What can I do to fix this error on grub-efi?

Question

I have a dual boot system setup with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 16.04, when turning on my PC grub shows correctly, Windows and Ubuntu are recognized, no problems there. Every time there's an update or i have to install something, I keep getting this error:

Errors were encountered while processing:
 grub-efi-amd64-signed
 shim-signed
Setting up shim-signed (1.12+0.8-0ubuntu2) ...
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
grub-install: errore: cannot find EFI directory.
dpkg: error processing package shim-signed (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up grub-efi-amd64-signed (1.66+2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3) ...
grub-install: errore: /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/modinfo.sh doesn't exist. Please specify --target or --directory.
dpkg: error processing package grub-efi-amd64-signed (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1

Can I just ignore it or do is there something I can do to fix it?

Is this a UEFI system? Does your /etc/fstab mount the EFI partition at /boot/efi? Does the /boot/efi contain a directory EFI? — ubfan1, Apr 27 '16 at 01:20
Yes, it is a UEFI system, the /boot/efi contains the EFI directory, don't understand the /etc/fstab bit — BressanFranco, Apr 27 '16 at 02:50
It looks like an update might have gotten interrupted at some time before the packages completely finished configuring try dpkg --configure -a — MttJocy, Apr 27 '16 at 03:13
@MttJocy tried it, gives me the same error with package grub-efi-amd64-signed and shim-signed — BressanFranco, Apr 27 '16 at 09:47
Possible duplicate of How can I repair grub? (How to get Ubuntu back after installing Windows?) according to OP's comment — David Foerster, May 11 '16 at 08:21

score 47 · Answer 1 · edited May 11 '16 at 08:19

47

Try

sudo apt-get purge grub\*
sudo apt-get install grub-efi
sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo update-grub

to fix.

edited May 11 '16 at 08:19

David Foerster

36,264
56
94
147

answered Apr 27 '16 at 21:12

John

723

fixed it with the boot-repair live disc – BressanFranco Apr 27 '16 at 22:22
These commands worked like a charm Xubuntu 16.04 – guyfromfl May 13 '16 at 01:49
5

Is this safe to do? – Pithikos Jul 15 '16 at 10:35
1

It's safe both ways. You can either use the commands above or the boot-repair live disc. – John Jul 16 '16 at 14:02
Installing for x86_64-efi platform. grub-install: error: cannot find EFI directory. – maxisme Mar 04 '17 at 22:01
1

I upgraded Ubuntu 17.04 to 18.04 and then was getting the error: Errors were encountered while processing: grub-efi-amd64 grub-efi-amd64-signed shim-signed E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code
after doing sudo apt upgrade.

Your solution worked with me too. Thanks.
– mariotoss Sep 15 '18 at 09:02
I receive the same errors after a fresh install of 18.04 and an upgrade from 16.04 to 18.04. Neither situation would boot without manual entries at the grub> prompt. These four commands corrected everything. – iAmJeff Mar 20 '19 at 05:31

Mr. B · Answer 2 · 2017-08-07T21:27:20.510

6

In case someone's looking at setting up a multiboot USB disk to handle both mbr and grub:

If your current system is EFI, then you'll be missing this:

sudo apt install grub-pc-bin

If your current system is MBR, then you'll be missing this:

sudo apt install grub-efi-amd64-bin
# You may also need grub-efi-amd64-signed

edited Aug 07 '17 at 21:27

answered May 30 '17 at 04:13

Mr. B

521

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 27 '16 at 13:13

The reference to /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/modinfo.sh indicates a BIOS-mode GRUB install -- specifically, the i386-pc section of that path identifies the BIOS-mode version of GRUB. (For an EFI-mode installation on AMD64/x86-64, the equivalent path is /boot/grub/x86_64-efi/modinfo.sh.) OTOH, the package names clearly indicate an EFI-mode GRUB install. The two should not be mixed, but somehow that's happened in your case. Perhaps you've got a leftover GRUB configuration file from a previous BIOS-mode install, in which case tracking it down and updating it should fix the problem. Perhaps Boot Repair could fix the problem automatically. Note, however, that a repair attempt runs the risk of making matters worse by rendering your system unbootable. I therefore advise proceeding with extreme caution!

If you can't fix it easily, you could look into replacing GRUB with something else -- several alternatives are available, as described on this Web page of mine. GRUB 2 is the most difficult boot loader to tweak once it goes "off the rails," as yours has, which is why replacing it can be a good option. My own rEFInd boot manager is likely to be easy to install, with the caveat that there's an Ubuntu 16.04 bug that complicates installation from the PPA with Secure Boot active. (That's covered in the documentation.) Note also that simply installing a new package won't overcome your problem; you'd need to uninstall the GRUB package that's causing you difficulty to do that. I cover that topic specifically here, since it's not as easy as you might think. (Ubuntu keeps trying to re-install GRUB if you remove it.)

Boot-Repair in advanced options has a full uninstall/reinstall of grub. That may fix the configuration issue. Be sure to boot in UEFI mode if UEFI install. — oldfred, Apr 27 '16 at 14:44
@oldfred how do i make sure that i boot in UEFI mode? if it's a bios setting it should (actually i'm definitely sure that it is) already be enabled — BressanFranco, Apr 27 '16 at 16:35
You choose from UEFI boot menu. Usually flash drive is show twice. Once as UEFI:flashdrive and again just as flashdrive which then is the BIOS boot. You can also tell if you get grub menu it is UEFI, if you get accessibility screen (tiny icons at bottom) it is BIOS. Shows install with screen shots. Both BIOS purple accessibility screen & UEFI black grub menu screen https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI — oldfred, Apr 27 '16 at 18:28
tried the boot-repair live disc and perform the auto repair, all seems to be good now, not getting the same errors as before, update-grub re-added the windows partition. All seems fine — BressanFranco, Apr 27 '16 at 21:01