Something went wonkers with my system, and although I could try to reboot it would get so far and then fall back into some kind of maintenance mode.
Rather than fight it at the time, I thought it was a good time to ensure I have a good backup of my home filesystem. So I booted a Live USB stick and performed my backup.
Now I wanted to go back and try to diagnose/fix my root filesystem issue.
Sadly, my BIOS no longer knows about the bootable entity on the HD, and only shows me the Flash drive (even if it's not plugged in).
Any idea what happened to my HD boot info in my BIOS, or how to restore it? PS. It is a Dell laptop.
TIA Fulko
On 11/28/20 9:27 PM, Fulko Hew wrote:
Any idea what happened to my HD boot info in my BIOS, or how to restore it? PS. It is a Dell laptop.
Hi,
I'm assuming you're booting off a UEFI-based system and that you lost the menu entry stored in NVRAM corresponding to "Fedora".
You can recover your boot menu entry by searching some of the logs that Anaconda creates during installation. Try booting once again with the USB stick; mount your root filesystem say in /mnt and try this:
grep efibootmgr /mnt/var/log/anaconda/storage.log
There you'll see the command that was used by Anaconda to "register" the boot menu entry. Something like this:
efibootmgr -c -w -L Fedora -d ...
Run that same command until the end (...shimx64.efi) Confirm the entry was created by simply typing efibootmgr.
Let us know if that works.
On Sat, Nov 28, 2020 at 9:17 PM Jorge Fábregas jorge.fabregas@gmail.com wrote:
On 11/28/20 9:27 PM, Fulko Hew wrote:
Any idea what happened to my HD boot info in my BIOS, or how to restore
it?
PS. It is a Dell laptop.
Hi,
I'm assuming you're booting off a UEFI-based system and that you lost the menu entry stored in NVRAM corresponding to "Fedora".
You can recover your boot menu entry by searching some of the logs that Anaconda creates during installation. Try booting once again with the USB stick; mount your root filesystem say in /mnt and try this:
grep efibootmgr /mnt/var/log/anaconda/storage.log
There you'll see the command that was used by Anaconda to "register" the boot menu entry. Something like this:
efibootmgr -c -w -L Fedora -d ...
Run that same command until the end (...shimx64.efi) Confirm the entry was created by simply typing efibootmgr.
Let us know if that works.
What I forgot to say, was that this is a F26 system, so I can't find an efibootmgr string. What I can see is stuff related to my /dev/sda and then there's blocks of info for what I assume are the 3 parts of the LVM (swap/root/home)
Here is a subset of the info that might be relevant: I hope you can help from that.
'DEVNAME': '/dev/sda1', 'DEVPATH': '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:17.0/ata1/host0/target0:0:0/0:0:0:0/block/sda/sda1', 'ID_FS_TYPE': 'vfat', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_NAME': 'EFI\x20System\x20Partition', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_NUMBER': '1', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_OFFSET': '2048', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SCHEME': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SIZE': '409600', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_TYPE': 'c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_UUID': 'bf2ce45d-8dc0-4e11-869e-ec2e3e747ed3', 'ID_PART_TABLE_TYPE': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_TABLE_UUID': '1b5b5ada-1a00-40dc-b1b7-7b81b9a71ff1', ... ... 'DEVNAME': '/dev/sda2', 'DEVPATH': '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:17.0/ata1/host0/target0:0:0/0:0:0:0/block/sda/sda2', 'ID_FS_TYPE': 'ext4', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_NUMBER': '2', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_OFFSET': '411648', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SCHEME': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SIZE': '2097152', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_TYPE': '0fc63daf-8483-4772-8e79-3d69d8477de4', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_UUID': 'ca703b41-ac34-4789-bafd-e271e75d8059', 'ID_PART_TABLE_TYPE': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_TABLE_UUID': '1b5b5ada-1a00-40dc-b1b7-7b81b9a71ff1', ... ... 'DEVNAME': '/dev/sda3', 'DEVPATH': '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:17.0/ata1/host0/target0:0:0/0:0:0:0/block/sda/sda3', 'ID_FS_TYPE': 'LVM2_member', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_NUMBER': '3', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_OFFSET': '2508800', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SCHEME': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SIZE': '1951014912', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_TYPE': 'e6d6d379-f507-44c2-a23c-238f2a3df928', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_UUID': '3ccfd417-c48d-4da5-8331-0173bdfa69bb',
... ...
'DEVNAME': '/dev/dm-2', 'DEVPATH': '/devices/virtual/block/dm-2', 'DEVTYPE': 'disk', 'DM_LV_NAME': 'root', 'DM_NAME': 'fedora-root', 'DM_SUSPENDED': '0', 'DM_UDEV_DISABLE_LIBRARY_FALLBACK_FLAG': '1', 'DM_UDEV_PRIMARY_SOURCE_FLAG': '1', 'DM_UDEV_RULES_VSN': '2', 'DM_UUID': 'LVM-v2fFj1Ob1FIZuvu5p2fcwW0OpTvMFjIu1lLKb3fHh7HYDGOHsGjpdd3etvhkC0tB', 'DM_VG_NAME': 'fedora', 'ID_FS_TYPE': 'ext4', 'ID_FS_USAGE': 'filesystem', 'ID_FS_UUID': 'df83e189-28a4-48b5-8698-5186488762af', 'ID_FS_UUID_ENC': 'df83e189-28a4-48b5-8698-5186488762af', ... 'DEVNAME': '/dev/dm-0', 'DEVPATH': '/devices/virtual/block/dm-0', 'DEVTYPE': 'disk', 'DM_LV_NAME': 'swap', 'DM_NAME': 'fedora-swap', 'DM_SUSPENDED': '0', 'DM_UDEV_DISABLE_LIBRARY_FALLBACK_FLAG': '1', 'DM_UDEV_PRIMARY_SOURCE_FLAG': '1', 'DM_UDEV_RULES_VSN': '2', 'DM_UUID': 'LVM-v2fFj1Ob1FIZuvu5p2fcwW0OpTvMFjIucSSOD0uMeZfChKs7HPKgmMzsreNODrQq', 'DM_VG_NAME': 'fedora', 'ID_FS_TYPE': 'swap', 'ID_FS_USAGE': 'other', 'ID_FS_UUID': '167fcfbd-301a-44f4-ba86-af607172c697', 'ID_FS_UUID_ENC': '167fcfbd-301a-44f4-ba86-af607172c697', ... 'DEVNAME': '/dev/dm-1', 'DEVPATH': '/devices/virtual/block/dm-1', 'DEVTYPE': 'disk', 'DM_LV_NAME': 'home', 'DM_NAME': 'fedora-home', 'DM_SUSPENDED': '0', 'DM_UDEV_DISABLE_LIBRARY_FALLBACK_FLAG': '1', 'DM_UDEV_PRIMARY_SOURCE_FLAG': '1', 'DM_UDEV_RULES_VSN': '2', 'DM_UUID': 'LVM-v2fFj1Ob1FIZuvu5p2fcwW0OpTvMFjIuM6kbLfPnz6pobtNe2BkEem2TDzIx7Xja', 'DM_VG_NAME': 'fedora', 'ID_FS_TYPE': 'ext4', 'ID_FS_USAGE': 'filesystem', 'ID_FS_UUID': '2f129af2-8a27-47c0-bab0-4be01c158f10', 'ID_FS_UUID_ENC': '2f129af2-8a27-47c0-bab0-4be01c158f10',
On 11/28/20 11:48 PM, Fulko Hew wrote:
'DEVNAME': '/dev/sda1', 'DEVPATH': '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:17.0/ata1/host0/target0:0:0/0:0:0:0/block/sda/sda1', 'ID_FS_TYPE': 'vfat', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_NAME': 'EFI\x20System\x20Partition', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_NUMBER': '1', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_OFFSET': '2048', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SCHEME': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SIZE': '409600', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_TYPE': 'c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_UUID': 'bf2ce45d-8dc0-4e11-869e-ec2e3e747ed3', 'ID_PART_TABLE_TYPE': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_TABLE_UUID': '1b5b5ada-1a00-40dc-b1b7-7b81b9a71ff1',
OK this is the EFI System Partition (ESP). You could simply create the entry with:
efibootmgr -c -w -L Fedora -d /dev/sda -p 1 -l '\EFI\fedora\shimx64.efi'
Confirm with "efibootmgr -v"
The thing is that your UEFI firmware should at least pick up the fallback bootloader located at:
/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
...and present you that within the menu (as something like "UEFI OS" etc). Anyway the mentioned efibootmgr line should bring you back the Fedora entry.
On Sun, Nov 29, 2020 at 8:23 AM Jorge Fábregas jorge.fabregas@gmail.com wrote:
On 11/28/20 11:48 PM, Fulko Hew wrote:
'DEVNAME': '/dev/sda1', 'DEVPATH':
'/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:17.0/ata1/host0/target0:0:0/0:0:0:0/block/sda/sda1',
'ID_FS_TYPE': 'vfat', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_NAME': 'EFI\x20System\x20Partition', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_NUMBER': '1', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_OFFSET': '2048', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SCHEME': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_SIZE': '409600', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_TYPE': 'c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b', 'ID_PART_ENTRY_UUID': 'bf2ce45d-8dc0-4e11-869e-ec2e3e747ed3', 'ID_PART_TABLE_TYPE': 'gpt', 'ID_PART_TABLE_UUID': '1b5b5ada-1a00-40dc-b1b7-7b81b9a71ff1',
OK this is the EFI System Partition (ESP). You could simply create the entry with:
efibootmgr -c -w -L Fedora -d /dev/sda -p 1 -l '\EFI\fedora\shimx64.efi'
Confirm with "efibootmgr -v"
The thing is that your UEFI firmware should at least pick up the fallback bootloader located at:
/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
...and present you that within the menu (as something like "UEFI OS" etc). Anyway the mentioned efibootmgr line should bring you back the Fedora entry.
Yes, that brought back an entry, but it booted right into the Dell maintenance application. For laughs I changed the statement to point to partition 2 (the ext4 partition) and tried again. It went to the maintenance app again.
The ext4 partition appears to be my boot partition. It contains the following. I looked because I was looking to find /boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI somewhere. It's not in that partition/fs So I also tried to mount sda1 that you mentioned, but that just hung the mount command with an eventual "Can't read superblock on /dev/sda1".
Have I reached a dead end, and am stuck with a re-install now?
# ls -R /mnt /mnt: config-4.15.17-200.fc26.x86_64 initramfs-4.16.7-100.fc26.x86_64.img config-4.16.11-100.fc26.x86_64 lost+found config-4.16.7-100.fc26.x86_64 memtest86+-5.01 efi
System.map-4.15.17-200.fc26.x86_64
elf-memtest86+-5.01 System.map-4.16.11-100.fc26.x86_64 extlinux
System.map-4.16.7-100.fc26.x86_64
grub2 vmlinuz-0-rescue-7e2a43f9b2494d79a3cfbfb2b3512518 initramfs-0-rescue-7e2a43f9b2494d79a3cfbfb2b3512518.img vmlinuz-4.15.17-200.fc26.x86_64 initramfs-4.15.17-200.fc26.x86_64.img vmlinuz-4.16.11-100.fc26.x86_64 initramfs-4.16.11-100.fc26.x86_64.img vmlinuz-4.16.7-100.fc26.x86_64
/mnt/efi:
/mnt/extlinux: cat.c32 cpuid.c32 dmitest.c32 host.c32 ldlinux.c32 linux.c32 pci.c32 reboot.c32 vesainfo.c32 chain.c32 cpuidtest.c32 elf.c32 ifcpu64.c32 lfs.c32 ls.c32 pcitest.c32 rosh.c32 vesamenu.c32 cmd.c32 debug.c32 ethersel.c32 ifcpu.c32 libcom32.c32 lua.c32 pmload.c32 sanboot.c32 vpdtest.c32 cmenu.c32 dhcp.c32 gfxboot.c32 ifmemdsk.c32 libgpl.c32 mboot.c32 poweroff.c32 sdi.c32 whichsys.c32 config.c32 dir.c32 gpxecmd.c32 ifplop.c32 liblua.c32 memdisk prdhcp.c32 sysdump.c32 zzjson.c32 cptime.c32 disk.c32 hdt.c32 kbdmap.c32 libmenu.c32 meminfo.c32 pwd.c32 syslinux.c32 cpu.c32 dmi.c32 hexdump.c32 kontron_wdt.c32 libutil.c32 menu.c32 pxechn.c32 vesa.c32
/mnt/grub2: grub.cfg grubenv themes
/mnt/grub2/themes: system
/mnt/grub2/themes/system: background.png fireworks.png
/mnt/lost+found:
there
On 11/29/20 10:06 AM, Fulko Hew wrote:
Have I reached a dead end, and am stuck with a re-install now?
Well you're long overdue for a fresh installation :)
The UEFI firmware mainly supports the FAT family of filesystems so yours is probably fat16 or fat32. You need to make sure that's still there. You should be able to mount it with:
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt
Once you mount that make sure the PATH for the boot loader you used in the efibootmgr exists:
/boot/efi/EFI/fedora/shimx64.efi or /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grubx64.efi (for non-secure boots)
If you have those I don't see why it won't boot. You should at least get the GRUB menu.
I'll try these 3 things:
1) search for the FAT32 partition and make sure you have the files in there. Run efibootmgr -v and confirm the shown PATH for the boot loader is the correct one. If it doesn't boot and you don't have a backup for it to restore then ...
2) try to enable CSM in your UEFI setup so that your system can boot in BIOS mode hoping you still have a working MBR and GRUB is installed there (see if it boots). If that doesn work...
3) grab what you need from booting off the USB stick and be done with it. Install Fedora 33.
On Sun, Nov 29, 2020 at 9:45 AM Jorge Fábregas jorge.fabregas@gmail.com wrote:
On 11/29/20 10:06 AM, Fulko Hew wrote:
Have I reached a dead end, and am stuck with a re-install now?
Turns out that the disk drive had some sort of failure mode. I could read it fine, so I backed up my files, but... something messed up the UEFI boot, and when I tried a fresh install, it failed.
So I took the laptop apart and installed one of my backup drives and did a fresh install. I had to.
Well you're long overdue for a fresh installation :)
I'm always reluctant to upgrade let alone a fresh installation.
Both involve dealing with migrating configurations, and dealing with the features I liked, that would now, no longer be available. The fresh installation is all of the above plus finding where all the apps hide their configs and data, and migrating them to the new install. That used to involve a 2nd disk drive, but now, these new laptops no longer have easily accessible drives, and that just makes it all the more difficult and tedious.
P.S. Now that I have the new install, I'm seeing that my CPU fan is no longer spinning. The Dell/BIOS test program can control the fan, but Fedora doesn't. I have another thread going on that discussion.
Thanks for your help Fulko
-
Fulko Hew -
Jorge Fábregas -
Patrick O'Callaghan