Re: UEFI grub install fails
On 8/17/25 12:31, Van Snyder wrote:
I upgraded the BIOS in my Dell Latitude E5470 from 1.19.3 to 1.34.3.
Before upgrading:
1. Did you run Setup and document the settings?
2. Did you backup the OS configuration files?
3. Did you backup the data?
4. Did you take an image of the HDD/SSD?
After upgrading:
1. Did you run Setup and reset the settings to factory defaults?
2. What is the Setup setting for the firmware mode -- e.g. BIOS/Legacy,
EFI/UEFI, etc.? What was it previously?
3. What is the Setup setting for Secure Boot -- e.g. On, off, etc.?
What was it previously?
4. What is the Setup setting for disk drive -- e.g. RAID, AHCI, etc.?
What was it previously?
5. What are the Setup boot entries and what is their order? What were
they previously?
What OS(s) are on the HDD/SSD? Using a Debian live distribution, rescue
shell, etc., please run the following command as root and post the
console session -- prompt, input command, and output displayed:
# lsblk
If you press the boot menu hot key during POST, can you boot the OS on
the HDD/SSD?
I could no longer boot. So I decided to upgrade from Debian 12 Bookworm
to Debian 13 Trixie.
All went well until the end when grub install failed.
Please post the console session.
I have an EFI partition. It's formatted for FAT32. It has an EFI tag —
I told the "partition" step to use that partition for EFI.
I found a twelve year old recommendation to run
sudo dosfsck -r /dev/sda2
but of course I can't do that if it won't boot. So I ran it in a system
rescue disk and it didn't complain.
Now when I boot grub gives me an empty screen and wants me to type in
all the commands.
STFW "grub prompt":
https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html
I found a page that says "The error has been seen when the /EFI/ubuntu
directory is corrupted (bug 1090829)." Of course, I'm trying to install
Debian but maybe there's a clue there — if only I knew where to read
about bug 1090829.
STFW "ubuntu bug 1090829":
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/1090829
Is there more modern advice somewhere to get Trixie installed?
Or, can I downgrade my Dell BIOS back to 1.19.3?
STFW "site:dell.com Latitude 5470 firmware downgrade":
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000130652/downgrading-the-system-bios-on-a-dell-system
— Van Snyder
David
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