Why must GRUB be installed to a drive rather than a partition, and how does the BIOS find it?












2















Why must "device for bootloader" be /dev/sda instead of /dev/sda1 or /dev/sda2?



Is it that GRUB can't be installed on a partition?



How does BIOS recognize the bootable devices? Is it that installation writes into BIOS?










share|improve this question

























  • If a BIOS based system, BIOS boots from the MBR, or very first sector of a hard drive. It cannot directly read a partition. New UEFI systems boot from an ESP - efi system partition. Parts of grub are in boot loader location, parts may be hidden and grub menu is in your /boot/grub/grub.cfg. gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html#Introduction

    – oldfred
    Nov 27 '18 at 16:39
















2















Why must "device for bootloader" be /dev/sda instead of /dev/sda1 or /dev/sda2?



Is it that GRUB can't be installed on a partition?



How does BIOS recognize the bootable devices? Is it that installation writes into BIOS?










share|improve this question

























  • If a BIOS based system, BIOS boots from the MBR, or very first sector of a hard drive. It cannot directly read a partition. New UEFI systems boot from an ESP - efi system partition. Parts of grub are in boot loader location, parts may be hidden and grub menu is in your /boot/grub/grub.cfg. gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html#Introduction

    – oldfred
    Nov 27 '18 at 16:39














2












2








2








Why must "device for bootloader" be /dev/sda instead of /dev/sda1 or /dev/sda2?



Is it that GRUB can't be installed on a partition?



How does BIOS recognize the bootable devices? Is it that installation writes into BIOS?










share|improve this question
















Why must "device for bootloader" be /dev/sda instead of /dev/sda1 or /dev/sda2?



Is it that GRUB can't be installed on a partition?



How does BIOS recognize the bootable devices? Is it that installation writes into BIOS?







boot grub2 system-installation bios






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Jan 11 at 19:03









Zanna

50.6k13135241




50.6k13135241










asked Nov 27 '18 at 16:18









ranshransh

180117




180117













  • If a BIOS based system, BIOS boots from the MBR, or very first sector of a hard drive. It cannot directly read a partition. New UEFI systems boot from an ESP - efi system partition. Parts of grub are in boot loader location, parts may be hidden and grub menu is in your /boot/grub/grub.cfg. gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html#Introduction

    – oldfred
    Nov 27 '18 at 16:39



















  • If a BIOS based system, BIOS boots from the MBR, or very first sector of a hard drive. It cannot directly read a partition. New UEFI systems boot from an ESP - efi system partition. Parts of grub are in boot loader location, parts may be hidden and grub menu is in your /boot/grub/grub.cfg. gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html#Introduction

    – oldfred
    Nov 27 '18 at 16:39

















If a BIOS based system, BIOS boots from the MBR, or very first sector of a hard drive. It cannot directly read a partition. New UEFI systems boot from an ESP - efi system partition. Parts of grub are in boot loader location, parts may be hidden and grub menu is in your /boot/grub/grub.cfg. gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html#Introduction

– oldfred
Nov 27 '18 at 16:39





If a BIOS based system, BIOS boots from the MBR, or very first sector of a hard drive. It cannot directly read a partition. New UEFI systems boot from an ESP - efi system partition. Parts of grub are in boot loader location, parts may be hidden and grub menu is in your /boot/grub/grub.cfg. gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html#Introduction

– oldfred
Nov 27 '18 at 16:39










1 Answer
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In BIOS mode, the computer system looks for a bootloader in the very head end of the computer, which is pointed to by /dev/sdx, while /dev/sdxn points to the head end of partition n in drive x.



If you have a bootloader in very head end of the computer (MBR), you can chainload to the head end of a partition (PBR), and in this case it can be useful to install a (second) bootloader there.



If you do not want to overwrite the head end of a partition (MBR), you can write to the head end of partition (PBR) without chainloading. Later on you can run sudo update-grub in the main operating system and get grub menuentries for the new (dual- or multi-boot) operating system.






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    In BIOS mode, the computer system looks for a bootloader in the very head end of the computer, which is pointed to by /dev/sdx, while /dev/sdxn points to the head end of partition n in drive x.



    If you have a bootloader in very head end of the computer (MBR), you can chainload to the head end of a partition (PBR), and in this case it can be useful to install a (second) bootloader there.



    If you do not want to overwrite the head end of a partition (MBR), you can write to the head end of partition (PBR) without chainloading. Later on you can run sudo update-grub in the main operating system and get grub menuentries for the new (dual- or multi-boot) operating system.






    share|improve this answer




























      1














      In BIOS mode, the computer system looks for a bootloader in the very head end of the computer, which is pointed to by /dev/sdx, while /dev/sdxn points to the head end of partition n in drive x.



      If you have a bootloader in very head end of the computer (MBR), you can chainload to the head end of a partition (PBR), and in this case it can be useful to install a (second) bootloader there.



      If you do not want to overwrite the head end of a partition (MBR), you can write to the head end of partition (PBR) without chainloading. Later on you can run sudo update-grub in the main operating system and get grub menuentries for the new (dual- or multi-boot) operating system.






      share|improve this answer


























        1












        1








        1







        In BIOS mode, the computer system looks for a bootloader in the very head end of the computer, which is pointed to by /dev/sdx, while /dev/sdxn points to the head end of partition n in drive x.



        If you have a bootloader in very head end of the computer (MBR), you can chainload to the head end of a partition (PBR), and in this case it can be useful to install a (second) bootloader there.



        If you do not want to overwrite the head end of a partition (MBR), you can write to the head end of partition (PBR) without chainloading. Later on you can run sudo update-grub in the main operating system and get grub menuentries for the new (dual- or multi-boot) operating system.






        share|improve this answer













        In BIOS mode, the computer system looks for a bootloader in the very head end of the computer, which is pointed to by /dev/sdx, while /dev/sdxn points to the head end of partition n in drive x.



        If you have a bootloader in very head end of the computer (MBR), you can chainload to the head end of a partition (PBR), and in this case it can be useful to install a (second) bootloader there.



        If you do not want to overwrite the head end of a partition (MBR), you can write to the head end of partition (PBR) without chainloading. Later on you can run sudo update-grub in the main operating system and get grub menuentries for the new (dual- or multi-boot) operating system.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Nov 27 '18 at 16:39









        sudodussudodus

        23.8k32874




        23.8k32874






























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