Bug#999613: grub2: Bullseye installer: Grub fails to install, installer just indicates that something went wrong.

[Wolf-Dieter Groll]

Package: grub2-common
Version: 2.04-20
Severity: normal
File: grub2
Tags: a11y

Dear Maintainer,

* What led up to the situation?

Installation of Bullseye from "debian-live-11.1.0-i386-xfce+nonfree"
with fresh formatting of the "/" and swap partition of the SSD.
Everything worked as expectet until the installation of the grub2:
This part repeatedly led to reporting of a serious error without becoming more precise.

The following boot attempt failed, and ended in a grup-prompt

Almost a year ago, Debian 10 was installed on the same hardware without any problems.

* What exactly did you do (or not do) that was effective (or
ineffective)?

Ineffective:
"boot-repair-disk-32bit", it led to the same result.
But: In the log there was the hint to the problem:
"grub-install: error: failed to get canonical path of `/cow'."
Effective:
Booting the live system
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
cd /mnt
grub-install --recheck --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

* What was the outcome of this action?
After that, the system could be booted as usual, with the difference that there is now a textual Grub menu instead of the graphical one.



-- Package-specific info:

*********************** BEGIN /proc/mounts
/dev/sda1 / ext4 rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/mmcblk0p1 /home ext4 rw,relatime 0 0
*********************** END /proc/mounts

*********************** BEGIN /boot/grub/grub.cfg
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
set default="${next_entry}"
set next_entry=
save_env next_entry
set boot_once=true
else
set default="0"
fi

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}
function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
}

if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
set lang=de_DE
insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ] ; then
set timeout=10
else
if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
set timeout_style=menu
set timeout=10
# Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
# unavailable.
else
set timeout=10
fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
function gfxmode {
set gfxpayload="${1}"
}
set linux_gfx_mode=
export linux_gfx_mode
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c' {
load_video
insmod gzio
if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 5.10.0-9-686 ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-9-686 root=UUID=1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c ro quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.10.0-9-686
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Debian GNU/Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c' {
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 5.10.0-9-686' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.10.0-9-686-advanced-1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c' {
load_video
insmod gzio
if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 5.10.0-9-686 ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-9-686 root=UUID=1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c ro quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.10.0-9-686
}
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 5.10.0-9-686 (recovery mode)' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.10.0-9-686-recovery-1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c' {
load_video
insmod gzio
if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 5.10.0-9-686 ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-9-686 root=UUID=1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.10.0-9-686
}
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
*********************** END /boot/grub/grub.cfg

*********************** BEGIN /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
unused devices: <none>
*********************** END /proc/mdstat

*********************** BEGIN LVM
*********************** END LVM

*********************** BEGIN /dev/disk/by-id
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Nov 13 16:54 ata-SanDisk_pSSD_16GB_BDZ031409004122 -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Nov 13 16:54 ata-SanDisk_pSSD_16GB_BDZ031409004122-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Nov 13 16:54 ata-SanDisk_pSSD_16GB_BDZ031409004122-part2 -> ../../sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Nov 13 16:54 mmc-00000_0x4aa75672 -> ../../mmcblk0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Nov 13 16:54 mmc-00000_0x4aa75672-part1 -> ../../mmcblk0p1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Nov 13 16:54 mmc-00000_0x4aa75672-part2 -> ../../mmcblk0p2
*********************** END /dev/disk/by-id

*********************** BEGIN /dev/disk/by-uuid
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Nov 13 16:54 055f6df0-fb1e-4bed-a737-ed99da4def64 -> ../../mmcblk0p2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Nov 13 16:54 1bf70cce-aae8-46fa-8d18-0d7b3e714b3c -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Nov 13 16:54 9f04732c-1b0a-4972-9ddb-67905a7788af -> ../../mmcblk0p1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Nov 13 16:54 b0d996e5-485a-46f8-b1e4-f4c7563843a1 -> ../../sda2
*********************** END /dev/disk/by-uuid

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 11.1
APT prefers stable-updates
APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'stable-security'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)

Kernel: Linux 5.10.0-9-686 (SMP w/2 CPU threads)
Locale: LANG=de_DE.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=de_DE.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled

Versions of packages grub2-common depends on:
ii dpkg 1.20.9
ii grub-common 2.04-20
ii libc6 2.31-13+deb11u2
ii libdevmapper1.02.1 2:1.02.175-2.1
ii libefiboot1 37-6
ii libefivar1 37-6
ii liblzma5 5.2.5-2

grub2-common recommends no packages.

grub2-common suggests no packages.

-- no debconf information