grub2 fails to boot when built using binutils 2.27

Bug #1620678 reported by Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre
108
This bug affects 63 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
grub
Unknown
Unknown
grub2 (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
High
Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre

Bug Description

grub2 images built using binutils 2.27 fail to boot or otherwise delay boot by showing an error message that requires pressing a key to continue.

Specifically; "no symbol table" and "Aborted. Press any key to continue".

On EFI system, this means no booting, on BIOS/MBR systems, boot can still continue after pressing a key.

Specifically, 'strip --strip-unneeded' used to include a section symbols anyway for each existing section, even if it stipped away all symbols. This was considered a bug and removed in later versions (apparently, at least starting at 2.27; with 2.26.1 the last version with this side-effect). This was fixed in binutils 14f2c699.

Grub2 has some modules without any code or data and that are used only to pull in dependencies via .moddeps sections; which would make all symbols unneeded and thus stripped.

A fix exists upstream as http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grub.git/commit/?id=67dba97e4598eaf2deb14da044fbfb1c119cf76f

Changed in grub2 (Ubuntu):
status: New → In Progress
importance: Undecided → High
assignee: nobody → Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox)
Revision history for this message
Thomas Schiex (thomas-schiex) wrote :

I have the same problem under yakkety / 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu11: message "error: no symbol table".

Solved in

https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/grub-devel/2016-02/msg00011.html

which probably refers to the same commit that Mathieu cites.

Revision history for this message
aleandro (aleandrodasilva) wrote :

Same problem in ubuntu 17.04.

Revision history for this message
Cgiraud (cgiraud) wrote :

Same problem in UbuntuStudio 17.04 x64.

Revision history for this message
Gianfranco Costamagna (costamagnagianfranco) wrote :

hello, what is the status of this?

Revision history for this message
Gianfranco Costamagna (costamagnagianfranco) wrote :

aleandro, Cgiraud, can you please check grub2 in my ppa if it solves your issue?
https://launchpad.net/~costamagnagianfranco/+archive/ubuntu/locutusofborg-ppa/+packages

Steve Langasek (vorlon)
Changed in grub2 (Ubuntu):
status: In Progress → Fix Released
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