Linux Mint Fatal Error

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JD4WD

Linux Mint Fatal Error

Post by JD4WD »

Hello everyone,

I am attempting to install Linux Mint 18.3 64-bit to a HP Pavillion dv8 laptop. This is a relative's laptop that previously had Win10 on it, which they were having multiple issues with. So I wanted to try something different for them on this system.

First, I attempted to install Ubuntu16.04.3 LTS to their machine (dual boot). It worked great, I could dual boot to Win10 or Ubuntu with no issues but Ubuntu didn't really win me over. So I started doing research on other Linux distros and I found LM! I've heard such great things this community so I decided to download Linux Mint 18.3 64-bit and have it replace Ubuntu.

Long story short, I could never get it to properly install, I was getting the following error: "Unable to install GRUB in /dev/sda, Executing 'grub-install /dev/sda' failed. This is a fatal error." I did some searching and found a few articles on this forum where others have had the same issue. However, none of those solutions worked and I think I might have made it the issue worse, I can no longer boot to any OS, or even to my recovery partition. I get an "Operating system not found" message now when I attempt to boot from the HD.

I created a boot-repair USB in hopes of trying to figure out what I did wrong: http://paste.ubuntu.com/p/cnNKqYyGYB/

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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JoeFootball
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Re: Linux Mint Fatal Error

Post by JoeFootball »

JD4WD wrote:Any help would be greatly appreciated!
This thread appeared to have your same error. I didn't read through it all, but it's now solved.

Joe
JD4WD

Re: Linux Mint Fatal Error

Post by JD4WD »

I've read through that one already and I think my issue might be a bit different. At the end of that thread he gets it working again but is unsure what the actual fix was.

Other than the boot-repair info, is there any other data that I can pull that might be helpful? I can still boot to LM and access the terminal using the installer USB.
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austin.texas
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Re: Linux Mint Fatal Error

Post by austin.texas »

Mint is installed on /dev/sdb
Try installing Grub to /dev/sdb and then set that hard drive to be the first in the boot order.
Mint 18.2 Cinnamon, Quad core AMD A8-3870 with Radeon HD Graphics 6550D, 8GB DDR3, Ralink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
Linux Linx 2018
JD4WD

Re: Linux Mint Fatal Error

Post by JD4WD »

This is the output when I try to install grub to /dev/sdb:
Screenshot from 2018-02-23 10-35-24.png
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austin.texas
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Re: Linux Mint Fatal Error

Post by austin.texas »

That is to be expected. You have to do some fancy linux tricks to install Grub from the live Mint.
Open a terminal and enter all these commands:
Mount the root partition at /mnt:

Code: Select all

sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt

Code: Select all

for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys /run; do sudo mount -B $i /mnt$i; done

Code: Select all

sudo chroot /mnt
The prompt will change to a root prompt.

Code: Select all

update-initramfs -u
Install Grub to the approprate drive - sdb:

Code: Select all

grub-install --recheck /dev/sdb

Code: Select all

update-grub
CTRL-D to exit chroot
CTRL-D to exit the terminal

All done! Now set that hard drive as first in the boot order, and boot.

PS. leaving for the airport now... Good luck.
Mint 18.2 Cinnamon, Quad core AMD A8-3870 with Radeon HD Graphics 6550D, 8GB DDR3, Ralink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
Linux Linx 2018
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JerryF
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Re: Linux Mint Fatal Error

Post by JerryF »

JD4WD wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:35 am This is the output when I try to install grub to /dev/sdb:

Screenshot from 2018-02-23 10-35-24.png
It's typed incorrectly in Terminal. Should have been sdb, not sbd.
fabien85
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Re: Linux Mint Fatal Error

Post by fabien85 »

JerryF wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 1:39 pm
JD4WD wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:35 am This is the output when I try to install grub to /dev/sdb:

Screenshot from 2018-02-23 10-35-24.png
It's typed incorrectly in Terminal. Should have been sdb, not sbd.
Indeed. And because it's really easy to make typing mistake, I suggest you issue all commands given by austin.texas by copying and pasting them. Also this will be faster.
On each of the code boxes there is a "select all" option to make it easier to copy and paste.
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