iso image cannot boot in (u)efi

[ghost]

Media tested: Kogaion_amd64_2.0_XFCE_rc11.iso, installed system up-to-date

Symptoms: trying to boot iso in VirtualBox or on real machine in EFI/UEFI mode failed (by freezing VirtualBox or crashing real machine)

Item subject to investigation: sys-boot/grub

Investigation:

Analyzed the /boot/grub directory on iso and installed system leads to following:

• on installed system, folder /boot/grub/locale is populated with compiled and source of modules. This folder should be empty (compared with previous working iso/installs)
• on installed system, /boot/grub/X86_64 folder is missing (this is normal as install was not in efi mode)
• on installed system, a folder /boot/grub/i386-pc is present, even if installation is X64 ((this is normal as install was not in efi mode)

output from installed system : https://gist.github.com/bionel/5bff6a8cd4af5468ed6b

• on iso image, folder /boot/grub/locale is empty (as it should be compared with previous working iso's)
• on iso image, folder X86_64 exist, populated with compiled modules (as it should be compared with previous working iso's)

output from iso image: https://gist.github.com/bionel/10be0ab76ddf14db9a91

Even content of iso image seems to be right, image does not boot-up in efi mode.

Assumption 1: grub compiled with wrong prefix ('locale' used as prefix for modules) Workaround: iso unpacked, folder /boot/grub/locale removed and symlink /boot/grub/locale created pointing to /boot/grub/X86_64, iso re-packed output from repacked iso: https://gist.github.com/bionel/6308abffa6a848f20a49 Result: iso still does not boot

Assumption 2: grub compiled with wrong architecture Workaround: iso unpacked, folder symlink /boot/grub/i386-pc created pointing to /boot/grub/X86_64, iso re-packed output from repacked iso: https://gist.github.com/bionel/6ad45c23434210bd4679 Result: iso still does not boot

Assumption3: both from above and something else Workaround: iso unpacked, folders /boot/grub/locale and /boot/grub/i386-pc copied from installed system to iso, iso re-packed output from repacked iso: https://gist.github.com/bionel/c604154a4fef90447c11 Result: iso still does not boot

Conclusion: compilation of sys-boot/grub package is a total failure TODO: investigate e-build, patches, building machine, re-pack grub with the right parametters

attn: @BlackNoxis

Note: si nu ma pune sa il rescriu in limba romana ca nu am nici un chef

[StefanCristian]

Kay :))

[ghost]

@BlackNoxis some clarification added - install was not in efi mode so i386-pc is normal in this case. more workaround needed - e.g. copy modules from /usr/lib/grub to the iso instead from /boot/grub

[ghost]

attn: @BlackNoxis

Workaorund 4

• iso unpacked
• folder /boot/grub/locale remains empty ( in previous working iso this is populated with language.mo files)
• folder /boot/grub/x86_64-efi (containing grub modules) replaced from a previous working iso
• file /boot/grub/efi.img replaced from a previous working iso - this is generated in iso-packing stage, see: https://github.com/Rogentos/rogentos-brand/blob/master/scripts/make_grub_efi.sh#L180
• file /efi/boot/grubx64.efi replaced from previous working iso .this is the actual compiled and signed grub bootloader, generated in iso-packaging stage, see: https://github.com/Rogentos/rogentos-brand/blob/master/scripts/make_grub_efi.sh#L141
• file /id.XXXXXXXXXXXXX.uefi replaced from previous working iso - this is generated in iso-packaging stage and somehow embedded into grub for self/cheking, see: https://github.com/Rogentos/rogentos-brand/blob/master/scripts/make_grub_efi.sh#L32

iso repacked, trying to boot in EFI mode

result: iso image boot-up just fine (without secure-boot enabled since the certificate used for signing grub is different)

further investigation needed. workaround: replacing again the items one by one from the damaged iso or re-created suspects:

• corrupted grubx64.efi
• corrupted efi.img
• corrupted modules
• all from above