Problem
Fedora 42 Workstation features a new “webUI” installer front-end. Compared to the old GTK interface, it currently misses the option to select which disk a bootloader will be installed onto (which only affects systems in BIOS mode, where bootloader needs to be installed to the disk; it doesn’t affect systems in UEFI mode).
When booting the installer in BIOS mode and when having multiple drives, the installer will insist that the bootloader (the biosboot partition on GPT drives) must be installed to the first available drive, or, in some cases, it might even crash during installation.
Note: GTK version of the installer (which is present on all other install images except Fedora 42 Workstation) are not affected by this problem.
Cause
Fedora 42 Workstation features a new web-based front-end for the installer (called “Anaconda webUI”). Not all features are yet supported, and bootloader selection is one of them. This should be implemented in future releases.
Related Issues
Bugzilla report: 2352573 – Can't choose a bootloader device, crash when biosboot partition is on the second one
Bugzilla report: 2359710 – bootloader setup to a second MBR drive crashes
Workarounds
If possible, boot the installer in UEFI mode and not BIOS mode. The issue is not present there.
If you need to use BIOS mode, and you need to install Fedora to a different drive than the first one, use the Change destination button and only select just the one drive that Fedora should be installed to. In such a case you can install Fedora including the bootloader to that drive, even if it’s not the first one. If you can choose (e.g. an empty drive), prefer GPT partition table over MBR.
If you need to install Fedora to multiple drives (i.e. a multi-disk layout), and the bootloader should be on a non-first drive, then you must use the GTK version of the installer. You can download the Network Installer (Everything netinst) install image, that allows you to install any Edition or Spin.