Can't boot linux due to grub failing

[worn merlin]

when i turn off secure boot and try to go to linux it just shows "Grub secure" without the ability to do ANY thing

[true escarp]

If you have a live USB, you could try reinstalling GRUB (assuming it's just a grub issue)

[worn merlin]

i have an arch live usb

What do i do now, bite the bullet?
i don't wanna lose all my data on my drive

when i turn secure boot this shows up and i just type "exit" and log on to windows

[inland moth]

go into the livo iso, mount your partitions and try to reinstall grub

[worn merlin]

not too familier with that

[worn merlin]

• When i typing this the only 2 results where gpt1 and gpt5

and it said that they were fat formats

is this normal

[worn merlin]

would this corrupt my files

[inland moth]

no

lemme see if this command works

... arch-chroot

[marsh stump]

#18417 📣 1. Boot your PC into the ISO
2. Run:
lsblk -fs
-# this should show the available drives, partitions, their size and the FS on them. Use this to figure out what drive/partition your / is located on.
3. Run:
mount /dev/root_drive /mnt
-# replace /dev/root_drive with the path to your root partition you identified in step 2.
4. Run:
arch-chroot /mnt
-# this will let you puppeteer your system without actually booting it.
5. Run:
mount -a
-# this will try to mount everything configured in your systems fstab.

[worn merlin]

on my arch installation

[inland moth]

all this is doing is putting you back into your system so that you can fix things

once you do it reinstall grub and then regenerate the config

[worn merlin]

i have a confession

don't remember my partition names

it is prob nvme0n1p5

fat 32 is prob it right?

[inland moth]

that would be your esp

your root is probably ext4

[worn merlin]

is there a way to know which one is which

and how do i mount them

[inland moth]

nvme0n1p5 is your efi partition, nvme0n1p6 is your root partition and nvme0n1p7 is your swap

did you not make a home partition

you would mount the root like mount /dev/nvme0n1p6 /mnt

huh maybe the swap isn't even for linux since you have a windows partition right after it

nvm it's for linux

[worn merlin]

can you elaborate a little more

I did make swap and efi partitions

and root

yes

[inland moth]

yes

so unless you don't have space for it normally you make a home partition which has all of your desktop and config files etc

without one everything is together

so this is my root where programs get installed

and inside is the home (which I have a separate parition for), where all of my other files live like games, dotfiles, etc

otherwise your root folder would be pretty cluttered with everything else

sorry if the explanation wasn't the best i gotta sleep...

[worn merlin]

Gn that you so much

[worn merlin]

Ic yes that do exist

hmm now i can't download grub, very interesting

it tells me that it can't find efi directory

[novel spear]

You didn't mount

Mount your root and check the fstab for where you mount your esp

[worn merlin]

How?, i did mount

mount /dev/nvme0n1p6 /mnt

[novel spear]

That's the root partition

[worn merlin]

this one

look

[worn merlin]

.

p7 is sway

p5 is efi

[novel spear]

ok and

[worn merlin]

idk

it doens't want to be downloaded

hmm

what is fstab

[novel spear]

.aw fstab

[novel spear]

You don't download anything to install grub since you already have the grub package

[marsh stump]

Fstab

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Fstab

[worn merlin]

what do i do then

[novel spear]

... chroot

[marsh stump]

#18416 📣 1. Boot your PC into the ISO
2. Run:
lsblk -fs
-# this should show the available drives, partitions, their size and the FS on them. Use this to figure out what drive/partition your / is located on.
3. Run:
mount /dev/root_drive /mnt
-# replace /dev/root_drive with the path to your root partition you identified in step 2.
4. Run:
arch-chroot /mnt
-# this will let you puppeteer your system without actually booting it.
5. Run:
mount -a
-# this will try to mount everything configured in your systems fstab.

[true escarp]

Once you've chroot'ed into your system, it's something like

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

this may look different depending on your setup and BIOS/UEFI

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB

Just note that you'll need to mount not just your root partition, but also your /boot partition before running this.
It's basically the same process you went through to install Arch for the first time. You can use the part in the Arch wiki installation guide about mounting your / and /boot drives, and then skip to the part about installing grub on them.

[novel spear]

Depends on the esp mount point

[worn merlin]

ic

will try that

ill inform you

[fading heart]

did u recently do a windows update(thats my first idea, so we know the cause)

[worn merlin]

my windows did update yes

i woke up and found it updating shit ass microsoft bro

i suspected that would be the problem but i had no proof

[fading heart]

yep it prolly deleted your bootloader

thats why they say put windows on another ssd

[novel spear]

A different drive is not necessary, separate ESPs for linux and windows is enough

[worn merlin]

hmm

so ill try mounting again and downloading grub

but if the same issue faced me ill talk to you guyz

[novel spear]

You don't download grub, you already have it since you already installed grub once

You install grub onto the esp(and or boot partition depending on the mounts)

[worn merlin]

alright

then

[worn merlin]

I mount to the root

or the ESP

to install grub

[novel spear]

Neither because what

[novel spear]

.

.aw grub

[marsh stump]

Grub

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Grub

[worn merlin]

I always get stuck here

how do i trouble shoot this

[worn merlin]

because what

[worn merlin]

@novel spear can you tell me what to do

[novel spear]

Why did you mkdir

Why did you do those without reading what I've said

[novel spear]

.aw grub

Read

[marsh stump]

Grub

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Grub

[worn merlin]

I read it tho

which part specially do you want me to pay attention to

it want me to mount to esp

then choose bootloader identifier (Grub)

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=esp --bootloader-id=GRUB

what is target

efi directory i know it

it should be this drive {nvme0n1p5}

[novel spear]

Check your fstab

mount -a mounts using it

Can also use lsblk -f in the chroot after mount -a

[novel spear]

Yup

[worn merlin]

how to check my fstab and what afterwards

I ma still leaning linux , iam an absolute newbie so i am sorry bare with me

[novel spear]

.aw fstab

[marsh stump]

Fstab

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Fstab

[novel spear]

It's a file

But you already mounted using it with mount -a

[worn merlin]

nice

so

-# WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO NOW

[novel spear]

Install grub

[worn merlin]

But it doesnt want to

it says efi directory could be found

after i did mount

by mount -a

like you said

[novel spear]

Use the flag

[worn merlin]

mount /dev/nvme0n1p6 /mnt arch-chroot /mnt mount -a

[worn merlin]

flag?

[novel spear]

Did you read the previous messages in this thread?

You've already been told the correct invocation

[worn merlin]

yes i have

and i followed all steps and all roads lead the the same problem

efi not found

[novel spear]

.

[novel spear]

No one has told you to run that

You haven't read the wiki

[worn merlin]

yes i have

I don't mean to be arogant

but istg i read it

[novel spear]

But your command doesn't include what is in the UEFI section on the grub page?

[worn merlin]

back to this
again what is target

[worn merlin]

because idk what does than mean

i just cited the efi directory for it to download sense the entire code i understood nothing from

and you keep telling to check fstab

[novel spear]

https://man.archlinux.org/man/grub-install.8.en#target x86_64-efi is correct

[novel spear]

Not really

Read again

[worn merlin]

i

understand

nothing

what does these dasshes and slashes mean in the command

it explains the termnologies

that is good

[novel spear]

In Linux, the forward slash (
/) is the root directory (the top-level, main directory of the entire filesystem) and the directory separator used to navigate file paths. Every file and folder on a Linux system is nested underneath this root /.

[worn merlin]

by default it is x86_64-efi

which is good

[novel spear]

Windows has uses \ instead of /

as the path separator

[novel spear]

-- indicates an argument, and so does - but - is used for single letters usually

while -- are for long args

Long arguments, or "long options," are command-line flags prefixed with two hyphens (e.g.,
--file) that provide descriptive, human-readable instructions to programs, often serving as aliases to short, single-letter options (e.g., -f).

[worn merlin]

so

--

are used to say smth like

--target

which i intruprted as "oh so i set the target here"

or --boot-directory

"I set the boot partition here"

is the boot is the root right?

[worn merlin]

did everything as said

Mounted and installed grub successfully

and it still tells me , grub rescue

[worn merlin]

with target and boot directory and stuff

hmmm

[novel spear]

--efi-directory or --boot-directory

You don't need to change the --boot-directory

[worn merlin]

efi

in /boot there is efi and grub

which one

or /boot only works?

[novel spear]

It's the mountpoint

Read the wiki

[worn merlin]

how to sub for efi system partition

with esp

[worn merlin]

teach me bro you are telling someone to read in another language, i might pick up a word here and there but i am still clueless

[novel spear]

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

In chroot after mount -a

[worn merlin]

then exit and reboot

Rught?

IT WORKED

Hell yeaaahhh

@novel spear I love you 🫶

I learnt alott

[novel spear]

cool

[worn merlin]

so to sum up this

what prob cause grub to break