Hi Jean-Baptiste and Steve I admit I am baffled but I appreciate your replies. I had thought it might be caused by a small hard drive error but that's just a guess. Interestingly Mint 18 installs OK Mint 12.2 doesn't and any Ubuntu version does not, although these used to.
More curious, I made a Zorin OS boot USB on another notebook and ran this after the grub installer failed. This had a "repair boot" section so I ran this and now Ubuntu 19.10 boots on its own. Very odd. I checked Bios and it has EFI also I see an EFI partition from Ubuntu using disks. I like Linux but am just a novice but overall this behaviour just seems weird. Anyway I'll report back later if this approach turns out to be stable, for whatever reason. Also, is there any way you could remotely inspect and modify this notebook, even just as an experiment? Ian On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 4:35 PM Steve Langasek <steve.langa...@canonical.com> wrote: > The error in your logs is: > > Nov 9 19:25:47 ubuntu ubiquity: grub-install: warning: Cannot set EFI > variable Boot0000. > Nov 9 19:25:47 ubuntu ubiquity: grub-install: warning: > efivarfs_set_variable: writing to fd 7 failed: Invalid argument. > Nov 9 19:25:47 ubuntu ubiquity: grub-install: warning: > _efi_set_variable_mode: ops->set_variable() failed: Invalid argument. > Nov 9 19:25:47 ubuntu ubiquity: grub-install: error: failed to register > the EFI boot entry: Invalid argument. > > Do you know of a reason that Ubuntu would be unable to write to these > firmware variables, such as a BIOS security setting? > > ** Changed in: shim-signed (Ubuntu) > Status: New => Incomplete > > -- > You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug > report. > https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1851955 > > Title: > ubuntu 19.10 boot installer failed > > Status in shim-signed package in Ubuntu: > Incomplete > > Bug description: > Installed on an ENVY notebook, installation afiled at the end with no > bootloader message > > ProblemType: Bug > DistroRelease: Ubuntu 19.10 > Package: ubiquity 19.10.21 > ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.3.0-18.19-generic 5.3.1 > Uname: Linux 5.3.0-18-generic x86_64 > NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zavl icp zcommon znvpair > ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu8 > Architecture: amd64 > CasperVersion: 1.427 > Date: Sun Nov 10 08:32:41 2019 > InstallCmdLine: file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed initrd=/casper/initrd > quiet splash --- maybe-ubiquity > LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 19.10 "Eoan Ermine" - Release amd64 (20191017) > SourcePackage: ubiquity > UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) > > To manage notifications about this bug go to: > > https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/shim-signed/+bug/1851955/+subscriptions > -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1851955 Title: ubuntu 19.10 boot installer failed To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/shim-signed/+bug/1851955/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs