The Bootloader does not seem to be installed. I tested different variants with install to MBR or install to root partition etc. Root partition is /dev/sdb2 (I use dev names instead of UUID). This has worked for many years with different suse versions. What I like to use is minimal X an text boot mode, but graphical boot mode does not work either.
To help resolve, please share this info
- Desktop (no wireless) or laptop(with wireless)
- Graphics device (AMD,nVidia,Intel,etc.)
- 13.2 Install method (Clean,DVD,OnLine,other)
- If clean install, what filesystems now running
- If upgrade, from what version to 13.2
- EFI Bios?
- Able to run the 13.2 by starting with DVD or Rescue?
- It’s a desktop
- Nvidia Gfx
- Install from DVD (image downloaded at release date)
- Clean install with ext4
- I think it’s EFI but I’m not sure. dmesg doesn’t tell it.
- It did start install from DVD but not rescue. The point is actually that the bootloader is simply not installed. And the question is: How can I get it installed using the default install process.
If it is EFI, then the bootloader won’t be in any of the places that you checked. Instead, it will be in “\EFI\opensuse” in the EFI system partition. Relative to your installed system, it will be in “/boot/efi/EFI/opensuse”.
When you booted the install media, did you get the traditional screen with notations for F1, F2, F3 etc along the bottom? Or did you get a grub menu? On an EFI boot, you get the latter. On a non-EFI boot, you get the former.
I am not an expert, but will try to help based on similar experiences.
You need to determine if desktop has UEFI bios. If yes, you need to decide if you want to boot EFI mode or bios-MBR mode.
You must boot EFI if you want in the future to dual boot Win7 or Win8
If your Bios is UEFI enabled, then it will by default(probably) boot your install DVD in EFI mode and the installer will attempt a Grub2-EFI install, which may not work if you have not provided an EFI partition on your hard drive.
If you have an UEFI capable bios, it likely has an option to boot the DVD in EFI or MSDOS (non-EFI), the terminology is not standardized.
Boot the DVD in MSDOS mode, you should then be able to install to your hdd MBR if that is what you want.
I know of no way to determine what mode the DVD booted in from the openSUSE installer interface, although it makes sense that when at the ready to install stage, you could review the BootLoader section and see if Grub2 or Grub2-EFI has been auto selected by the installer.
So start your computer, enter bios setup and have a look around.
I get the traditional screen. So it may be non-EFI. And it had worked with 13.1, 12.3 and before.
The disk /dev/sdb2 where / should be is a SSD, but that should not be an issue (and had never been one).
What I assume is that there is simply a step skipped (the actual write of a boot sector) because of an error in conditional statements of the install scripts.
I think the only things I changed during the install procedure is to change the mount points and swap and to change from KDE to minimal X.
I did not check any place for the bootloader. I had 13.1 installed on /dev/sdb1 and at boot the grub from 13.1 is shown. With an entry for 12.2 on /dev/sdb2 (but there is 13.2 now). So grub is not (correctly) installed.
So your objective was to upgrade /dev/sdb2 from 12.2 to 13.2?
Do you still get a menu option for 12.2?
Did you try it?
I found that when upgrading my 13.1 to 13.2, the menu item still said 13.1, but it was in fact 13.2.
Once I was in 13.2, fixed that by using YAST2-System-Bootloader to fix the name of “Distributor”.
My current system is 13.1 on /dev/sdb1. My backup system (former current system) is 12.2 on /dev/sdb2. I did format /dev/sdb2 and installed 13.2 there. After installing the packages it reboots and then I end in the 13.1 grub. It boots 13.1. When I choose 12.2 there I get an error since 12.2 is overwritten with 13.2.
I am guessing you are set up to boot from partition /dev/sda1, so you need to update the Grub2 menu on /dev/sda1.
run
sudo fdisk -l
Is /dev/sda1 marked with a boot flag, as I suspect?
If so, I believe you need to boot your 13.1 installation, enter YAST-System-BootLoader and reinstall your Grub2 on /dev/sda1. The Grub2 reinstall process should look for all bootable partitions and add your new /dev/sda2 13.2 install to the boot menu.
Or, you could make /dev/sda2 bootable (and remove boot flag from /dev/sda1) to boot your new 13.2
Proceed carefully, you are running as root and modifying partition settings, bad things can happen.
If things don’t look correct to you, post the output of fdisk -l here for guidance before modifying.
If you do this a lot, an option would be to install Grub2 in the MBR of /dev/sda and mark /dev/sda bootable.
You can then write a new Grub2 to the MBR from 13.1 or 13.2
It is indeed correct that /dev/sda1 is marked as boot partition (as is /dev/sdb2 too). It may be true that the 13.1 bootloader is installed in /dev/sda(1). I have reinstalled it now but I don’t see any change in /etc/grub. An actual boot I can’t test before tomorrow unfortunately.
But the questions is: Regardless of the current setup the install process must make sure that the new system boots (for good reason this is not the case for e.g. OpenBSD, but it is well documented there). So it is a bug in the 13.2 installer that it does not make sure that everything is prepared for booting the new system. I do exchange /dev/sdb1 <-> /dev/sdb2 since many years with many Suse versions, there had never been a problem.
You only want one partition marked as boot. If using a generic MBR code then the BIOS will always select the first partition it finds that is marked with a boot flag.
Show us fdisk -l
From what I have seen, the range of multi-boot setups possible are beyond what I would expect the installer to automatically handle.
So I doubt this would be considered a “bug”.
Remove the Boot flag from /dev/sda1, leaving it active on /dev/sda2.
Then try a reboot and see if 13.2 appears.
Then you can choose your multiboot strategy and re-install in MBR or /dev/sda1 OR /dev/sda2, but as Gogalthorp says, should only be one bootable partition marked.
This is indeed true. But again–why does the install process not correct it. And why did it work with any previous version. Actually: These boot flags had even set by the installer some years ago. I just want to insert the DVD and after some klicks installed system. Everything else is a installer bug.
# fdisk -l /dev/sda
/dev/sda1 * 2048 104855551 52426752 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 104855552 117434367 6289408 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3 117434368 956301311 419433472 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 956303358 3907008511 1475352577 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 956303360 2424305663 734001152 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 2424307712 3907008511 741350400 83 Linux
# fdisk -l /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb1 2048 62525439 31261696 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 * 62525440 125044735 31259648 83 Linux
...other disks not shown...
Ok, but I have the same stable configuration since years. But I’ll follow your advice. I post the results tomorrow (can’t test before that).
Oh wait you have 2 disks???
maybe you should say exactly what is on what partition. And which os is to control the boot process.
You really need to show everything if you expect us to be able to help properly.
What is in sda1? Windows? What version?
In any case, Grub should not be installed to sda1, but to a Linux partition. You should have a generic boot in the MBR. You should remove the Active/Boot flag from sda1 and instead put that flag on the Linux root (/) partition. Then, remake Grub and install it to the Linux root (/) partition, not the MBR.
But, this is based on some guesses, because you do not provide enough information.
If you need details on how to do that, then give us details to work with.
For instance, it would help a lot to know what is in what partition, and which is your openSUSE root partition, ALL operating systems that are installed, how you have been booting (from selecting the drive in the BIOS boot options list at boot time, or?).
I have four disks. The boot flag had been set on sda1, sdb2 and sdc1. OS is Vista on sda1, Suse 13.1 on sdb1 and Suse 13.2 on sdb2. All ohter disks or partitions are data. Reinstalling grub on 13.1 did solve the problem. Now there is a boot entry for 13.2. I did remove all boot flags, but 13.2 install doens’t boot (I did a complete new install after that but 13.1 still boots after install). The problem may be that 13.1 grub is installed to mbr and 13.2 grub is installed to root partition. But it’s not an issue anymore since I can boot 13.2 via 13.1 grub.
Thank you all for your help!
Well You can have more then one boot flag if you have more then one disk each can have one. You can’t have 2 on the same disk. Well you can but it won’t work as expected.