[Bug 1796260] Re: UEFI install onto an MBR disk, with a pre-existing os/partition, results in a non-bootable ESP on a logical partition

[Michael Hudson-Doyle]

So subiquity/curtin sort of tiptoe around this bug currently. Curtin's
data model uses the same field ("flag") to indicate that a partition is
an ESP (set flag to "boot") and that a partition is a logical partition
(set flag to "logical").

As it happens in the code in curtin that converts probert data to curtin
actions, "logicalness" wins over "ESPness", so the user will never be
given the chance to reuse a logical ESP (and subiquity only ever creates
GPT partitions).

To enable reuse of a logical ESP we'd need to change curtin somehow,
maybe just to allow "boot+logical" as a flag value, or maybe something
less crass. And then fix this bug. It seems somehow rather low priority
though.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1796260

Title:
  UEFI install onto an MBR disk, with a pre-existing os/partition,
  results in a non-bootable ESP on a logical partition

Status in efibootmgr package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid
Status in efivar package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in grub2 package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid
Status in partman-auto package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in ubiquity package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Ubuntu Cosmic Desktop 20181005

  Test Case:
  1. Boot in BIOS mode and install on entire disk
  => Verify that the system boots
  2. Boot in UEFI and perform a new installation alongside previous one
  => Verify that you can boot to the new system

  Actual result
  It fails immediately on boot with a message from the uefi firmware (its very brief because the system reboots immediately in a loop):

  """""
  System BootOrder not found. Initializing defaults.
  Creating boot entry "Boot0011" with label "Ubuntu" for file "\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi"

  Reset System
  """""

  The BIOS installation boots fine if I switch back to BIOS mode.
  An UEFI installation on entire disk boots fine.

  Log files of the UEFI installation attached.

  The EFI partition is created and its content is:
  .
  ./EFI
  ./EFI/ubuntu
  ./EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi
  ./EFI/ubuntu/shimx64.efi
  ./EFI/ubuntu/mmx64.efi
  ./EFI/ubuntu/BOOTX64.CSV
  ./EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg
  ./EFI/BOOT
  ./EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
  ./EFI/BOOT/fbx64.efi

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.10
  Package: ubiquity 18.10.9
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.18.0-8.9-generic 4.18.7
  Uname: Linux 4.18.0-8-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.20.10-0ubuntu11
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperVersion: 1.396
  CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
  Date: Fri Oct  5 09:40:31 2018
  InstallCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash ---
  LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 18.10 "Cosmic Cuttlefish" - Beta amd64 (20181005)
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=xterm-256color
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=C.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: ubiquity
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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