Grub Update trouble [RESOLVED]

[DarrenG]

Question though, If I may: when you ran the "Boot Repair" program did it provide good control over what you're doing ? Grub seems to be like a virus: it wants to install itself on every disc it can find.

I hadn't used it before and I didn't find it explained what it was doing very well, but I do remember it gave me an option of installing to every disk or not.

The GRUB recovery screen needs work. Instead of just throwing a command line prompt it should
1. State current grub not working. Revert to previous version? Y|n
2 responding n would then give the command line prompt but there should then be a help menu available.

Good suggestions, but I don't know enough to comment on their feasibility.

[TELEFORCE]

Can someone please confirm the current working version of GRUB2? My update manager is showing grub2 (2.02-2ubuntu8.16).

[karlchen]

For Mint 18.x the bugfixed grub2 package has got the version: 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.27 (see JoeFootball's post below. Thanks, Joe Football.)
For Mint 19.x the bugfixed grub2 package has got the version: 2.02-2ubuntu8.17
For Mint 20.0 the bugfixed grub2 package has got the version: 2.04-1ubuntu26.2 (see JoeFootball's post below. Thanks, Joe Football.)

[JoeFootball]

For LM 20 the bug fixed version is 2.04-1ubuntu26.2

grub2 (2.04-1ubuntu26.2) focal; urgency=medium

* debian/postinst.in: Avoid calling grub-install on upgrade of the grub-pc
package, since we cannot be certain that it will install to the correct
disk and a grub-install failure will render the system unbootable.
LP: #1889556.

[mike acker]

GRUB Trouble Spreading

we just now did the LMDE/4 updates for the Guest machine

the Guest Machine has 2 discs: sda : LMDE/4 . this is the active system and this is the system we updated.
sdb: LMDE/2 . this is the previous guest O/S

when we applied the update to LMDE/4 we were careful to designate drive sda ONLY
However: the update disabled the LMDE/2 system: It gives the GRUB RECOVERY error if I use the BIOS to launch it from its drive.
this was not the case earlier: I could boot the LMDE/2 using the BIOS drive selection

To me this indicates the GRUB Update is out of control and is updating itself onto drives other than as directed. On the Guest Machine: this rendered a previously working system (LMDE/2) INOP except when booted using grub from the LMDE/4 system.

Those with an IT background will know this is un-acceptable.

[tjweaver]

For Mint 19.x the bugfixed grub2 package has got the version: 2.02-2ubuntu8.17
For Mint 18.x the bugfixed grub2 package has got the version: (I'll have to look up on my LM 18.1 system and add it here)
For Mint 20.0 the bugfixed grub2 package has got the version: 2.04-1ubuntu26.2 (see JoeFootball's post below. Thanks, Joe Football.)

I am running 19.3 here and my update manager is showing "grub2 2.02-2ubuntu8.16". Do I need to update to 8.16 before I can update to 8.17 or do I need to wait for 8.17 to become available in my update manager?

Thanks

[MrEen]

Hi tjweaver,

See if clicking on Refresh changes the version before you attempt installing the update.

[JoeFootball]

I am running 19.3 here and my update manager is showing "grub2 2.02-2ubuntu8.16". Do I need to update to 8.16 before I can update to 8.17 or do I need to wait for 8.17 to become available in my update manager?

On 19.x, you need to wait for 2.02-2ubuntu8.17 to appear on your current mirror, which should be soon (try a Refresh), or switch to a mirror that already has it. You do not need to apply 2.02-2ubuntu8.16 first.

[tjweaver]

I am running 19.3 here and my update manager is showing "grub2 2.02-2ubuntu8.16". Do I need to update to 8.16 before I can update to 8.17 or do I need to wait for 8.17 to become available in my update manager?

On 19.x, you need to wait for 2.02-2ubuntu8.17 to appear on your current mirror, which should be soon (try a Refresh), or switch to a mirror that already has it. You do not need to apply 2.02-2ubuntu8.16 first.

Thanks for the quick response from both of you. Refreshing hasn't changed yet. Will try a different mirror. Just glad I didn't jump the gun and go with 8.16. Thanks for the help.

[ron69]

This morning another grub-update. Is getting a bit annoying.

[kleinbottle]

Are you sure that 2.02-2ubuntu8.17 is not the damaged package?I run Linux Mint Mate 19.3 and this version has been showing in my update manager since last thursday when i had to timeshift back to the earlier version following that catastrophic update.The description for this package says:"This is a dummy transitional package to handle GRUB 2 upgrades.It can be safely removed." It's all very confusing.It would be useful for the community to know which package is the broken one and which is the fixed working version.

[mike acker]

I don't like any of this. It's not like Linux to have a mess like this.

I see some of this seems to be related to Ubuntu -- which as we know is produced by Canonical and is affiliated with MSFT.

Yuk

No wonder we are having trouble with it.

[kleinbottle]

OK..i finally took the plunge and updated to the 2.02-2ubuntu8.17 version and can confirm that this is the fixed working version!I was holding my breath to see if there was a boot failure but it rebooted just fine.

[nicolaasjan]

I don't like any of this. It's not like Linux to have a mess like this.

I see some of this seems to be related to Ubuntu -- which as we know is produced by Canonical and is affiliated with MSFT.

Yuk

No wonder we are having trouble with it.

Other distributions were also affected...
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/07 ... e-patches/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/boothole- ... x-distros/

[JoeFootball]

For Mint 18.x the bugfixed grub2 package has got the version: (I'll have to look up on my LM 18.1 system and add it here)

For LM 18.x the bugfix package is 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.27

grub2 (2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.27) xenial; urgency=medium

* debian/postinst.in: Avoid calling grub-install on upgrade of the grub-pc
package, since we cannot be certain that it will install to the correct
disk and a grub-install failure will render the system unbootable.
LP: #1889556.

[karlchen]

Thanks, JoeFootball, for completing the missing Grub2 version details for LM 18.1 and LM 20.
You know what I just realized?
They have been posted in the wrong thread. We are in the LMDE sub-forum. I had managed to ignore so.

[JoeFootball]

We are in the LMDE sub-forum.

With that in mind, here's the latest (as I type this) fix for LMDE 4: 2.02+dfsg1-20+deb10u2

I don't know if this fix is for the same issue the Ubuntu variants were for, but it was released subsequent to the recent security update, and was released on the same date as the Ubuntu fixes.

grub2 (2.02+dfsg1-20+deb10u2) buster-security; urgency=high

* Fix a regression caused by "efi: fix some malformed device path
arithmetic errors" (thanks, Chris Coulson and Steve McIntyre; closes:
#966554).

[flynx]

With that in mind, here's the latest (as I type this) fix for LMDE 4: 2.02+dfsg1-20+deb10u2

Guess I'm late to this party. Thank you for this. I'll give it a shot. EDIT: worked, thanks.

Philosophically, when updating one must balance increased security and feature enhancements with the risk of regressions (like this one) and updates used as a malware vector (google "android barcode virus").

My PC is not operating the power grid, not on a corporate network, doesn't hold state secrets. In my case, there is significant incentive NOT to update if everything is working A-OK.

I'm looking for a developer willing to be interviewed on this topic, just a few back and forth e-mails. PM me if you're willing to volunteer, it would help!