[gentoo-user] grub:2 first experience with it

[Harry Putnam]

Setup:INSTALLING gentoo(amd64) in VBox vm guest - win-10 (64bit) host
 Hardware: HP xw8600 - 2x Xeon CPU X5450 @ 3.00GHz - 32 GB ram

Installing grub:0 was my first attempt, since I kind of know my way
around that and have never used grub:2. But, ran into several problems
concerning ncurses and gpm and somehow involving competing versions of
perl.

Seemed like enough of a mess to just break down and take the plunge,
going with the flow toward grub:2

The amd64 hand book offered this for emerge --backtrack=30
But apparently that was enough or not the right thing for the
mess I was making.

After going through the pages https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2
I tried a couple of edits that seemed to be suggested there and some
USE flag changes (didn't record what I did so quickly lost track of
the things and the sequence)

I did have this set GRUB_PLATFORMS="emu" which is suggested in the
help pages.

But in the initial grub commands there was a complaint about not
understanding emu or something to that effect.

So emerge -vC grub:2 and started over.

Got grub:2 installed (Note that I removed the
(GRUB_PLATFORMS="emu") this time and allowed the system to
handle that on its own. Ok, so got it installed alright.

USE flags and GRUB_PLATFORMS came up like this:

  USE="doc fonts nls sdl themes truetype -debug -device-mapper -efiemu
  -libzfs -mount -multislot -static {-test}"
  GRUB_PLATFORMS="(efi-64 pc) -coreboot -efi-32 -emu -ieee1275
  -loongson -multiboot -qemu -qemu-mips -uboot -xen -xen-32

I quit trying to mess with anything except two variables I changed
from the defaults in /etc/default/grub.

/etc/default/grub:
  # Boot the default entry this many seconds after the menu is displayed
 GRUB_TIMEOUT=8
  Changed from 5 to 8 seconds

  # The resolution used on graphical terminal.
  # Note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE.
  # You can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'.
  #GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480
  GRUB_GFXMODE=1280x1024x32

So I took a stab hoping the vbox screen would allow such a setting.

(Now after the inital boot and  reboot I'm currently installing that
tool to make sure of the graphic setting [sys-apps/vbe-tool])

Back to the way I got here:

Ran install-grub
  (completed successfully)

Attempted to run update-grub, but that script was nowhere to be found.

qlist grub:2 |grep update  shows its not part of grub:2 pkg.

Just to make sure I re-installed grub:2 once more.
Completed successfully.

But no update-grub

Googled up a page that shows what the script is supposed to do; all
pretty basic stuff. 
Ended up writing my own:  I did put a little bloat in it but still
does the same stuff:

  cat update-grub

  #!/bin/sh
  cmd='/usr/sbin/update-grub'
  set -e
  if mount |grep /boot;then
    echo "   /boot is mounted .. running 
     exec grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg \"\$\@\""
    exec grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg "$@" && 
    if [[ "$?" < 1 ]];then
      echo "$cmd ran successfully"
    fi
  else
    echo "   /boot is not currently mounted, please mount /boot
     and rerun this command:
  
          /usr/sbin/update-grub"
  fi
  
Maybe that is where I've messed things up.

On boot instead of getting a grub menu, I got a grub command line.
in one of those really small consoles inside a vbox vm.. . the default
console I guess.

I bumbled my way thru and managed to boot the OS, so at least my
kernel config worked straight away for a change.

I'm really not sure at all where to begin trying to debug this.

I can see my self trying different things until "Maybe" something
works....

I could really use some more of this lists generous patience and some
kind of scheme to get this working like I want.