Grub error: "will not proceed with blocklists."

[Tom H]

On Fri, Jan 5, 2018 at 1:46 PM, Volker Wysk <post at volker-wysk.de> wrote:


> I'm afraid I have broken something. grub-install outputs this message:
>
> desktop ~ % LANG=C grub-install /dev/sda
> Installing for i386-pc platform.
> grub-install: warning: this GPT partition label contains no BIOS Boot Partition; embedding won't be possible.

This is the message that matters. If you are using BIOS and GPT, you
need a "BIOS Boot Partition" for grub embed a stage into.


> grub-install: warning: Embedding is not possible.  GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists.  However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
> grub-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.
>
> Does this mean that my system won't boot again?
>
> This is my partitioning:
>
> desktop ~ % LANG=C fdisk --list /dev/sda
> Disk /dev/sda: 3.7 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors
> Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
> Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
> I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
> Disklabel type: gpt
> Disk identifier: 4E84672C-31E6-42E8-AF97-254EE3E6410B
>
> Device      Start        End    Sectors  Size Type
> /dev/sda1    2048       4095       2048    1M Linux filesystem
> /dev/sda2    4096     503807     499712  244M Linux filesystem
> /dev/sda3  503808 7814035455 7813531648  3.7T Linux filesystem
> GPT (END)
>
> What is that sda1 partition? It has been set up by the kubuntu installer, when I started to build my system. What is it good for?

It should be the "Bios Boot" but it's not supposed to be of that type.
I think that fdisk is now (or the latest version is) gpt-compatible.
If you use gdisk, the type is "ef02". if you use parted, the name has
"grub" in it.