Re: finished installing 10.3 to USB; will boot once when installer triggers restart; will not boot if computer is cold booted
Problem solved. It turns out I just needed to run update-brug, without
any manual changes, and Grub changed the configuration files under
/boot/grub from hd3 (incorrect) to hd2 (correct.) A big relief.
I wonder if there's any way the installer could make this more
intuitive, or at least issue a reminder.
Alan
On 3/14/20, Alan Tu <8libra@gmail.com> wrote:
> I think I have diagnosed the problem, but I don't know how to fix it yet.
>
> The configuration files under /boot/grub show that root is found as
> hd3,gpt2. I read Grub hd numbers start at 0, so hd3 would be the
> fourth hard drive. But when Grub boots successfully this one time, the
> USB drive is at /dev/sdc, the third hard drive.
>
> I could edit the files in /boot, but the comments say don't do that.
> And I haven't found a reference to hd3 in the files under /etc.
>
> Alan
>
>
> On 3/14/20, Alan Tu <8libra@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi, I don't know how to fix this. I used an ISO image burned to one
>> USB to install Debian to a second USB. I did this twice, with just one
>> difference:
>>
>> 1) At the end of the install, both USB are connected to the computer.
>> When the text installer prompts me, I remove the installation USB,
>> then press Enter. The new Debian system boots.
>> 2) At the end of the install, both USB are connected to the computer.
>> When the text installer prompts me, I remove the installation USB,
>> then press Enter. But this time while the BIOS is posting, I remove
>> the second USB and let my computer boot into Windows. I then
>> completely power off the machine. I then re-attach the second USB with
>> the installation. Computer boots to Windows. The second USB doesn't
>> boot.
>>
>> I should add I am blind and cannot see the messages that a potential
>> bootloader might output.
>>
>> I ran this contrived test because the bootable USB drives I installed
>> on only booted once. (While trying these scenarios, I'm getting quite
>> familiar with all the numeric menu choices in the text installer.)
>>
>> When the installer boots, it is attached to /dev/sdc. (I have two
>> built-in hard drives.) During the install, the target USB drive is at
>> /dev/sdd. But when I'm booting the system with only the installation
>> target USB attached, that probably is not /dev/sdd at that point. It
>> would probably be /dev/sdc, if the kernel knows about such things at
>> this point. I'm not sure if this is my problem.
>>
>> I have read about Grub refering to hard disks by number, like hd0. But
>> I just don't know what to do.
>>
>> I don't want to modify my original Windows boot drive with a
>> bootloader. All I want is to boot into Debian when I insert the USB.
>> But I'm really stumped.
>>
>> Alan
>>
>
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