Bug#508281: update-grub: dramatically fails at reporting errors

[Cyril Brulebois]

Package: grub
Version: 0.97-47lenny1
Severity: serious
Justification: Prevents kernel (and system) upgrades

Just in case random folks read this bugreport, that's 0.97-47lenny1 from
an unstable system, while 0.97-47 is currently in lenny. Don't ask me why.

That says it all:
,--
| cyril at talisker:~$ sudo update-grub ; echo $?
| Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
| 1
`--

→ Any aptitude/apt-get/omglolpackagemanager round breaks.

So be it. Let's debug:
,--
| cyril at talisker:~$ /sbin/update-grub -h
| Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
| cyril at talisker:~$ /sbin/update-grub --help
| Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
| cyril at talisker:~$ sudo /sbin/update-grub -v
| Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
| cyril at talisker:~$ sudo /sbin/update-grub --verbose
| Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
`--

No, having to resort to *strace* doesn't seem like a suitable approach
for grub in the next stable release.

No, pointing to grub2 won't help fix this particular problem in grub,
mind you.

Yes, that also applies to 0.97-51.

-- 
Cyril Brulebois

-- Package-specific info:

*********************** BEGIN /boot/grub/device.map
(hd0)	/dev/hda
*********************** END /boot/grub/device.map

*********************** BEGIN /proc/mounts
/dev/mapper/talisker-root / ext3 rw,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/sda1 /boot ext3 rw,errors=continue,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/mapper/talisker-home /home ext3 rw,errors=continue,data=ordered 0 0
*********************** END /proc/mounts

*********************** BEGIN /boot/grub/menu.lst
# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-legacy-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not change this entry to 'saved' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default		0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		5

# Pretty colours
color cyan/blue white/blue

# Splash image
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splashimages/debsplash.xpm.gz

### PASSWORD LINE REMOVED ###
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
### PASSWORD LINE REMOVED ###
### PASSWORD LINE REMOVED ###
### PASSWORD LINE REMOVED ###

#
# examples
#
# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root		(hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader	+1
#
# title		Linux
# root		(hd0,1)
# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=/dev/mapper/talisker-root ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=vga=791 splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
##      lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(single-user) single
# altoptions=(single-user mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.26-1-amd64
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-amd64 root=/dev/mapper/talisker-root ro vga=791 splash
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.26-1-amd64

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.26-1-amd64 (single-user mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-amd64 root=/dev/mapper/talisker-root ro single
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.26-1-amd64

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 5.0
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.28-rc6-kibi-00189-g15d1ff2 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=fr_FR.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages grub depends on:
ii  grub-common             1.96+20080724-12 GRand Unified Bootloader, version 

grub recommends no packages.

Versions of packages grub suggests:
ii  grub-legacy-doc            0.97-47lenny1 Documentation for GRUB Legacy
pn  mdadm                      <none>        (no description available)
ii  multiboot-doc              0.97-47lenny1 The Multiboot specification

-- no debconf information