Re: debian installation issue
Joe composed on 2021-06-11 20:14 (UTC+0100):
> I have a netbook which booted fine into grub on stretch,
> but an upgrade to buster killed that, and to boot into buster I have to
> use a rescue medium and use efibootmgr to set NextBoot to the right
> entry. Nobody here seems able to help, and I gave Google a good kicking
> to no avail.
Almost certainly the culprits live within /etc/default/grub/, this line:
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
likely coupled with this line:
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=true
The presence of the second line cements the problem with the first, which is that
the result of any Debian installation creates /EFI/debian on the ESP filesystem.
This is fine when there is no other installed operating system. The second
prevents the presentation of another operating system to boot from in Grub's boot
menu. The first causes replacement of the original /EFI/debian, which in effect
makes the Stretch installation invisible at boot time except via a rescue boot, or
to a user knowledgeable in use of the Grub shell.
The solution most obvious to me is to make the content of GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR= a
unique string, such as stretch or debian9 or buster or debian10, followed by
running grub-mkconfig, and verifying that the UEFI BIOS contains these unique
entries for each Debian installation.
Whether or not to set GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER= false or true depends on personal
preference. If true, the Grub menu selected by the last Grub-updated installation
will exclude all other OS installations. To boot any other OS then requires the
services of the UEFI BIOS to select booting any other, or booting rescue media.
When instead false is configured (in both/all), either's/any's Grub menu can be
used to boot another.
A much less obvious solution is to utilize the services of /etc/grub.d/ to present
a custom grub menu configured by a system administrator knowledgeable in manual
construction of a Grub menu.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
based on faith, not based on science.
Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!
Felix Miata
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