with the appropriate partition layout. When using a GPT disk with the appropriate partition layout is not an option, then use this three step workaround: 1) Fix the wrong GRUB installation 2) Manual boot the system with GRUB 3) Run update-grub so the system will boot correctly * Step 1: Fix the wrong GRUB installation - Boot into the live desktop - Open a terminal - - Find the boot disk... - ...in this case it is: /dev/sda - - Find the partition where /boot is installed... - ...in this case it is: /dev/sda1 + - Find the boot disk... + ...in this case it is: /dev/sda + - Find the partition where /boot is installed... + ...in this case it is: /dev/sda1 - Now run the commands: - (replace /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda with the appropriate values) + (replace /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda with the appropriate values) sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt sudo grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sda * Step 2: Manual boot the system with GRUB - Boot the system, the "grub>" prompt should appear. - Find the partition where /boot is installed... - ...in this case it is: (hd0,msdos1) + ...in this case it is: (hd0,msdos1) - Find the partition where / is installed... - ...in this case it is: /dev/sda1 - - Heads-up: pay attention to the "ls" commands, - the vmlinuz and initrd filenames may differ! + ...in this case it is: /dev/sda1 + - Heads-up: pay attention to the "ls" commands, + the vmlinuz and initrd filenames may differ! - Now run the commands: ls ls (hd0,msdos1)/boot set root=(hd0,msdos1) linux /boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-20-generic root=/dev/sda1 initrd /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-20-generic boot - The system should boot now... * Step 3: Run grub so the system will boot automatically - The system is now booted - Open a terminal - Now run the command: sudo update-grub - Now reboot the system - The system will boot normally now ... if everything went well...
-- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1771651 Title: The installation fails with a "GRUB installation failed" message. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub-installer/+bug/1771651/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
