Problems with grub boot table

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 09:22

Goodnight. I have the following problem: I have several kernels installed but my grub only starts for the last one. When grub starts up it only lets me choose the Windows 10 that I have installed or the Q4OS but with the latest kernel. It is as if the others do not exist. I have tried to modify the grub configuration, I have tried to play different keys during system startup, but I always get the same result. I am very happy with my Q4OS distribution, it seems excellent to me, but unfortunately it only lets me use the latest kernel that I installed.

Dai_trying · 2020-12-08 13:15

At the grub screen select advanced options and you can select a different kernel.

q4osteam · 2020-12-08 15:00

You may need to edit the "/etc/default/grub" file and set values:

GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu
GRUB_TIMEOUT=4

and run:
$ sudo update-grub

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 21:23

q4osteam wrote:

You may need to edit the "/etc/default/grub" file and set values:
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu
GRUB_TIMEOUT=4
and run:
$ sudo update-grub

I did the steps as you indicated but they do not work. I can't get that when the system starts up, the grub allows me to select a different kernel than the last one I install. The only thing that works for me is to install a more modern kernel than the one I am using, but after that I can't use the previously installed ones.

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 21:29

Dai_trying wrote:

At the grub screen select advanced options and you can select a different kernel.

I would appreciate if you could explain how to do that, because I have tried many things but none have worked for me. The grub menu shown to me is very simple, it only allows me Q4OS, Windows 10 or System (this last option takes me to the BIOS). I have not been able to access the old grub menu either by modifying the grub files, or from grub itself at system startup.

Dai_trying · 2020-12-08 21:36

Could you post the contents of your /etc/default/grub so we can see if you have anything that is blocking this option

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 21:41

Dai_trying wrote:

Could you post the contents of your /etc/default/grub so we can see if you have anything that is blocking this option

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
# info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT="1"
#depreciated options: GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET="false GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=1 ; possible kernel parms: systemd.log_level, systemd.xxx"
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Q4OS Desktop `get-q4os-version | awk -F '.' '{ print $1.$2 }'` 'Centaurus'"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet resume=UUID=78803452-47ce-48ba-ba6f-e73ec572d6a0 loglevel=3 systemd.log_color=0 systemd.show_status=1"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
GRUB_TERMINAL="console"

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE="640x480"

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID="true"

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

# Uncomment to disable uefi setup
#GRUB_DISABLE_UEFIFW="true"

#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT="0"

q4osteam · 2020-12-08 21:52

Please run terminal command:
$ dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-image
and post the output for us to see the list of kernels installed in your system.

Dai_trying · 2020-12-08 21:56

You could try commenting out GRUB_TERMINAL="console" (make that line #GRUB_TERMINAL="console") although I'm not certain it will work but it's the only thing that looks to me like it might prevent the full grub menu. Make sure to run

sudo update-grub

before rebooting your machine.

Also do you have any files in /etc/default/grub.d/?

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 21:58

q4osteam wrote:

Please run terminal command:
$ dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-image
and post the output for us to see the list of kernels installed in your system.

dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-image
linux-image-5.9.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 install
linux-image-amd64 install
linux-image-unsigned-5.4.45-050445-generic install

q4osteam · 2020-12-08 22:01

So the only kernel you have installed is "linux-image-5.9.0-0.bpo.2-amd64" . You need to install another one to be able to boot it.

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 22:06

Dai_trying wrote:

You could try commenting out GRUB_TERMINAL="console" (make that line #GRUB_TERMINAL="console") although I'm not certain it will work but it's the only thing that looks to me like it might prevent the full grub menu. Make sure to run
sudo update-grub
before rebooting your machine.
Also do you have any files in /etc/default/grub.d/?

I don't have any more files in /etc/default/grub.d/

I'm going to try what I explain to comment on # GRUB_TERMINAL = "console" to see if that way it works.

Dai_trying · 2020-12-08 22:09

it won't have any effect as you have no kernels available to boot in to as the q4osteam pointed out.

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 22:12

q4osteam wrote:

So the only kernel you have installed is "linux-image-5.9.0-0.bpo.2-amd64" . You need to install another one to be able to boot it.

I am aware that I am stealing your time, and that you are making a great effort to help me, therefore I will be more honest with you. I've really been all morning trying to install the Xanmod kernel, which installs well following the instructions of its developer, the problem I have is that it is the only kernel that after installing is not started by grub. This kernel appears installed, but I never get grub to start it, in addition to the fact that my grub only starts the last kernel I have installed except for Xanmod.

q4osteam · 2020-12-08 22:13

What is "linux-image-unsigned-5.4.45-050445-generic" ? How did you install that ? Please post the exact procedure.

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 22:15

Dai_trying wrote:

it won't have any effect as you have no kernels available to boot in to as the q4osteam pointed out.

Actually, if I have 2 kernels installed, they are clearly seen in the output of the dpkg command that I showed you previously:

linux-image-unsigned-5.4.45-050445
linux-image-5.9.0-0.bpo.2-amd64

I greatly appreciate the time you are giving me.

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 22:22

q4osteam wrote:

What is "linux-image-unsigned-5.4.45-050445-generic" ? How did you install that ? Please post the exact procedure.

The exact procedure was to install it through an application called Ukuu, which is a GUI for managing kernels, which builds a list of kernels available from the UBUNTU repository and shows it to the user so that they can decide which to install. I only installed it so that my system had more than one, to try to force Grub to let me choose a different one from the last one installed. (It only lets me use the last one installed).

Attachments:

ukuu.png, Size: 42.04 KiB, Downloads: 278

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 22:34

I reinstalled it one more time and here I show you the output of the command so that you can see that now it is installed, but I still can't start it, and neither can grub show it to me in a list to be able to use it.

dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-image

linux-image-5.9.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 install
linux-image-5.9.13-xanmod1 install
linux-image-amd64 install
linux-image-unsigned-5.4.45-050445-generic install

Last edited by Tirso Medina (2020-12-08 22:35)

q4osteam · 2020-12-08 22:51

We don't know how "Ukuu" installs the kernel. Because Q4OS is based on Debian, you can ask Ukuu developers to properly register the kernel in Debian. What works in Debian usually works in Q4OS as well.

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 23:06

q4osteam wrote:

We don't know how "Ukuu" installs the kernel. Because Q4OS is based on Debian, you can ask Ukuu developers to properly register the kernel in Debian. What works in Debian usually works in Q4OS as well.

What seems strange to me is that even if I install it by Ukuu it works without problems because in the end he updates the grub configuration. The problem is that the xanmod that is also compatible with Debian, is the one that does not start at all. Could you at least give me some advice so that the grub allows me to select it in the boot options ?????

q4osteam · 2020-12-08 23:25

If a kernel is properly installed the Debian way, it's just added and shown in the grub boot table. You may only need to run command:
$ sudo update-grub
Kernel installed by applications you mentioned above are most likely not recognized by Debian's grub implementation, so not added to the boot table.

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 23:33

q4osteam wrote:

If a kernel is properly installed the Debian way, it's just added and shown in the grub boot table. You may only need to run command:
$ sudo update-grub
Kernel installed by applications you mentioned above are most likely not recognized by Debian's grub implementation, so not added to the boot table.

I realize that the grub menu that my Q4OS has is more modern than the one I used to use a few years ago, in the old version I got a list of all the kernels and it allowed me to choose. In this new menu, only Q4OS and Windows appear. But the Q4OS does not give me more information and it loads Linux with the latest kernel installed, it really does not take into account the installation method used. Is there some method to return to that old menu that allowed to choose the different kernels present in the system ?????? Is that this grub is very basic and provides almost no information ...

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-08 23:42

q4osteam wrote:

If a kernel is properly installed the Debian way, it's just added and shown in the grub boot table. You may only need to run command:
$ sudo update-grub
Kernel installed by applications you mentioned above are most likely not recognized by Debian's grub implementation, so not added to the boot table.

I am attaching a photo of the grub menu that I need, because the one I have is so basic that it does not even allow me to access advanced options, it simply does not appear in the menu. Only Q4OS or Windows. I would like to add something else that I do not know if it is the cause of this problem, and that is that I have Q4OS installed as one more Windows application. First, the Windows boot loader is loaded and this gives control to grub, which allows me to start Q4OS or Windows itself.

Attachments:

grub.jpg, Size: 56.92 KiB, Downloads: 274

q4osteam · 2020-12-09 00:05

Did you use Windows installer "q4os-winsetup.exe" to install Q4OS ? Do you have UEFI or legacy BIOS set ? We will try to reproduce and check how grub generates the boot table and let you know a bit later.

Tirso Medina · 2020-12-09 00:17

q4osteam wrote:

Did you use Windows installer "q4os-winsetup.exe" to install Q4OS ? Do you have UEFI or legacy BIOS set ? We will try to reproduce and check how grub generates the boot table and let you know a bit later.

My laptop was built at a request from my company, and they explained to us that the BIOS had some kind of modification so that it could only be used with Windows 10. When I found Q4OS by pure chance and discovered that it had this option (q4os-winsetup. exe) was like finding a treasure. This is the reason why I have linux installed inside windows, but it doesn't matter because the important thing is that at least that way I can use it. Currently I hardly ever use windows, but I cannot uninstall it either due to company instructions.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2020-12-08 09:22

Problems with grub boot table

#2 2020-12-08 13:15

Re: Problems with grub boot table

#3 2020-12-08 15:00

Re: Problems with grub boot table

#4 2020-12-08 21:23

Re: Problems with grub boot table

#5 2020-12-08 21:29

Re: Problems with grub boot table

#6 2020-12-08 21:36

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