[Bug 401971] [NEW] Unable to install grub2 onto vfat partition

[Mario Limonciello]

Public bug reported:

Binary package hint: grub2

I've got a particular situation that prevents grub2 from being installed
onto the MBR, but instead requires it to be installed onto the PBR of a
fat32 partition.

I receive a handful of errors when trying to install to it, and then i'm
unable to actually boot from it.  My grub.cfg doesn't even get read.

# mount | grep /boot
/dev/sda2 on /boot type vfat (rw,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,errors=remount-ro)

$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1          34      273073+  de  Dell Utility
/dev/sda2   *          35         197     1309297+   b  W95 FAT32

$ sudo grub-install --modules=fat /dev/sda2

grub-probe: error: unknown filesystem
grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition instead of the MBR.  This is a BAD idea.
grub-setup: warn: Embedding is not possible.  GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists.  However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and its use is discouraged.
grub-setup: error: Cannot read `/boot/grub/core.img' correctly

# cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg

set default=0
set timeout=5
set root=(hd0,2)
set color_normal=white/black
set color_highlight=black/white
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/white

menuentry "Automatic Reinstallation" {
  linux /casper/vmlinuz preseed/file=/cdrom/preseed/dell.seed boot=casper automatic-ubiquity noprompt edd=on splash quiet
  initrd initrd /casper/initrd.lz
}

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon Jul 20 23:15:22 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Alpha i386 (20090720)
Package: grub-pc 1.96+20090611-1ubuntu4
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-3.19-generic
SourcePackage: grub2
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-3-generic i686

** Affects: grub2 (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: apport-bug i386

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Unable to install grub2 onto vfat partition
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/401971
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