[Bug 1015211] Re: Ubiquity installed grub-efi when it should have installed grub-pc

[Roderick Smith]

DavidEscott (david-escott) wrote:

> As a practical matter there really should be an override for the
installer.

+1. I've seen a LOT of online problems reported because Ubuntu installs
in one mode on a computer with another OS installed in another mode.
Usually the existing install in EFI mode and Ubuntu installs in BIOS
mode, although sometimes it's the other way around. My own suggestion
is:

1. Ubiquity should look for an existing OS installation and try to infer its boot mode. This is easy with both Windows and OS X (except for naughty Hackintosh setups). It's harder for other Linuxes and BSDs.
2. If Ubiquity is booted in a mode that doesn't match inferred boot mode for the existing OS(es), put up a warning that briefly explains the issue and provide a URL to a document with more details. There can then be options depending on the boot mode:
  * If in BIOS mode, the options should be to abort or proceed with a BIOS-mode install.
  * If in EFI mode, the options should be to abort, to proceed with an EFI-mode install, or to switch to a BIOS-mode install.

All this said, I don't know how difficult it would be to modify Ubiquity
to provide these options. I just know that the lack of such options is
continuing to cause problems, even with 14.04. There's a whole cottage
industry of tools to fix the problems, like Boot-Repair.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1015211

Title:
  Ubiquity installed grub-efi when it should have installed grub-pc

Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  Goal:
  Create a dual boot system with a pre installed Win7x64 and Ubuntu Desktop 12.04 LTS amd64 with Grub installed as the boot-loader in the MBR of sda.

  Problem symptoms:
  After Ubuntu installation from the Live CD along side Win7x64, Grub wont start at boot-up of the system. It boots straight into Win7.

  Hypothesis:
  The Ubuntu Desktop 12.04 amd64 Live CD, was booted with an UEFI boot sequence although the hard disk structure is MSDOS with MBR. This fools ubuquity into installing Grub in EFI mode and does not install grub-pc into the MBR.

  For full information please view:
  http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=12030957#post12030957

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