GPT, no brub loading

[gödel]

hi
i had linux mint 12 kde on my thinkpad T420s and i saw that my ssd had a msdos disk label. i have changed it to a GPT disk label and reinstalled mint 12 kde. now i cant boot, after i switch on the computer, i see : starting intel boot agent...
then exiting boot agent...
any suggestions?

[srs5694]

Please start with an emergency disk (such as Mint's installer in its "try before installing" mode) and run Boot Info Script. This will produce a file called RESULTS.txt. Post it here, either as an attachment or using code tags. This will provide the information needed to properly diagnose your situation.

[gödel]

Code: Select all

                  Boot Info Script 0.61      [1 April 2012]


============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================

 => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector
    9208866 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location
    and looks for (,gpt1)/boot/grub on this drive.
 => Syslinux MBR (3.61-4.03) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.

sda1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:
    Operating System:  Linux Mint 11 KDE
    Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda2: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:
    Operating System: 
    Boot files:       

sda3: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:

sdb1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  SYSLINUX 4.02 2010-07-21 ........>4..r>.......#..?...0...~.s...~...f...M.f.f....f..0~....>2}.u......
    Boot sector info:  Syslinux looks at sector 5358688 of /dev/sdb1 for its
                       second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the  directory.
                       According to the info in the boot sector, sdb1 starts
                       at sector 0. But according to the info from fdisk,
                       sdb1 starts at sector 62.
    Operating System: 
    Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /syslinux.cfg
                       /efi/boot/bootx64.efi /ldlinux.sys

============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sda1                   1   312,581,807   312,581,807  ee GPT


GUID Partition Table detected.

Partition    Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors System
/dev/sda1              34    19,531,284    19,531,251 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
/dev/sda2      19,531,285    97,656,285    78,125,001 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
/dev/sda3      97,656,286   121,093,786    23,437,501 Swap partition (Linux)

"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs   
/dev/sda1        7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7   ext4       
/dev/sda2        051dd2cf-f831-4941-affe-58ecd2c771c2   ext4       
/dev/sda3        cc0a3c35-2bbb-439f-831d-419fe66e1c30   swap       
/dev/sdb1        9332-0615                              vfat       LIVE

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)
/dev/sdb1        /cdrom                   vfat       (ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)


=========================== sda1/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 $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${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 recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
  insmod vbe
  insmod vga
  insmod video_bochs
  insmod video_cirrus
}

insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,gpt1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  insmod part_gpt
  insmod ext2
  set root='(hd0,gpt1)'
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7
  set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
  set lang=en_US
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
if background_color 0,0,0; then
  clear
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=white/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
if [ ${recordfail} != 1 ]; then
  if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
    if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
      if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
        set linux_gfx_mode=keep
      else
        set linux_gfx_mode=text
      fi
    else
      set linux_gfx_mode=text
    fi
  else
    set linux_gfx_mode=keep
  fi
else
  set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode
if [ "$linux_gfx_mode" != "text" ]; then load_video; fi
menuentry 'Linux Mint 12 KDE 64-bit, 3.0.0-19-generic (/dev/sda1)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,gpt1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7
        linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-19-generic root=UUID=7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7 ro   quiet splash vt.handoff=7
        initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-19-generic
}
menuentry 'Linux Mint 12 KDE 64-bit, 3.0.0-19-generic (/dev/sda1) -- recovery mode' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,gpt1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7
        echo    'Loading Linux 3.0.0-19-generic ...'
        linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-19-generic root=UUID=7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7 ro recovery nomodeset
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-19-generic
}
submenu "Previous Linux versions" {
menuentry 'Linux Mint 12 KDE 64-bit, 3.0.0-12-generic (/dev/sda1)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,gpt1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7
        linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic root=UUID=7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7 ro   quiet splash vt.handoff=7
        initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-12-generic
}
menuentry 'Linux Mint 12 KDE 64-bit, 3.0.0-12-generic (/dev/sda1) -- recovery mode' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,gpt1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7
        echo    'Loading Linux 3.0.0-12-generic ...'
        linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic root=UUID=7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7 ro recovery nomodeset
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-12-generic
}
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###

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

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,gpt1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7
        linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,gpt1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7
        linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

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

### 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  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============================== sda1/etc/fstab: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=7c2efeb2-9382-4d41-a166-9db33f02c6d7 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=051dd2cf-f831-4941-affe-58ecd2c771c2 /home           ext4    defaults        0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=cc0a3c35-2bbb-439f-831d-419fe66e1c30 none            swap    sw              0       0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

   4.391156197 = 4.714968064    boot/grub/core.img                             1
   4.325203896 = 4.644152320    boot/grub/grub.cfg                             1
   3.523453712 = 3.783279616    boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-12-generic               2
   3.906266212 = 4.194321408    boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-19-generic               2
   4.754357338 = 5.104952320    boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic                  1
   3.582512856 = 3.846693888    boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-19-generic                  1
   3.523453712 = 3.783279616    initrd.img.old                                 2
   3.582512856 = 3.846693888    vmlinuz                                        1
   4.754357338 = 5.104952320    vmlinuz.old                                    1

=========================== sdb1/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

if loadfont /boot/grub/font.pf2 ; then
        set gfxmode=auto
        insmod efi_gop
        insmod efi_uga
        insmod gfxterm
        terminal_output gfxterm
fi

set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray

menuentry "Start Linux Mint" {
        set gfxpayload=keep
        linux   /casper/vmlinuz  file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper quiet splash --
        initrd  /casper/initrd.lz
}
menuentry "Check the integrity of the medium" {
        set gfxpayload=keep
        linux   /casper/vmlinuz  boot=casper integrity-check quiet splash --
        initrd  /casper/initrd.lz
}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================== sdb1/syslinux.cfg: ==============================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
default menu.c32
prompt 0
menu title UNetbootin
timeout 100

label unetbootindefault
menu label Default
kernel /ubnkern
append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper quiet splash --

label ubnentry0
menu label Start Linux Mint
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append initrd=/casper/initrd.lz file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper  quiet splash --

label ubnentry1
menu label Start Linux Mint (compatibility mode)
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append initrd=/casper/initrd.lz file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper xforcevesa  ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw noapic noapci nosplash irqpoll --

label ubnentry2
menu label Check the integrity of the DVD
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append initrd=/casper/initrd.lz boot=casper integrity-check  quiet splash --

label ubnentry3
menu label Memory Test
kernel /isolinux/memtest
append initrd=/ubninit

label ubnentry4
menu label Boot from local drive
kernel /ubnkern
append initrd=/ubninit

label ubnentry5
menu label Check the integrity of the medium
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append initrd=/casper/initrd.lz boot=casper integrity-check quiet splash --

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sdb1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

            ?? = ??             boot/grub/grub.cfg                             1

================= sdb1: Location of files loaded by Syslinux: ==================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

            ?? = ??             ldlinux.sys                                    1
            ?? = ??             menu.c32                                       1
            ?? = ??             syslinux.cfg                                   1

============== sdb1: Version of COM32(R) files used by Syslinux: ===============

 menu.c32                           :  COM32R module (v4.xx)

=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

xz: (stdin): Compressed data is corrupt


[srs5694]

Your Boot Info Script output looks OK, although it's not optimal. For a BIOS-mode boot from a GPT disk, you should ideally have a BIOS Boot Partition, which your disk lacks. GRUB 2 can work without one, and your Boot Info Script output indicates that the relevant stuff is present, but GRUB is sometimes unreliable on a GPT disk without a BIOS Boot Partition. Thus, one possible fix is to create a BIOS Boot Partition (it can be small -- 1 MiB is a common size -- so you could carve it out of another partition pretty easily). I don't think this is the root cause of the problem, though, so I'd hold off on doing anything about this. Creating this partition might be pointless, depending on your ultimate solution.

I've done a bit of digging, and I see that your model has UEFI-enabled firmware. Some UEFI implementations attempt to boot in UEFI mode when they see a GPT disk, and I suspect that this is what's happening here. If I'm right, you've got at least three possible fixes:

• Try to force a BIOS-mode boot. Some implementations will do this if you set the boot flag on the 0xEE protective partition in the MBR. You can do this with Linux's fdisk program, but do not attempt to do it with GNU Parted, GParted, or anything else based on libparted (which includes most Linux partitioning tools). Anything based on libparted will try to work on the GPT partitions, and will interpret "boot flag" in an unhelpful way. You must use fdisk (or cfdisk, sgdisk, or similar MBR-only tools in other OSes) for this task. There may be other ways to force a BIOS-mode boot, but they're likely to be specific to particular firmware implementations. You could consult your computer's manual on this matter.
• Switch to an EFI-mode boot. To do this, you'll need an EFI System Partition (ESP) and an EFI-mode boot loader. You could set all this up by repartitioning and installing the software, or you can re-install Mint and have it create entirely new partitions. The trick to re-installing will be to ensure that the installer boots in EFI mode rather than in BIOS mode. Since there are a lot of ways to accomplish this goal of switching to an EFI-mode boot, I won't go into further details here. If you're interested in this approach, post back and say how you'd like to proceed (repartition and keep your installation or re-install).
• Switch back to an MBR partition table. This should work, but you'll need to re-install GRUB when you're done. Also, you may need to resize your first partition from the front to make room for GRUB. MBR is adequate for a 160 GB disk, so although GPT has some minor advantages, if it's giving you troubles because of firmware limitations, sticking with MBR for BIOS-mode booting makes sense. OTOH, because of the repartitioning you'll need to do, it might be as well to switch to an EFI-mode boot. Booting in EFI might might be a few seconds faster.

You might as well try setting the boot flag on the 0xEE protective partition using fdisk, at least if you're comfortable using that program. It's certainly the easiest fix, if it works. If not, you'll have to decide which of the other approaches to use.

Incidentally, your disk isn't partitioned very well for an SSD. Most SSDs work best when their partitions are aligned on certain power-of-2 multiples of sector numbers. IIRC, values between 64 and 512 sectors are common. Most modern disk partitioning tools align partitions on 2048-sector (1 MiB) values, which works fine with SSDs, RAID arrays, and Advanced Format disks. Since your disk is improperly aligned, my recommendation is to scrap your current installation (backing up any important data first), re-partition, and re-install. This recommendation is independent of any method you might use to fix your boot problem.

[gödel]

thanks for the detailed reply!
i'm interested in the EFI-mode boot, with a re-install. but the mint live-cd doesnt offer much configuration, only create partitions manually (if i'm right?!)

[srs5694]

You should begin by figuring out what happens when you boot the installer into the "try before installing" mode. Open a Terminal window and type the following command:

Code: Select all

ls /sys/firmware/efi/


If the result is a "no such file or directory" error, you've probably booted into BIOS mode. If you see a file listing (probably with a file called "systab" and a directory called "vars"), then you've booted into EFI mode. I'll assume you have not booted into EFI mode....

You should figure out how to coax your computer to boot in EFI mode. Unfortunately, this varies a lot from one computer to another, so I can't provide a simple step-by-step procedure. You should start by consulting your manual and looking for options related to the boot mode. (If you can download a PDF of your manual, searching for the string "EFI" or "legacy" might help you find this.) Some implementations provide a boot options menu you can get by pressing F2, F10, F12, or some other key at boot time. If you press this key with the CD or USB flash drive installed, you might see two options for that device, one of which will boot in BIOS mode and the other of which will boot in EFI mode. Between reading your manual and experimenting, with any luck you should be able to get an EFI-mode boot. If you can't, there may be ways to force it by employing additional software or reconfiguring your installer. Post back if you need more help with this.

Once you've got an EFI-mode boot going, you can repartition your disk. (Actually, you can do this from BIOS mode, and it's conceivable that this will kick your system into an EFI-mode boot, so you could try this as a last-ditch effort to start an EFI-mode boot.) I recommend doing this manually, with GParted or something similar. In GParted, select Device -> Create Partition Table to create a new partition table. In the dialog box, click Advanced and set the partition table type to "gpt". When you click Apply, this will wipe out your current partitions and create a fresh GPT, which you can then populate with new partitions. (Alternatively, you can wipe out the partitions you've got now, since your disk seems to already be set up for GPT.) On a normal spinning disk, I recommend creating the following partitions:

• EFI System Partition (ESP) -- A 200-500 MiB FAT32 partition for use by the firmware. In GParted, set its "boot flag" (that identifies it as the ESP); or if you use gdisk, give it a type code of EF00.
• Linux /boot partition -- A ~500 MiB ext2fs or ReiserFS partition to hold your kernels and related files. This isn't strictly necessary, but a separate ext2fs or ReiserFS /boot partition gives you some extra options for certain types of boot loader configurations. You might never want this functionality, but there's very little downside to creating this partition, and having it in place will be handy if you decide you do want to use the boot loaders that can take advantage of it.
• Linux root (/) partition -- A 5-25 GiB partition to hold the bulk of the OS system files. Use whatever filesystem you like.
• Linux swap partition -- A partition that's 1-2x the size of your system's RAM, prepared as swap space.
• Linux /home partition -- Give the rest of the disk's space to /home, which will hold user files.

Note that the mount points I've specified (/boot, /, and /home) are set in the installer, not in GParted.

SSDs have their own issues. If your system will have both an SSD and a regular spinning disk, you might want to put some partitions on one disk or the other to optimize performance and reduce unnecessary wear on the SSD. For instance, most people recommend putting swap space on a regular disk rather than an SSD to reduce wear. You'd probably want root (/) on the SSD to optimize performance, but you might want to split off some frequently-changed directories, such as /var and /tmp, to store on the regular disk. You'd probably also put /home on the regular disk. Given your SSD's size, this would leave a lot of space unused on the SSD. You could use that for another OS or create a partition for frequently-accessed user files. OTOH, if the SSD is the computer's only disk, you can partition it just as you would a regular spinning disk.

Anyhow, once the disk is partitioned and you're booted in EFI mode, you should be able to launch the installer and install normally. You'll need to select the manual partitioning option (IIRC it's called "something else") and tell the installer what each of those partitions is. IIRC, Ubuntu and Mint call the ESP the "EFI boot partition". Swap space will be auto-detected. For the others, you specify their mount points here.

[gödel]

my BIOS is set up as followed:
UEFI/Legacy Boot :Both
UEFI/Legacy Boot Priority :Legacy First
unfortunately i'm stupid enough to set a BIOS-password and forgot it, so i can't change anything in the BIOS.
how can i force it with software?

[srs5694]

You can usually reset your firmware to the default settings by using a jumper on the motherboard. You'll have to consult your manual to learn the details, since it varies from one model to another.

[gödel]

as far as i know (and every computergeekfriend of mine) it is nearly impossible to crack a thinkpad BIOS-password, because the standardway of removing the CMOS battery won't work. i've read about a way, but only for people with practical experience in microelectronics, which i don't have.
so i switched back to msdos disklabel with tears in my eyes and i've reinstalled mint and grub loaded, but afterwards i got into the busybox ubuntu shell, which is also completely new for me. then i've installed chakra linux (built on arch) and everything works..
so if you like go on helping me, you can:-) but otherwise i can life with this current configuration and i will learn/read as much as possible and try to set up a triple fedora,mint,chakra boot when fedora 17 comes out...