Re: "Bug" in Debian Installer?
On Mon 17 Apr 2023 at 01:27:45 (-0700), David Christensen wrote:
> On 4/16/23 22:08, Max Nikulin wrote:
> > On 17/04/2023 09:18, David Christensen wrote:
> > > On 4/16/23 03:41, Max Nikulin wrote:
> > > > On 16/04/2023 05:51, David Christensen wrote:
> > > > > When I moved the 2.5" SATA SSD to a homebrew Intel
> > > > > DQ67SW computer and configured BIOS Setup:
> > > > >
> > > > > "Boot" -> "UEFI Boot" -> "Enable"
> > > > >
> > > > > The SSD would not boot.
> > > >
> > > > New boot entry usually should be created in such case from
> > > > EFI Shell,
> >
> > I have realized that you may be confused by difference of MBR vs.
> > UEFI behavior. For MBR it is enough to choose a disk to boot in
> > BIOS, for UEFI it is necessary to add boot entries through EFI
> > variables in firmware. Boot entry consists of disk, partition (EFI
> > System partition) and path of an .efi file on this partition.
> >
> > If so, you may suggest an additional subsection to
> > https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI#Troubleshooting_common_issues
>
> Are you saying that d-i modifies the CMOS settings of UEFI computers?
I think the preferred name is NVRAM, but yes.
> > > > > I later discovered that the first install created a
> > > > > directory and put files into the Dell's ESP (!). I
> > > > > did not select this, nor do I desire it. This is a
> > > > > defect with d-i:
> > > >
> > > > Why do you think it is wrong?
> > >
> > > Because OS installers should not modify a disk unless the user
> > > authorizes it.
> >
> > I agree if a computer is booted into MBR/BIOS/Compatibility mode
> > or if expert install is selected. For regular UEFI install it is a
> > trade-off since multiple OS loaders may coexist without conflicts.
> > User should be asked if new OS should be booted by default
> > (BootOrder), adding files to ESP is quite safe.
>
> d-i should always ask before writing to disk.
You will certainly be used to this because of years of BIOS/MBR
experience. There's always a question of where to install Grub
because you might make another OS unbootable, or you might want
Grub placed on a particular partition.
With UEFI booting, that doesn't typically come into play, so to
provoke your question, you'd probably need low priority/Expert
Install, which I don't think you asked for.
> > > Here are my notes from a debian-9.9.0-amd64-xfce-CD-1 install
> > > on February 2, 2020:
> > >
> > > Install GRUB into master boot record Yes
> > > Device /dev/sda
> > >
> > > That was the proper way to do it.
> >
> > Am I right that it was not UEFI install? Certainly overwriting of
> > MBR must be acknowledged by the user.
>
> The point is that d-i asked before writing to disk.
Yes, it's MBR.
> > > > > The SSD would not boot.
I asked about the partitioning scheme earlier, but no response.
I'll hazard a guess that the second disk had no ESP on it, so the
original installer set up a dual boot system for Windows and Debian
by adding an entry to the original disk's ESP. No need to quiz the
operator as there would be with a Windows MBR.
When you took the second disk out, it was unbootable as there was
no ESP on it. (That's my guess.) So you zeroed it and reinstalled.
My experience, from having a mixed bag of BIOS/UEFI computers with
GPT disks, has been to always create a BIOS Boot Partition (3MB,
at the start, giving 4MB alignment for the rest of the drive), and
always create a potential ESP ½GB immediately following. On a BIOS
machine, it can make an extra swap as they have less memory anyway,
but the disk is then suitable for conversion to a UEFI environment.
With GPT, you don't have to worry about running out of primary
partitions.
I have one ESP-less laptop, dating from 2004, so I don't think
I'll be moving its 60GB GPT disk into a different machine when
it finally dies.
I did convert one BIOS laptop to UEFI without even reinstalling its
Debian, with encouragement from Felix. That was back in 2022-02 too.
From the UEFI wiki:
"Once the normal installation process has been completed, the second
major component with UEFI support comes into play: grub-installer.
It will install the grub-efi bootloader to the right location in the
ESP and will use efibootmgr to register that bootloader with the
firmware. On correctly-working systems, this should work without
needing any user interaction. This module will automatically find
the ESP and install its files in the right place, leaving no space
for confusion on where boot files are saved (as can happen with
MBR/MS-DOS systems)."
Cheers,
David.
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