GRUB-BIOS-SETUP(8)

📦
version 2.12 · 6 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

💖 GRUB-BIOS-SETUP 💖

okay bestie, welcome to grub-bios-setup — it's a System Administration Utilities situation, and it lives in section 8 of the manual. grab a boba, we're doing bootloader surgery 🩺✨

✨ NAME ✨

grub-bios-setup — the girl whose whole job is setting up a device so it can boot using GRUB 👑

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

grub-bios-setup [OPTION...] DEVICE

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So what she does is: she sets up images to boot from DEVICE. that's it, that's the whole vibe 💅

🚨 bestie listen. you should not normally run this program directly. like, at all. use grub-install instead, fr fr. this one is the backstage pass, not the front door.

here come the options, and there are a LOT of them, so buckle up 🎀

  • -a, --allow-floppy — makes the drive also bootable as a floppy. this is the default for fdX devices. lowkey might break on some BIOSes though 😭
  • -b, --boot-image=FILE — use FILE as the boot image. [default=boot.img]
  • -c, --core-image=FILE — use FILE as the core image. [default=core.img]
  • -d, --directory=DIR — use GRUB files in the directory DIR. [default=/boot/grub2]
  • -f, --force — install even if problems are detected. she's not asking, she's installing 💀
  • -m, --device-map=FILE — use FILE as the device map. [default=/boot/grub2/device.map]
  • --no-rs-codes — do not apply any reed-solomon codes when embedding core.img. heads up: this option is only available on x86 BIOS targets. no cap.
  • -s, --skip-fs-probe — do not probe for filesystems in DEVICE. skipping the vibe check, iconic.
  • -v, --verbose — print verbose messages. she will tell you EVERYTHING 🗣️
  • -?, --help — give this help list
  • --usage — give a short usage message
  • -V, --version — print program version

quick lil note bestie: mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional for any corresponding short options. so like, they match, always 🫶

and one more thing — DEVICE must be an OS device (e.g. /dev/sda). not a vibe, not a dream, an actual device. ⭐

🙈 REPORTING BUGS 🙈

found a bug? not me gatekeeping. report bugs to <bug-grub@gnu.org> 💌

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the full documentation for grub-bios-setup is maintained as a Texinfo manual. if the info and grub-bios-setup programs are properly installed at your site, the command

info grub-bios-setup

should give you access to the complete manual. go read her, she ate 📚✨

that's the whole page, bestie. slay, stay bootable, and remember: use grub-install unless you know exactly what you're doing. mwah 💋

GRUB 2.12 — April 2026 — GRUB-BIOS-SETUP(8) 🎀 signing off, periodt.

📦 where this page comes from