Unsuccessful install of Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon 64 bit - immediately goes to grub rescue

[benrho]

I just installed Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon 64 bit on a PC that previously had Debian on a single encrypted partition. I used the iso flashed to a USB stick for the install. I chose the option to erase the contents of the hard disk, and do a brand new install of Linux Mint.

After installing, I reboot and get the following message:

error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found.
Entering rescue mode...

Rebooting again made no difference. Re-installing Mint again made no difference.

Typing ls at the rescue console shows the following:

(hd0) (hd0,gpt3) (hd0,gpt2) (hd0,gtp1)

Typing ls (hd0,gpt3) shows that all the Mint directories are there (e.g. boot, media, home, cdrom, etc.). The other directories give "Filesystem unknown".

Following advice from another thread, I tried typing

set prefix=(hd0,gpt3)/boot/grub

followed by:

set root=(hd0,gpt3)

followed by:

insmod normal

This last command gave the message "error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found.

Does anyone know what is going on? I still can't even boot in Mint.

 

[dos2unix]

I just installed Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon 64 bit

This last command gave the message "error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found.

I wouldn't think i386-pc files aren't normally part of a 64bit installation.
Also does Mint 20 still use grub? Or grub2?

 

[forester]

I just put

"error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found

in a search engine and got hits on two Youtube videos and this from Linux.org -- https://www.linux.org/threads/error-file-boot-grub-i386-pc-normal-mod-not-found.38242/ it may or may not be of help.

 

[Condobloke]

i386-

That indicates a 32bit was not found

How sure are you that you downloaded a 64bit file to flash to the usb ?

Also....where did you download that iso file from ?

 

[Brickwizard]

Welcome to the forums
the main reasons Linux fails to load

Corrupt download, wrong image downloaded [Arm instead of AMD etc 64 bit instead of 32 bit on old machines]
bad burn of the ISO to the installation medium
old/worn/damaged installation medium [dodgy pen drives are difficult to spot]
Not deactivating Windows quick start in the bios before loading


my guide for the newbie installing Linux can be found here [also useful as a checklist]
How Do I Install Linux (A General Guide) • Linux Tips

 

[benrho]

That indicates a 32bit was not found

How sure are you that you downloaded a 64bit file to flash to the usb ?

Also....where did you download that iso file from ?

I downloaded it from here: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=292

The iso passed the authenticity and integrity checks.

Welcome to the forums
the main reasons Linux fails to load

Corrupt download, wrong image downloaded [Arm instead of AMD etc 64 bit instead of 32 bit on old machines]
bad burn of the ISO to the installation medium
old/worn/damaged installation medium [dodgy pen drives are difficult to spot]
Not deactivating Windows quick start in the bios before loading


my guide for the newbie installing Linux can be found here [also useful as a checklist]
How Do I Install Linux (A General Guide) • Linux Tips

I created a bootable USB drive following the instructions on linuxmint.com. I'm able to use it to start live sessions without issue.


Update: I have no reason to suspect a problem with my USB stick, but just to be sure I burned the same Mint iso to a new one. I started up a live session, and used GParted to delete all previous partitions and reinstalled. Now when I try to boot Mint, I get the following error message instead:

error: invalid arch-independent ELF magic.

Which once again takes me to the grub rescue prompt.

I did a search for this new error message, which took me to this thread. The OP reported that he solved the issue by reinstalling grub through the terminal. I followed his steps, and received the following error message:

grub-install: warning: File system 'ext2' doesn't support embedding.
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.

I have noticed that Mint keeps installind to sdc, whereas most posts in the forum seem to have sda as the primary hard drive. Should I try to connect my HD to SCSI 1, so that it is detected as sda? Do you guys think that might be the problem?

 

[benrho]

I was finally able to boot in Mint. Here's what I had to do:
1) Start a live session
2) Open GParted
3) Delete ALL partitions, so that there is nothing but unallocated space
4) On the "Install Type" screen, select "something else"
5) Manually create a bios boot partition
6) Manually create a swap partition
7) Manually create an ext4 partition for Mint

After that, I was finally able to boot up in Mint.

This seems like way more work than it was supposed to take - is there something misconfigured about my computer? I worry that this unusual setup is going to cause more problems down the road.

 

[KGIII]

You shouldn't have had to do all of that, so there's likely something weird afoot. At the same time, I'd not bother trying to track it down, now that you're fully installed.

Now that you''re installed, it's unlikely to lead to problems down the road. You should be just fine from here on out. Of course, at the same time, you should also have not had to go through all that manual partitioning. I'd have tried (if not having already tried) immediately after erasing all the partitions.

 

[Condobloke]

Looks good to me.

Be sure to take Timeshift snapshots....this is a must. (on an external hard drive)

 

[kc1di]

Hello @benrho,
Welcome to the Forum. Sorry you had such a time with Mint, It is usually one of the most straight forward distros to install. But glad you got it going. I've been using Mint since it's beginning and never run into the particular problems you encountered. But happy it got sorted out. Enjoy!