Grub does not show Manjaro (dual boot Windows)

Hi,

My problem: The title says it all, grub does not show Manjaro, it only propose to boot to Windows.

My situation: I did a fresh install of Windows (first) and Manjaro on my SSD (not nvme). Manjaro installation got stuck at 95%, I had to shut down my computer to end the process.
At the first launch it has booted into Windows directly so I used EasyBCD to add Manjaro to the Windows boot menu.

After a restart I had the option to boot to Manjaro in the Windows boot menu which lead to grub Manjaro with the possibility to boot into Manjaro or Windows. It had booted into Manjaro properly but after a restart Manjaro was not shown in the grub anymore.

I tried several solutions to repair grub but none of them worked. When I type update-grub in chroot (on a live usb media) it only show Windows.

Note1: I have a BIOS pc not UEFI
Note2: I am very new to Linux plus my English is very bad so it is hard to describe my situation properly.

can you boot in USB iso manjaro
open a terminal and a browser on this topic
and provides

inxi -Fza
sudo parted -l
sudo efibootmgr -v
test -d /sys/firmware/efi && echo efi || echo bios

Welcome to the forum! :slight_smile:

What type of partition tables do you use?

fdisk -l

Thank you for your answer :slightly_smiling_face:

[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ inxi -Fza
System:
  Host: manjaro Kernel: 5.6.15-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-x86_64 lang=en_US keytable=be 
  tz=Europe/Brussels driver=free nouveau.modeset=1 i915.modeset=1 
  radeon.modeset=1 misobasedir=manjaro misolabel=MANJARO_KDE_2003 quiet 
  systemd.show_status=1 apparmor=1 security=apparmor 
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.18.5 Distro: Manjaro Linux 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Sony product: VGN-AW21M_H v: C6016CHH 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Sony model: VAIO serial: <filter> BIOS: American Megatrends 
  v: R1054Y2 date: 09/23/2009 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo P8600 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  family: 6 model-id: 17 (23) stepping: A (10) microcode: A0B 
  L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  Speed: 1596 MHz min/max: 1600/2401 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1596 
  2: 1596 
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages 
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: EPT disabled 
  Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no 
  microcode; SMT disabled 
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable 
  Type: spectre_v1 
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  Type: spectre_v2 
  mitigation: Full generic retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA G98M [GeForce 9300M GS] driver: nouveau v: kernel 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: nouveau unloaded: modesetting 
  resolution: 1680x945~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NV98 v: 3.3 Mesa 20.0.7 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.6.15-1-MANJARO 
Network:
  Device-1: Marvell 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet driver: sky2 
  IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Intel WiFi Link 5100 driver: iwlwifi 
  IF: wlp5s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 879.27 GiB used: 142.8 MiB (0.0%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: MK4058GSX size: 372.61 GiB 
  block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Intenso model: SSD size: 447.13 GiB block size: 
  physical: 512 B logical: 512 B 
  ID-3: /dev/sdc type: USB model: USB DISK 2.0 size: 59.53 GiB 
  block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B 
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw size: N/A size: 2.86 GiB used: 142.8 MiB (4.9%) fs: overlay 
  source: ERR-102 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 54 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 183 Uptime: 3m Memory: 3.81 GiB used: 1024.0 MiB (26.2%) 
  Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.37 
[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ 
[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ sudo parted -l
Model: ATA TOSHIBA MK4058GS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 400GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  53.5MB  52.4MB  primary  ntfs         boot


Model: ATA Intenso SSD (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 480GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size    Type     File system     Flags
 1      1049kB  157GB  157GB   primary  ntfs            boot
 2      157GB   158GB  544MB   primary  ntfs            msftres
 3      158GB   164GB  6442MB  primary  linux-swap(v1)
 4      164GB   325GB  161GB   primary  ext4


Model:  USB DISK 2.0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 63.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  63.9GB  63.9GB  primary  ntfs         boot


[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ 
[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ sudo efibootmgr -v
EFI variables are not supported on this system.
[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ 
[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ test -d /sys/firmware/efi && echo efi || echo bios
bios

HDD1 (sda) should be empty
On the SSD (sdb) are installed Windows (sdb1) and Manjaro (sdb2 for root and 3 for swap)

[manjaro manjaro]# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 372.63 GiB, 400088457216 bytes, 781422768 sectors
Disk model: TOSHIBA MK4058GS
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x2a1baac6

Device     Boot Start    End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *     2048 104447  102400  50M  7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT


Disk /dev/sdb: 447.13 GiB, 480103981056 bytes, 937703088 sectors
Disk model: Intenso SSD     
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x3969f152

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1  *         2048 307426781 307424734 146.6G  7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2       307427328 308490239   1062912   519M 27 Hidden NTFS WinRE
/dev/sdb3       308490240 321073151  12582912     6G 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb4       321073152 635645951 314572800   150G 83 Linux


Disk /dev/loop0: 20.86 MiB, 21852160 bytes, 42680 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop1: 565.6 MiB, 593055744 bytes, 1158312 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop2: 1.71 GiB, 1813102592 bytes, 3541216 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop3: 596.6 MiB, 625012736 bytes, 1220728 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sdc: 59.54 GiB, 63921192960 bytes, 124846080 sectors
Disk model: USB DISK 2.0    
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xfe820999

Device     Boot    Start       End   Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1  *        2048 124846079 124844032 59.5G  7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdc4       40049776  46151007   6101232  2.9G  0 Empty

Try this… :arrow_down:

su -

Type the root password. :arrow_down:

manjaro-chroot -a  

Select your Manjaro root partition. :arrow_down:

pacman-mirrors -f 5 && pacman -Syyu
grub-install --recheck --modules="part_msdos" /dev/sda
update-grub
sync && exit

I have done this several times (by the way I think I messed up with Windows because it is very slow after all the repair I tried).

After the install, this is what I get from the update

[manjaro /]# update-grub
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdc4.  Check your device.map.
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdc4.  Check your device.map.
Found Windows 10 on /dev/sda1
Found Windows Recovery Environment on /dev/sdc1
done

(sdc is the usb stick don’t bother)

then shutdown
go to bios and select line manjaro if you see one

What about…

grub-install --recheck --modules="part_msdos" /dev/sdb
update-grub

? :thinking:

I will reboot a little later in order to try your suggestions in the live media first (it takes a little bit of time to restart)

What about…

grub-install --recheck --modules="part_msdos" /dev/sdb
update-grub

?

I see your interrogation, why it doesn’t found anything on sdb, and I don’t know :sweat_smile:
sda should be a simple stockage, there shouldn’t be any os on it …

[manjaro /]# grub-install --recheck --modules="part_msdos" /dev/sdb
Installing for i386-pc platform.
Installation finished. No error reported.
[manjaro /]# update-grub
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdc4.  Check your device.map.
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdc4.  Check your device.map.
Found Windows 10 on /dev/sda1
Found Windows Recovery Environment on /dev/sdc1
done

When you’re in the live media and chroot'ed into your Manjaro, can you also give the output of… :arrow_down:

ls -l /boot

… please? It might be that you do not have a kernel installed (anymore). :thinking:

[manjaro /]# ls -l /boot
total 3096
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root    4096 Sep  6 17:17 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3161088 Jun 16 19:50 intel-ucode.img
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Jun  6 10:03 memtest86+

Do I need to mount into my Manjaro partition or chroot is enough ?
Edit: I just saw that manjaro-chroot -a automount the linux system detected

Just as I thought ─ you don’t have a kernel installed. Okay, now issue the following command if you haven’t already… :arrow_down:

pacman-mirrors -f 5 && pacman -Syyu

… and then these two… :arrow_down:

mhwd-kernel -i linux54
update-grub

This will pull in the 5.4 LTS kernel, which is probably the best choice for your hardware.

1 Like

It is in process, seems to be long. How could I be without a kernel installed ? And what does it produce (to not have one) ?

Yes, it can take some time to update your system.

Um, I’m not sure what you mean by that.

You must have had a kernel installed, but by updating the system and interrupting the update process before it was finished, you were left without a kernel. The update process first removes the existing kernel images and only installs the updated kernels last.

You can no longer boot. The kernel is the heart of the operating system, the part that directly accesses your hardware, manages processes, manages the memory, manages security, I/O, filesystems, and so on.

1 Like

As I said on my original message, Manjaro’s installation got stuck at 95% (I tried 3 times, and every time I had the same problem). Could it be the problem ?

Speaking of interrupted installation, my live media got stuck during the upgrading …
Is there anything to do ?

Apart from waiting, no. You do have a machine that’s quite limited in RAM. It may take longer because there isn’t enough memory to buffer the data, and when running from the live medium, you don’t have any swap.

Just be patient and let it finish. :man_shrugging:

By getting stuck I mean it is completely frozen :sweat:

Sometimes, things may appear that way, but that doesn’t mean that they are. :man_shrugging:

I will wait 15 minutes (till 30, I am not really patient). Even if I am really suspicious, nothing respond, not even the mouse :sleeping: