Description of problem: If you have /boot in btrfs and set GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true, grub2 will fail with: error: ../../grub-core/commands/loadenv.c:2016:sparse file not allowed press any key to continue booting In my setup, I have an UEFI boot. I do not know if this affect non-UEFI setups. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): 2.06-40 How reproducible: Always, if you have the described setup. Steps to Reproduce: 1. Setup a UEFI boot (I am not sure whether this step is necessary) 2. Create and properly mount a /boot partition with btrfs as file system (the issue seems to be related to limitations with btrfs). 3. Add GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true to /etc/default/grub 4. Run "grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" as root 5. Restart your computer 6. Try to boot your OS. Actual results: The "savedefault" functionality will not work and the error can be seen Expected results: No error messages and the "savedefault" functionality working. Additional info: The bug seems to be old. See, for example, this report for Fedora 34 with no resolution: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2023055 The issue seems to affect other distributions. See, for example: https://archived.forum.manjaro.org/t/solved-grub-btrfs-error-sparse-file-not-allowed/70031/9 One possible workaround is to use a non-btrfs partition for /boot. I do not have enough experience with grub, but I was wondering if one of the maintainers could find a workaround by editing, for example, /etc/grub.d/00_header If grub2 does not support btrfs, the Fedora setup should at least show a warning that it is not advisable to use btrfs in a partition with /boot.
This package has changed maintainer in Fedora. Reassigning to the new maintainer of this component.
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Sadly this is still a problem and has no simple workaround, since Fedora installation defaults to everything installed into btrfs / partition. Separate ext4 /boot would help, but that is difficult to do on already deployed system.
This bug appears to have been reported against 'rawhide' during the Fedora Linux 40 development cycle. Changing version to 40.