[Bug 1396379] Re: installer uses first EFI system partition found even when directed otherwise

[Vlad Tudorache]

I've encountered this bug today (2022-05-20) on Debian 11 and Ubuntu 22.04. Configuration:
Samsung SSD 500 GB as /dev/sda
- EFI System Partition
- MSR
- NTFS (C:)
- Recovery
Toshiba HDD 2 TB as /dev/sdb
- 1,9 TB NTFS (D:)
- 512 MB (/dev/sdb2 -> /boot/efi) 
- 2 GB swap (/dev/sdb3)
- 64 GB ext4 (/dev/sdb4 -> /)
It seems that even after selecting /dev/sdb2 as /boot/efi mount point to avoid tampering with the Windows boot loader's location, the installer mounts /dev/sda1 as the EFI partition. So the bug is still there and, for me, it happens also on Debian. This isn't a big problem for me, I've built the PC myself, I know how to use efibootmgr. What about a non-technical user?
Is it really a GRUB bug? Or it's an error of an early step of the installer which happens to be used also by the Ubuntu's installer (should they have some common parts)?

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Foundations Bugs, which is subscribed to ubiquity in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1396379

Title:
  installer uses first EFI system partition found even when directed
  otherwise

Status in grub-efi-amd64-signed package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in ubiquity package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  (k)ubuntu 14.04.1
  package version: 2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1

  i installed ubuntu on my external hard disk, where i also have a previously installed fedora system. i also have a windows
  (efi-booted) system in the internal hard disk.

  at install time via ubiquity i get all grub configuration files in the first EFI-labelled partition (i.e. /dev/sda2 in my case) instead of the one i selected (/dev/sdb1).
  later i changed my fstab mounting /boot/efi on /dev/sdb1 and tried to reinstall grub package (apt-get install --reinstall grub-efi-amd64); now all grub configuration files are in the rigt place, but booting from the external hard disk still shows the fedora grub installation, while selectin the internal hard disk from the bios menu shows a submenu listing ubuntu and windows.
  explicitly installing grub in the correct disk (grub-install /dev/sdb; grub-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg) has no effect, nor it has running efibootmgr (efibootmgr -c --disk /dev/sdb --part 1).

  expected results: grub shoud have been installed in the disk/partition i chose;
  actual results: ubuntu always chooses the first disk to install grub on.

  Note that this is not just about the dummy grub install location
  selector that is not used in EFI mode, but configuring one partition
  as do not use, and the other as ESP in the manual partitioning screen.

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub-efi-amd64-signed/+bug/1396379/+subscriptions