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Grub error not an assignment

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theerthan

I have an Ubuntu 20.04 on a desktop with 1 hard disk. For the last 2 or 3 months, the boot has slowed down and during bootup, there is an "error: not an assignment" message that flashes and disappears. I checked the questions in this forum from the past, and have checked the syntax of the /etc/grub.d/default file.. it is a very standard file and i don't see any syntax changes.. I have also downloaded grub-customiser and verified the grub config and there are no errors - but the boot is slow, and "error: not an assignment" still persists.

I do not have any custom config under 00_header, or 10_linux or 40_custom.

Is there anything else i need to check?

Update for @ChanganAuto: No errors when running 'sudo update-grub'

@pasmanpasmański, thank you and noted. Updated /etc/default/grub, and ran 'sudo update-grub' and rebooted.. no change, i still get the error:not an assignment message.

~$ grep TIMEOUT /etc/default/grub
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0

Update: Dec 10

$ grep MODULES /etc/default/grub
#GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_gpt"

Commented out the preload modules, ran sudo update-grub and still no luck.. the error: not an assignment message persists

Update: resolved

After reading through a few more posts, I finally decided to run boot-repair - and it seems to have fixed my problem - the error message has disappeared - though it is a bit sad not knowing exactly what caused it or how it was fixed - boot repair info is below in case it is useful https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/XHZMck23s6

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ChanganAuto avatar
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ChanganAuto
UEFI or BIOS/Legacy?
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ca flag
theerthan
`~$ sudo efibootmgr [sudo] password for xxxxx: BootCurrent: 0001 Timeout: 2 seconds BootOrder: 0001,0002 Boot0001* ubuntu Boot0002 Windows Boot Manager ` >> UEFI and the settings are as above, although I am not sure how the Windows entry came about
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ChanganAuto avatar
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ChanganAuto
The Windows entry is there because there's a Windows bootloader installed in the EFI partition, alongside Ubuntu's. If you no longer have Windows then you certainly had it before and that entry is a leftover (deleting the Windows system partition - "C:" - doesn't remove its bootloader in UEFI systems). Now, I suggest running `sudo update-grub`. If any error make sure to update the question with the results.
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pasman pasmański avatar
mx flag
pasman pasmański
Does it solve your issue https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/error-not-an-assignment.72404/
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ca flag
theerthan
@pasmanpasmański, thank you. I did see that post before and I had checked the files: /etc/default/grub and /etc/grub.d/40_custom and no syntax issues there. My 40_custom is unchanged from the default. My grub grub default file has standard entries: 'GRUB_DEFAULT=0 GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE="hidden" GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`" GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="" GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_gpt" `
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ca flag
theerthan
@ChanganAuto, thank you, I should have mentioned that I have executed "sudo update-grub" a few times with no errors, as below: `sudo update-grub [sudo] password for xxxxx: Sourcing file /etc/default/grub' Sourcing file /etc/default/grub.d/init-select.cfg' Generating grub configuration file ... Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-91-generic Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.4.0-91-generic Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-90-generic Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.4.0-90-generic Adding boot menu entry for UEFI Firmware Settings done`
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pasman pasmański avatar
mx flag
pasman pasmański
@theertan Do not include output of the command in comment, [edit](https://askubuntu.com/posts/1379902/edit) your original question and append it here or use [pastebin](pastebin.com). In file /etc/default/grub, change line `GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu` and then `sudo update-grub`
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ca flag
theerthan
@pasmanpasmański, thank you, I updated the original question.. no change after setting GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu, I still get the error: not an assignment
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ca flag
theerthan
I ran grub_emu and it gave me a similar error: error: not an assignment.. However, in addition to that, there were more errors: Error: sparse file not allowed Error linux not defined Error initrd not defined And after a few seconds, it takes me to the grub boot menu - so this explains the delayed/slow boot.. however it still does not explain which file is causing the "sparse file not allowed" error. from reading through other posts, the only relevant files are: /etc/default/grub /etc/init.d/00_header /etc/init.d/10_linux etc.. but these are standard files ??
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pasman pasmański avatar
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pasman pasmański
Try to remove line `GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_gpt"`. Grub loads much more modules by default.
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ca flag
theerthan
I have done this, but there is no change - please see the original question last para, thank you
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ca flag
theerthan

After reading through a few more posts, I finally decided to run boot-repair - and it seems to have fixed my problem - the error message has disappeared - though it is a bit sad not knowing exactly what caused it or how it was fixed - boot repair info is below in case it is useful paste.ubuntu.com/p/XHZMck23s6

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