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GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-14 21:51
by razelll
I've installed Parrot OS lately and I've received such a problem with GRUB:

error: file '/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found.
grub rescue>

I am struggling with this issue for whole day and nothing.
I have already reinstalled system couple of times, removed/resized EFI
partition, googled the subject and tried various of methods but still nothing
works for me.

So that's my problem below and my attempts to fix it:

https://imgur.com/a/DwvnR

And that's what fdisk -l showed me:

https://imgur.com/a/m2JYZ

If someone had the same problem and fixed it somehow, please help me, cause I
need my laptop to work and all I can do now is booting system from live CD.
Thank you in advance.

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-14 23:02
by GarryRicketson
As much as I love parrots, "Parrot OS" is NOT Debian,
Maybe it would be better to ask about this here:
https://community.parrotsec.org/

Also I don't have time to be looking at images, it would be better if people
would use code boxes, and copy/paste text,output, error messages, so we can read it,... maybe later I can look at the photos, sorry.

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-15 07:57
by p.H
GRUB BIOS is loading but fails to find its modules at the $prefix location, i.e. /boot/grub/i386-pc on partition 5.
Indeed /boot/grub contains no i386-pc directory, but instead x86_64-efi which is intended for GRUB EFI.

Changing $prefix is pointless. GRUB BIOS cannot use GRUB EFI modules and vice versa.

So, at this point, GRUB BIOS was installed in the MBR but its modules are missing. Maybe an old deleted installation.
GRUB EFI is installed, but is not booting. GRUB BIOS is booting instead.
Check the boot options in the firmware settings.

Note that the Windows system on the same disk was installed for BIOS boot and won't boot from GRUB EFI. Maybe did you change the boot settings to be able to boot Windows again ?

I would advise to re-install GRUB BIOS properly. On Debian, this could be done by installing the grub-pc package. I do not know Parrot OS.

PS : GarryRicketson is right, post plain text in code boxes instead of pictures.

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-15 10:04
by razelll
Thanks for your replies.
I would post code, but it was hard to copy it from grub rescue console, so i was forced to take a picture.
BIOS options are correct (I hope so), cause there is a UEFI Boot enabled. Changing something in GRUB configuration file will help somehow?

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-15 10:57
by p.H
No it won't. Grub configuration files are read after loading the "normal" module.
Check in the UEFI boot menu whether a "debian" entry is present.

I repeat : if you have a Windows installation on this disk and want to dual boot from GRUB, you should switch to BIOS/legacy boot and install grub-pc.

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-15 13:57
by razelll
I need a Windows installation CD to get to the UEFI boot menu, am I right? Cause I didnt find it anywhere. Sorry for my silly questions, but I have such a problem for the first time.
Btw. I dont have Windows installation disk.

I have only two boot options in my BIOS settings - UEFI Boot and PXE ROM. Both didn't get me anywhere.
I thought about deinstalling windows and to leave only linux but I have a lack of knowledge if it could not make some bigger problems.

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-15 14:04
by p.H
razelll wrote:I need a Windows installation CD to get to the UEFI boot menu, am I right?
No.
Removing Windows will not help either.

After installing Parrot OS, were you able to boot into it at least once ?
If yes, did you change anything before it stopped working and you got this error ?

How are you getting the pictures in your initial post ?

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-15 16:38
by jibberjabber
From some search results:
Parrot Project - The best choice for security experts, developers and ...

https://www.parrotsec.org/ Proxy Highlight

Discover our awesome cyber security GNU/Linux environment. It includes a full portable laboratory for security and digital forensics experts, but it also includes all y
by razelll »I thought about deinstalling windows and to leave only linux but I have a lack of knowledge if it could not make some bigger problems.
Parrot Project - The best choice for security experts, developers
Is the OP some sort of security expert, or developer ? It certainly does not sound like it, and that leads to Why is the OP trying to install Parrot OS ?
The people that love MS windows, and can't live without it , will all ways argue, and insist that you MUST have Ms windows, the excuses usually are that their job requires it, or lack of software and programs for Linux, but what ever, the reality is you do not need it on a computer, and my experience, on my PC's , everything works much better, with less problems without the MS malware ,
but any way, I do agree:
by p.H » Removing Windows will not help either.

I don't think that will change anything, nor has anything to do with it. How ever for somebody that does not have much knowledge in general about installing a OS, trying to set up a multi-boot system, is much more complicated
then if you just install 1 OS on the machine, If I wanted to experiment with this
Parrot OS I would try to find a older PC or Laptop, one that does not have the
UEFI Boot thing, that Microsoft promoted, and now all, or most newer PC's have it, we don't have the choice to not have it.
The good news, older pre-UEFI PC's are not very expensive, they make great toy's , to experiment with various OS's,etc,...There also are ways to disable the UEFI things, but I can not help on that, I have not had to deal with the problem yet.
I don't know about Parrot OS, it seems to me like it would be better for the OP to ask them about this, but I imagine similar to Debian they have installers that can deal with the UEFI problem, the OP can do what they want, but honestly , it seems like they would be better of installing a normal OS, a Linux distro intended for beginners, as well as security experts, or developers, like
MX-17
There are other distros, like Ubuntoo, or Linux Mint, but I really can't recommend them , would not suggest them to my worst enemy,....
The nice thing about it, regardless of the Linux distro, the security tools and packages that are used in Parrot OS, can also be installed ,if one is trying to learn about that,... later when the OP has more "knowledge",maybe they will realize they don't need Windows , nor Parrot OS, or "Kali", but if they want those, they will have the experience and knowledge to be able install and use them, as intended.
Most of the "security experts" and "developers" that I know, are NOT using, MS windows, nor Linux, or Parrot OS, I will leave it to the OP to explore and learn, and when they gain some knowledge they will be able to decide what is the best OS for security and development,...
One last note, maybe the OP should just try the normal, current Debian Stable, same applies, they can install all the security tools ,etc, that Parrot OS uses , later when they have the knowledge and experience.

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-16 09:19
by razelll
p.H wrote:
After installing Parrot OS, were you able to boot into it at least once ?
If yes, did you change anything before it stopped working and you got this error ?

How are you getting the pictures in your initial post ?
Nope, even for once.
I got grub rescue prompt from the beginning and nothing changed since.

I am booting Parrot LIVE CD and that's how I am posting here.
jibberjabber wrote:From some search results:

Parrot Project - The best choice for security experts, developers
Is the OP some sort of security expert, or developer ? It certainly does not sound like it, and that leads to Why is the OP trying to install Parrot OS ?
The people that love MS windows, and can't live without it , will all ways argue, and insist that you MUST have Ms windows, the excuses usually are that their job requires it, or lack of software and programs for Linux, but what ever, the reality is you do not need it on a computer, and my experience, on my PC's , everything works much better, with less problems without the MS malware ,
but any way, I do agree:
by p.H » Removing Windows will not help either.
I hoped maybe Parrot will boot automatically after deinstalling Windows and rest of components.
How ever for somebody that does not have much knowledge in general about installing a OS, trying to set up a multi-boot system, is much more complicated then if you just install 1 OS on the machine, If I wanted to experiment with this Parrot OS I would try to find a older PC or Laptop, one that does not have the UEFI Boot thing, that Microsoft promoted, and now all, or most newer PC's have it, we don't have the choice to not have it.
[/quote]

I had Ubuntu on linux partition and I decided to change it. That's how it started.
I want to learn how to use all these tools included in Parrot and I find the system very elegant and smooth. How ever I would prefer to use it without Live CD :D
Downloading another distribution and having new possible issues to fix would be nightmare for me right now. I just want to fix this GRUB thing and start to learn.

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-16 10:49
by bw123
Yeah, I understand the difficulty. But trying to get help for parrot on debian forum isn't going to make life easier for you.

https://community.parrotsec.org/c/support/installation

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-16 10:52
by razelll
UPDATE:

Ok, so I got somewhere. I did it by my nebwie way:
I' ve installed grub-pc on my usb-drive and coppied i-386pc folder into grub directory on my linux partition.
Now I am able to boot Linux, but I dont have Windows in partition table and everytime I start the pc I have to write preferences for grub in grub rescue:
(Sorry I have to post image again)

https://imgur.com/a/Ol8uD

And:

https://imgur.com/a/QaAEC

https://imgur.com/a/dgtz6

Any ideas how I can fix 'set prefix' and 'set root' and add windows to table partition?
Thank you for your help.

UPDATE2:

update-grub helped, and I have Windows in grub added, but there is still a problem with grub rescue prompt

Re: GRUB - normal.mod not found

Posted: 2018-04-16 21:34
by p.H
Install grub-pc and choose to install GRUB in the MBR.
It will replace the old GRUB from Ubuntu which is looking for its files in the wrong partition.