grub-install fails because of efibootmgr : Could not prepare Boot variable: Invalid argument : HELP

Question

After a sudo apt upgrade, grub-install failed so I had to reboot on a Live Ubuntu 18.04 USB.

After mounting /proc, /dev, /dev/pts, /run, /sys, /sys/firmware/efi/efivars into /mnt/destinationVGDir/ I chroot to my ubuntu on /dev/sda and re-run grub-install :

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt/destinationVGDir/
root@ubuntu:/# mount -a # Mounts all other filesystems including /boot/efi
root@ubuntu:/# grub-install 
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
File descriptor 4 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 18151: grub-install
File descriptor 4 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 18151: grub-install
Could not prepare Boot variable: Invalid argument
grub-install: error: efibootmgr failed to register the boot entry: Input/output error.

If do a grub-install -v, one can see that efibootmgr is the one failing here :

root@ubuntu:/# grub-install -v 2>&1 | uniq | tail
grub-install: info: copying `/usr/lib/shim/BOOTX64.CSV' -> `/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/BOOTX64.CSV'.
grub-install: info: copying `/boot/grub/x86_64-efi/load.cfg' -> `/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg'.
grub-install: info: copying `/usr/lib/shim/shimx64.efi.signed' -> `/boot/efi/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi'.
grub-install: info: copying `/usr/lib/shim/fbx64.efi' -> `/boot/efi/EFI/Boot/fbx64.efi'.
grub-install: info: Registering with EFI: distributor = `ubuntu', path = `\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi', ESP at hostdisk//dev/sda,gpt1.
grub-install: info: executing efibootmgr --version </dev/null >/dev/null.
grub-install: info: executing modprobe -q efivars.
grub-install: info: executing efibootmgr -c -d /dev/sda -p 1 -w -L ubuntu -l \EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi.
Could not prepare Boot variable: Invalid argument
grub-install: error: efibootmgr failed to register the boot entry: Input/output error.
root@ubuntu:/# efibootmgr -c -d /dev/sda -p 1 -w -L ubuntu -l \EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi
Could not prepare Boot variable: Invalid argument
root@ubuntu:/# efibootmgr -v -v -c -d /dev/sda -p 1 -w -L ubuntu -l \EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi
Could not prepare Boot variable: Invalid argument
error trace:
 efivarfs.c:351 efivarfs_set_variable(): write failed: Invalid argument
 lib.c:81 _efi_set_variable_mode(): ops->set_variable() failed: Invalid argument
 efibootmgr.c:323 make_var(): efi_set_variable failed: Invalid argument
 efibootmgr.c:333 make_var(): Could not set variable Boot0000: Invalid argument
root@ubuntu:/# 

My SSD is fine :

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo smartctl -A /dev/sda
smartctl 6.6 2016-05-31 r4324 [x86_64-linux-5.4.0-42-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1947
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       673
177 Wear_Leveling_Count     0x0013   099   099   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       1
179 Used_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Tot   0x0013   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total  0x0032   100   100   010    Old_age   Always       -       0
182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total  0x0032   100   100   010    Old_age   Always       -       0
183 Runtime_Bad_Block       0x0013   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
187 Uncorrectable_Error_Cnt 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0032   069   049   000    Old_age   Always       -       31
195 ECC_Error_Rate          0x001a   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
199 CRC_Error_Count         0x003e   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
235 POR_Recovery_Count      0x0012   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       30
241 Total_LBAs_Written      0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1179332232

EDIT0 : Here are the special filesystems I mounted prior to the chroot :

root@ubuntu:/# mount | grep -v ext4
proc on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,relatime)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,relatime,size=2947064k,nr_inodes=736766,mode=755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
efivarfs on /sys/firmware/efi/efivars type efivarfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
/dev/sda1 on /boot/efi type vfat (rw,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
root@ubuntu:/# 

EDIT1 : Thanks to @SamyAbdellatif, this error does not appear by adding --no-nvram option to the grub-install command :

root@ubuntu:~# grub-install --no-nvram 
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
File descriptor 4 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 6065: grub-install
File descriptor 4 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 6065: grub-install
Installation finished. No error reported.
root@ubuntu:~# 

Now If I re-install the grub-efi-amd64-signed to simulate an update, the --no-nvram option of grub-install is not used and the pb. re-appears :

root@ubuntu:~# apt install --reinstall grub-efi-amd64-signed
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  grub-efi-amd64-signed
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/300 kB of archives.
After this operation, 3459 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Selecting previously unselected package grub-efi-amd64-signed.
(Reading database ... 475217 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../grub-efi-amd64-signed_1.93.22+2.02-2ubuntu8.20_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking grub-efi-amd64-signed (1.93.22+2.02-2ubuntu8.20) ...
Setting up grub-efi-amd64-signed (1.93.22+2.02-2ubuntu8.20) ...
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
File descriptor 4 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 6191: grub-install
File descriptor 4 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 6191: grub-install
Could not prepare Boot variable: Invalid argument
grub-install: error: efibootmgr failed to register the boot entry: Input/output error.
dpkg: error processing package grub-efi-amd64-signed (--configure):
 installed grub-efi-amd64-signed package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 grub-efi-amd64-signed
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

EDIT2: When I rebooted, there was just a black screen. After re-checking with the Live USB, I can see no EFI boot entry for Ubuntu :

root@ubuntu:~# efibootmgr | grep -i ubuntu
root@ubuntu:~# 

EDIT3 : I removed the grub-efi-amd64-signed package because mokutil --sb-state says This system doesn't support Secure Boot and reinstalled grub-efi-amd64 :

root@ubuntu:~# apt install --reinstall -V grub-efi-amd64
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/47.9 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 475223 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../grub-efi-amd64_2.02-2ubuntu8.20_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking grub-efi-amd64 (2.02-2ubuntu8.20) over (2.02-2ubuntu8.20) ...
Setting up grub-efi-amd64 (2.02-2ubuntu8.20) ...
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
File descriptor 3 (pipe:[189443]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 16137: grub-
install
File descriptor 5 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 16137: grub-inst
all
File descriptor 3 (pipe:[189443]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 16137: grub-
install
File descriptor 5 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 16137: grub-inst
all
Could not prepare Boot variable: Invalid argument
grub-install: error: efibootmgr failed to register the boot entry: Input/output err
or.
Failed: grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --no-extra-removable 
WARNING: Bootloader is not properly installed, system may not be bootable
Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub'
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-42-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.4.0-42-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-128-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-128-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-122-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-122-generic
done

There is still a WARNING: Bootloader is not properly installed, system may not be bootable error so I run grub-install manually with the --no-nvram option :

root@ubuntu:~# grub-install --no-nvram
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
File descriptor 4 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 20234: grub-install
File descriptor 4 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 20234: grub-install
Installation finished. No error reported

grub-install --no-nvram reports no error but does NOT create any ubuntu EFI boot entry :

root@ubuntu:~# efibootmgr | grep -i ubuntu
root@ubuntu:~# 

EDIT3.1 : grub-install --removable reports no error but does NOT create any ubuntu EFI boot entry either.

EDIT4 : My /etc/fstab :

root@ubuntu:~# grep -v ^# /etc/fstab
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/rootFS /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/boot /boot           ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
UUID=9ADF-05E5  /boot/efi       vfat    defaults,noatime        0       1
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/home /home           ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/opt /opt            ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/tmp /tmp            ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/usr /usr            ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/usr_local /usr/local      ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/var /var            ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/var_cache /var/cache      ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/var_lib_snapd /var/lib/snapd           ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/var_mail /var/mail      ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/var_tmp /var/tmp        ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
/dev/VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB/photos /photos        ext4    defaults,noatime        0       2
root@ubuntu:~# 

And the output of lsblk :

root@ubuntu:~# lsblk 
NAME                                               MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
loop0                                                7:0    0     2G  1 loop 
loop1                                                7:1    0  29.9M  1 loop 
loop2                                                7:2    0    55M  1 loop 
loop3                                                7:3    0 255.6M  1 loop 
loop4                                                7:4    0  62.1M  1 loop 
loop5                                                7:5    0  49.8M  1 loop 
sda                                                  8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
├─sda1                                               8:1    0   256M  0 part /boot/efi
└─sda2                                               8:2    0 465.5G  0 part 
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-boot          253:0    0     1G  0 lvm  /boot
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-opt           253:1    0     7G  0 lvm  /opt
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-rootFS        253:2    0     2G  0 lvm  /
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-var_lib_snapd 253:3    0    10G  0 lvm  /var/lib/snapd
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-tmp           253:4    0    10G  0 lvm  /tmp
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-usr_local     253:5    0     7G  0 lvm  /usr/local
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-usr           253:6    0    20G  0 lvm  /usr
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-var_cache     253:7    0     5G  0 lvm  /var/cache
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-var_mail      253:8    0    20G  0 lvm  /var/mail
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-var_tmp       253:9    0     2G  0 lvm  /var/tmp
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-var           253:10   0     6G  0 lvm  /var
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-VMs           253:11   0  75.5G  0 lvm  
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-.q            253:12   0    90G  0 lvm  
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-home          253:13   0   100G  0 lvm  /home
  ├─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-datas         253:14   0    60G  0 lvm  
  └─VG_ALL_Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB-photos        253:15   0    50G  0 lvm  
sdc                                                  8:32   1  28.9G  0 disk 
├─sdc1                                               8:33   1  28.9G  0 part 
│ └─ventoy                                         253:16   0   2.6G  1 dm   
└─sdc2                                               8:34   1    32M  0 part 
sr0                                                 11:0    1  1024M  0 rom  
root@ubuntu:~# 

To re-install grub on my system, do I need to use a newer grub2-common package or a newer efibootmgr package ?

Solution

Make sure you're booted in UEFI mode and disable secure boot in your bios

after mounting your partitions and chroot to the system try

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --bootloader-id=GRUB --efi-directory=/boot/efi --no-nvram --removable

Comments

[oldfred]

Are you mounting all the required partitions? UEFI chroot, must include ESP - efi system partition askubuntu.com/questions/53578/…

[SebMa]

@oldfred Yes I did :). See my EDIT0

[SebMa]

--no-vram option seems to be the solution. Now how can I have ubuntu automatically add the --no-vram option to grub-install each times it re-installs grub ?

[SamyAbdellatif]

I'm not sure what are you trying to achieve there but in such case you might consider building grub from the source check here

[SebMa]

@SamyAbedellatif Hope my EDIT1 will answer what I'm trying to achieve.

[SamyAbdellatif]

the package grub-efi-amd64-signed doesn't have the --no-vram option , but there is a package grub-efi-amd64 that can handle it, refer to this answer

[SebMa]

OK I see. Can u please take a look at my EDIT2 ?

[SebMa]

grub-install --no-nvram reports no error but does NOT create an ubuntu EFI boot entry. See my EDIT3.

[SamyAbdellatif]

What’s the contents of the /etc/fstab? And what’s the output of the lsblk command

[SebMa]

See my EDIT4 for that information.

[SamyAbdellatif]

Can you run the lsblk -f flag and match the UUID of the boot partition with the one in the fstab >>> UUID=9ADF-05E5 .. also make sure you're in UEFI mode buy checking ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars if it runs without errors. from that point i'm not sure what could be causing this problem , maybe check the Compatibility Support Mode (CSM) in your BIOS if so disable it.

[SamyAbdellatif]

you can also try to turning off Fast Boot UEFI settings . and to edit the GRUB parameter in /etc/default/grub by uncommenting this line #GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true then 'sudo update-grub'

[SebMa]

lsblk -n -f /dev/sda1 -o uuid give 9ADF-05E5 which is the same UUID has that in my /etc/fstab. /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/ contains 51 files. I'm not sure there is a CSM setting in my Bios. Going to check...