Karmic: legacy grub-install fails, possibly due to missing /target/etc/mtab
Bug #465231 reported by
Daniel Richard G.
This bug affects 11 people
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
grub-installer (Ubuntu) |
Invalid
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
Binary package hint: debian-installer
Encountered this using the Karmic alternate installer (specifically, netboot via PXE). Same failure mode on both i386 and amd64.
After confirming whether to install GRUB on the MBR, the installer indicates "Executing 'grub-install (hd0)' failed. This is a fatal error."
The log on tty4 shows some "cannot read table of mounted file systems" warnings, suggesting that grub-install(8) is failing due to a missing /etc/mtab file (inside the /target chroot).
See the attached screenshots to see what I'm seeing.
affects: | debian-installer (Ubuntu) → grub-installer (Ubuntu) |
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A workaround for this bug:
1. Start up a shell on tty2 or tty3
2. "cp /etc/mtab /target/etc/"
3. Edit the newly-created /target/etc/mtab file: Delete all lines except the one specifying the device for /target (note: *not* the "tmpfs /target/dev" line), and then change "/target" to "/".
4. At the fatal-error dialog, select <Go Back>, return to the "Install the GRUB boot loader on a hard disk" item in the main menu, and go through the install process again. It should work this time.
(This appears to confirm that an absent /target/etc/mtab file is the problem.)