#1 2023-02-02 23:42:34

Choven

Member

Registered: 2015-10-20

Posts: 18

Boot to grub>

I've been running versions of this distro since #!.  It has kept my old computers running.  I now have this issue on two computers.  The latest is a laptop with a new install of beryllium.  The laptop dual boots linux and windows 10.  Today, I installed beryllium to an ext4 partition on the hdd that was peviously running ubuntu (grub menu worked with ubuntu).  Instead of booting to the grub menu, it boots to grub> (note, it is not booting to grub rescue>).  Another computer initially ran lithium, but through various dist-upgrades though the years, it's closer to a debian testing version with bunsenlabs mods.  That machine does the same thing and has been doing this since August.

To get to the grub menu, I have to use 'set prefix=(hd0,gpt5)/boot/grub' and then 'normal'.  I do not need to 'set root' or 'insmod' as once I get to the menu, the system boots fine (to both linux or windows). 

I have followed this: https://unix.stackexchange.com/question … le-booting

So, I've reinstalled grub-efi, tried grub-install and update-grub.  I'm at a loss now that I have two machines doing the same thing.  Does anyone have any advice on how to boot to the menu instead of grub>?

unklar

Back to the roots 1.9

From: #! BL

Registered: 2015-10-31

Posts: 2,662

Re: Boot to grub>

If you have booted into the desired system that provides your main boot loader (ubuntu ---> beryllium), then you must run the command in that system:

sudo apt update
sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc

Use the arrow keys and the space bar to select the device (from former ubuntu to beryllium).
For UEFI this is 2 devices

For security then again in the terminal

sudo update-grub

Make sure that the other OS are listed correctly.

Choven

Member

Registered: 2015-10-20

Posts: 18

Re: Boot to grub>

Thanks for the suggestion.  I use UEFI instead of Bios for the boot method.  So, I do not have grub-pc installed in the system.  However, by trying to understand the difference between grub-efi and grub-pc, I ran across efibootmgr.  I had to use efibiootmgr many years ago with an old HP laptop.  Here's what I discovered and how I fixed it.

The BIOS listed a grub boot entry and a windows boot entry.  Changing the order did what is expected (boot to windows if that entry is first; boot to grub> if the grub entry was first). 

In linux, 'efibootmgr' or 'efibootmgr -v' lists more boot menu options including entries labeled Grub, bunsenlabs, debian, ubuntu, Windows Boot Manager, and others.  The '-v' option provides more info including the efi file used by that boot option.  The boot order is the same as what was listed in the BIOS, however, efibootmgr provided more options that what was listed in the BIOS for this laptop.  The Grub entry pointed to a grubx64.efi file in EFI/ubuntu.  I want bunsenlabs efi to boot.  So, I changed the boot order using 'efibootmgr -o 0006,0003,...' The 0006 entry is the bunsenlabs efi file, and this number replaced the number for the Grub boot entry.  0003 is the windows entry, and I typed the rest of the numbers of the boot order (USB, CD, Network).  This fixed the issue, so now the computer boots to the correct grub menu instead of to grub>.

My desktop points to the correct file.  What I notice about the desktop is the grub.cfg file in EFI/bunsenlabs/ has the correct uuid, but the hdX,gptY differs from what I need to type.  For example, the file lists hd1,gpt2, but I have to type 'set prefix=(hd0,gpt5)/boot/grub' and 'set root=(hd0,gpt5)' to get to the grub menu.  Replacing hdX,gptY in grub.cfg with the correct numbers boots to the grub menu.  I'm unsure if the grub.cfg will change when the new grub configurations are created during upgrading.

It seems like the usual suggestion is to recreate the grub configurations and update grub.  None of that worked for my two computers.  So, I thought I'd write this up in case others have this issue.