installer crashes on bad grub device

[TimK]

Binary package hint: ubiquity

How to reproduce:

System description:
Computer
USB cable
IDE-to-USB adaptor
8 GB "internal" hard drive, plugged in to the computer by USB externally

Prodecure:
Start Xubuntu Live CD
Install as per normal, except don't install onto your local hard drive, but install onto the external USB drive.
When the window comes up that displays all install information, it defaults grub to install onto (hd0). Change this to "sd0" or perhaps "(sd0)". I don't remember what I set it to, but it didn't work and it took until the install was 94% done before complaining.

Expected result:
If you enter a bad device to install grub to, it should detect it immediately and say you're doing something stupid instead of blindly trusting the user.
Ideally, you should have a drop down list of devices it is possible to install grub to. How is a newbie supposed to know to type in "/dev/sda" when "(hd0)" is displayed?

[TimK (ubuntu-timkoop)]

This is the text on the error window:

We're sorry; the installer crashed. Please file a new bug report at https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+filebug (do not attach your details to any existing bug) and a developer will attend to the problem as soon as possible. To help the developers understand what went wrong, include the following detail in your bug report, and attach the files /var/log/syslog and /var/log/partman:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/ubiquity", line 166, in ?
    main()
  File "/usr/bin/ubiquity", line 161, in main
    install(sys.argv[1])
  File "/usr/bin/ubiquity", line 57, in install
    ret = wizard.run()
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/frontend/gtkui.py", line 305, in run
    self.process_step()
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/frontend/gtkui.py", line 856, in process_step
    self.progress_loop()
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/frontend/gtkui.py", line 628, in progress_loop
    raise RuntimeError, ("Install failed with exit code %s\n%s" %
RuntimeError: Install failed with exit code 1
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 1404, in ?
    install.run()
  File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 385, in run
    self.configure_bootloader()
  File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 1163, in configure_bootloader
    raise InstallStepError(
InstallStepError: GrubInstaller failed with code 1

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Thanks for your report. Yes, your comments are entirely fair. I'm using bug 90575 to track the fairly large number of reports of this problem.

[Chris Aitken (chris-ion-dreams)]

Hi Colin,

I did not snag this bug. See
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/82793

Regards,
Chris Aitken

On 21/03/07, Colin Watson <email address hidden> wrote:
> *** This bug is a duplicate of bug 90575 ***
>
> Thanks for your report. Yes, your comments are entirely fair. I'm using
> bug 90575 to track the fairly large number of reports of this problem.
>
> ** This bug has been marked a duplicate of bug 90575
> MASTER: need further sanity checking on grub device names
>
> --
> installer crashes on bad grub device
> https://launchpad.net/bugs/82793
>