Ubuntu
grub-installer package

  1. Bug #538100
  2. Comment #10

Comment 10 for bug 538100

Revision history for this message
Eugene San (eugenesan) wrote :

Colin: Thanks for prompt respond.

Additional testing showed that problem is more severe then I assumed initially.
Testcase:
1) Zero HDD header.
2) Format HDD using OSX installer (3 partitions: fat32@EFI-Boot, hfs+@OSX, fat32@LINUX).
3) Reboot into OSX, partition table looks perfect.
3) Reboot into Daily Lucid. parted and fdisk shows expected output, correct Hybryd GPT+MBR
4) Use parted, ubiquity or partman to modify type and format of LINUX partiton.
5) Linux instantly reports inability to recognise partition table, partman and ubiquity fails.
    fdisk shows empty MBR. parted shows expected partitions layout but not sure about binary correctness.
6) Reboot and find that OSX cannot boot also!

Conclusion: parted and friends in Lucid makes GPT partition table not usable. System unbootable and data loss!

We will have to split the problem:
1) I suppose there is no reason why Linux shouldn't be able to work with bare GPT volumes. That part should be forwarded upstream for inspection.
2) parted and friends must be fixed ASAP. In their current state, they are source of destruction in GPT/EFI environments. We may consider merging that part with https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/538536