[lug] GRUB2 Compatibility: Mostly Fedora/Ubuntu, Some BIOS/UEFI

[Davide Del Vento]

Sorry I don't have anything to tell you. I'm just responding to let you
know that at least somebody is reading you and the mailing list isn't dead.
I just find it strange that Ubuntu would not support BIOS modes, but what
do I know? I still know more about LILO than GRUB....

On Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 4:19 PM, <stimits at comcast.net> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm looking for thoughts on issues which seem to be from mixing Fedora and
> Ubuntu mixed boot environments, explained below.
>
> My recent adventures and success at repairing my partition resize failures
> inspired me to rearrange partitions, delete some old data, and try to
> modernize some of my Fedora software. Basically I am still using Fedora 23,
> but have a working Fedora 26 install as well (there are some issues, but
> F26 mostly works well). During my experimentation I've verified my hardware
> works with Fedora 19, Fedora 23, Fedora 25, Fedora 26, memtest86+, and
> Windows 7.
>
> Just to make a few details available ahead of time, my motherboard
> supports UEFI, but it is in BIOS compatibility mode. Partitions on all
> disks are all old style BIOS partitions. No UEFI is used, no GPT partition
> is present.
>
> During any Fedora install the GRUB install seems to have succeeded. After
> install I do not seem to be able to use any of the grub command line
> manipulation programs from Fedora 26 though (Fedora 25 command line was the
> same)...those commands demand to use UEFI files despite not being UEFI mode
> and having no GPT partitions at all. GRUB refuses to do any command line
> change or update; GRUB cites missing UEFI files as a reason to reject my
> update attempts. Installation seems to understand BIOS partitions, Fedora
> command line user space tools do not (perhaps it is detecting my
> motherboard as UEFI even though it is in BIOS mode). I admit this is
> probably my lack of understanding the proper tool usage for newer GRUB
> tools, else I wouldn't be posting here. Documentation on the Internet is
> sparse though, google searches seem to assume UEFI and there is a lack of
> documentation on using old style BIOS mode on a UEFI-capable motherboard
> with BIOS partitions.
>
> Ubuntu is far worse and has some serious issues, though I'm booting
> through the Fedora boot loader and configuration, so perhaps it isn't all
> the fault of Ubuntu. I believe Ubuntu does not handle BIOS style hardware
> on a UEFI board at all well. During install (I have a separate partition
> for Fedora 23, Fedora 26, and Ubuntu) of any Ubuntu (tried many versions,
> old through modern) I get a large number of USB errors. If I disconnect
> everything except keyboard and mouse I don't see those errors...I also
> don't get a keyboard or mouse once install finishes. All of my USB devices
> function 100% with no error or warning at any point in their existence
> under Windows 7, Fedora 19, Fedora 23, Fedora 25, Fedora 26, and
> memtest86+. I believe this is due to Ubuntu missing old style BIOS setup,
> and trying to use non-existent UEFI partition layout (which would cause USB
> to not properly load). Does anyone know of a way to tell an Ubuntu install
> to force BIOS mode so I can test this theory (for example, a way to drop
> into installer command line and change boot parameter)?
>
> I do actually need the older Ubuntu 14.04 for some software which only
> runs on Ubuntu 14.04...I can do without it (I have for quite some time),
> but it is a big pain and I'd like to get Ubuntu 14.04 working, or at least
> Ubuntu 16.04 (the software partially works in 16.04).
>
> One additional thing I've noticed is that some of GRUB's environment setup
> differs from Fedora's version. I may be wrong, but it seems Ubuntu has
> modified GRUB, or else is somehow different when Ubuntu is loaded from a
> Fedora GRUB loader instead of an Ubuntu GRUB loader. Does anyone here know
> if there are compatibility issues or hoops to jump through to load Ubuntu
> from a Fedora boot loader?
>
> Thanks!
>
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