Installation of GRUB to MBR should always be confirmed
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
grub-installer (Ubuntu) |
Fix Released
|
Medium
|
Colin Watson | ||
Bug Description
Binary package hint: grub-installer
This bug applies to GRUB installation in the dapper-RC Alternate Install CD (text-mode installer).
In standard mode, when no operating systems are detected, GRUB installs to the MBR of the primary hard disk, without any confirmation. This will overwrite a custom boot manager software, or other data stored in the first track of the hard drive without the user's knowledge.
For example, I use the BootIt NG boot manager to test multiple Linux distributions. BootIt NG uses a non-standard partition table called EMBR, stored in the first track after the MBR, to allow access to more than 4 primary partitions (great for creating snapshots to test upgrades). This gets completely wiped out by GRUB, requiring me to boot a rescue disk, then restore it from a backup.
Suggested fix:
In standard mode, always ask the question whether to install GRUB to the MBR, even if no other operating systems are detected, similar to what happens in expert mode now.
This should be a simple fix. I think this is important to get it into the dapper release. I am available to help with testing at any time.
Changed in grub-installer: | |
status: | Unconfirmed → Confirmed |
Changed in grub-installer (Ubuntu): | |
status: | Confirmed → Fix Committed |
assignee: | nobody → Colin Watson (cjwatson) |
I recognise your concerns, but it's been like this since at least Hoary (in fact, I'm pretty sure Warty behaved the same way) and I don't think it's urgent to spend the limited time available to me before release on changing this for Dapper, particularly since this was one of the things I was explicitly asked to do in pursuit of the goal of reducing the number of questions asked by the installer. I think it's more appropriate to visit this at more leisure after the Dapper release.