grub error "symbol not found: grub_env_export"

[ferdi6917]

Hi everybody, i need some help here

after updating and reboot my pc, there some message appear on grub menu, said "error: symbol not found: grub_env_export" and then it goes to "grub rescue>"

i don't know why it happened, how i do fix it, please help me

i love my lmde n dont want to lose it

[lmintnewb]

Here's what I'd try. This is not from me. Was bored and googled a lil for ya while taking a break. It's from a ubuntu forum. But should still apply and sounded like a poss solution for ya. Might want to hold off a sec until some better learned Mint users look it over and give a go ahead ... or nay say.

I got the same error this past weekend all I did was boot from the live CD and chrooted my Natty / using the following commands:

sudo mount /dev/sdXx /mnt
sudo mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
sudo mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys
sudo mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo chroot /mnt

Once at the prompt I reinstall grub:

Code:
grub-install /dev/sda
and then updated grub

Code:
update-grub
then Ctrl-D twice to exit, and reboot.

Here's the link to the original buntu thread. I mean so much of buntu is debian ... So should be a-ok.

Oops, posted the wrong link ... Here's the one I meant to post.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1677888


(update) Success ? Might help some other folks out with this fix if it's resolved your problem.

[ferdi6917]

thanks for your reply lmintnewb, i'll try it

[drden]

Thank you so much, this worked perfect for me. I thought I would add to this for the real Linux beginners like me. I hope it is ok that I do this?

For the other newbee's like myself. On the first part, "sudo mount /dev/sdXX /mnt" remember that the XX is the hard disk drive you want to work on. Mine is a 500gb SATA ll drive (only one in computer) so it would be "sda1" or "a1" instead of "xx". I used the "Disk Utility" under "System tools" to see what the name of my hdd was.

Under the part "I reinstall grub" that has the "code: grub-install /dev/sda and then updated grub" In the terminal just type this part "grub-install /dev/sda" and remember that if your installing this to a different hdd then you need to put that location in (not SDA) but whatever hdd you mounted in the commands prior to this.

Same for the "update-grub" just type that 1 line in not the rest of it. Plus, you must be connected to the Internet with the computer your doing this on. Booting up with the DVD Linux mint (debian) you used to install the first time.

Thanks again for this information.

[lmintnewb]

Glad it helped someone. Was wondering about that Xx myself. Hope I didn't get the OP in trouble and it's appreciated that you helped by offering clarification for anyone else who needs it. More than welcome to add anything that helps folks who encounter this issue in the future.

[tenfoot]

Here's what I'd try. This is not from me. Was bored and googled a lil for ya while taking a break. It's from a ubuntu forum. But should still apply and sounded like a poss solution for ya. Might want to hold off a sec until some better learned Mint users look it over and give a go ahead ... or nay say.

I got the same error this past weekend all I did was boot from the live CD and chrooted my Natty / using the following commands:

sudo mount /dev/sdXx /mnt
sudo mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
sudo mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys
sudo mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo chroot /mnt

Once at the prompt I reinstall grub:

Code:
grub-install /dev/sda
and then updated grub

Code:
update-grub
then Ctrl-D twice to exit, and reboot.

Unfortunately in my case it asks for a password. I've tried not entering a password, entering "mint", entering "lmde". and entering my root password but in each case it tells me it is the wrong password and suggesting I try again

Any advise will be very much appreciated. At present I am just using the LMDE LiveDVD.

[ferdi6917]

Glad it helped someone. Was wondering about that Xx myself. Hope I didn't get the OP in trouble and it's appreciated that you helped by offering clarification for anyone else who needs it. More than welcome to add anything that helps folks who encounter this issue in the future.

Oooh...my experience, yesterday, to fix this problem isn't easy, considering I am a newbie but fortunately in the end I managed to save my LMDE and it works as usual. thank you very much

[lmintnewb]

Glad OP ... newb myself. Just seemed like the right solution. Though not confident with the terminal yet either. Tenfoot ... that's out of my league. Hopefully one of the mint guru's will come along and lend a hand. At which point in the process is it asking for a PW ? If I were in your situation. Think I'd download and burn a livecd to try. Know of no reason why a livecd would ask for a password and the fix described in that post was used with a livecd. Either way, good luck with resolving it. Glad ya saved your lmde partition OP.

[slnner]

tenfoot:
try your user password? check caps lock also.... :p
although it didnt ask for me.. from the live dvd.

[tenfoot]

tenfoot:
try your user password? check caps lock also.... :p
although it didnt ask for me.. from the live dvd.

Tried my user password but still the same error message And, yes, I am running LMDE from the Live CD. And CapsLock is OFF and NumLock is ON.

It's all getting very frustrating. Fortunately, I do have a laptop, so I can access all my data, and I copy my config files across. And, what is very strange, is that I did all the upgrades to the laptop (some 582 since I last used it) and all is sweet - even though the same Grub upgrade was done. The only difference is that the laptop is a 32bit and the desktop is 64bit.

Any further suggestions will be appreciated.

[lmintnewb]

Seems like the main issue is restoring or reinstalling grub2. Can't swear it'll fix ya up. But there's no shortage of ways to do that. Plenty of util's to do the job. Seems odd a live disc asking for a pw ?

Betting if you reinstall grub it'll clear things up. But am not certain about that. One way or the other.

[tenfoot]

O.K. I'm quite willing to reinstall Grub2 but how do I do it, please? The questions that come to mind are:

Can I do it from the LiveDVD? If so, please can you outline the procedure, in simple terms, 'cos I'm not entirely confident that I'd do it correctly, otherwise.

Do I have to boot my computer without the LiveDVD and get the dreaded error message again, and then type commands to reinstall Grub2.

It's all a "hall of mirrors" to me

[lmintnewb]

This guy mentions one way to do it.

viewtopic.php?f=141&t=71475&p=414938&hilit=reinstall+grub#p414938

That http://www.supergrubdisk.org/ is one utility to help ya do it. Between the forum search bar and google you should have no problem finding instructions that are a perfect fit. Just saying, would be just easy for ya to research it a lil bit as it would be for me to run around looking for a how to.

And here's a thread (how to) all about the topic. Looked pretty in-depth. There's so many ways to get er done. Just a matter of you finding one that's right for you. These are good places to start though.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=58174&p=332793&hilit=grub2#p332793

[zerozero]

Here's what I'd try. This is not from me. Was bored and googled a lil for ya while taking a break. It's from a ubuntu forum. But should still apply and sounded like a poss solution for ya. Might want to hold off a sec until some better learned Mint users look it over and give a go ahead ... or nay say.

I got the same error this past weekend all I did was boot from the live CD and chrooted my Natty / using the following commands:

sudo mount /dev/sdXx /mnt
sudo mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
sudo mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys
sudo mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo chroot /mnt

Once at the prompt I reinstall grub:

Code:
grub-install /dev/sda
and then updated grub

Code:
update-grub
then Ctrl-D twice to exit, and reboot.

Unfortunately in my case it asks for a password. I've tried not entering a password, entering "mint", entering "lmde". and entering my root password but in each case it tells me it is the wrong password and suggesting I try again

Any advise will be very much appreciated. At present I am just using the LMDE LiveDVD.

in the LiveDVD, open the terminal and do

Code: Select all

sudo su

after that you are root and can enter the above commands without sudo

[pulf1]

Thanks a lot! I thought I was going to have to to do a reinstall, but like almost always, there's someone else with the same problem.

[jesterofalltrades]

For those of you who followed the partitioning guide here (http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2010/09/18/di ... nt-debian/) and thus have your boot on /sda1 and your root on /sda3, there are a few clarifications. You should first mount to /dev/sda3 (where the sdXx is on the instructions). Once you chroot into that environment, you have to mount your boot partition:

mount /dev/sda1 /boot

and then you can continue with 'grub-install /dev/sda' and 'update-grub.'

[da01]

Thank you so much for this discussion thread.

In case anyone receives an error message about "line 35" in "mint-fortune" after "chroot /mnt" , don't worry. It's nothing important and can be ignored. (It's a minor error regarding the little fortune displayed when you log into a new terminal. It won't interfere with the grub installation.)