[OpenIndiana-discuss] [HEADS UP] Issues with loader leading to unbootable systems

[Nikola M]

On 02/27/17 08:42 AM, Alexander Pyhalov wrote:
> Hello, guys.
>
> Please take the notice that fixes on illumos loader did reveal 
> additional issues, resulted in inability to boot after updating 
> Openindiana Hipster on MBR disk installs.

Just to mention, It is described on Wiki article under:
https://wiki.openindiana.org/oi/MBR+reinstall+after+illumos+loader+update
if there would be any changes in the future.

Just take care to apply it twice, once after update and once again after 
reboot, as explained. Cheers.

> Who is affected:
> Fresh installs with 20161030 OI hipster snapshot usb/ISO using MBR 
> partition/slice install, using illumos loader
> Who is not affected:
>  Older 20160421 usb/ISO and earlier installs still using GRUB1
>  Full-disk installs and GPT installs for rpool.
>
> How problem appears:
> Problem appears by issuing regular 'pkg update ' procedure, with 
> affect of having unbootable system after update and restart.
>
> Workaround1 is done right after update, before reboot, so you don't 
> experience any inability of boot after update, so that nothing happens 
> if you reinstall loader upon update and BEFORE restart.
> Workaround2 is there if you already restarted after update and you 
> have unbootable system.
>
> Workaround1:
> Bootblock update has to be performed twice, after regular pkg update 
> and before reboot and after reboot again.
>
>  -find the name of your new active updated BE:
> $ beadm list
> -- 
> oi-hipster-87                    R     /          36.8G static 
> 2017-02-25 19:07
>
>  -mount new BE into /mnt dir, so we can install new loader into MBR: 
> (assume root privileges by su, sudo or pfexec)
> $ pfexec bash
> # beadm mount oi-hipster-87 /mnt
>
>
>  -Install new illumos loader from new BE into MBR to be able to boot 
> from HD again:
> # bootadm install-bootloader -MfvR  /mnt
>
> The bootadm command above will reinstall boot code, using boot 
> programs from /mnt/boot, using verbose mode, so you can see the MBR 
> code is also updated.
>
>  -unmount new BE from /mnt dir:
> # beadm unmount oi-hipster-87
> # shutdown -y -g 0 -i 6
>
> After reboot, again re-install boot code as priviledged user: (assume 
> root privileges by su, sudo or pfexec)
> $ pfexec bash
> # bootadm install-bootloader -Mfv
>
> Because this bootadm command is run from updated BE and the patched 
> installboot command is used, MBR is updated to read partition boot 
> record, and future "pkg update" command does not need any special 
> workaround.
>
>
> Workaround2:
> If you already experienced inability to boot after update, you need to 
> boot from live USB/DVD media into your new updated BE and reintall 
> loader:
>
>  -Use bootable USB/ISO disk to boot from media other then HD (by 
> selecting it to be first bootable media in motherboard settings)
>  -hit 'ESC' key to get loader "ok" prompt and list Boot 
> Environments(BE) (rpool is name of boot pool):
> ok beadm list zfs:rpool
> -- 
> oi-hipster-87                    NR     /          36.8G static 
> 2017-02-25 19:07
> -Activate new BE to boot from (where beadm_name is the new BE created 
> after update):
> ok beadm activate oi-hipster-87 zfs:rpool
> -Boot into new BE:
> ok boot
> After booting into updated BE, you would need to issue this command to 
> reinstall loader on HD MBR (so that problem is resolved for the next 
> reboot):
>
>  -Install new illumos loader from new BE into MBR to be able to boot 
> from HD again (as the priviledged user):
> $ pfexec bash
> # bootadm install-bootloader -Mfv
>
> After that you can safely update and restart.
>
> Thank you for your understanding, since loader is part of the illumos 
> but still work in progress, and MBR booting problem slipped in 
> testing, but is now safely overcomed.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> openindiana-discuss mailing list
> openindiana-discuss at openindiana.org
> https://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss