[Bug 1237519] Re: Grub2 fails to install to non-standard device path

[Colin Watson]

Yes, I expect this is a lack of support in grub-probe for this device.

Is the source code for your driver available, in which case I can
probably work out the answer to the following questions by myself?
Failing that, I need to know a few things:

 * What are the characteristics of your device naming?  Ideally I'd like
to have something in the format of Documentation/devices.txt from the
kernel, for example:

"""
  8 block       SCSI disk devices (0-15)
                  0 = /dev/sda          First SCSI disk whole disk
                 16 = /dev/sdb          Second SCSI disk whole disk
                 32 = /dev/sdc          Third SCSI disk whole disk
                    ...
                240 = /dev/sdp          Sixteenth SCSI disk whole disk

                Partitions are handled in the same way as for IDE
                disks (see major number 3) except that the limit on
                partitions is 15.
"""

 * Can the firmware access your device directly by way of the usual UEFI
block device methods, or is anything special needed?

It would also be helpful if you would be able to test our current
development release.  I don't expect it to work right now, so don't
spend time testing just yet as you'll no doubt just run into much the
same bug, but our standard operating procedure is to fix bugs first in
the development release and then backport as necessary, so it would be
good to ensure that you would be able to confirm fixes in our
development release.

** Changed in: grub2 (Ubuntu)
   Importance: Undecided => High

** Changed in: grub2 (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Incomplete

** Changed in: grub2 (Ubuntu)
     Assignee: (unassigned) => Colin Watson (cjwatson)

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1237519

Title:
  Grub2 fails to install to non-standard device path

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  Running the Ubuntu Server installer in UEFI mode fails to install the
  Grub bootloader.  Attached is the syslog output that shows grub-
  installer failed with error code 1.  I have seen this on Ubuntu 12.04,
  12.10, and 13.04.  I believe the problem is that Grub is looking for
  device paths that match something like '/dev/sdX' or '/dev/hdX' but
  the device I am installing to does not follow that convention.

  The reason I believe it is looking for specific devices paths is if,
  during installation after my device has been partitioned, I escape
  into the shell (using alt+f2) and create a hard link from my device
  name and its partitions, to a device name that matches 'sdX', then
  Grub begins to install.  For example, if my device name is /dev/fioa
  and has partitions /dev/fioa1, /dev/fioa2, and /dev/fioa3, I map those
  partitions to something like /dev/sdc, /dev/sdc1, /dev/sdc2, and
  /dev/sdc3 and continue with the installation onto /dev/sdc.  By doing
  this, Grub will begin to install on the device.

  Possibly useful background information:

  - The operating system and all files install just fine without
  problem, it is the last step of installing the bootloader that fails.

  - In order to have the device recognized during installation, I either
  need to run 'insmod' from a terminal or we have to manually modify
  initrd to include our .ko file because it is not a standard disk
  driver.  Using either method does not affect the outcome of Grub2
  failing to install.

  - Even though grub begins to install after creating the hard links
  mentioned above, it does not finish successfully due to the linked
  paths (e.g. /dev/sdc) not being in the device map.  That is a separate
  issue, but may be expected behavior and would likely need a separate
  ticket if it needed to be reported at all.

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