[Bug 580408] Re: Option 'No' at question 'Continue without installing GRUB?' does nothing. Forced to answer 'Yes'.

Tue Oct 2 14:35:34 UTC 2012

This error is still not fixed in grub-pc:i386 (1.99-21ubuntu3.1,
1.99-21ubuntu3.4)

I use Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and today did a routine "Update Manager" (gui)
package update/upgrade

I was presented with the grup-pc window asking me where to install grub and given three options:
- /dev/sda       [SSD drive]
- - /dev/sda1  [root partition]
- /dev/dsb      [External HDD]

I selected /dev/sda and clicked 'forward'

I was then shown a window with a check box labeled "Continue without installing grub"
Investigating the "help" button revealed a message saying the I had not chosen to install grub anywhere and that this may lead to incompatibility problems on reboot.

Clicking continue (without checking the box labeled "Continue without
installing grub") sent me back to the grub-pc window asking me where to
install grub. /dev/sda was STILL CHECKED!

After investigating online I went to the command line and did "sudo grub-install /dev/sda" which resulted in "Installation finished. No error reported."
I then went back to the grub-pc window left /dev/sda checked and clicked 'forward' then I checked the "Continue without installing grub" box and clicked 'forward'.

The rest of the update manager process continued as expected.

These are very alarming questions to ask a novice Ubuntu user who has
installed via a live CD. Fortunately for me I have heard of grub and
understand what it's for, but that little knowledge means that I also
know that if I screw up grub, my system won't boot!! As this is my ONLY
computer, issues with grub are extremely important.

I don't have the skills to assist but I thank those who are working to
fix this.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/580408

Title:
  Option 'No' at question 'Continue without installing GRUB?' does
  nothing. Forced to answer 'Yes'.

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged
Status in “grub2” source package in Lucid:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: grub2

  This bug is in the debconf screens of grub-pc.

  During upgrades it asks 'You chose not to install GRUB to any devices.
  [ ... ] Continue without installing GRUB?' and offers two options: Yes
  or No. Answering 'No' does nothing and brings you back to the same
  screen which forces you to answer 'Yes' and continue upgrading (and
  manually installing / updating GRUB in the MBR of your disks).

  It would be nice if answering 'No' in that screen brings you to a
  screen to select which devices to install GRUB to and disable the
  question in later upgrades.

  SRU justification:

  IMPACT: This was caused by the fact that there's a while loop around
  the code that asks the grub-pc/install_devices or grub-
  pc/install_devices_disks_changed question, in order that it can be
  asked again on failure, but the code that did upgrade analysis on the
  previous value of that question ran every time round the while loop
  instead of just once; plus, we failed to make sure that the question
  would be asked again on subsequent runs around the while loop.  The
  above description is one possible symptom; the other major ones are
  that if disk device names changed on upgrade from Lucid or later (e.g.
  due to removing a removable device to which GRUB had been installed)
  then the wrong question will be asked second and subsequent times
  round the loop, and that on upgrades from Karmic the question may have
  the wrong defaults second and subsequent times round the loop.  This
  can cause upgrades to get stuck in a loop unless you give a probably-
  undesirable answer to a question, at which point you have to use dpkg-
  reconfigure in a terminal to fix it.

  DEVELOPMENT BRANCH: While I haven't uploaded this yet due to the
  Alpha-2 freeze, I've committed it to the Maverick branch for grub2
  1.98+20100614-2ubuntu4: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-core-
  dev/ubuntu/maverick/grub2/maverick/revision/1998

  PATCH: The raw patch is quite large due to indentation changes (the
  result would have been much more confusing without those changes!).
  'diff -bu' makes it much more readable, though:
  http://launchpadlibrarian.net/51174650/580408.patch

  TEST CASE: Install Karmic on a two-disk system, run 'echo SET grub-
  pc/install_devices /dev/sda | sudo debconf-communicate' to arrange for
  initial conditions that trigger this bug, then upgrade to Lucid.  The
  first time round the loop, uncheck all the boxes, and then answer "No"
  to "Continue without installing GRUB"; it should ask you the same
  question with a list of checkboxes again, and should have left all of
  them unchecked.  Also try an upgrade from Lucid as released to this
  update on the same system, running 'echo SET grub-pc/install_devices
  /dev/hda | sudo debconf-communicate' before starting the upgrade; this
  should give you a dialog reading "The GRUB boot loader was previously
  installed to a disk that is no longer present ...", and again if you
  uncheck all the boxes you should get consistent behaviour the second
  time round the loop.  You may be able to save time by testing this
  together with bug 576724.

  REGRESSION POTENTIAL: As with bug 576724, upgrades or dpkg-reconfigure
  might break.  I think this test case should exercise most of the
  possible problem cases, though.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
  Package: grub-pc 1.98-1ubuntu6
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-21.32-server 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
  Uname: Linux 2.6.32-21-server x86_64
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Fri May 14 11:22:47 2010
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100427)
  ProcEnviron:
   LC_COLLATE=C
   PATH=(custom, user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/zsh
  SourcePackage: grub2

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