grub-installer failed during install trusty 64bit

[Shu Hung (Koala)]

Trying to install Trusty (14.04) beta 2 with the install DVD iso and a USB thumb drive.
All the other process success. Only the grub-install part failed.

My laptop is a Lenovo B470.
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz
Boots with BIOS (no EFI for the motherboard).

Installing with the installer program in live cd session.

Exptected to run through the whole install process.
But it fails at the last stage (grub-install).

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: ubiquity 2.17.10
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-19.40-generic 3.13.6
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-19-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.13.3-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
CasperVersion: 1.339
Date: Sat Mar 29 01:39:03 2014
InstallCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz.efi file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash --
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Beta amd64 (20140326)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=zh_TW.UTF-8
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=zh_TW.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: grub-installer
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Alberto Salvia Novella (es20490446e)]

It renders the system temporarily or permanently unusable.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

I have a lengthy work-around to install a work-able Ubuntu 14.04 on my laptop.

This is NOT a supposed fix to the bug, but this serve as a temp solution of all fellow users with the same issue.

WARNING: To follow my steps, you.d better have experience on custom partition configuration. If you don't know what I am talking about, forget it.

Steps:

1. install Ubuntu 14.04 i386 version with "Custom" installation option. Dedicate a primary partition to /boot.

2. install Ubuntu 14.04 amd64 version with "Custom" installation. Reuse the partition config for your i386 installation. DO NOT format the /boot folder.

3. After booting into your installation, open terminal and run the command "sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y install grub-pc". This will remove grub-efi* for you.

4. If you missed the prompt to do configuration, run "sudo grub-install /dev/sda" (replace sda with your harddisk name)

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

You have booted the instaler in efi mode, but your disks are not configured for efi. Boot the installer in bios mode.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

I see no selection for a "BIOS mode" of installer.
How to select "BIOS mode" at all?

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

To be specific:

1. The boot screen of install live CD is blank (black).
I can only start the installer by blindly pressing "enter" twice.
If the "BIOS mode" option is at the first boot screen, I would not see it.

2. Through out the installer program, I can see no option for a BIOS mode installation.

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

It is an option in your bios, not the installer. Typically there is an option in the bios setup to disable EFI mode or use Legacy mode, or if you press a key ( typically F9 ) to choose to boot from the usb instead of the hard drive, there are usually two entries: one that says Ubuntu, and one that says the name of the USB stick. The latter is bios mode.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

This is certainly not my case.

1. The motherboard has no EFI mode at all. The only "option" is Legacy mode (BIOS), which I cannot select to enable or disable.

2. There is no selection that says "boot from Ubuntu". I've select to boot from the USB stick I use.

In other word, the installer mistook my motherboard BIOS boot as EFI boot.

There is current no way I can fix. Not in BIOS nor in the installer.

Please reset the status of this bug. Thanks.

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

There is no way to mistake it; your system is booting the installer in efi mode. You will need to ask your manufacturer how to disable it, or reformat the drive to work properly with it.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

Is it also impossible for me to boot both i386 USB (BIOS mode) and amd64 USB (EFI) without changing any of my motherboard config? That's what happening on my computer.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

I specifically find no documentation or firmware about UEFI support of my laptop. (You may take a look at the official support page here: http://support.lenovo.com/zh_HK/research/hints-or-tips/detail.page?DocID=HT072903). There is also no offical resource about EFI support of my computer model.

I find it more believable if the installer to boot and install in EFI mode by mistake.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

And besides, if EFI boot works on my computer, why is the grub-efi installation fail?

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

Grub fails to install because your disk lacks an EFI system partition. If you want to blow away everything on the disk and repartition it, you can choose the installer option to use the entire disk, and it will make sure to create such a partition.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

So you mean the way installer to determine an EFI install or BIOS install is not reliable.

Is it possible for the installer to detect if the EFI system partition exists before doing grub-install?

I presume this partition is not created by grub, but is created by the partition program. If the previous installer program thinks the computer is EFI-boot ready, it should have made the partition available. If the installer could detect such partition's existence AFTER the partitioning, this situation would not happen.

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

No, there is no confusion in the installer: you did boot it in efi mode. Creating an efi system partition involves wiping out your existing partitions, which is why it is only done if you choose the option to install ubuntu using the whole disk.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

I think you must have noticed these:

1. My boot USB is boot in EFI mode
2. My system is not currently a EFI boot environment. There is no EFI partition.
3. The installation fails because of (2).

Judging from (1), you can only be certain that my system COULD SUPPORT EFI. You cannot be certain that my system IS USING EFI to boot OS in my harddisk.

And as you stated clearly:
(a) The installer is judging to use grub-efi by (1) and only (1); But,
(b) grub-efi CANNOT be installed under situation (2).
(c) Situation (1) and situation (2) are not mutually exclusive.

Now, contrary to the installer's logic, grub-efi can only be installed if my system if it IS USING EFI, not it COULD SUPPORT EFI. That means when the installer thinks it is OK to install grub-efi on my system, it is wrong. Right? I described this as "confusion". You might not like my word, but facts remain.

Then you basically stated that it is a user's problem of not letting the installer to wipe the harddisk. If that's the case, perhaps it is a huge bug for the installer to pretend that user can choose otherwise.

[Shu Hung (Koala) (koalay)]

What I'm saying is,

(1) It is more logical to determine the grub installation options by detecting EFI partition
(2) If it is not possible, you should at least have proper instruction that says, "Fxxk off dude. If you don't wipe clean your harddisk (probably with the Windows and all other data on it), don't install Ubuntu."

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

@psusi, this is a very valid issue and I could reproduce it on an Asus UX32VD with UEFI. On this machine, there is no way in the system setup to select between UEFI or BIOS.

If I boot a 32 bit image from an USB stick, it will boot in BIOS mode. Installation is successful and the EFI partition is not created.
If I boot a 64bit image, it will boot in EFI mode. If a 32bit OS is already installed and I choose a side-by-side installation then there is no warning, EFI partition is not created and the installer crashes with this bug. This is the issue I reported in bug 1302418.

I'm reopening this issue and set it to critical given the number of reports already received.