Cannot boot into GRUB on legacy BIOS system

English Install/Boot/Login
21

No, GRUB can boot with legacy BIOS + GPT.
GRUB + Linux can work with it. Not recommended, but …

With open software there is no silmple answer - some guy can sophisticate it very.

22

Legacy systems have no trouble booting GPT drives, in my experience. But the OP might have an unusually fussy BIOS. It is still a puzzle as to what is going wrong.

23

Hi
On your tests did you have a separate /boot partition?

24

Which is why I asked for bootinfoscript results …

25

I have tried it both ways (successfully).

26

Hi,

I ran the script today, here is the result, it is too big to post here, so I made a gist.

https://gist.github.com/WinformsWizard/388958e0a3653c0a61e818b76b80861d

Thanks,
Rohan

27

So what is the current status? You have generic MBR installed on sda:

=> Syslinux GPTMBR (4.04-5.01) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.

If booting still fails with the same error - did you check BIOS settings for boot order? If BIOS fails to boot from sda, it could really be due to missing active MBR partition. I think I have seen such cases.

28

Hi,

Output:


rohan@XPS-L702X:~> sudo fdisk /dev/sda
[sudo] password for root: 

Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.35.1).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.


Command (m for help): x

Expert command (m for help): d

First sector: offset = 0, size = 512 bytes.
00000000  33 c0 fa 8e d8 8e d0 bc  00 7c 89 e6 06 57 8e c0
00000010  fb fc bf 00 06 b9 00 01  f3 a5 ea 1f 06 00 00 52
00000020  52 b4 41 bb aa 55 31 c9  30 f6 f9 cd 13 72 13 81
00000030  fb 55 aa 75 0d d1 e9 73  09 66 c7 06 58 07 b4 42
00000040  eb 13 5a b4 08 cd 13 83  e1 3f 89 e5 51 0f b6 c6
00000050  40 f7 e1 52 50 66 31 c0  66 99 40 bb 00 7c 53 e8
00000060  e8 00 8b 4e 56 8b 46 5a  50 51 f7 e1 c1 e8 09 91
00000070  41 66 8b 46 4e 66 8b 56  52 53 e8 cd 00 e8 c1 00
00000080  e2 f8 31 f6 5f 59 58 66  8b 15 66 0b 55 04 66 0b
00000090  55 08 66 0b 55 0c 74 0c  f6 45 30 04 74 06 21 f6
000000a0  75 19 89 fe 01 c7 e2 df  21 f6 75 2e e8 e7 00 4d
000000b0  69 73 73 69 6e 67 20 4f  53 0d 0a e8 d8 00 4d 75
000000c0  6c 74 69 70 6c 65 20 61  63 74 69 76 65 20 70 61
000000d0  72 74 69 74 69 6f 6e 73  0d 0a 91 bf be 07 57 66
000000e0  31 c0 b0 80 66 ab b0 ed  66 ab 66 8b 44 20 66 8b
000000f0  54 24 e8 40 00 66 8b 44  28 66 8b 54 2c 66 2b 44
00000100  20 66 1b 54 24 e8 39 00  e8 2a 00 66 0f b7 c1 66
00000110  ab f3 a4 5e 66 8b 44 34  66 8b 54 38 5b e8 2a 00
00000120  81 7f fe 55 aa 75 85 89  ec 5a 5f 07 66 b8 21 47
00000130  50 54 fa ff e4 66 21 d2  74 04 66 83 c8 ff 66 ab
00000140  c3 66 83 c0 01 66 83 d2  00 c3 66 60 66 52 66 50
00000150  06 53 6a 01 6a 10 89 e6  66 f7 76 fa c0 e4 06 88
00000160  e1 88 c5 92 f6 76 fe 88  c6 08 e1 41 b8 01 02 8a
00000170  56 00 cd 13 8d 64 10 66  61 72 04 80 c7 02 c3 e8
00000180  14 00 44 69 73 6b 20 65  72 72 6f 72 20 6f 6e 20
00000190  62 6f 6f 74 0d 0a 5e ac  b4 0e 8a 3e 62 04 b3 07
000001a0  cd 10 3c 0a 75 f1 cd 18  f4 eb fd 00 00 00 00 00
000001b0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
000001c0  02 00 ee ff ff ff 01 00  00 00 af 32 cf 1d 00 00
000001d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
*
000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa

Expert command (m for help): q

rohan@XPS-L702X:~>

Thanks,
Rohan

29

Hi
So what is the hardware here, can it only boot legacy or is it UEFI capable?

30

Hi,

I think it can only boot legacy, its about 8-9 years old. It’s a Dell XPS 17 L702X. It was running Ubuntu 16.04 before, and I believe that Ubuntu had created a separate boot partition.

specs: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/servicetag/0-OUF6cUtNYytqc0wyNjBaNHAwUGFzUT090/overview

Thanks,
Rohan

31

Hi
It probably can, you need to look in the BIOS to check. But do wonder if you want to stick with legacy boot, then a re-install and set the SSD back to dos rather than gpt. It’s a simple task if you boot from a live or rescue system from the install media.

32

Thanks. That output looks okay.