Ubiquity installs EFI related stuff in non-EFI system (Ubuntu does not boot after install)

[Sergio Benjamim]

I installed 2 times xubuntu trusty in a machine with UEFI disabled, windows 7 dual boot in a MBR disk, and in the 2 times it does not install grub correctly. In the firt time, it goes direct to windows 7 boot. In the second time, i got an error, like this:

error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found.
Entering rescue mode...
grub rescue>

I used Boot Repair, and i had to run some commands in terminal:

sudo chroot "/mnt/boot-sav/sda5" dpkg --configure -a
sudo chroot "/mnt/boot-sav/sda5" apt-get install -fy
sudo chroot "/mnt/boot-sav/sda5" apt-get purge -y --force-yes grub* shim-signed linux-signed*
[...]
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  grub-common* grub-efi-amd64* grub-efi-amd64-bin* grub-efi-amd64-signed*
  grub2-common* linux-signed-generic* linux-signed-image-3.13.0-1-generic*
  linux-signed-image-generic* shim-signed*

sudo chroot "/mnt/boot-sav/sda5" apt-get install -y --force-yes grub-pc linux
[...]
The following extra packages will be installed:
  grub-common grub-gfxpayload-lists grub-pc-bin grub2-common

The complete stuff in terminal was attached bellow. See http://paste.ubuntu.com/6725509/ too.

And now it is bootable.

So... why there was installed grub-efi and linux-signed, if this machine has EFI disabled? I don't sure if it is related to the problem. But i can reproduce this problem.

Hardware:

description: Ordinateur Mini-Tour
    produit: HP Compaq 8200 Elite CMT PC (XL508AV)
    fabriquant: Hewlett-Packard
    bits: 64 bits
    fonctionnalités: smbios-2.7 dmi-2.7 vsyscall32

 BIOS version: J01 v02.15 date: 11/10/2011
   fonctionnalités: pci pnp upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect edd int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer acpi usb biosbootspecification netboot uefi

HDD partition picture is attached.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: ubiquity (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-1.16-generic 3.13.0-rc7
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-1-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.12.7-0ubuntu6
Architecture: amd64
Date: Fri Jan 10 12:37:49 2014
InstallCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/xubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash --
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-01-09 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Alpha amd64 (20140109)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=fr_FR
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: ubiquity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)]

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/1267829

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

Apparently the machine does not have UEFI disabled because you booted the install cd in UEFI mode, which is why it installed grub-efi.

[Sergio Benjamim (sergio-br2)]

Yeah, it seems that it booted as UEFI (i can confirm by grub window in the install usb). But windows is installed as non-efi, there is no EFI partition in this disk, as we can see in the picture. So, it seems UEFI is disabled. There is no option to disable it in BIOS.

Is it possible to change this option in ubuntu media installation?

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

On my system the bios boot menu gives two different options, one for bios and one for EFI. They are labeled something like "Ubuntu" and "Data Trend Flash Drive". Currently it is not possible to pick which one gets installed; if you boot in EFI mode, then grub-efi is used.

[Sergio Benjamim (sergio-br2)]

Ok, there is an option for uefi or non-uefi system in bios, sorry (It was in a place I did not count). Someone who install windows 7 forgot disable this.

But the problem remains. It's no logical for ubuntu install UEFI stuff in a MBR hard disk, even if it boot as UEFI. It would make more sense if it warns "Hey, UEFI is enabled in setup, but your disk has a MBR table with a non-UEFI system installed (win 7), so go to setup and disable UEFI for sure, or create a new GPT partition table with EFI partion (this will erase your entire disk!)".

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

Yes, there was a wishlist bug somewhere about that: if doing a dual install with Windows and there is no EFI system partition, assume bios boot mode even if the cd was booted in efi mode.