[Fixed] Minimal Bash Like Line Editing Is Supported Error in Ubuntu Linux

You probably have encountered ‘Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists possible device or file completions.’ error if you have recently updated Windows, which is installed side by side to your Linux installation.

Windows updates have a history of corrupting the boot files or partition of the Linux installations. You can encounter this error in any Linux distribution. But don’t worry, there’s an easy fix for this error.

Prerequisites to Fix This Error

You will need the following things to get started :

Live USB stick of the same Linux Distribution
An Internet connection (Ethernet or Wi-Fi)

If you do not have a Live USB stick, you can create one by following the steps mentioned here.

Solution #1 – Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported error in Ubuntu Linux

Boot into the live USB stick of your distribution, now follow these steps carefully:

1. Check if your system uses EFI or BIOS

Type the following command in the terminal to check the type of your system :

sudo fdisk -l

If anywhere, you spot something like ‘EFI’ then that means your system is of EFI type. Most of you probably have this type of installation.

2. For UEFI based systems

We are now going to mount our root (/) partition, in my case, it is /dev/sda2, but yours can be different. Look closely at your fdisk command output to know your root partition, and then mount it using this command :

sudo mount /dev/sdaX /mnt

Now, we will mount our EFI partition as well. To do that, type :

sudo mount /dev/sdaY /mnt/boot/efi

Again, don’t forget to change X and Y with the correct partition numbers on your disk. Finally, reinstall grub using the following commands :

sudo grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot --bootloader-id=ubuntu  --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/boot/efi

And now finally, restart your system by typing the following commands in the terminal and remove your Live USB stick when prompted.

shutdown -r now

3. For BIOS systems

We will again mount our root partition using the following commands :

sudo mount /dev/sdaX /mnt

And then we will easily re-install GRUB using the following commands :

sudo grub-install /dev/sdX

Reboot your system now and remove the installation media when prompted. Your system should work fine now.

Solution #2 – Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported error in Ubuntu Linux

If the above method didn’t work for you, then you can try installing a tool called ‘Boot Repair’. This tool is capable of detecting and fixing all the GRUB-related problems for you. You will also need a live USB stick of the distribution for this method.

1. Install Boot Repair tool

Boot into your live USB stick, open a terminal, and add this repository :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair

Run an update first and then install the boot-repair tool as follows :

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install boot-repair

2. Repair your installation

Launch the boot repair tool by typing the following commands in your Terminal :

boot-repair &

A window will appear before you, click on the ‘Recommended Repair’ option.

It will take some time, but after that, it will present you with some commands to fix the issue. Copy (or type) the commands one by one in the Terminal.

If while typing the commands a window appears, select yes and remove the old GRUB files. Once the process is finished, You will be greeted with a menu which will tell you to restart your system. You can also check the log files mentioned in the URL. Don’t forget to remove your installation media when prompted.

Summary

Hopefully, one of the two methods mentioned above was able to fix this issue for you.