Multiple install fails. Grub and boot problems on Lenovo 100S-14IBR

[baccusboy]

Hello friends,

Linux user for a few years, with some basic knowledge only, here.

I have an older Lenovo 100S-14IBR which originally came with a slimmed-down version of Windows.  After a year or two, Windows actually became too big for it, so I decided to try Linux.  I was unable to install anything, but somehow it would allow Ubuntu to install and run on for the past few years.  I believe there was some form of "protection" inside of this laptop to keep people from easily installing anything but Windows.

I recently decided to change to Linux Lite because Ubuntu was becoming too slow.  As I feared, I have been unable to install anything back on.  Not even Ubuntu, after Linux Lite seemed not to take.  In the process, I messed-up GRUB pretty bad.  I believe I fixed GRUB, but I now have multiple failed remnants of install attempts of various things that show up in my boot list.  Nothing on the list will boot.  I have used DiskPart to wipe the drive clean, and reinstalled Linux Lite, but it will not boot.  (I do not need to save anything on this computer, and will be happy to start fresh).

Following some previous Forum threads, I have created a pastbin upload, which resides at:  https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/VzbbjCm6n4/

Can anyone help me with how to get this fresh install of Linux Lite running?  I have messed with every setting in BIOS that I can think of to try to emulate what allowed me to shoehorn Ubuntu onto this machine a few years ago.

Thoughts and help much appreciated!

[Valtam]

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=281265

[baccusboy]

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=281265

Sadly, those are the exact settings I have.  I end up stuck on a Boot Menu list with several things, none of which will boot.

I am not sure if I installed with UEFI or Legacy, though (perhaps someone can tell from my Pastebin)?

Or should I just reinstall with Linux Mint?  I like Linux Lite on my other machine, if possible. 

[Valtam]

I doubt anyone will look at external paste links, you're better off pasting here we're the code will be trusted more.

[baccusboy]

Well, I followed that article you linked, and it sure was interesting (and hopeful).  But I seem to have damaged my boot process.

This is the message I received, as I neared finishing a fresh install of Linux Lite using the settings in that article:

"The 'grub-efi-amd64-signed" package failed in install into /target/.  Without the GRUB boot loader, the installed system will not boot.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[baccusboy]

I doubt anyone will look at external paste links, you're better off pasting here we're the code will be trusted more.

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boot-repair-4ppa125                                              [20201227_1005]

============================== Boot Info Summary ===============================


sda: ___________________________________________________________________________

    File system:      iso9660
    Boot sector type:  Unknown
    Boot sector info:
    Mounting failed:  mount: /mnt/BootInfo/FD/sda: /dev/sda already mounted or mount point busy.


================================ 0 OS detected =================================


============================ Architecture/Host Info ============================

CPU architecture: 64-bit
Live-session OS is Ubuntu 64-bit (Linux Lite 5.2, focal, x86_64)


===================================== UEFI =====================================

BIOS is EFI-compatible, and is setup in EFI-mode for this live-session.
SecureBoot disabled.

efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0017
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0017,0009,0012,0015,0014,0002,0005,0000,0003,0004,0013,0007,0016,0018,0019,0001,0008,0006
Boot0000* ubuntu HD(1,GPT,df98a95a-b8cb-415b-ad2e-c0324f4308cd,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0001* Windows Boot Manager HD(1,MBR,0x6b8b4567,0x14c,0x1d40)/File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}....................
Boot0002* Android-x86 11.4 HD(1,GPT,35e32890-f875-46cb-963f-c6403b72e780,0x800,0x747b7df)/File(\efi\boot\BOOTx64.EFI)
Boot0003* ubuntu HD(1,GPT,4df5910c-b6aa-4a0d-925a-8fbd925c27c6,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0004* ubuntu HD(1,MBR,0x394839c2,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0005* ubuntu HD(1,GPT,2805f1f0-c596-4be4-b3c6-014cb11a38d8,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0006  ubuntu HD(1,MBR,0x2dcd4432,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0007* ubuntu HD(1,MBR,0x2dcd4432,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0008  ubuntu HD(1,MBR,0x7ae77a85,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0009* ubuntu HD(1,MBR,0x7ae77a85,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0010  Setup FvFile(721c8b66-426c-4e86-8e99-3457c46ab0b9)
Boot0011  Boot Menu FvFile(86488440-41bb-42c7-93ac-450fbf7766bf)
Boot0012* eMMC:  SanDisk iNAND 64GB PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x10,0x0)/Ctrl(0x0)..]3.K.L......2.
Boot0013* USB FDD: VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,6ff015a28830b543a8b8641009461e49)
Boot0014* ATA HDD: VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f600)
Boot0015* ATA HDD: VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f601)
Boot0016* ATAPI CD: VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,aea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a354)
Boot0017* USB HDD: Samsung Flash Drive FIT PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x14,0x0)/USB(7,0)3.!..3.G..A.....
Boot0018* USB CD: VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,86701296aa5a7848b66cd49dd3ba6a55)
Boot0019* PCI LAN: VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,78a84aaf2b2afc4ea79cf5cc8f3d3803)
Boot001A* Lenovo Recovery System File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\lrsBootMgr.efi)..



============================= Drive/Partition Info =============================

Disks info: ____________________________________________________________________


Partitions info (1/3): _________________________________________________________


Partitions info (2/3): _________________________________________________________


Partitions info (3/3): _________________________________________________________


fdisk -l (filtered): ___________________________________________________________

Disk sda: 29.9 GiB, 32086425600 bytes, 62668800 sectors
Disk identifier: 0x6b8b4567
      Boot  Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
sda1  *          0  2795519  2795520  1.3G  0 Empty
sda2          332    7819    7488  3.7M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
sda3      2797568 62668799 59871232 28.6G 83 Linux

parted -lm (filtered): _________________________________________________________

sda:32.1GBcsi:512:512:msdos:Samsung Flash Drive FIT:;
2:170kB:4004kB:3834kB:::esp;
3:1432MB:32.1GB:30.7GB:ext4::;

blkid (filtered): ______________________________________________________________

NAME  FSTYPE  UUID                                PARTUUID                            LABEL          PARTLABEL
sda    iso9660  2020-10-31-03-47-45-00                                                    Linux Lite 5.2
├─sda1 iso9660  2020-10-31-03-47-45-00              6b8b4567-01                          Linux Lite 5.2
├─sda2 vfat    039E-EF17                            6b8b4567-02                                       
└─sda3 ext4    8546f02c-74dd-41dc-8c5c-0420d715c03a 6b8b4567-03                          writable     

df (filtered): _________________________________________________________________

                                                          Avail Use% Mounted on
disk/by-label/writable[/install-logs-2020-12-27.1/crash]  26.5G  0% /var/crash
disk/by-label/writable[/install-logs-2020-12-27.1/log]    26.5G  0% /var/log
sda1                                                          0 100% /cdrom

Mount options: __________________________________________________________________

disk/by-label/writable[/install-logs-2020-12-27.1/crash] rw,relatime
disk/by-label/writable[/install-logs-2020-12-27.1/log]  rw,relatime
sda1                                                    ro,noatime,nojoliet,check=s,map=n,blocksize=2048


======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =========================

Unknown BootLoader on sda

00000000  33 ed 90 90 90 90 90 90  90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90  |3...............|
00000010  90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90  90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90  |................|
00000020  33 ed fa 8e d5 bc 00 7c  fb fc 66 31 db 66 31 c9  |3......|..f1.f1.|
00000030  66 53 66 51 06 57 8e dd  8e c5 52 be 00 7c bf 00  |fSfQ.W....R..|..|
00000040  06 b9 00 01 f3 a5 ea 4b  06 00 00 52 b4 41 bb aa  |.......K...R.A..|
00000050  55 31 c9 30 f6 f9 cd 13  72 16 81 fb 55 aa 75 10  |U1.0....r...U.u.|
00000060  83 e1 01 74 0b 66 c7 06  f3 06 b4 42 eb 15 eb 02  |...t.f.....B....|
00000070  31 c9 5a 51 b4 08 cd 13  5b 0f b6 c6 40 50 83 e1  |1.ZQ....[...@P..|
00000080  3f 51 f7 e1 53 52 50 bb  00 7c b9 04 00 66 a1 b0  |?Q..SRP..|...f..|
00000090  07 e8 44 00 0f 82 80 00  66 40 80 c7 02 e2 f2 66  |[email protected]|
000000a0  81 3e 40 7c fb c0 78 70  75 09 fa bc ec 7b ea 44  |.>@|..xpu....{.D|
000000b0  7c 00 00 e8 83 00 69 73  6f 6c 69 6e 75 78 2e 62  ||.....isolinux.b|
000000c0  69 6e 20 6d 69 73 73 69  6e 67 20 6f 72 20 63 6f  |in missing or co|
000000d0  72 72 75 70 74 2e 0d 0a  66 60 66 31 d2 66 03 06  |rrupt...f`f1.f..|
000000e0  f8 7b 66 13 16 fc 7b 66  52 66 50 06 53 6a 01 6a  |.{f...{fRfP.Sj.j|
000000f0  10 89 e6 66 f7 36 e8 7b  c0 e4 06 88 e1 88 c5 92  |...f.6.{........|
00000100  f6 36 ee 7b 88 c6 08 e1  41 b8 01 02 8a 16 f2 7b  |.6.{....A......{|
00000110  cd 13 8d 64 10 66 61 c3  e8 1e 00 4f 70 65 72 61  |...d.fa....Opera|
00000120  74 69 6e 67 20 73 79 73  74 65 6d 20 6c 6f 61 64  |ting system load|
00000130  20 65 72 72 6f 72 2e 0d  0a 5e ac b4 0e 8a 3e 62  | error...^....>b|
00000140  04 b3 07 cd 10 3c 0a 75  f1 cd 18 f4 eb fd 00 00  |.....<.u........|
00000150  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
000001b0  8c 1e 00 00 00 00 00 00  67 45 8b 6b 00 00 80 00  |........gE.k....|
000001c0  01 00 00 3f e0 ff 00 00  00 00 00 a8 2a 00 00 fe  |...?........*...|
000001d0  ff ff ef fe ff ff 4c 01  00 00 40 1d 00 00 00 23  |......L...@....#|
000001e0  36 ae 83 f2 f6 3c 00 b0  2a 00 00 90 91 03 00 00  |6....<..*.......|
000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa  |..............U.|
00000200


=============================== StdErr Messages ================================

File descriptor 63 (pipe:[80120]) leaked on lvs invocation. Parent PID 4537: /bin/bash

Suggested repair: ______________________________________________________________

The default repair of the Boot-Repair utility would not act on the boot.

[baccusboy]

We can mark this problem solved. (kind of).

The solution is in the link provided by Jerry in Reply #1, above.  Actually, it came as a link within that link,  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cheap-lap...ik-hemrin/  where Henrik Hemrin gives a story about how he loaded Mint on the same laptop as mine. 

Finally, I reinstalled but this time in ”EFI” (UEFI) mode instead of BIOS (legacy) mode, setting in the Boot menu. Linux Mint supports both booting alternatives. In order to have EFI to work, I needed to disable the Secure boot option in the boot menu. After this reinstallation, Linux Mint started perfectly!

The reason I said, "kind of" solved is because there appears to temporarily be a bug several others have been dealing with regarding Ubuntu and UEFI with the bootloader locking them out of finishing boot.  I believe that I fell prey to that same bug, which would block booting from taking place.  I only noticed that issue AFTER I properly set the laptop bios to the settings, as outlined in the article link. 

I tried both Linux Lite and all variants of Mint, with no luck.  Linux Lite has the Ubuntu bug/issue that was not a problem for people in prior versions.  Mint's distros, as of today, were not playing well with Rufus (also likely a temporary issue).  So I tried MX Linux next (Debian), a distro which would be my 2nd or 3rd choice behind Linux Lite, and it installed just fine, after the bios changes from the article. It was different enough not to suffer from this temporary issue, which I imagine will be resolved in future updates.

So I am good.  I hope to try Linux Lite again on this machine, one day.  I run it on another laptop, and prefer it.

[trinidad]

There are several differences between the MX installer and the Ubuntu installer. Most of them only affect inexperienced users: Debian backport access, media channel installs, incomplete UEFI congurations, firmware access, etc. Ubuntu tries to be universal but also tries to avoid some commonly known installation hacks used by some Debian users. MX's installer opens up about any possibility out there. Almost all Linux systems will install functionally on anything that previously ran Windows. I personally hate to see things described as bugs which are simply either praxis or firmware problems. Where there's a will, there's a way with Linux. Out of curiosity look and see if you lost access to any secure memory on your MX install.

TC   

[WytWun]

I have an older Lenovo 100S-14IBR which originally came with a slimmed-down version of Windows.

I have Lite installed & running on a 100S-11IBY which is of somewhat similar vintage to your 100S-14IBR, though I think your system has 64bit UEFI firmware rather than the 32bit UEFI in mine (which was a major roadblock for a while).  If your machine can run the Lite 5.x live system from a USB drive I don't believe there should be any significant reason you can't get Lite installed & running.

A couple of things I noticed from your posted info:
- my machine, and I strongly suspect yours, was GPT partitioned with no legacy MBR support from the factory (I understand this is fairly standard for machines with factory Win10 installs)
- your EFI system partition (sda2) seems to be only 3.7MB - this is far too small for safety (the standard Win10 ESP is 273MB)

In getting my machine converted, I preserved the GPT partitioning and the standard ESP (and a small hidden partition of about 16.8MB that Win10 installs create between the ESP and the primary partition), deleting only the Windows partition and the recovery partition before creating the Linux partitions.

Some of my journey to getting Lite installed on mine is documented in posts in the 5.0rc1 announcement thread (here and here) and the UEFI build test thread (here, where I started with 4.2).  I think the grub issue I encountered with 5.0rc1 was a result of some issues left over from my Linuxium derived 4.2 install; I didn't have any problem installing 5.0 over 5.0rc1 (or subsequently upgrading to 5.2) having rectified the grub problem in 5.0rc1.  However I have had to use Rufus in file-copy mode to put the 5.0rc1 and 5.0 ISOs on a flash drive - no other approach worked.

[coyotl]

I had boot problems on a Lenovo B50-30. Did not boot into X. Turned out I needed to ugrade the BIOS.
Problems persisted, could only boot through the use of Rescue boot option.
Found a nifty utility called Boot Repair for ubuntu that was new to me and very useful.
It cleaned out the config, deleted grub packages and installed a standard working config - now it boots fine. EDIT: I see the OP had no luck with Boot Repair
I put in a disk with legacy boot config, so had to change from UEFI in the bios after the bios upgrade as it was then (re)set tp UEFI. It came with win 10 on a 500 gb drive. I was going to use this as secondary OS with a cdrom adapter, 120 gb SSD with linux in HD slot. Should work as the windows hd was apparently installed in Legacy mode - otherwise the disk I put in would not have booted.

MX linux or antix is an ok alternative for a not so fast pc. I found another alternative recently, the Russian rpm-based ALT linux.
Originally forked from Mandrake linux.
For an old pc the so called Starter Kit images are best as they offer light desktops and window managers. Also offer systemd free variants that do not have the limitations you see in antix/MX (some software does not work, difficulties created by Debian no offering init choice). ALT has even kept old Gdm working. Slightly faster on old hardware than antix/MX

I see the Lenovo 100S-14IBR has max 2gb RAM. IT people will tell you win 10 needs 16 to run well. So a good candidate for a lightweight linux OS..