[Bug 576724] Re: Ubuntu Lucid grub2 dist-upgrades result in confusion

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Title:
  Ubuntu Lucid grub2 dist-upgrades result in confusion

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in “grub2” source package in Lucid:
  Fix Released
Status in “grub2” source package in Maverick:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: grub-pc

  This is a horrible way to file a bug report and I'm aware of that, but
  this needs to be considered.

  Throughout various upgrade and/or update procedures in Ubuntu and its
  variants the user gets a display asking where to install grub(2).
  There is a suggestion that if in doubt to install to the mbr of all
  drives.

  Unfortunately most new (and some old) users have no idea how
  drives/partitions are designated in Ubuntu, and they're clueless as to
  what an mbr is!

  So basically you see a screen that says, "if in doubt select all", and
  you do so. Now, I'm aware those are not the exact words but I've been
  following (and trying to help folks fix) these problems since Lucid
  was released.

  It's particularly troublesome when someone installs grub2 to an NTFS
  partition with a Win OS so I'd at least suggest making grub
  installation to an NTFS (or any FAT) partition very difficult.

  Honestly I'm not sure what the solution should be, but I know Colin
  Watson deals with a lot of these grub2 issues and I've come to trust
  his judgment. Consider the following options:

  #1: Display nothing but drives, that is "sda", "sdb", etc, and NO
  individual partitions. But create another "advanced" tab/option to
  allow installation to a partition.

  #2: Increase the amount of text explaining the difference between
  drives and partitions, why it's a bad idea to install to a partition
  etc. IMHO that's a horrible option. (The more text the less likely a
  new user is to read it.)

  #3: Figure out a way to always have grub(2) install itself where it
  was to begin with. (maybe a bad idea if the original install was
  wrong.)

  While I think option #1 is great I have no idea how complicated that
  would be.

  Does any of that make sense?

  I'd be glad to test any potential "fixes" :^)

  SRU justification:

  IMPACT: I concur with the problems described above.  We often see
  people turning up in #grub who've been affected by this, and it's
  often the least capable users who are suddenly hit by an unbootable
  Windows system which can be quite a challenge to fix.  We need to
  clear this up in a stable update to limit the damage.

  DEVELOPMENT BRANCH: While I haven't uploaded this yet due to the
  Alpha-2 freeze, I've committed it to the Maverick branch for grub2
  1.98+20100614-2ubuntu4: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-core-
  dev/ubuntu/maverick/grub2/maverick/revision/1999

  PATCH: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-core-
  dev/ubuntu/lucid/grub2/lucid/revision/1973

  TEST CASE: The simplest way to force this confusing screen to appear
  is by running 'sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc'.  The broken state is
  that all partitions are offered, including Windows partitions which
  will be broken by installing GRUB to them; the desired state is
  described in comment 56.

  REGRESSION POTENTIAL: I can hardly have made the dialog any more
  harmfully misleading, but if I got my change badly enough wrong then
  upgrades might break (along with dpkg-reconfigure).  I think it would
  be worth testing an upgrade from Karmic on a two-disk system and
  making sure that the experience is vaguely reasonable.  You may be
  able to save time by testing this together with bug 580408.

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