El Jueves, 9 de octubre de 2014 11:53:32 Neil Rickert escribi�:

On Thu, 09 Oct 2014 17:20:37 +0200

jcsl wrote:

...

When installing openSUSE 13.2 in VB I get the following warning: Warning: There is no partition of type bios_grub present. To boot from a GPT disk using grub2 such a partition is needed.

Really use this setup?

If I decide to continue, installation finishes fine and there's no problem to boot the system. I have customized a bit the partitioning by using GPT, ext4 and no separate /boot partition (hence the warning I suppose). Is it that VB is special in some way or the result is the same in real hardware?

I don't really know the answer. In any case, the bios_grub partition can be located in sectors 34-2047, which are not otherwise used. So it seems harmless to create one.

You seem to have succeeded without that partition. I think that works by grub using a list of disk blocks to find its code. And the grub installer complains about that unless called with "--force". On opensuse, the installer does seem to be called with "--force", at least during installation.

Hi. Thanks. I always use a separate /boot partition just in case I want to play with FS not supported by the boot loader. I'm not sure now, but I think I have read comments similar to the warning in other places and then I try it myself and it results that it works. Curious. Greetings. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

El Viernes, 10 de octubre de 2014 11:12:16 Andrei Borzenkov escribió:

В Thu, 09 Oct 2014 17:20:37 +0200

jcsl пишет:

...

Hi.

When installing openSUSE 13.2 in VB I get the following warning: Warning: There is no partition of type bios_grub present. To boot from a GPT disk using grub2 such a partition is needed.

Really use this setup?

If I decide to continue, installation finishes fine and there's no problem to boot the system. I have customized a bit the partitioning by using GPT, ext4 and no separate /boot partition (hence the warning I suppose). Is it that VB is special in some way or the result is the same in real hardware? Are you using EFI or legacy BIOS?

Hi. VB = VirtualBox. I don't know if it has EFI support, I think it uses legacy BIOS. Greetings. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

El Viernes, 10 de octubre de 2014 12:13:41 Carlos E. R. escribió:

On 2014-10-10 09:39, jcsl wrote:

...

El Viernes, 10 de octubre de 2014 11:12:16 Andrei Borzenkov

escribió:

...

Are you using EFI or legacy BIOS?

VB = VirtualBox. I don't know if it has EFI support, I think it uses legacy BIOS.

It probably has both, and you select which somehow.

-- Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" at Telcontar)

Hi. I don't think so. Now that Andrei made me remember about EFI I've checked VB settings and you have to explicitly check Enable EFI. I did some test for a wiki page and the installer GRUB screen is different when you use EFI boot, and that's not the case. The installation is as always has been here since I have no EFI enabled systems. I'm wondering myself if it is only mandatory with the default Btrfs FS and if it is a mistake to show the warning in other cases... Greetings. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 2014-10-10 12:30, jcsl wrote:

El Viernes, 10 de octubre de 2014 12:13:41 Carlos E. R. escribió:

...

...

VB = VirtualBox. I don't know if it has EFI support, I think it uses legacy BIOS.

It probably has both, and you select which somehow.

Hi.

I don't think so. Now that Andrei made me remember about EFI I've checked VB settings and you have to explicitly check Enable EFI.

That's exactly what I meant :-) - -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" at Telcontar) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAlQ32sEACgkQtTMYHG2NR9VVvQCeLePJRSAkC9azocJ9UvKEI7fa kAEAn1xKoStSD3f+NG58VGYOfpABWsxy =A4jR -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

On Fri 10 Oct 2014 11:26:38 PM CDT, jcsl wrote:

El Jueves, 9 de octubre de 2014 17:20:37 jcsl escribió:

...

Hi.

When installing openSUSE 13.2 in VB I get the following warning:

Warning: There is no partition of type bios_grub present. To boot from a GPT disk using grub2 such a partition is needed.

Really use this setup?

If I decide to continue, installation finishes fine and there's no problem to boot the system. I have customized a bit the partitioning by using GPT, ext4 and no separate /boot partition (hence the warning I suppose). Is it that VB is special in some way or the result is the same in real hardware?

Greetings.

Hi.

I did one more test. I have done the partitioning using a GParted Live: GPT partition table and two partitions, one for the system and on for the swap. And it still boots fine:

tux@linux-qa4f:~> sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10

Partition table scan: MBR: protective BSD: not present APM: not present GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT. Disk /dev/sda: 16777216 sectors, 8.0 GiB Logical sector size: 512 bytes Disk identifier (GUID): BBFD125D-7ED0-4278-81DD-AA97E73620A0 Partition table holds up to 128 entries First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 16777182 Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries Total free space is 4029 sectors (2.0 MiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name 1 2048 15728639 7.5 GiB EF00 2 15728640 16775167 511.0 MiB 8200

Are protective MBR and bios_grub two names for the same thing? I think this time is a correct GPT partitioning schema and not a hybrid one, isn't it? And just to finish, can you make YaST to create a schema like this instead of a hybrid one?

Greetings.

Hi ef00 is for /boot/efi fat and hidden? It only needs to be ~260MB even when multibooting? lsblk NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT sda 8:0 0 111.8G 0 disk ├─sda1 8:1 0 260M 0 part /boot/efi ├─sda2 8:2 0 40G 0 part / ├─sda3 8:3 0 63.5G 0 part /data └─sda4 8:4 0 8G 0 part [SWAP] gdisk -l /dev/sda GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.8 Partition table scan: MBR: protective BSD: not present APM: not present GPT: present Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT. Disk /dev/sda: 234441648 sectors, 111.8 GiB Logical sector size: 512 bytes Disk identifier (GUID): 755BD4DA-9EC5-482B-AC8D-301A6C4A3156 Partition table holds up to 128 entries First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 234441614 Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries Total free space is 2925 sectors (1.4 MiB) Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name 1 2048 534527 260.0 MiB EF00 EFI System 2 534528 84420607 40.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem 3 84420608 217663487 63.5 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem 4 217663488 234440703 8.0 GiB 8200 Linux filesystem -- Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890) openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-21-desktop up 4 days 9:18, 4 users, load average: 0.43, 0.56, 0.47 CPU AMD Athlon(tm) II X4 635@2.9GHz | GPU Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

On Fri, 10 Oct 2014 23:26:38 +0200 jcsl wrote:

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name 1 2048 15728639 7.5 GiB EF00 2 15728640 16775167 511.0 MiB 8200

Are protective MBR and bios_grub two names for the same thing? I think this time is a correct GPT partitioning schema and not a hybrid one, isn't it? And just to finish, can you make YaST to create a schema like this instead of a hybrid one?

No, they are not the same. You appear to have a UEFI system. So you should be using grub2-efi, which does not need a BIOS boot partition. And you should not be getting that message. Perhaps you failed to boot the opensuse install media in UEFI mode. Or perhaps you installed a 32-bit system. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

On Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:19, jcsl wrote:

El Viernes, 10 de octubre de 2014 17:05:29 Neil Rickert escribió:

...

On Fri, 10 Oct 2014 23:26:38 +0200 jcsl wrote:

...

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name

1 2048 15728639 7.5 GiB EF00 2 15728640 16775167 511.0 MiB 8200

Are protective MBR and bios_grub two names for the same thing? I think this time is a correct GPT partitioning schema and not a hybrid one, isn't it? And just to finish, can you make YaST to create a schema like this instead of a hybrid one?

No, they are not the same.

Thanks.

...

You appear to have a UEFI system. So you should be using grub2-efi, which does not need a BIOS boot partition. And you should not be getting that message. Perhaps you failed to boot the opensuse install media in UEFI mode. Or perhaps you installed a 32-bit system.

No, that's a VirtualBox installation without EFI enabled and using the x86_64 DVD ISO. In addition, I don't have any real UEFI enabled system. Both the netbook and the desktop are BIOS based (they're from the pre-Windows 8 and pre-UEFI era).

Uhmmm, Question, just WHY do you use a GPT instead of a MBR here? My gut tells me there is something wrong in the combination of Virtualbox in BIOS mode and a GPT disk-image. Either set Virtualbox in UEFI mode, or change the disk-image to MBR. I have never seen this combo (BIOS + GPT-DISK for boot) working ANYWHERE. - Yamaban. --

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 2014-10-11 00:19, jcsl wrote:

El Viernes, 10 de octubre de 2014 17:05:29 Neil Rickert escribió:

...

You appear to have a UEFI system. So you should be using grub2-efi, which does not need a BIOS boot partition. And you should not be getting that message. Perhaps you failed to boot the opensuse install media in UEFI mode. Or perhaps you installed a 32-bit system.

No, that's a VirtualBox installation without EFI enabled and using the x86_64 DVD ISO.

But you see, you need UEFI to boot from a GPT disk. - -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" at Telcontar) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAlQ4by0ACgkQtTMYHG2NR9Ua0ACfX/44ed3u+1et5J9lH/mzzsEP sgAAn2gk5uzjl+xkkNOAOmXKXMhUTR4N =+KgR -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 2014-10-11 05:10, Neil Rickert wrote:

On Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:43:43 +0200 "Carlos E. R." <> wrote:

...

But you see, you need UEFI to boot from a GPT disk.

Actually, you don't.

I have booted a 2007 Dell Dimension, using GPT (on an external drive). The BIOS knows nothing of GPT or EFI. But it boots anyway.

In this case, I installed grub2 on the MBR, and I did create a BIOS boot partition. It is grub2 (in the MBR and BIOS boot partition) that knows how to read GPT partition tables and boot the system.

You created manually that "bios boot partition"? Or did YaST suggest it? It is a new thing for me. The wikipedia has an article on it which says that it is a grub2 thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS_boot_partition «The BIOS boot partition is a partition on a data storage device that may be used by legacy BIOS-based systems in order to boot, when the actual boot device contains a GUID Partition Table (GPT). It must be utilized because there is not enough unused space available for the second stages of boot loaders on GPT disks. On MBR-partitioned disks, boot loaders are occupying unused sectors immediately following the Master Boot Record (MBR) for that purpose, while there is no equivalent for those on GPT disks.»

A reason that you might want to do this, would be to handle disks larger than 2T, which can exceed the capability of MBR partition tables.

Or to have several "primary" partitions, several of them bootable, not only 4. Yes, it is something I'd like to do. - -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" at Telcontar) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAlQ5A7AACgkQtTMYHG2NR9WGqQCffh9DzyfJIwYoajqyzPDFHOuQ Z9AAoJK6bLmqKk1CG7AUy2YWhr9jLNtn =711C -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 2014-10-11 06:47, Andrei Borzenkov wrote:

В Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:43:43 +0200

...

But you see, you need UEFI to boot from a GPT disk.

No. That's true for Windows only and not due to technical limitations.

Yes, I know that this is actually possible, but it is something of a trick. Does openSUSE support that combination? Because recently you told me that «Well ... theoretically UEFI specification defines "Legacy BIOS Bootable" partition attribute. In practice, you probably will need to write code that handles it yourself». Then I saw posts hinting or saying that Grub2 supports this situation (booting a GPT disk on plain BIOS machine). So I'm quite confused. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table «MBR-based partition table schemes insert the partitioning information for (usually) four "primary" partitions in the master boot record (MBR) (which on a BIOS system is also the container for code that begins the process of booting the system). In a GPT, the first sector of the disk is reserved for a "protective MBR" such that booting a BIOS-based computer from a GPT disk is supported, but the boot loader and O/S must both be GPT-aware. Regardless of the sector size, the GPT header begins on the second logical block of the device.» - -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" at Telcontar) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAlQ5AY8ACgkQtTMYHG2NR9WlrwCfcqDkqYkpgv6NhLDZrgb85m+6 /hEAnR4FqYlGwwxMJ+p/E/4qg7qeBN6l =7yzq -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 2014-10-11 12:33, Andrei Borzenkov wrote:

В Sat, 11 Oct 2014 12:08:17 +0200 "Carlos E. R." <> пишет:

...

Yes, I know that this is actually possible, but it is something of a trick. Does openSUSE support that combination?

Of course. That's why it warns you about missing bios_grub - because grub2 code that gets installed in MBR (or better - the very first sector) knows how to load core.img which gets written into this partition.

Ah.

That was in response "I could change active OS by setting active partition flag". Booting with grub2 does not work this way - it writes core.img into bios_grub partition and stores absolute disk location in code that is written in MBR (first sector). It does *not* search for partition with specific flag.

Ah! I understand now. *:-) (light bulb!) What is lacking is the equivalent of the "generic boot mbr code" that would search for the active partition and boot it. Someone could write such a sector, which could go to his own bios_generic_partition, which could act as a multiboot menu or boot whatever is marked active. Interesting. Or, I could install a smallish Linux with grub in the /mbr/, and this one act as multiboot menu (which is something I have done with grub1 in the past, for multiboot on logical partitions). Understood. Thanks. (the remaining problem is safely handling hibernation and restore of the proper "one").

You can assume that grub2 is GPT-aware :)

Yes, I knew that. But /how/, it is confusing. - -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" at Telcontar) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAlQ5EKwACgkQtTMYHG2NR9UxLQCfZeOIK3WQGm/zfoUxn1oJd/fy sHsAnjUM5Nqa/XiT43ob2sb+WWMEfacN =N8Zm -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 2014-10-11 16:12, Andrei Borzenkov wrote:

On Sat, Oct 11, 2014 at 2:08 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:

...

Yes, I know that this is actually possible, but it is something of a trick. Does openSUSE support that combination? Because recently you told me that «Well ... theoretically UEFI specification defines "Legacy BIOS Bootable" partition attribute. In practice, you probably will need to write code that handles it yourself».

I was wrong - syslinux already has it. I won't be surprised if (open)SUSE already includes it ...

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/syslinux#GUID_partition_table

That's very interesting, thanks :-) I have to do some disk replacements on this computer, I think I will try that method. - -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" at Telcontar) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAlQ5PqoACgkQtTMYHG2NR9Vp1gCeIDD+x0jFrumDD63pMOP4LVz6 iWEAn1f1uSB6M+RmlqwJPeXGowUfRds7 =CVH5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org