Bug#1106156: grub-efi-amd64: GRUB v2.12-7 doesn't show menu in graphical mode

Package: grub-efi-amd64
Version: 2.12-7
Severity: normal
X-Debbugs-Cc: [email protected], [email protected]
User: [email protected]
Usertags: amd64

Dear Maintainer,

Previously I was running Debian bookworm, where GRUB was working fine.
But after a clean install of trixie, GRUB shows only a blank menu screen
on both of my computers. After uncommenting the GRUB_TERMINAL line in
/etc/default/grub it was working again, just a bit uglier.

As the graphics mode was working with GRUB v2.06-13 I made some
investigations:

I am using these two machines, both quite old:
- Dell Inspiron 17R Special Edition (7720) from 2013
- Apple iMac12,1 from 2011

When using GRUB in terminal mode, videoinfo looks normal:

grub> videoinfo
List of supported video modes:
Legend: mask/position=red/green/blue/reserved
Adapter `Bochs PCI Video Driver´:
  No info available
Adapter `Cirrus CLGD 5446 PCI Video Driver´:
  No info available
Adapter `EFI GOP driver´:
  0x000 1280 x 1024 x 32 (5120)  Direct color, mask: 8/8/8/8  pos: 16/8/0/24
  0x001 1024 x  768 x 32 (4096)  Direct color, mask: 8/8/8/8  pos: 16/8/0/24
  0x002  640 x  480 x 32 (2560)  Direct color, mask: 8/8/8/8  pos: 16/8/0/24
  0x003  800 x  600 x 32 (3200)  Direct color, mask: 8/8/8/8  pos: 16/8/0/24
  0x004 1920 x 1080 x 32 (7680)  Direct color, mask: 8/8/8/8  pos: 16/8/0/24
grub> 

But videotest will all video modes gives only a blank screen.

Then I tried GRUB_VIDEO_BACKEND=efi_gop in /etc/default/grub,
but that doesn't change anything.

But at one test I misspelled the video backend. This resulted in a
brief display on an error message, but then the graphical mode was
working. More tests showed that sending some text at the beginning
of /boot/grub/grub.cfg was also successful on both machines.
Even an 'echo -n ""' is fine.

So I created a tiny /etc/grub.d/000_early_init:

---
#! /bin/sh
set -e

# Initialize graphics display
echo 'echo -n ""'
---

After update-grub I got a working graphical menu on GRUB.


Best regards
Bernhard


-- Package-specific info:

*********************** BEGIN /proc/mounts
/dev/sda4 / ext4 rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/sda2 /boot ext4 rw,relatime 0 0
/dev/sda1 /boot/efi vfat rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
*********************** END /proc/mounts

*********************** BEGIN /boot/grub/grub.cfg
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/000_early_init ###
echo -n ""
### END /etc/grub.d/000_early_init ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
   set default="${next_entry}"
   set next_entry=
   save_env next_entry
   set boot_once=true
else
   set default="0"
fi

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
  menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
  menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}
function load_video {
  if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
  else
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod ieee1275_fb
    insmod vbe
    insmod vga
    insmod video_bochs
    insmod video_cirrus
  fi
}

if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
   font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt4'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt4 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt4 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt4  e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e
fi
    font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
  set lang=de_DE
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ] ; then
  set timeout=30
else
  if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
    set timeout_style=menu
    set timeout=2
  # Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
  # unavailable.
  else
    set timeout=2
  fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
fi
insmod png
if background_image /grub/.background_cache.png; then
  set color_normal=white/black
  set color_highlight=black/white
else
  set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
  set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
function gfxmode {
	set gfxpayload="${1}"
}
set linux_gfx_mode=
export linux_gfx_mode
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux GNU/Linux' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e' {
	load_video
	insmod gzio
	if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
	insmod part_gpt
	insmod ext2
	set root='hd0,gpt2'
	if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
	  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
	else
	  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
	fi
	echo	'Loading Linux 6.12.27-amd64 ...'
	linux	/vmlinuz-6.12.27-amd64 root=UUID=e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e ro  quiet
	echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
	initrd	/initrd.img-6.12.27-amd64
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Debian GNU/Linux GNU/Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e' {
	menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux GNU/Linux, with Linux 6.12.27-amd64' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-6.12.27-amd64-advanced-e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e' {
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		set root='hd0,gpt2'
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
		fi
		echo	'Loading Linux 6.12.27-amd64 ...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-6.12.27-amd64 root=UUID=e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e ro  quiet
		echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-6.12.27-amd64
	}
	menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux GNU/Linux, with Linux 6.12.27-amd64 (recovery mode)' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-6.12.27-amd64-recovery-e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e' {
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		set root='hd0,gpt2'
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
		fi
		echo	'Loading Linux 6.12.27-amd64 ...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-6.12.27-amd64 root=UUID=e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e ro single dis_ucode_ldr 
		echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-6.12.27-amd64
	}
	menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux GNU/Linux, with Linux 6.12.25-amd64' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-6.12.25-amd64-advanced-e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e' {
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		set root='hd0,gpt2'
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
		fi
		echo	'Loading Linux 6.12.25-amd64 ...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-6.12.25-amd64 root=UUID=e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e ro  quiet
		echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-6.12.25-amd64
	}
	menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux GNU/Linux, with Linux 6.12.25-amd64 (recovery mode)' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-6.12.25-amd64-recovery-e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e' {
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		set root='hd0,gpt2'
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4
		fi
		echo	'Loading Linux 6.12.25-amd64 ...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-6.12.25-amd64 root=UUID=e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e ro single dis_ucode_ldr 
		echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-6.12.25-amd64
	}
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/25_bli ###
if [ "$grub_platform" = "efi" ]; then
  insmod bli
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/25_bli ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###
if [ "$grub_platform" = "efi" ]; then
	fwsetup --is-supported
	if [ "$?" = 0 ]; then
		menuentry 'UEFI Firmware Settings' $menuentry_id_option 'uefi-firmware' {
			fwsetup
		}
	fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
  source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
*********************** END /boot/grub/grub.cfg

*********************** BEGIN /proc/mdstat
cat: /proc/mdstat: No such file or directory
*********************** END /proc/mdstat

*********************** BEGIN /dev/disk/by-id
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 May 20 13:49 ata-OPTIARC_DVD_RW_AD-5680H -> ../../sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 May 20 13:48 ata-WDC_WD5000AAKS-402AA0_WD-WCAWFD109556 -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 ata-WDC_WD5000AAKS-402AA0_WD-WCAWFD109556-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 ata-WDC_WD5000AAKS-402AA0_WD-WCAWFD109556-part2 -> ../../sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 ata-WDC_WD5000AAKS-402AA0_WD-WCAWFD109556-part3 -> ../../sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 ata-WDC_WD5000AAKS-402AA0_WD-WCAWFD109556-part4 -> ../../sda4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 May 20 13:49 usb-APPLE_SD_Card_Reader_000000009833-0:0 -> ../../sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 May 20 13:48 wwn-0x50014ee103d6c875 -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 wwn-0x50014ee103d6c875-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 wwn-0x50014ee103d6c875-part2 -> ../../sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 wwn-0x50014ee103d6c875-part3 -> ../../sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 wwn-0x50014ee103d6c875-part4 -> ../../sda4
*********************** END /dev/disk/by-id

*********************** BEGIN /dev/disk/by-uuid
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 67E3-17ED -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 bcea3724-f80e-4816-a78b-fa4820fbf6d4 -> ../../sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 d582adeb-87e5-45d0-9736-03651313504b -> ../../sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 20 13:48 e6738e63-2092-4161-a4ba-3d9e312aa76e -> ../../sda4
*********************** END /dev/disk/by-uuid

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 13.0
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 6.12.27-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=de_DE.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=de_DE.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled

Versions of packages grub-efi-amd64 depends on:
ii  debconf [debconf-2.0]  1.5.91
ii  grub-efi-amd64-bin     2.12-7
ii  grub2-common           2.12-7
ii  ucf                    3.0051

grub-efi-amd64 recommends no packages.

grub-efi-amd64 suggests no packages.

-- debconf information:
  grub2/force_efi_extra_removable: false
* grub2/linux_cmdline_default: quiet
* grub2/gnumach_cmdline:
  grub2/enable_os_prober: false
  grub2/kfreebsd_cmdline:
  grub2/update_nvram: true
* grub2/linux_cmdline:
  grub2/kfreebsd_cmdline_default: quiet