Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

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Codesound

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by Codesound »

athi wrote: Sat Aug 17, 2019 1:35 pm Please run below commands to output partitions detail and location of GRUB in Terminal (click SELECT ALL to select all text for copying) and copy from Terminal and post output:

Code: Select all

sudo parted -l

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l 2>/dev/null | egrep "Disk /|/dev/" | sed "s#^/dev/#Part /dev/#" | awk '{print $2}' | sed 's/://' | xargs -n1 -IX sudo sh -c "hexdump -v -s 0x80 -n  2 -e '2/1 \"%x\" \"\\n\"' X | xargs -n1 -IY sh -c \"case  \"Y\" in '48b4') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.96 ;; 'aa75' | '5272') echo X: GRUB Legacy ;; '7c3c') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.97 or v1.98 ;; '020') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.99 ;; *) echo X: No GRUB Y ;; esac\""
Hi, sorry for my long time response.... Thanks guys......

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sudo parted -l

response is:

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EDIT
The response is:

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/dev/sda: GRUB 2 v1.99
/dev/sda1: No GRUB 00
/dev/sda2: No GRUB 00
/dev/sdb: No GRUB 9f83
/dev/sdb1: No GRUB 6f6f
/dev/sdd: No GRUB 7c66
/dev/sdd1: No GRUB 31c0
Last edited by Codesound on Sun Sep 01, 2019 3:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Codesound

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by Codesound »

AndyMH wrote: Sat Aug 17, 2019 1:40 pm just check in BIOS that it is set to legacy and not UEFI.
Hi,
yes, is set in UEFI mode and secure boot is off... now I put some photos of the BIOS
https://imgur.com/a/LhQ2ean


Thanks again for your support!

Code: Select all

EDIT
Last edited by Codesound on Sun Sep 01, 2019 3:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
athi

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by athi »

Found this on your issue, apparently Precision 3630 only have UEFI (no bootable legacy BIOS option).
https://www.dell.com/support/article/us ... de?lang=en

Please reinstall in UEFI mode with secure boot off and SATA in AHCI mode.

Edit: I guess it have to come, Dell is phasing out legacy BIOS.
pbear
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by pbear »

Good sleuthing, athi. First time I've heard of such a thing. But, as you say, was bound to happen eventually.

Be aware, Codesound, the bootloader location for UEFI will be a partition, not the device. Also, the EFI boot partition needs to have certain qualities, including format (FAT32, not ext4), size (250 MB is a common recommendation), and flags (both boot and esp). Moreover, for UEFI, you must use a GPT partition table; on the bright side, GPT permits up to 128 primary partition, so no more fussing with extended partitions.

You've shown remarkable patience and perseverance. I'm sure you will be able to do this now that athi has found the problem. Good luck.

ETA: If you're getting frustrated, you could make this a lot simpler if you go with a root-only partition scheme. That's what I did with my first Mint system. Used it for nearly two years without a problem. The advantage of this approach is that the installer will do everything automatically. So, switch the system to UEFI and boot the live ISO. Select "Erase & Install." The installer will set up the EFI boot partition, and the root partition also of course. Done. Learn multi-partition for LM20, by which time you'll be an old hand.
Last edited by pbear on Sun Aug 18, 2019 12:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
athi

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by athi »

Codesound, here are links to Pjotr excellent tutorial for dual booting Win10 and Mint, in case you do not have them:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... ws-10.html
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... -mint.html
HaveaMint
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by HaveaMint »

He said he pulled the windows hard drive out and put an ssd in its place. I think.
You can follow this tutorial and leave out the /media/username/backup partition but follow the rest.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=298939
"Tune for maximum Smoke and then read the Instructions".
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AndyMH
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by AndyMH »

With your bios set to UEFI you need to boot your mint installation media and run gparted. Create a new GPT partition table (this will wipe the disk), create a FAT32 partition of around 100-500MB, set the flags on it to boot and esp. You can leave the rest of the space unallocated or create / and /home partitions and choose 'something else' again during installation.

Your problem is that your SSD is formatted with an MBR (legacy) partition table, but your BIOS is set to UEFI so when it boots it is looking for an EFI boot partition that doesn't exist (this is the small FAT32 partition you need to create, this is where mint puts the bootloader).
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
Codesound

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by Codesound »

Hi,

@AndyMH
@HaveaMint
@athi
@pbear
@JeremyB

I want to thank everyone who helped me by dedicating their precious time and expertise to solve this problem. I was helped as if I had been your friend by a long time. This community is very professional and I like to switching in Linux Mint for many reasons... this is one of there..... Thanks guys, thanks again....

Now I reinstall LM followin the tutorial posted by HaveaMint.

I don't understand why even if Linux has the recognized digital signature, this is not accepted by Dell UEFI systems .... I write an email to them ...

One trick to help users that have similar issue is to write one bootable USB pen with YUMI with one Linux Distribution (any). In the BIOS select Legacy mode with secure boot switched to off. The USB is readed, and then select "boot from primary HD".... and the Linux distro installed is launched.....

Image

Thanks again guys..... now I try to install in UEFI mode my system. I will put my feedback :)
Last edited by Codesound on Sun Aug 18, 2019 6:46 am, edited 2 times in total.
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AndyMH
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by AndyMH »

I don't understand why even if Linux has the recognized digital signature, this is not accepted by Dell UEFI systems
I think others have have similar problems and posted how to do it on the forum. Can't help, I'm a thinkpad guy.
You will find this is one of, if not the most helpful and friendly forums around :D
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
Codesound

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by Codesound »

AndyMH wrote: Sun Aug 18, 2019 4:49 am With your bios set to UEFI you need to boot your mint installation media and run gparted. Create a new GPT partition table (this will wipe the disk), create a FAT32 partition of around 100-500MB, set the flags on it to boot and esp. You can leave the rest of the space unallocated or create / and /home partitions and choose 'something else' again during installation.

Your problem is that your SSD is formatted with an MBR (legacy) partition table, but your BIOS is set to UEFI so when it boots it is looking for an EFI boot partition that doesn't exist (this is the small FAT32 partition you need to create, this is where mint puts the bootloader).
thanks @AndyMH for this clarification....
athi

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by athi »

I don't understand why even if Linux has the recognized digital signature, this is not accepted by Dell UEFI systems .... I write an email to them ...
This is a known issue since MS released UEFI and the fault is not entirely with Dell. Secure boot keys are maintained an issued by MS and only the major Linux distributions (Redhat, Ubuntu etc.) have MS issued key. Without the key, you can install with secure boot enabled but will not be able to boot with secure boot enabled. There are instructions on how to import EFI key into the secure boot allowable key data base after installation (see steps 35-43).
https://askubuntu.com/questions/627416/ ... -dual-boot
pbear
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by pbear »

Codesound wrote: Sun Aug 18, 2019 6:29 amOne trick to help users that have similar issue is to write one bootable USB pen with YUMI with one Linux Distribution (any). In the BIOS select Legacy mode with secure boot switched to off.
A few comments.

1. YUMI has two versions, one for BIOS and another for UEFI. It's unclear which you are using. In my experience, the first works well, the second not so much. Instead, I find UUI (also from Pendrive Linux) much more reliable. Better still is Rufus.

Note: These are the best tools in Windows (IMHO). Once you have Mint up and running, that has its own tool for burning ISO files to USB drive and you'll want to use that.

2. Perhaps you understand this already, but you need to use regular UEFI mode, not legacy.

3. On the other hand, you can switch off secure boot. Doing so will make installation easier and you lose almost nothing.
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by martyfender »

Codesound wrote: Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:37 pm Hi,

yes I use "Something Else" for set the partitions... Now I have reinstalled LM with all the two partitions sets to "Logical", the boot problem persist....

Image
I believe you must install the bootloader to a primary partition, not a logical partition, sda, as others have stated. And as someone else stated, you can simplify things by making both partitions primary.
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by martyfender »

A few weeks ago I installed Linux Mint Mate 19.1 to a new ssd. Upon rebooting it would always boot to the grub rescue menu and not the Linux logon screen. I solved it by opening gparted, booted with my usb bootable live persistent usb stick. First I deleted the whole drive. I created a small, ext4, primary partition of 250 mbs, (I recommend doing it though with at least 300 mb, so you have more room for new kernel downloads, so you don't get the error that the partition is full, like I did. I had to delete older kernel, saving only one older one as backup.)
On that partition I checked the boot flag. The second primary partition I created with ext4 to use as my root partition. When I ran the linux installer I chose sdb drive where bootloader should be installed, I believe, and chose sdb2 as root. I then ran the installer and Mint installed and booted properly. I did not choose to create the swap partition until a few days later, I resized the root partition non-destructively in gparted and created a new swap partition with the remaining space.

I believe now that I don't need the swap as it has never been used, with the programs I run with 4gbs of ram. I have recently read that you should not use swap with an ssd, as it could cause additional wear on the drive. I may just delete it and give the space back to my root partition.
I originally created the swap partition because when I installed Mint to the drive, I had it connected to an external SATA to USB adapter and it would never resume from suspend, properly. I believe you only need swap if you intend to use the hibernation fuction.
Yesterday I finally moved the SATA SSD to an internal SATA port and it runs great with no resume problems that I had with the SMicron SATA to USB controller. Attached is a screen shot of my second, drive with Linux Mint. My first spinning, sda drive has only Windows 7 Home on it.
Attachments
Screenshot at 2019-08-20 00-28-37.png
Codesound

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by Codesound »

Hi,

sorry for my loooong time response.... I had finished my data traffic....

1. With GParted I create First the 250 mb partition and then the / and /home partitions
2. I Start LM live with USB Bootable
3. In the "Something else" menu I select "UEFI" for the 250mb partition and EXT4 for the others two

once the installation is finished, the computer restarts without problems. Now everything works!
Thanks Guys!

R
martyfender
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by martyfender »

Creating a separate boot partition solved it for me also. However, we should not have to do this in the current versions of Mint.
You are on a Dell with UEFI bios and I am on an older Dell Inspiron 570 with legacy bios.
Does anyone have any clues why this was necessary for both of us to get Mint 19.2 to work for us?

Thanks
jglen490

Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by jglen490 »

UEFI and BIOS are similar in purpose, but very different in how they perform that purpose. UEFI uses the GPT partition table to good advantage, where BIOS generally works better with the ms-dos partition table. With ms-dos partitioning the boot files start at the very small MBR at the beginning of the disk drive. There are limitations to this scheme such as four primary partitions only. With GPT partitioning there is no general limit to the number of primary partitions (in practical terms there is a limit of about 256), and an EFI System Partition (ESP) is placed somewhere on the disk other than the MBR. The ESP is special in that it is much flexible in size and can accommodate multiple files for booting many different OSes. UEFI looks for the ESP. Only one ESP is required no matter how many physical drives are present, although UEFI can handle multiple ESPs, also.

From the Linux viewpoint an ESP MUST be formatted as fat16 or fat32 and must have a boot flag. With the Ubuntu based Linuces, the installer will take care of formatting and flagging the ESP correctly, all the user needs to do is tell where to put it and what size to make it. It's just real easy to make it the first partition /dev/sda1 and in reality it could be as small as about 50MB and as large as 500MB. When telling the installer where to put boot files, with ms-dos it's /dev/sda (the MBR of the installed to disk). With GPT it's /dev/sda1 (the partition created first for the ESP on the installed to disk). There are exceptions, but the rule is generally preferred.

Different computer manufacturers implement UEFI differently. Microsoft originally wanted to require Secure boot to ensure that only genuine Windows OSes could boot. They changed their minds after a lot of pushback from Windows users as well as other OS users. Some makers still want to push the Secure boot mode. Mint and Ubuntu can generally boot with Secure boot or with it disabled, and most motherboards are happy with that, too. Dell, Acer, some HPs, and some Lenovos can be one way or the other. So with UEFI try to boot Linux with Secure boot, no Legacy, and SATA set to AHCI. Most of the time it will work. If either the install or the boot won't work that way, start by disabling Secure boot - and if dual booting with Windows 10 turn off Fast Start in power management.

Seek help if you need to do something else beyond that.
pbear
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by pbear »

martyfender wrote: Thu Sep 05, 2019 11:01 pmCreating a separate boot partition solved it for me also.
This is a common misunderstanding. An EFI partition is not a boot partition, although obviously it has something to do with booting. As generally understood and used in Linux, a boot partition is one mounted at /boot, as you have done. I doubt seriously you actually needed to do that and there are good reasons not to. This is turning into a hijack of the OP's thread, though. If you wish to pursue the matter, I suggest you open a thread of your own.
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by martyfender »

I obviously don't have an EFI partition because, as I stated, I am on a legacy bios. I do have a Dell partition with the flag diag on sda1. My first,sda, internal, spinning hard drive, has Windows 7 on it . My secondary, New SSD drive has Linux Mint 18.2 on it, sdb. sdb1 is where the linux boot partition is, 250mb. sdb2 is root, 224gb and sdb3 is the swap partition.

Forgive me, but I don't get why you consider this hijacking this thread when we both have SSD's, Dell systems and have solved our issue by creating a separate boot partition. Is it because he is UEFI and I am on legacy bios, with an msdos partition table? It appears that there are more things here similar than different, as to be relevant.

One of my mistakes may have been that I originally installed Linux Mint with the SSD drive connected to an external SATA to USB adapter. That first install is what resulted in booting to the grub rescue menu, Maybe that is why it only worked with a separate boot parition? This original install to sdf,sdf1 with the boot flag, sdf2 for root, still shows up in the /etc/fstab file. When I moved it to the internal SATA connector, it booted up just fine,as far as I can tell. I resized my partitions later to add the swap partition, which was sdf3. Currently they are sdb1, sdb2 and sdb3. I only later added the swap partition to try to solve the suspend problem when using the external SATA to USB adapter. Suspend now works great when connected internally.

My assumption is that the swap partition is not really needed with the SSD, as I rarely ever see it used when looking at it in system monitor. Right now it is using 8.5mb, the most I have ever seen, after several days running without rebooting. That seems to maybe be a memory leak. After a fresh boot it shows 0 swap for some time. I attribute the increase in swap to Firefox with many tabs open over several days. When I installed Linux Mint I chose other, fearing that if I didn't, it would overwrite my Windows 7 installed on sda, or mess up its booting, with the default Mint install options.
From my /etc/fstab:
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
# / was on /dev/sdf2 during installation
UUID=02d659d3-207b-45e3-ae52-b1c1a144f749 / ext4 noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /boot was on /dev/sdf1 during installation
UUID=ec1d3a07-0903-47e0-8450-35de5b4f3df2 /boot ext4 noatime,defaults 0 2
UUID=c03fc742-b4f0-4a20-aa18-92998b7d84ec none swap sw,pri=-1 0 0
With all of this added info maybe I have now hijacked this thread, so I apologize.
mzee1934
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Re: Bootloader Problems On New SSD HD With ONLY LM19

Post by mzee1934 »

Quite simple.
Select the first option ' Wipe disk .....'
Install, answer a couple of questions, that's all.
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