[ solved ] Installing the 'grub2' package, GRUB installation failed

I have installed ChaletOS 16.04 on my new laptop.
DELL Inspiron 5559Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6500U CPU @ 2.50GHz, 2592 Mhz, 1 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)Integrated Graphics Processor: Intel(R) HD Graphics 520Discrete Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon R5 M335

Code:

chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$ uname -a
Linux DELL-CHALETOS 4.4.0-24-generic #43-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jun 8 19:27:37 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$

chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial
chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$

chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$ echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
XFCE
chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$

I created an install USB which booted in UEFI with secure boot enabled. So I installed it and it was getting to the end when error was displayed...

Code:

Installing the 'grub2' package, GRUB installation failed. The 'grub-efi-amd64-signed' package failed to install into /target/. Without the GRUB boot loader, the installed system will not boot.

I tried burning the iso using different software but ended with same error each time.  Luckily I also have Xubuntu installed on this laptop so was able to boot into Xubuntu and ran update-grub from there which found ChaletOS.

So I was able to boot into ChaletOS but during the boot process there was a lot of text scrolling up the screen so I thought I would try running the following command to change CheletOS to be in control of the grub menu...

Code:

$ update-grub

$ grub-install /dev/sda2

Code:

chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$ sudo update-grub
[sudo] password for chris:
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-24-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-24-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-21-generic
Found Windows Boot Manager on /dev/sda2@/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
Found Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (16.04) on /dev/sda6
Adding boot menu entry for EFI firmware configuration
done
chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$

But the 'grub-install' command ended in error....

Code:

chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$ sudo grub-install /dev/sda2
grub-install: error: /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/modinfo.sh doesn't exist. Please specify --target or --directory.
chris@DELL-CHALETOS:~$

I think it's common problem with ChaletOS 16.04 as I have seen a couple of posts with same issue. It seems ChaletOS forums recommend using the following fix...
https://chaletos.forumotion.com/t237-install-chalet-os-with-uefi#931
... which is fine but it doesn't resolve the root cause of the problem.

So I decided to install boot-repair and try fixing the problem, after analysing the problem and message stated open terminal then type following commands...

Code:

$ sudo dpkg --configure -a

$ sudo apt-get install -fy

$ sudo apt-get purge -y --force-yes grub*-common grub-common:i386 shim-signed linux-signed*

$ sudo apt-get install -y --force-yes grub-efi-amd64-signed shim-signed linux-signed-generic

When I rebooted, I found the ChaletOS was now in control of the grub menu. Which is great.

I was wondering if anyone knows what's causing this error so I could fix it for next time as I would like to install ChaletOS on another laptop. I was looking to avoid this type of fix again if possible.  But at least I can now use the OS for now.

Would switching off secure boot fix this problem?  I don't want to disable UEFI if I can avoid it. Any help would be appreciated.

You have 2 options. 1: disable uefi. 2: follow the directions found in https://chaletos.forumotion.com/t237-install-chalet-os-with-uefi to fix this problem. Hopefully a future release of chalet os will fix these uefi issues.

Hope this helps!

James Tobin wrote:You have 2 options. 1: disable uefi. 2: follow the directions found in https://chaletos.forumotion.com/t237-install-chalet-os-with-uefi to fix this problem. Hopefully a future release of chalet os will fix these uefi issues.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for your feedback James. It's not what I wanted to hear but at least I know my options. Turning off UEFI is not an option for me so I guess I'll install and then fix with boot-repair.  

I am disappointed that this distro boots in UEFI mode with secure boot enabled and then fails to install properly at the end. But with boot-repair at least I can use it. Let's hope it gets fixed soon.

I have it already installed on my 6 year old DELL Vostro 1520 and it's one of the best distros I have ever used. Fast and light.  So I would like to extend a big thank you to all the people who have developed this excellent distro.  The attention to detail is superb and is reflected in your distrowatch ranking.

Regards,

Hugh

yes, I wish the developer would wake allow other people to help him. He tries to do too much himself. But chalet os is an extremely great operating system and is very stable, dependable, and efficient and very easy to use. I hope you enjoy it

James Tobin wrote:yes, I wish the developer would wake allow other people to help him. He tries to do too much himself. But chalet os is an extremely great operating system and is very stable, dependable, and efficient and very easy to use. I hope you enjoy it

Thanks again James. I agree with your comments about ChaletOS being very stable and easy to use. I like it a lot. Is there any indication on when the GRUB installation error might get resolved?

good question, I am trying to get to dejan to possibly collaborate on this, he hasnt replied, so it's really indefinite.

James Tobin wrote:good question, I am trying to get to dejan to possibly collaborate on this, he hasnt replied, so it's really indefinite.

Thanks for reply James. If you hear anything I would be grateful if you could let me know or email me at [email address removed by moderator]

thanks for the email address I have written it down but please do not post email addresses publicly. unfortunately there are too many website spam crawlers these days who are bots that want to do email spam and they detect emails by the @ and the .[dns suffix]. Giving your email to me is fine though, if you click the "pm" icon close to my name you can send me a private message. But I've recorded your email and will definitely notify you when there is a new update with that improvement

James Tobin wrote:thanks for the email address I have written it down but please do not post email addresses publicly. unfortunately there are too many website spam crawlers these days who are bots that want to do email spam...  

Thanks James for the advice, that's good to know for future.  I'm not a very experienced on using forums.

no problem, that's ok I put a note on evernote hopefully it doesnt go too far to the bottom of the list before I remember. If you want I'll email you so you can keep my email address

James Tobin wrote:no problem, that's ok I put a note on evernote hopefully it doesnt go too far to the bottom of the list before I remember. If you want I'll email you so you can keep my email address

Yes please that would be perfect. Thanks again for your help.

no problem, marking as solved