[Bug 1961085] Re: grub-install prints misleading error message

[Julian Andres Klode]

It seems that grub_disk_open() returns GRUB_ERR_UNKNOWN_DEVICE when it
receives EACCESS. I suggest working with upstream to address this issue
if this interests you, as I don't think fixing this is a priority for
us, since users normally do not run grub-install themselves.

** Changed in: grub2 (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Triaged

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Title:
  grub-install prints misleading error message

Status in grub2 package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  When i try to install grub on an usb stick without root permissions
  with the following command line, i get a misleading error message:

  [code]
  ~$ grub-install --recheck --boot-directory=/media/ubuntu-mate/usbstick/boot/ /dev/sda
  Installing for i386-pc platform.
  grub-install: warning: disk does not exist, so falling back to partition device /dev/sda1.
  grub-install: warning: disk does not exist, so falling back to partition device /dev/sda1.
  grub-install: warning: disk does not exist, so falling back to partition device /dev/sda1.
  grub-install: error: disk `hostdisk//dev/sda1' not found.
  [/code]

  This error message is misleading. The disk does exist. The command works without errors, when i put a sudo in front of it.
  The error message should be something like:

  "You need to be root to have write access"

  There should be a check if grub2 does have write access and if it
  doesn't, the error message should  tell the user, that he doesn't have
  permissions and should change to root or use sudo.

  This was tested on Ubuntu 21.10

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