I recently installed Linux Ubuntu 22.04 on an external SSD (through a USB memory, with Rufus)
When start I find this:
error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found
Entering rescue mode
grub rescue>
I start to investigate where the file is
error: file '/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod' not found
Entering rescue mode
grub rescue> ls
(hd0) (hd0,gpt3) (hd0,gpt2) (hd0,gpt1)
grub rescue> ls (hd0)
(hd0): Filesystem is unknown.
grub rescue> ls (hd0,gpt2)
(hd0,gpt2): Filesystem is unknown.
grub rescue> ls (hd0,gpt1)
(hd0,gpt1): Filesystem is unknown.
grub rescue> ls (hd0,gpt3)
(hd0,gpt3): Filesystem is ext2.
grub rescue> ls (hd0,gpt3)/
./ ../ lost+found/ boot/ swapfile etc/ media/ var/ bin dev/ home/ lib lib32 lib64 libx32 mnt/ opt/ proc/ root/ run/ sbin snap/ srv/ sys/ tmp/ usr/ cdrom/
grub rescue> ls (hd0,gpt3)/boot/
grub rescue> ls (hd0,gpt3)/boot/grub/
error: file '/boot/grub/' not found.
grub rescue> ls (hd0,gpt3)/grub/
error: file '/grub/' not found.
Using "Try Ubuntu" of the USB memory I can access the SSD and find the path specified above (/boot/grub/i386-pc/normal.mod)
Why can't Grub Rescue find it?
Notes:
BIOS or UEFi?
I accessed the BIOS and not found a mention of UEFI (It is a low cost desktop PC from 2011).
Hardware? the motherboard is a MSI NF725M-P43
The SSD is Samsung M3 Portable 1TB
