GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

ChasHenry · 2019-07-18 06:11

I followed the tutorial for installing q4os from live desktop to the letter/picture and opted for erasing the disk and install q4os exclusively to my laptop. The summary of the installation settings indicated among other things "Install boot loader on /dev/sda" and "Master Boot Record of ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS (/dev/sda)".

The installation progressed automatically but I definitely wasn't asked to install Grub.

The Grub menu will not display when booting the system (just a richness of text messages). I reinstalled q4os but still no option relating to GRUB and the GNU GRUB Screen just won't display.

As far as I can determine, the tutorial lacks details relating to "Edit Partitions" and is not representing the actual installation steps.

Installing Grub using live cd (usb) as per tutorial is, as far as I am concerned, complicated and didn't work for me.

Any suggestions for rectifying this in an simplified way would be appreciated.

Last edited by ChasHenry (2019-07-21 01:24)

Dai_trying · 2019-07-18 09:13

Grub should be installed automatically and the settings can be changed in the partitioning stage of the installation, Are you sure you want to install to the MBR? if the machine is UEFI you might need to install to the ESP (EFI System Partition) instead.

I have a small tutorial on re-installing grub from a Llive-Cd which might be useful.

ChasHenry · 2019-07-18 12:38

Thanks for responding!

I re-installed again, this is my 3rd attempt.

This time I installed GParted, Synaptic and Spectacle prior installing q4os.
I erased the HDD completely (unallocated 596.17GiB) and progressed installing q4os.

After rebooting the Grub screen is not showing (just text messages).

Installing Grub using live cd (usb) as per tutorial is, as far as I am concerned, complicated and didn't work for me.

I was going to attach 3 screen shoots indicating the installation process but can't figure out to make the attachments stick to this post.

Some more info as I can't attach screen shots:
quote
Create new MSDOS partition table on /dev/sda (ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS).
Create new 610465MB partition on /dev/sda (ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS) with file system ext4.
Create new 9011MB partition on /dev/sda (ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS) with file system linuxswap.
Install Q4OS on new ext4 system partition.
Install boot loader on /dev/sda.

I reiterate, there is most definitely no box to tick relating to Grub in "System Installer - Partitions".

Dai_trying · 2019-07-19 00:46

When selecting your partition you should have the grub location ("boot loader location") at the bottom like this :-

Obviously this is a virtual machine and is showing /dev/vda as opposed to /dev/sda but when I performed installations they showed the option for the grub location the same as above.

And then the conformation screen shows this :-

I cannot see a reason for your system to not be booting into grub, I have done a few installations without any issues so far.

And if you need to post images here you can upload them to a hosting service like imgur (which I use) and then they provide links to post here, that way the Q4OS servers do not get overloaded with images. There are other image hosting services and google will likely show you many of them if you do a quick search.

ChasHenry · 2019-07-19 04:08

Thanks again for responding.

The display on my Q4OS operating system installer looks similar:

Partitions - BIOS Select storage device: ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS - 596.2 GiB (/dev/sda)
Erase disk: 'radio button' activated.
Current: Free Space - 596.2 GiB
After: Q4OS - 587.4 GiB ext4 Swap 8.8 GiB swap
Boot loader location: Master Boot Record of ATA Toshiba MK6475GS (/dev/sda)

Summary (confirmation screen).
Location: Set timezone to Asia/Bangkok.
The system language will be set to Australian English (Australia)
The numbers and dates locale will be set to Australian English (Australia).

Keyboard: Set keyboard model to Generic 105-key PC (intl.) - Default Keyboard Model.
Set keyboard layout to English (US)/Default.

Partitions: Erase disk (ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS) and install Q4OS 3.
Current: Free Space 596.2 GiB
After: Q4OS 587.4 GiB ext4 Swap 8.8GiB swap

Create new MSDOS partition table on /dev/sda (ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS).
Create new 610465MB partition on /dev/sda (ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS) with file system ext4.
Create new 9011MB partition on /dev/sda (ATA TOSHIBA MK6475GS) with file system linuxswap.
Install Q4OS on new ext4 system partition.
Install boot loader on /dev/sda.

Aside from not booting into Grub, the system is performing flawlessly on my laptop!

The booting issue is not new; I still have the previous version of Q4OS installed exclusively to my desktop computer which, from day one, is not booting into Grub also. I was hoping the new version of Q4OS would fix this glitch...
Thanks again for considering my post.

Dai_trying · 2019-07-19 07:43

Ahh I see the problem now, sorry I misunderstood what the actual problem is, to get grub to display on boot you need to edit the file /etc/default/grub

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

and change the line that reads

GRUB_TIMEOUT=0

to be a number of seconds before the system uses the default action (the first entry) something like this might do

GRUB_TIMEOUT=5

then save the file (Ctrl+x then y and then enter)

now update grub

sudo update-grub

when that finishes reboot and you should see the grub screen.

q4osteam · 2019-07-19 08:59

@ChasHenry
Why do you want to see the Grub boot table ? We ask to collect users needs to possibly modify Q4OS configurations.

Dai_trying · 2019-07-19 09:34

q4osteam wrote:

@ChasHenry
Why do you want to see the Grub boot table ? We ask to collect users needs to possibly modify Q4OS configurations.

Just to add from my perspective when booting a MBR system I need to have the option to boot another OS installed as I mostly have multi-boot systems, although with UEFI I select OS from the EFI boot menu so it does not matter so much there.

q4osteam · 2019-07-19 09:43

@Dai_trying
Yes, you are right. Nonetheless, the Grub table shows by default in Q4OS. If Q4OS installer detects it's the only system installed, it takes an action to configure to hide Grub table. It's an intention, as we assume most users don't need to view the Grub table, if Q4OS is installed solo, as there are no other OS's to boot into. Some users even found the Grub table confusing. Anyway, we are open for making a change, if useful.

Dai_trying · 2019-07-19 09:51

In the past I have noticed this behaviour and it has worked as you describe, but with my laptop (UEFI) when checking items in this post I noticed the grub menu does not appear although I have six OS's currently installed, this installation was done with the current image (at that time = q4os-3.7-x64-tde.r1.iso) on 16th June.

q4osteam · 2019-07-19 09:58

Please try to run "sudo update-grub" in Q4OS and see, if the Grub table has appeared. If not, that is a bug. We are going to try to reproduce. Anyone can post a related findings here.

Dai_trying · 2019-07-19 10:32

When checking /etc/default/grub on the laptop I noticed GRUB_TIMEOUT was set to 0 and so updating grub would not have changed it, I have now changed it to a value of 5 and updated grub and it now appears as expected.
I would guess this is a bug then, and as I do not have too much time invested in this installation I can re-install to test when a fix is available.

One thing to note is that my installation is UEFI (with other OS's installed) and OP was using MBR but single OS so their grub behaviour would be expected.

q4osteam · 2019-07-19 10:37

Thanks, please report the result of a fresh stable installation. A possible scenario could be also Q4OS has been installed as a first OS, so installer has configured GRUB_TIMEOUT to 0, before the other OS's has been installed.

Dai_trying · 2019-07-19 12:14

Re-install went well (after having to implement my xorg fix) and grub is configured correctly.

I am sure when I installed last time I had at least Windows installed but I guess I could be mistaken although I usually install Windows before my linux distros to make everything run smoothly.

ChasHenry · 2019-07-20 01:13

Dai_trying wrote:

Ahh I see the problem now, sorry I misunderstood what the actual problem is, to get grub to display on boot you need to edit the file /etc/default/grub
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
and change the line that reads
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
to be a number of seconds before the system uses the default action (the first entry) something like this might do
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
then save the file (Ctrl+x then y and then enter)
now update grub
sudo update-grub
when that finishes reboot and you should see the grub screen.

Thanks for informative response.

I edited file /etc/default/grub as per your instructions and changed and saved the GRUB_TIMEOUT setting from "1" to "5" followed by:

~$ sudo update-grub
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.19.0-5-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-5-amd64
done

Unfortunatly this did not produce the desired result as Grub screen is refusing to show.

Below is a copy of the edited file /etc/default/grub:

<START>
# 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=0
#depreciated options: GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=false GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=1 ; possible kernel parms: systemd.log_level, systemd.xxx
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Q4OS Desktop `get-q4os-version | awk -F '.' '{ print $1"."$2 }'` 'Centaurus'"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet resume=UUID=f734b57c-07c9-4302-9c82-485c86401368 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
<END>

ChasHenry · 2019-07-20 01:22

q4osteam wrote:

@ChasHenry
Why do you want to see the Grub boot table ? We ask to collect users needs to possibly modify Q4OS configurations.

I expected to see the Grub table because the installation instruction do not indicate otherwise.

As far as I can determine the installation instructions do not represent the the actual installation steps and also fail to mention that the Grub screen is shown only when more than one (1) operating system is installed to the computer.

That said, I am currently experiencing RAM issues with the previous version of Q4OS which is still installed to my desktop computer. Via Synaptic Package Manager I installed memtest and expected it to show when rebooting the system but it didn't because the Grub screen is not showing. I had no choice but to download memtest86 from PassMark Software and installing it to a USB drive. Although it took me some time to boot, it proved that a new RAM stick was needed.

I am a 73 year old non-tech retiree but to a certain degree can folllow written instructions but am personally disoriented when pertinent installation documentation are not updated accordingly.

Q4OS is a wonderful operating system and the lack of Grub screen is as far as I am concerned not critical as long it is considered by the experts as "normal"... I just thought it was a glitch.

ChasHenry · 2019-07-20 01:28

q4osteam wrote:

Please try to run "sudo update-grub" in Q4OS and see, if the Grub table has appeared. If not, that is a bug. We are going to try to reproduce. Anyone can post a related findings here.

~$ sudo update-grub
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.19.0-5-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-5-amd64
done

The Grub table is not detected.

Dai_trying · 2019-07-20 08:13

One further modification to your /etc/default/grub is required, change the line that reads

GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden

to read

GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu

and then run

sudo update-grub

and you should now see your grub menu.

Did you follow my tutorial (https://dai-trying.com/tutorials/linux/ … ion-guide/)?
I haven't updated it for Centaurus yet but will get it done sometime this week, and I will add a mention about grub to hopefully make it clearer for other users, thank you for pointing it out as I wanted to make my tutorials easy to follow and anything i can add to help users is a good thing.

ChasHenry · 2019-07-21 01:22

SUCCESS!

I wish to confirm that your instruction to modify /etc/default/grub resulted in showing the Grub menu:

===
GNU GRUB version 2.02+dfsg1-20

*Q4OS Desktop 'Centaurus'
Advanced options for Q4OS Desktop 3.8 'Centaurus'
===

And yes, I did consult and use your tutorial "Install Q4OS from live desktop". The installation steps therein relating to set-up of partitions did not apply as I erased the HDD and installed Q4OS exclusively (the 'Advanced Option' in 'Q4OS Installer' confirming 'Bootloader' did not show either).

I am sure that adding a mention about Grub for those who are installing Q4OS only on their computer and updating the visual display (graphics) will find your edited tutorial most useful and whole.

An option for either displaying or not showing the Grub menu for those who are installing Q4OS exclusively on their computer is in my view a step in the right direction.

Thanks again for your most helpful responses!

Dai_trying · 2019-07-21 13:06

You are welcome, and the installation guide will be added for Centaurus this week, I did notice a few differences so it is definitely needed.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2019-07-18 06:11

GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#2 2019-07-18 09:13

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#3 2019-07-18 12:38

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#4 2019-07-19 00:46

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#5 2019-07-19 04:08

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#6 2019-07-19 07:43

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#7 2019-07-19 08:59

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#8 2019-07-19 09:34

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#9 2019-07-19 09:43

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#10 2019-07-19 09:51

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#11 2019-07-19 09:58

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#12 2019-07-19 10:32

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#13 2019-07-19 10:37

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#14 2019-07-19 12:14

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#15 2019-07-20 01:13

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#16 2019-07-20 01:22

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#17 2019-07-20 01:28

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#18 2019-07-20 08:13

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#19 2019-07-21 01:22

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

#20 2019-07-21 13:06

Re: GNU GRUB Screen [SOLVED]

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