[SOLVED] Mint 20 and 21 installs booting to GRUB-Rescue on legacy-boot

[jburk07]

I’ve been dual-booting Mint Cinnamon 19.3 and Windows on three older Dell computers for a few years. With the end of support for 19.3 I now need to install a newer version of Mint. They are all booting legacy.

I don’t have great technical knowledge, but I can follow instructions. I’ve seen the forum posts about the bug in the Mint installer for legacy-boot computers, so I have carefully followed the instructions for manual install I’ve seen in those posts. Version 21.1 installed without problem on the first laptop I updated, a Dell Latitude E6440, still dual-booting with Windows. The Mint installer used one of the Windows partitions for boot on that computer, as it had with 19.3.

Next I wanted to install 21.1 as the only operating system on a Latitude E6410 which hasn’t run Linux before. I deleted the Windows partitions and changed the SATA setting to AHCI. Then, as with the first laptop, I booted from the 21.1 install USB using the legacy boot option, set up an ext4 partition in GParted, and installed Mint using the “Something else” option. The installation completed successfully, but when I rebooted, it went to grub-rescue with the error: file ‘ /boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod’ not found.

I searched the forum and tried several things to fix this, but none of them helped. I used Boot Repair in the installer USB and it said there was no error, but the reboot still went to grub-rescue. I tried some grub-rescue commands to try to fix things, but since it can’t find the normal.mod file that didn’t work. I tried the usual terminal commands to reinstall grub (sudo grub-install /dev/sda and sudo update-grub) but that didn’t change things. I even unplugged and re-plugged the hard drive in case it needed some sort of reset after the SATA setting change, but that didn’t help.

I then tried installing Mint 20.3 instead, but got the same error when I tried to boot.
I tried Boot Repair again, with no error, but still got the grub-rescue error on reboot.
A couple of times I was able to boot by using the F12 boot menu and selecting the internal hdd, but then the next morning that just went to the grub-rescue error again.
I used a SuperGrub2 USB and was able to boot into the hard-drive installation. Then I tried the terminal commands to reinstall grub, but got the same grub-rescue error after restarting. When I tried to use SuperGrub2 to boot again, it could no longer find an operating system.
Then I tried the F12 boot menu to choose the internal hdd and it happened to boot again, so I haven’t shut it down since then.

Here is the system information for that current installation:

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jeb@jeb-Latitude-E6410:~$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-91-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 wm: muffin 5.2.0 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Latitude E6410 v: 0001 serial: <filter> 
  Chassis: type: 9 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Dell model: 0K42JR v: A00 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A01 
  date: 03/05/2010 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 16.1 Wh condition: 16.1/62.2 Wh (26%) volts: 12.2/11.1 
  model: Sanyo DELL RG04904 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Full 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5 M 520 bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Nehalem rev: 2 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 19151 
  Speed: 1463 MHz min/max: 1199/2400 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1463 2: 1452 3: 1404 4: 1456 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GT218M [NVS 3100M] vendor: Dell driver: nouveau v: kernel 
  bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:0a6c 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting 
  unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1440x900~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVA8 v: 3.3 Mesa 21.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio 
  vendor: Dell Latitude E6410 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:3b56 
  Device-2: NVIDIA High Definition Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:0be3 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-91-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82577LM Gigabit Network vendor: Dell Latitude E6410 
  driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: 8040 bus ID: 00:19.0 chip ID: 8086:10ea 
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel 
  port: 7000 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 8086:422b 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 698.64 GiB used: 8.95 GiB (1.3%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD7500BPKX-00HPJT0 
  size: 698.64 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> 
  rev: 1A01 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 686.67 GiB used: 8.95 GiB (1.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0 C mobo: N/A sodimm: 44.0 C gpu: nouveau 
  temp: 66 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2868 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
  Processes: 223 Uptime: 10m Memory: 3.71 GiB used: 1.15 GiB (30.9%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 
jeb@jeb-Latitude-E6410:~$ 

In the File Manager, I can see all the grub files, including boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod. Why can’t it find the file?

How can I get LM 20 or 21 to boot on a legacy-boot with only one partition? Or should I try setting up a separate small boot partition first and then installing manually, as a user in another post did? I’ll appreciate any help.

[linux-rox]

... changed the SATA setting to AHCI.

From a little quick research, this Dell article suggests changing to AHCI could be the problem.

[jburk07]

That is interesting, thanks. Is it still the case that Mint 20 and 21 need the AHCI setting? If I changed it back to the original RAID setting and re-installed, should it work, or would additional tweaking be necessary?

[linux-rox]

Don't know. If it were me, I'd try it. Doesn't take long and easy enough to reinstall (again) in AHCI mode. Also, as you have 21.1 on the other laptop, I'd stick with that on this one, so I'd recommend reinstall anyway.

If switching the SATA setting doesn't work, the next things to try are updating the BIOS and/or tracking down the drivers.

[jburk07]

OK, thanks. I discovered that I can press left-Shift when it first powers up and that does get me to GRUB, so at least there's a workaround.

I will probably try the 21.1 reinstall with RAID when I get a chance, although I'm a little leery since I've also read about problems installing Mint on systems with RAID and Intel RST.

I was using this laptop as a test case before updating my main computer, a Dell Optiplex 330 which is currently dual-booting with Windows. I need to delete Windows to reclaim the disk space and run only Mint. The desktop is already set to AHCI, so I might go ahead and try installing 21.1 on it (after I make a final system image) to see if it will boot. It is legacy-only - not UEFI-capable - so I'm hoping I can get it to work.

[linux-rox]

Wait, left-shift brings up Grub? (Usually it's right-shift.) Can you boot from that Grub menu? If so, it's trivial to get the menu to display automatically. Edit /etc/default/grub, changing hidden to menu and setting the timeout to 10 seconds. Or run this, which will do it for you:

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sudo sed -i -e 's/=hidden/=menu/' -e 's/TIMEOUT=0/TIMEOUT=10/' /etc/default/grub && sudo update-grub

As for the Optiplex 330, perhaps the least stressful answer, albeit a little extra work, would be to test that by installation to USB flash drive (a second one, not the one used for live boot). Do you have one handy? Preferably 64 GB, but 32 GB will be sufficient. Importantly, has to be a 3.0 drive (not 2.0), but a 3.0 drive will work even if the PC ports are only 2.0 (as I would expect). Installation to USB drive is pretty easy in BIOS mode (UEFI gets complicated because of an installer bug). For testing purposes, do a simple default installation, making sure to select the flash drive as target.

[jburk07]

This is great, thanks. I’ll be excited to try this when I get a chance, but that might not be until Monday.

I have done full installs on USB flash drives before although it’s been awhile, so I can try that. So a USB version would test the installation on the Optiplex even if the issue might be in booting from the hard drive? (That desktop is currently running LM 19.3 in dual boot.) On the E6410 laptop I haven’t had any difficulty booting from the Live USB’s, just from the hard drive. Or were you just suggesting this for general testing purposes? Clearly I don’t know enough about all this to really understand but I’m always interested in learning.

[linux-rox]

Or were you just suggesting this for general testing purposes?

This. Wasn't worried about boot as the computer already is dual boot with Mint. I suppose you're right, though, that's not a guaranty.

[jburk07]

Well I’m still having variable results. Before I ran your code to unhide Grub, left-shift would sometimes go to Grub and then boot normally, but sometimes it would still go to the grub rescue error. Sometimes pressing F12 for the boot menu and choosing the internal hdd would boot, and sometimes it would go to grub rescue.

Then I ran your script. When I restarted it went to grub rescue. Powered off. Powered on again, and the message said GRUB loading, but then the same error about i386- -pc/normal.mod not found and grub rescue came up. After powering off and back on again, I pressed F12 and chose the internal hdd, and it booted to GRUB. So at least we know the code worked and GRUB is unhidden. Then I restarted and it went to grub rescue again. But this evening when I powered on, the GRUB menu came up and it booted normally. It seems strange that it sometimes boots and sometimes doesn’t.

[linux-rox]

Color me puzzled. This has become a branching paths problem, where choices limit options down the road. I recommend first reinstall with Cinn 21.1; that's what you actually wanted and only ended up with LM20 as a test. You will have to run the sed command again, of course, but that's pretty trivial. Then run updates. If still have a problem (likely), it's time to consider BIOS update and/or looking for boot drivers.

[jburk07]

The Dell E6410 20.3 booted correctly for the second time in a row this morning, so that’s a hopeful sign. I agree that it’s time to move on from this installation and even from this laptop, at least for the time being, since there are too many possible things wrong on this installation and I need to move on to the Optiplex 330. I also like your suggestion to make a full install of 21.1 on a USB for general testing and even just as a temporary substitute for an internal installation in a pinch as I move all of our machines away from 19.3, so I’ll probably do that next after I get another 64GB flash drive. I really appreciate all your help and will post my results installing 21.1 on the Optiplex.

[jburk07]

I took your suggestion and did a full install of LM 21.1 on a USB flash drive, which worked fine on my Dell Optiplex 330 desktop. The full-install USB is handy to have available along with the Live USB.

Then I installed 21.1 on the Optiplex, which is legacy-boot only, and it installed and booted LM 21.1 Cinnamon without a problem. The BIOS is ancient but still works with Mint, so I’m happy. I deleted the Windows partitions, left the 19.3 partition intact, and created a new ext4 partition in the unallocated space using Gparted before using Something Else in the installer, as AndyMH and pbear have instructed elsewhere. After the reboot the new 21.1 installation went right to GRUB and it even automatically included the option for the old 19.3 installation.

The Dell Latitude E6410 laptop still doesn’t boot LM 20.3 reliably (but does sometimes!), so next I’ll switch it to UEFI boot and try the 21.1 EFI installation. I'll post back whether that works. Thanks again for all your help.

[jburk07]

I’m adding these notes just in case others with a similar problem might be interested.

On this laptop I decided not to try either switching from Legacy to UEFI or switching back to RAID to install until I could do more research since both procedures seemed somewhat complicated and risky.

Instead, I did two other things, one or both of which might have made a difference.

Since the laptop was still booting sometimes but not others, I decided to just use it to practice making and restoring Foxclone and Macrium Reflect images for now. I made a Foxclone image and restored it successfully; when I rebooted, it did (happen to?) go to GRUB and boot successfully.

At that point I did something else without testing the restored system further. Earlier, before the restored image, when I had gotten the grub rescue prompt, the ls command yielded:
(hd0) (hd0, msdos1) (fd0)
This laptop doesn’t have a floppy disk drive, so I never understood that. Since all the GRUB files were always available on the internal hard drive, I wonder if the system was sometimes looking for that fd0 disk and failed to boot but other times found the internal hard drive and booted successfully.

I searched for boot issues with fd0 and one suggestion for a similar problem in another forum was to turn off the floppy disk in BIOS, so after the Foxclone restore I decided to see if I could find anything in the BIOS. Although there’s no floppy disk listed, System Configuration > Miscellaneous Devices lists an Express Card (separate from Media Card and 1394), which I have never used, so I disabled it. When I exited, the laptop booted to GRUB successfully again. Could the system have been reading that slot as a floppy drive?

After a couple of days now it has booted successfully to GRUB 10 times in a row. I don’t know if it will continue to do so, and I have no idea whether either of these actions (restoring a Foxclone image or disabling the Express Card in the BIOS) had anything to do with it, but it appears to be booting properly now. I’ll mark this post solved and will post again if the old grub rescue problem returns.