cannot find EFI directory

[jankom]

Hello,

Sorry to come to the well again with maybe a trivial issue. I had previous posts in the subject of grub and booting and received great help from this community. I studied them, but still ran into a problem after a most recent eix-sync.. I tried to follow various messges after emerging the updated packages.
Here is what happened:

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andraslinux /home/janos # grub-install
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
grub-install: error: cannot find EFI directory.
andraslinux /home/janos # 

OK, I almost panicked, but was able to reboot my desktop machine. I did notice a news screen that offered me hardware setting (pre-boot settings)..
The previous post was https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-1 ... -grub.html
I have not chenged anything in make.conf, I still have GRUB_PLATFORMS="efi-64", and

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andraslinux /home/janos # parted /dev/sda print
Model: ATA BIWIN SSD (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 128GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 1      1049kB  269MB   268MB   fat32              boot, esp
 2      269MB   51.4GB  51.1GB  ext4
 3      51.4GB  85.0GB  33.6GB  ext4

andraslinux /home/janos # 

Pertitions 2 is where my gentoo linux is, and 3 is just for saving files.

As I said, everything has worked before, and is still working, but this grub-install error bothers me.

I would like to have a clean and correct gentoo system. As far as my other, virtual (linode) machine is concerned that was the subject of the referenced post oabove - I don't know yet. I did the eix-syn parallel to my home machine, but did not touch it. First I'd like to understand and clear this grub-install issue on my home machine.

jankom

[pietinger]

jankom,

an "eix-sync" has nothing to do with a problem installing the grub.

To which mountpoint did you mount your ESP? If you are using - according to our Handbook - /efi as mountpoint, you must do a:

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grub-install --efi-directory=/efi

(See also number 8 and number 9 of https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Pieti ... _UEFI_boot )

[dmpogo]

To add to the previous message - could it simply be that you EFI partition is not mounted ?

[jankom]

I have
/boot/EFI/gentoo/grubx64.efi file, and
/boot/ directory has a grub subdirectory plus a bunch of grub boot files like vmlinuz, system.map and config files.

Partition 1 is mounted as /boot

[GDH-gentoo]

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Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 1      1049kB  269MB   268MB   fat32              boot, esp

Partition 1 is mounted as /boot

Partition 1 is the ESP in your setup, therefore, the "EFI directory" is /boot, and the grub-install command should be:

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# grub-install --efi-directory=/boot

[jankom]

Yes,

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andraslinux /home/janos # grub-install --efi-directory=/boot
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
Installation finished. No error reported.
andraslinux /home/janos # 

That worked.
Two comments:
1) My initial gentoo installation was in 2021 when I switched to a modern (still manufactured) fitlet2 computer replacing my old, bulky desktop machine. I started there with Fedora3, then CentOS. That machine could still be fired up, and I use it to read old-old 5-1/4 floppies. The fitlet2 box came with Linux Mint, but I wanted my own OS (such as I configured with FC3) and gave Gentoo a try. Now I'm hooked on it and love it! In conclusion, the /boot partition layout was from the 2021 inistial Gentoo install when I was less familiar with these new ESP, EFI systems.
2) The connection to eix-sync is that this time I followed the message instruction to manually install the upgraded grub software. Apparently eix-sync and subsequent emerge command installs automatically the upgraded packages - at least after reboot the new versions will get used.

Thanks again, and I'll close this subject in a few days as SOLVED.

jankom

[mark4]

jankom,

an "eix-sync" has nothing to do with a problem installing the grub.

To which mountpoint did you mount your ESP? If you are using - according to our Handbook - /efi as mountpoint, you must do a:

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grub-install --efi-directory=/efi

(See also number 8 and number 9 of https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Pieti ... _UEFI_boot )

not trying to hijack the thread but I have always just used /boot. should i rename /boot to /efi and edit all the necessary files to accommodate ?

[pietinger]

[...] I have always just used /boot. should i rename /boot to /efi and edit all the necessary files to accommodate ?

I don't think that's necessary... now that you know the difference... and can therefore adjust some descriptions.

(I use /esp as the mount point... yes, I'm a rebel. )

[dmpogo]

I have
/boot/EFI/gentoo/grubx64.efi file, and
/boot/ directory has a grub subdirectory plus a bunch of grub boot files like vmlinuz, system.map and config files.

Partition 1 is mounted as /boot

Same as mine