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#1 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-15 16:45:35

fsmithred wrote:

I have no idea about the audio problem. Does aplay -l show anything?

Console font can be changed with dpkg-reconfigure console-setup as root.

FYI

The minimal installCD bootloader get's wiped out, in some way, and now fails to boot kernel.  Also, netinstal has never been able to boot kernel from external USB HDD on MBP, using gpt/uefi.
Therefore, tried another gpt/uefi based distro, which had its installer do _all_ required HDD formatting, transparently!
Needless to say, this distro has _no_ problem booting kernel OOTB.
englee

#2 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-13 14:55:45

fsmithred wrote:
englee wrote:

Q1: Does minimal-live come with software to drive speaker, for sound?

Q2: 'dhclient eth0' does enable network, but what command disables connection?
englee

A1: alsa is installed, mocp can play audio files, and if you choose one of the access options to boot, the computer will talk to you the entire time it's on. I don't recommend using that unless you have vision problems.

A2: ifconfig eth0 down There's also a way to do it with the 'ip' command, but I haven't gotten around to learning that one yet.

Hi,
'mocp' complain's:

No valid sound driver!

using MBP!
Q: Do you know the trick to have minimal-live decipher some valid sound driver?

Also, minimal-live fonts, on the MBP display, are extremely small and can they be enlarged in some way?
englee

#3 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-12 15:21:11

fsmithred wrote:

I wouldn't expect the minimal-live to boot on any uefi system. It's not uefi-compatible. Please try the amd64 desktop-live iso. It has both 32 and 64-bit uefi bootloaders. It should boot on your system.

If you choose to install it, I think you'll need to install the grub-efi-ia32 package first, then run the installer and let it install the bootloader.

I don't understand why you think cfdisk defaults to gpt. I also don't see where you can change the partition label on a partitioned disk. It just reports what is there. On an unparitioned disk, the first thing cfdisk does is give you a choice of partition table types. I had to zero the first few MB of a disk before running cfdisk to see that.

Hey fsmithred!
Finally got minimal-live to boot kernel from USB external HDD, sdb, on MBP.
All cfdisk has to do is create a linux partition and refracta takes care of swap:

sent 1,652,039,705 bytes received 877,530 bytes 1,639,731.49 bytes/sec
total size is 1,648,868,116 speedup is 1.00
changed ownership of ‘/target/dev/console' from root:root to root:tty
changed ounership of ‘/target/dev/ptmx’ from root:root to root:tty
changed ounership of ‘/target/dev/tty' from root:root to root:tty
‘/target/dev/fd' -> ‘/proc/self/fd'
‘/target/dev/stdin' -> ‘/proc/self/fd/0’
‘/target/dev/stdout’ -> ‘/proc/self/fd/1’
‘/target/dev/stderr’ -> ‘/proc/self/fd/2’
‘/target/dev/core’ -> ‘/proc/kcore’
‘/target/dev/shm’ -> ‘/run/shm’
mkdir: created directory ‘/target/dev/pts'

Making a swap file...

Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 256 MiB (268431360 bytes)
no label, UUID=0f99e69e-51ef-4caa-994a-c8c75a970409

Q1: Does minimal-live come with software to drive speaker, for sound?

Q2: 'dhclient eth0' does enable network, but what command disables connection?
englee

#4 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-12 00:21:01

fsmithred wrote:

cfdisk lists all the internal disks if you run it without any argument. gdisk will ask you to type in the disk you want. cfdisk is for msdos partitioned disks, gdisk is for gpt disks. You can use both in the same session if you want.

For setnet.sh: Setup interfaces, select eth0, Conf, DHCP, done. I usually forget about that and run 'dhclient eth0'.

The new version of refractainstaller will be packaged as soon as one of our local git wizards shows up. It's all set to build. It'll be in ceres within a few days and in chimaera next week. It probably won't make it into beowulf, but I'll post the deb packages on my sourceforge site.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/refracta/files/tools/

Hi,
Please note both netinst & minimal-liveCD still fail to boot kernel onto external USB HDD, sdb, trapping:

No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key

Also, cfdisk defaults to 'gpt', where refracta complains that the 'BIOS BOOT' partition is missing, aborting install.

Therefore, VM is the only environment where beowulf can boot kernel, both netinst & minimal-liveCD.
englee

#5 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-11 17:06:43

fsmithred wrote:

Your 'A2' surfaced the hidden glitch in the bootloader matrix!  The beowulf minimal-liveCD defaults to 'gpt', and minimal-liveCD is limited to BIOS boot

Yeah, I see the problem. The installer selects gdisk if /sys/firmware/efi exists or if there are gpt disks found. If you don't know to pre-partition with cfdisk, you are understandably lost in the installer. I'll change it so both are available under any circumstances, and the user can decide which one to use.

Hi,
While you are adding the fix, make sure cfdisk can see more than sda and that it uses msdos-mbr, not gpt.
Q: When can we see an updated minimal-liveCD installer?
. . . the problem w/VM, after installing minimal-live is that 'setnet.sh' fails to connect via ethernet
roll
englee

#6 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-10 20:54:02

Thread solved:

Devuan GNU/Linux 3 beolive tty1
beolive login: root
Password:
Linux beolive 4.19.0-14-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.171-2 (2021-01-30) x86_64
Devuan Beowulf 3.0 -- Minimal Live
Devuan GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
root@beolive:~#

Thanks for your time!
smile * smile

#7 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-10 17:49:40

fsmithred wrote:
fsmithred wrote:

If the minimal-live CD booted on the macbook, then the mac is capable of booting in legacy bios (CSM) mode. There is no uefi bootloader in that iso.

The above quote was in reference to booting the CD on hardware.

englee wrote:

Hi,
Q2: If minimal-live CD ISO has no uefi bootloader bundled in its ISO, how would the above partition's differ in legacy bios (CSM) mode, when refracta installer script defaults to gdisk/gpt?
englee

A2:
For a legacy bios boot, you don't need the efi partition. You just need a root partition for the operating system and grub-pc will put the bootloader in the mbr of the disk of your choice. If you use gpt with a bios boot, you need to have a special partition for the bootloader to put some additional code. The live installer will complain about this if you don't have it.

Hi,
Your 'A2' surfaced the hidden glitch in the bootloader matrix!  The beowulf minimal-liveCD defaults to 'gpt', and minimal-liveCD is limited to BIOS boot, which requires a special partition for the bootloader to put micro-code in, besides linux file system & swap partition's.
Q: What label/name, format, size and code (ef??) is required for this _special_ bootloader partition, inorder for minimal-liveCD installation to boot kernel?
Cheers!
englee

#8 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-09 23:50:26

fsmithred wrote:

If the minimal-live CD booted on the macbook, then the mac is capable of booting in legacy bios (CSM) mode. There is no uefi bootloader in that iso.

Hi,
Partitions on VM V-Disk for the fully functional beowulf netinst:

Partition ___ File System ___ Mount Point ___ Label ___ Size ___ Used __ Unused __ Flags

/dev/sdal     fat16                /EFI                             94.00 MiB 206.00 KiB 93.80 MiB
/dev/sda2     ext4                /                       beowulf  7.68 GiB   6.67 GiB  1.01 GiB boot
/dev/sda3     linux-swap                                        228.00 MiB   0.00B   228.00 MiB

Q1: Does the /EFI, fat16 partition mean that this ISO requires a uefi bootloader, that's bundled in the ISO (GRUB)?

Q2: If minimal-live CD ISO has no uefi bootloader bundled in its ISO, how would the above partition's differ in legacy bios (CSM) mode, when refracta installer script defaults to gdisk/gpt?
englee

#9 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-09 20:08:03

fsmithred wrote:

If the minimal-live CD booted on the macbook, then the mac is capable of booting in legacy bios (CSM) mode. There is no uefi bootloader in that iso. And I agree that it should have installed in virtualbox. I have installed previous versions of the minimal-live in previous versions of virtualbox, and the current isos are essentially the same as they were then.

If you choose expert install in the netinstall iso, you get a few more questions, and one of them lets you skip adding a bootloader. That would have avoided clobbering rEFInd.

I booted the first option in the minimal live. Choosing one of the toram or access options shouldn't change the outcome. I'm not sure about the no-probe option.

This one: devuan_beowulf_3.1.1_amd64_minimal-live.iso

In your virtualbox gui, go to System, Motherboard, Chipset. What does it say?

1) Chipset == PIIX3
2) USB TABLET
3) x ENABLE I/O APIC
# # #
Q: Are you saying rEFInd should be able to boot kernel on beowulf netinst iso?
. . . then reinstalling eEFInd from CLI is all that needs to be done to boot both netinst & minimal-live kernel's
englee

#10 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-09 13:40:51

fsmithred wrote:

You got this same error on hardware (macbook pro) and in virtualbox.

grub-install: error: unable to identify a filesystem in hostdisk//dev/sda; safety check can't be performed.

Is your virtualbox emulating a macbook pro? If not, then what are you doing, exactly? I installed from the minimal-live in qemu yesterday and it all worked. Does the virtual disk use msdos or gpt partition table? Are your partitions really formatted with filesystems?

Check the sha256sum on the download and check that the burn was good.

Edit: How did you get the minimal live to boot on the MBP? That iso does not work with uefi.

Hi,
Yes, virtualbox host is MBP and refractainstaller formats EFI(ef00), linux(8300) & swap(8200).
That error occured _only_ in virtualbox.  All I've posted about installing minimal-live on hardware, was that the burnt ISO to CDROM did boot.  The latest experiment was to install rEFind, which fully functioned booting mac SSD.  I then reinstalled beowulf netinst, which wiped out the rEFind bootloader, and that's where it stands at the moment.  Please note beowulf netinst _did_ install on virtualbox and is fully functional.  Therefore, minimal-live should, as well.
From what I understand, Oracle virtualbox v-disk has had problems w/gpt and defaults to msdos.
Q: 'minimal-live' boot menu has several options, which one did you choose for qemu?
englee

#11 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-08 23:02:22

fsmithred wrote:

This is not really making sense to me.

This section starts with line 524. It should tell how many efi partitions are present. I don't understand the error message on that.

if [ "$esp_count" -eq 1 ] ; then
        esp_count=$(env LC_ALL=C fdisk -l | awk '/EFI System/ { print $0 }' | wc -l)
fi
if [ "$esp_count" -gt 1 ] ; then
        must_choose_esp="yes"
fi

The error messages about  'Unable to open /dev-sr0 read-write' and 'Can't have a partition outside the disk' make me think that it's trying to install grub to the wrong disk. (i.e. to the CDROM). Sometimes grub and the kernel don't agree on which disk is first. This might be one of those cases.

Hi,
The CDROM in VM is used by beowulf minimal LiveCD to install its contents to /dev/sda.
Any/all VM beowulf minimal LiveCD install's are suspect, at this point.
englee

#12 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-08 15:50:27

fsmithred wrote:
englee wrote:

Hi,
Burnt beowulf minimal LiveCD (no DT) onto a CD-R media, which booted just fine on the old MBP.
'grub-install' trapped the following error on the LiveCD VM install to HDD:

Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: error: unable to identify a filesystem in hostdisk//dev/sda; safety check can't be performed.

Your comments, where the MBP is exempt from this glitch in the matrix?
englee

If you are installing from the minimal-live, there will already be at least one ext2/3/4 filesystem on the virtual disk when you get to the grub-install stage.  What do fdisk and blkid show for the disk? What virtualization software are you using on the mac? Maybe it does something differently from what I expect.

Hi,
Further details on beowulf minimal-live GRUB bug, using Oracle VM, Series 6:

Mounting tmpfs and proc...
The installed system is ready for chroot. (proc, sys, dev are mounted)

If you want, you may work in another virtual terminal.
Make a selection when you are ready to proceed.

Choices (enter number}
2) Install bootloader and finish the installation
3) Continue without a bootloader.
4) Abort the installation and exit.
2

Setting up grub bootloader.. Please wait..

Exit due to error: 1
See /var/log/refractainstaller.log for details.
root@devuan:~#

Log dialog:

Universal Time is now: Thu Apr 8 09:51:16 UTC 2021.

Generating locales (this might take a while)...
en_US .UTF-8... done
Generation complete.
Warning: Unable to open /dev-sr0 read-write (Read-only file system). /dev/sr0 has been opened read-only.
Warning: Unable to open /dev-sr0 read-write (Read-only file system). /dev/sr0 has been opened read-only.
Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
/usr/bin/retractainstaller: line 524: [: : integer expression expected
/usr/bin/retractainstaller: line 527: [: : integer expression expected
Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERNS [FILE]...
Try ‘grep -—help’ for more information.
Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERNS [FILE]...
Try ‘grep -—help’ for more information.

mke2fs 1.44.5 (15-Dec-2018)
262144+0 records in
262144+0 records out
268435456 bytes (268 MB, 256 MiB) copied, 0.998884 s, 269 MB/s
mkswap: /target/swapfile: insecure permissions 0644, 0600 suggested.
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: error: unable to identify a filesystem in hostdisk//dev/sda; safety check can't be performed.

Q: Where is the glitch in the GRUB matrix hiding?
Kind Regards,
englee

#13 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-07 05:54:10

fsmithred wrote:
englee wrote:

Hi,
Burnt beowulf minimal LiveCD (no DT) onto a CD-R media, which booted just fine on the old MBP.
'grub-install' trapped the following error on the LiveCD VM install to HDD:

Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: error: unable to identify a filesystem in hostdisk//dev/sda; safety check can't be performed.

Your comments, where the MBP is exempt from this glitch in the matrix?
englee

If you are installing from the minimal-live, there will already be at least one ext2/3/4 filesystem on the virtual disk when you get to the grub-install stage.  What do fdisk and blkid show for the disk? What virtualization software are you using on the mac? Maybe it does something differently from what I expect.

Re: VirtualBox, 6 Series
Hi,
This is what I expected to see:

root@beo:/# blkid /dev/sda
/dev/sda: PTUUID="fbe575e2-b08c-7649-bd89-88c6262a01a6” PTTYPE="gpt"
root@beo:/# fdisk -l /dev/sda
Disk “dev/sda: 3 GiB, 3221225472 bytes, 6291456 sectors
Disk model: VBOX HARDDISK
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: FBE575E2-B08C-7649-BD89-88C6262A01A6

Device    Start   End     Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048    155647  153600  75M  EFI System
/dev/sda2 155648  5373951 5218304 2.5G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3 5373952 6291422 917471  448M Linux swap
root@bea:/#

# # #
I see no sign gdisk confirmed the format of sda1 is FAT?
englee

#14 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-06 00:41:23

fsmithred wrote:

There's no specific iso for macs, but the amd64 desktop-live has both the 32 and 64-bit bootloaders and is know to work on at least one old macbook pro. If you do in fact need the 32-bit bootloader, you will need to install the grub-efi-ia32 package in the live environment before you install the system. You can install it with apt if you have network, or you can install it with

dpkg -i /grub-efi-ia32*.deb

When you install the package, don't let it install the bootloader at that time. The live installer (Refracta Installer) will let you choose the efi partition if there are two or more.

Make sure you check if that's what you need with

cat /sys/firmware/efi/fw_platform_size

before you try the 32-bit bootloader.

I'm not sure that will be enough. You still need a way to make the machine boot from the usb drive. Google says hold down the option key at boot and then select the usb drive.

Hi,
Burnt beowulf minimal LiveCD (no DT) onto a CD-R media, which booted just fine on the old MBP.
'grub-install' trapped the following error on the LiveCD VM install to HDD:

Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: error: unable to identify a filesystem in hostdisk//dev/sda; safety check can't be performed.

Your comments, where the MBP is exempt from this glitch in the matrix?
englee

#15 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-05 15:27:07

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
englee wrote:

How would you suggest booting beowulf USB HDD by enabling CSM ("Legacy" mode) and disabling UEFI?

Check the firmware ("BIOS") settings for an option to disable UEFI. This is usually called CSM or "Legacy" mode with normal PCs but I have no experience whatsoever with Macs (I hate them with a vengeance) so I have no idea how this stuff works with them.

Hi,
Q: Does Devuan have an ISO unique to mac, like Debian?
link

Thanks for thread replies!
englee

#16 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-04 17:26:25

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Sorry OP but I didn't pay close enough attention earlier in the thread — your Devuan beowulf system looks to be installed in non-UEFI mode, can you boot it by enabling CSM ("Legacy" mode) and disabling UEFI?

If you want to dual-boot both Devuan and OS X from GRUB then you will have to reinstall beowulf in UEFI mode. I'm pretty sure you will also have to change the partition table on the Devuan disk to GUID.

Hi,
When hitting 'ALT/OPT' key during mac boot, installer always presents a functional boot menu, while there is _no_ sign of beowulf install boot menu.  The GRUB menu posted earlier, I link to beowulf install, shows up immediately after hitting the power ON button, that's _never_ been able to boot kernel.

The plan is to use beowulf install USB HDD by itself, _no_ dual-boot w/OS X, basically a clone of installer bootloader.   
Q: How would you suggest booting beowulf USB HDD by enabling CSM ("Legacy" mode) and disabling UEFI?
. . . I can only see this from the old W$ BIOS perspective, where my PC experience is and am new to UNIX/mac
englee

#17 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-04 00:16:03

fsmithred wrote:

FYI: Some macbook pros use a 32-bit efi bootloader with a 64-bit operating system. I know the 2011 ones did that. Not sure about the 2013 models or how to tell which grub it needs.

Hi,
This latest chroot dialog states 'sdb1' is the device with the EFI system partition, using a 32-bit efi bootloader:

root@beo:/# mount | grep /boot/efi
root@beo:/# grub-install --efi-directory=/boot/efi
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: error: install device isn't specified.

root@beo:/# mount | grep /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb2 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime)

root@beo:/# mount /dev/sdb /mnt

mount: /mnt: /dev/sdb already mounted or mount point busy.
root@beo:/# grub-install --efi-directory=/mnt
Installing for i386-pc platform.

grub-install: error: install device isn't specified.
root@beo:/# grub-install --efi-directory=/dev/mnt
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: error: install device isn't specified.

root@beo:/# lsblk -o NAME,PARTTYPE,MOUNTPOINT | grep -i “C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B"
|-sdb1 c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b
root@beo:/#

Your feelings?
englee

#18 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-03 21:32:06

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
englee wrote:

Please explain to the novice, what you mean by 'make sure correct ESP is mounted under "/BOOT/EFI" first?
. . . "/boot/efi" makes no sense

The Devuan installer should use /boot/efi (not "/BOOT/EFI") for the EFI system partition. GRUB's core.img (grubx64.efi) is stored on the ESP rather than the disk (or partition) itself for UEFI systems.

Check by using

findmnt -o target,source /boot/efi

Or

grep '/boot/efi ' /proc/self/mounts
englee wrote:

Why not have 'grub-install' do its thing directly on the external HDD, that fails to boot kernel (see above code)?

Because the UEFI version of GRUB doesn't store anything directly on the disk. What used to go on the MBR[0] for non-UEFI boxen is now stored on the EFI system partition instead. So adding a block device (eg, /dev/sda) to the UEFI grub-install command has no effect whatsoever and is ignored. For the UEFI grub-install command the --efi-directory= option performs the equivalent function.

[0] For disks with an MS-DOS partition table. If the disk has a GUID partition table then a BIOS boot partition is needed to hold GRUB's core.img for non-UEFI systems.

Hi,
No output dialog!
Installer (VM):

root@beo:/# findmnt -o target,source /boot/efi
root@beo:/# grep ‘boot/efi ‘ /proc/self/mounts
root@beo:/#

USB HDD in question (VM_chroot):

root@beo:/# findmnt -o target,source /boot/efi
root@beo:/# grep ‘boot/efi ' /proc/self/mounts
root@beo:/# ls
EFI boot etc initrd.img lib lost+found mnt proc run srv tmp var vmlinuz.old
bin dev home initrd.img.old lib64 media opt root sbin sys usr vmlinuz
root@beo:/# grep ‘boot/efi' /proc/self/mounts
root@beo:/#

I'm only familiar with the mac SSD w/GUID partition table & W$ w/MBR.
englee

#19 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-03 18:54:08

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
englee wrote:

Why would VM mistake an AMD64 w/i386-PC?

That message is from GRUB — "i386-pc" is for non-UEFI systems, even if they're 64-bit; the UEFI GRUB targets are called "i386-efi" & "x86_64-efi".

So the VM seems to have the grub-pc package installed instead of grub-efi-amd64, which is incorrect if you want to dual-boot with a UEFI OS X installation.

Try this in the installed system:

# apt install grub-efi-amd64{,-signed} # this should cause the removal of the grub-pc package
# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --bootloader-id=debian --removable # make sure the correct ESP is mounted under /boot/efi first

Hi,
Q1: Please explain to the novice, what you mean by 'make sure correct ESP is mounted under "/BOOT/EFI" first?
. . . "/boot/efi" makes no sense

I used the beowulf installer on VM, not the beowulf installed system on VM, which is fully functional.
The following dialog is chroot of installer on VM:

root@beo:/# ls
EFI boot etc initrd.img lib lost+found mnt proc run srv tmp var vmlinuz.old
bin dev home initrd.img.old lib64 media opt root sbin sys usr vmlinuz
root@beo:/# cd EFI
root@beo:/EFI# ls
root@beo:/EFI# cd ..
root@beo:/# cd boot
root@beo:/boot# ls
System.map-4.19.0-14-amd64 config-4.19.0-16-amd64 initrd.img-4.19.0-16-amd64
System.map-4.19.0-16-amd64 grub vmlinuz-4.19.0-14-amd64
config-4.19.0-14-amd64 initrd.img-4.19.0-14-amd64 vmlinuz-4.19.0-16-amd64
root@beo:/boot# cd grub
root@beo:/boot/grub# ls
fonts grub.cfg grubenv i386-pc locale unicode.pf2
root@beo:/boot/grub#

Q2: Why not have 'grub-install' do its thing directly on the external HDD, that fails to boot kernel (see above code)?
englee

#20 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-03 18:31:09

fsmithred wrote:

FYI: Some macbook pros use a 32-bit efi bootloader with a 64-bit operating system. I know the 2011 ones did that. Not sure about the 2013 models or how to tell which grub it needs.

Ok, OS X Catalina requires 64-bit efi bootloader and this system still uses the original OS X Mavericks.
englee

#21 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-03 05:22:48

root@beo:/# grub-install /dev/sdb
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: warning: this GPT partition label contains no BIOS Boot Partition; embedding won't be possible.
grub-install: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
grub-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.

root@beo:/# grub-install /dev/sdb1
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: warning: File system ‘fat' doesn't support embedding.
grub-install: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged...
grub-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.

root@beo:/# grub-install /dev/sdb2
Installing for i3586-pc platform.
grub-install: warning: File system ‘ext2' doesn't support embedding.
grub-install: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
grub-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.
root@beo:/#

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
englee wrote:

Installer failed to recognize beowulf USB drive's ESP

What does that mean, exactly?

I've just experimented in a VM and if I use the "manual" partitioning option then multiple ESPs are detected and identified as such. I managed to install Devuan onto a second disk with it's own ESP by marking the ESP on the first disk as "do not use". The Devuan ESP was marked as "EFI system partition" and the installer then successfully created a boot entry pointing to it. I think you can use the "Advanced" installer to force the fallback EFI loader but I just rebooted and used "Rescue Mode" to do that afterwards.

englee wrote:
1      1049kB  99.6MB   98.6MB  fat16       EFI System Partition boot, esp

Was the original ESP marked "fat16"? I always use FAT32.

Hi,
VM on mac generated this 'helpful' dialog:

You need to make the newly installed system bootable, by installing the GRUB boot loader
on a bootable device. The usual way to do this is to install GRUB on the master boot
record of your first hard drive. If you prefer, you can install GRUB elsewhere on the
drive, or to another drive, or even to a floppy.

The device should be specified as a device in /dev. Below are some examples:
- “/dev/sda" will install GRUB to the master boot record of your first
hard drive;
- "/dev/sda2” will use the second partition of your first hard drive;
- "/dev/sdc5” will use the first extended partition of your third hard
drive;
- “/dev/fdo" will install GRUB to a floppy.

Device for boot loader installation:

Q: Why would VM mistake an AMD64 w/i386-PC?

root@beo:/# grub-install /dev/sdb
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: warning: this GPT partition label contains no BIOS Boot Partition; embedding won't be possible.
grub-install: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
grub-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.

root@beo:/# grub-install /dev/sdb1
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: warning: File system ‘fat' doesn't support embedding.
grub-install: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged...
grub-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.

root@beo:/# grub-install /dev/sdb2
Installing for i3586-pc platform.
grub-install: warning: File system ‘ext2' doesn't support embedding.
grub-install: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
grub-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.
root@beo:/#

Still no sign of kernel booting, even w/blocklists.
englee

#22 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-04-02 05:58:02

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

The EFI system partition should be FAT-formatted and have the "boot,esp" flags applied (partition code "EF00" if you're using gdisk). 100MiB should be plenty but some older systems need 512MiB so just make it the same size as the one you already have.

I'm not sure how the installer will cope if presented with multiple ESPs but I would try mounting the one you want to be used under /boot/efi in the installer, that's where the grub-install command will presume the ESP to be located unless told otherwise.

Hi,
Installer failed to recognize beowulf USB drive's ESP, which now appears to match installers ESP:

Model: (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 8074MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:
Number Start   End      Size    File system Name                 Flags
1      1049kB  99.6MB   98.6MB  fat16       EFI System Partition boot, esp
2      99.6MB  7812MB   7712MB  ext4        root
3      7812MB  8073MB    261MB  linux-swap(v1)

Any other tips booting kernel on this USB drive?
Sincerely,
englee

#23 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-03-31 20:49:36

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
englee wrote:

Why can't the installed beowulf use the same type of standalone bootloader as it's installer

You can do that but it will require a new EFI system partition on the beowulf drive to hold the GRUB files.

Hi,
The installer should be able to add another partition, besides root and swap, to the beowulf drive, correct?
If so, what format and size is required for its new EFI system 'primary' partition add on?
Also, can I tell the installer to put GRUB on the beowulf drive, rather than mac host SSD default?
Kind Regards,
englee

#24 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-03-30 22:07:56

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
englee wrote:

How would you shutdown/reboot from beowulf root?

You can't shutdown or reboot from the chroot environment. You should have exited the shell and used the installer menu to shutdown.

englee wrote:

there was _no_ sign of GRUB

Did you check that /dev/sda1 was assigned to the EFI system partition before running the commands?

What is the output of efibootmgr -v now?

Hi,
My preference would be to add bootloader to the USB external HDD, w/o tampering with mac SSD.
Q1: Explain what Rescue means by 'Force GRUB installation to the EFI removable media path'?

[!!] Enter rescue mode

Rescue operations

Execute a shell in /dev/sdb1
Execute a shell in the installer environment
Reinstall GRUB boot loader
Force GRUB installation to the EFI removable media path
Choose a different root file system
Reboot the system

<Go Back>

Yes, /dev/sda1 did appear to be assigned to the EFI system partition, but I'll plead ignorance.
This, now, is what's reported after running the five command lines:

root@beo:/# ls
bin boot dev etc home initrd.img initrd.img.old lib lib64 lost+found media mnt opt proc root run sbin srv sys tmp usr var vmlinuz vmlinuz.old
root@beo:/# efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0000
Timeout: 5 seconds
BootOrder: 0000,0080
Boot0000* Devuan  HD(1,GPT,1bc27af6-16da-4b55-9dda-6ab2e0b4cob9,0x28,0x64000)/File(\EFI\debian\shimx64.efi)
Boot0080*  PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1c,0x4)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Sata(0,0,0)/HD(2,GPT,16b323b3-ebaa-4f60-b53f-0bf289726415,0x64028,0x1d1ec410)/File(\System\Library\Coreservices\boot.efi)
BootFFFF*  PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1c,0x4)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Sata(0,0,0)/HD(2,GPT,16b323b3-ebaa-4f60-b53f-0bf289726415,0x64028,0x1d1ec410)/File(\System\Library\Coreservices\boot.efi)
root@beo:/#

Q2: Why can't the installed beowulf use the same type of standalone bootloader as it's installer, that's fully functional on a mac?
englee

#25 Re: Installation » Non Booting GRUB on Beowulf » 2021-03-30 08:32:45

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
englee wrote:
Boot0000* devuan HD(1,GPT, lbc27af6-16da—4b55-9dda-6ab2e0b4c0b9,0x28,0x64000)/File(\EFI\devuan\shimx64.efi)

The grub-efi-amd64-signed package is hard-coded to look under $ESP/EFI/debian/ for the location of the configuration file so that might be why it's having trouble.

So from the shell in the installed system run these commands (this presumes the EFI system partition is assigned to /dev/sda1):

mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
cp -r /mnt/EFI/de{vu,bi}an
efibootmgr -b 0 -B
efibootmgr --create --label 'Devuan' --loader '/EFI/debian/shimx64.efi'
debconf-set-selections <<<'grub-efi-amd64 grub2/update_nvram boolean false'

^ That copies the "devuan" directory to a "debian" version, deletes the current boot entry, creates a new boot entry pointing to the "debian" directory and tells the grub-efi-amd64 package not to change the boot entries in future.

Hi,
I was able to run all five command lines from beowulf root w/o error, but was unable to 'shutdown' or 'reboot' from shell and simply hit power button.

How would you shutdown/reboot from beowulf root?

usage: shutdown [-] [-h [-u] [-n] | -r [-n] | -s | -k] time [warning-message ...]

When I rebooted beowulf HDD, there was _no_ sign of GRUB and mac booted instead!
Finally, how could I get beowulf to boot from this root shell, to see if installation is functional?
englee

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