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I installed Kubuntu 20.04 LTS on a usb stick to avoid interfere with my main drive and grub terminal comes up on boot

us flag

So as the title says, i installed Kubuntu on a USB Stick because i didnt want to partition my main ssd which has windows 10 installed. When i boot without the usb plugged in, it takes me to a grub terminal which i dont understand since i installed kubuntu on the usb an not on the main ssd. When i have the usb plugged in, it takes me to grub to select between windows and kubuntu. How can i remove the grub on boot to boot directly to windows when i dont have the usb plugged in? But have grub only when the usb is plugged in?

A solution would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

guiverc avatar
cn flag
You've provided no release details; but `grub` is located in multiple locations; the primary portion (*the real code*) is found in /boot/grub/ of the partition you selected; however a `grub` recovery feature (grub stage 0) is installed outside the partition you specify and installed to a drive (which may or may not be the drive you installed the / or system too). It sounds like you put all later stages (1, 1.5 etc) to the thumb-drive but put stage 0 on your internal drive for your *unstated* release. FYI: Stage 0 of `grub` isn't stored on a partition; PC drives since 1982 have space reserved
Mitas avatar
us flag
The release details is Kubuntu 20.04, is there a way to fix this? Sorry i'm confused, i'm new to this.
ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
Yes, you are but there's nothing to fix, really. There's a couple of thing to understand though: (1) By default the installer always install the bootloader in the internal drive's ESP (EFI System Partition) regardless of the location of the OS' system partition. (2) The UEFI boot process allow selecting the OS directly from the firmware and that is what you should do, open UEFI settings > Boot and change it back to "Windows bootloader manager" and keep it that way unless you want to boot Ubuntu (with the USB connected, of course). You may use the one-time boot menu in that situation.
guiverc avatar
cn flag
You've not provided details as to what system you're booting (uEFI, Secure-uEFI, BIOS/legacy/CSM etc) so this may not match your system, but I'd boot Ubuntu normally with thumb-drive, then `sudo grub-install /dev/???` (where ??? needs to be the current location - ie. you're re-installing grub-stage 0 to your thumb-drive this time..). Then to fix windows; boot it; remove thumb-drive then use windows commands to fix MBR; ie. `bootrec /fixboot` etc. windows commands may need adjusting for your system though. If you're using uEFI/ESP @ChanganAuto's response will likely better suit..
WU-TANG avatar
cn flag
you could also just keep the grub menu and just make Windows the default, so that it boots straight into Windows from grub.
oldfred avatar
cn flag
Please add to this very old but still current bug report. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1396379. Ubquity only installs to first drives ESP - efi system partition. Several work arounds in bug report, but you need an ESP on external drive & total reinstall of grub to external drive & removal of grub from internal drive. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1250199/move-bootloader-or-remove-efi-partition-in-second-drive & https://askubuntu.com/questions/327229/installing-ubuntu-in-a-external-hard-drive-and-not-placing-grub-of-my-c-hard-dr
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