[Bug 1889509] Re: grub boot error : "symbol 'grub_calloc' not found

[Judah Richardson]

*** This bug is a duplicate of bug 1889556 ***
    https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1889556

@Julian Welp, the laptop (detailed specs:
https://github.com/jdrch/Hardware/blob/master/HP%20ProBook%204530s.md)
my Ubuntu 20.04 installation is on has always been in UEFI boot mode, so
I'd assume the Ubuntu installation itself also uses EFI. As I said, same
symptoms as everyone else on here. Maybe it wasn't using EFI this whole
time but bottom line is I had the exact same issue but the instructions
on this thread didn't work for me as written.

Anyway, for those like me who are having the same problem and use both
EFI and LVM, the instructions in the OP don't work.

Here's what to do instead:

These instructions assume your boot disk is sda and your root(?) volume
group name is ubuntu-vg. They are based on:

https://askubuntu.com/a/772892/932418

1) Boot into a live Ubuntu USB
2) Open a terminal

# mkdir /mnt/chrootdir/

Note that, contrary to many of the instructions on this page, you'll
have to mount your volume group instead of your boot disk or partition.
If you try to do the latter you'll get weird errors about the mount
point being busy.

# mount /dev/ubuntu-vg/root /mnt/chrootdir/
# for dir in proc dev sys etc bin sbin var usr lib lib64 tmp; mount --bind /$dir /mnt/chrootdir/$dir ; done
# chroot /mnt/chrootdir/

# apt install grub-efi-amd64

You'll see some warning message about grub-pc being removed. Proceed
with "Y" because that's what you want to happen

# grub-install /dev/sda # <- This reinstalls grub onto your boot disk
# dpkg-reconfigure grub-efi-amd64

Leave the text fields blank and select Yes for the removable device EFI
and NVRAM options if you don't multiboot.

# update-grub2 /dev/sda # <- this writes the grub config created in the
previous command to grub on your boot disk

# exit # <- exit chroot
# exit # <- exit root
# exit # <- close terminal

Power off the PC via the Ubuntu power menu, following the onscreen
instructions.

Reboot the PC, making sure the BIOS is in UEFI mode. Ubuntu should now
boot as expected.

-- 
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1889509

Title:
  grub boot error : "symbol 'grub_calloc' not found

Status in grub2 package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in grub2 package in Debian:
  Unknown

Bug description:
  After updating grub2 (to 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.26) and rebooting, my
  server does not boot:

  Booting from Hard Disk 0...
  error: symbol `grub_calloc' not found.
  Entering rescue mode...
  grub rescue> _

  I rebooted 3 servers in this way (all running Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS) and
  all hung.

  A lot of other people are reporting the same problem at:

  https://askubuntu.com/questions/1263125/how-to-fix-a-grub-boot-error-
  symbol-grub-calloc-not-found.

  ---

  Above most likely means that dpkg debconf no longer knows about the
  correct drives to install grub onto.

  Please boot & mount all the target disks and execute

  $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc

  You will be asked which drives to install grub onto, and then grub
  will be installed onto them, and more importantly, it will remember
  where to install grub to, on all future upgrades.

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