#1109438 installer: d-i: When installing Debian 12 on an USB sticker, grub isn't installed on the EFI/ESP partition

Package:
grub-efi-amd64-bin
Source:
grub-efi-amd64-bin
Description:
GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (EFI-AMD64 modules)
Submitter:
foggy67
Date:
2025-07-17 20:53:01 UTC
Severity:
normal
Tags:
#1109438#5
Date:
2025-07-17 18:56:36 UTC
From:
To:
Dear Maintainer,

When I install Debian 12 from an netinst ISO file on an USB sticker, the Debian installer doesn't ask to install the GRUB on the EFI/ESP partition previously made by d-i on the sticker.
Thus, when the installation process is over, the computer cannot boot on the USB sticker. A special sequence must be made afterwards by hand on the USB sticker, involving chroot:

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --removable --bootloader-id=debian
update-grub

After that, the computer is able to boot the newly installed Debian 12 on the USB sticker.
Is is possible to add that process in the d-i just after the disk partitioning? It would consist in a question asking where to install GRUB.

Thank you in advance
Foggy67

#1109438#10
Date:
2025-07-17 20:51:24 UTC
From:
To:
What is a "USB sticker" ? A USB stick (flash drive) ?
What is the use case ? Boot it on other computers ?

GRUB is automatically installed in the ESP mounted on /boot/efi, so
there is no point in asking where to install it. If GRUB installation
fails, an error message should pop up. Do you have installation logs (in
/var/log/installer/syslog) ?

The only ambiguity is that if multiple partitions are marked "use as
ESP" during disk partitioning, then the installer will choose either one
without asking and mount it on /boot/efi. If you want the installer to
use a specific ESP, then it is up to you to mark all the others "do not
use".

This can have other causes that GRUB not being installed in the ESP,
e.g. faulty UEFI firmware. Besides, grub-efi-amd64-bin has nothing to do
with this: it only provides GRUB boot loader binaries, it does not
install them in the ESP. grub-installer is the installer component in
charge of installing the GRUB boot loader.


As explained above, that would be pointless.