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Duminas
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:10 am    Post subject: Grub Error Collection [Part 8] [POST GRUB QUESTIONS HERE!] Reply with quote

Having a slight problem with bootup, recently. I had a desktop system from which I yanked the hard drive, and made it one huge partition for data (which sits in an external enclosure now). This disk was the main one in the desktop, and had Grub installed on it.

Now, my laptop also has Grub on its disk, and these two seem to not be playing along, for some bizarre reason. Specifically, if I try to boot the laptop with the external plugged in, I get the usual "Loading grub 1.5" message, with an IMMEDIATE:
Code:
Error 15


This error I've run into before, just usually after I try to boot one of my OS choices--typoing a kernel name is a good example of how I've caused that. Unfortunately, the error gives me no messages at all to try and debug it. Booting without the external plugged in works fine.

I'm thinking that removing Grub from the external disk will fix my issues, but I have no idea how to go about it, since I've not a Windows XP CD I can boot off of to `fdisk /mbr` (which is the way I've known to nuke it in the past). How might I be able to go about removing Grub from that disk, without using a Windows CD?

Thanks. ^^

Mod Edit
Moved open grub questions here Grub Error Collection [Part 8] [POST GRUB QUESGrTIONS HERE!],
unstuck Grub Error Collection [Part 7] [POST GRUB QUESGrTIONS HERE!]
stuck Grub Error Collection [Part 8]
NeddySeagoon


Locked, continued elsewhere. -- desultory
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g99
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi!

When the GRUB tries to boot it starts and then I get this message:
Code:


* Mounting proc at /proc ...        [oops]
* The "mount" comman failed with error:

line 27: mount: command not found

*Since this is a critical task, startup cannot continue.

Give root password for maintenance
(or type Control-D to continue):


OK,it's my fault, I did something wrong, but what and how should I fix?
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NeddySeagoon
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Duminas,

Booting with the external drive plugged in is changing the order in which your drives are recognised. The external hard drive gets a lower number than the internel drive you really want to boot from.

This is a BIOS feature. Unfortunately, setting the BIOS to boot of the next drive won't help as gub has some information embeded in its stage 1 and stage 1.5 at install time.

You need to set the BIOS to see the internal drives before external drives so the renumbering does not occur
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NeddySeagoon
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

g99,

If you have an initrd, its missing the mount command. Its also possible that your root= (or real_root=) points to the wrong partition, so that you have a mount command but its not on the partition that got mounted as the root filesystem.

Wilder guess - you got over enthusiastic with partitioning your system and made /sbin its own partition.
That would mean that none of /sbin (including mount) was on the root filesystem.
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NeddySeagoon
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

netcelli,

I moved your post to our grub collection

Code:
VFS: Cannot open root device "sdb3" or unknown-block(0,0=
means that the kernel is missing the low level drivers for your SATA.
You need to ensure you have SCSI Disk Support and the correct SATA driver from either the ATA submenu or the SCSI low level drivers submenu, depending on your kernel version. Genkernel does not always do it for you.

For your Windows problem, we need to see your grub.conf
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netcelli
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thk a lot and I'm very sorry to have posted here; I deleted the message when I realized when I didnt open a new topic :D

NeddySeagoon wrote:
netcelli,

I moved your post to our grub collection

Code:
VFS: Cannot open root device "sdb3" or unknown-block(0,0=
means that the kernel is missing the low level drivers for your SATA.
You need to ensure you have SCSI Disk Support and the correct SATA driver from either the ATA submenu or the SCSI low level drivers submenu, depending on your kernel version. Genkernel does not always do it for you.

For your Windows problem, we need to see your grub.conf
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

netcelli,

hehe. I wondered why your post had disappeared
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MixedSoul
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just solved an issue i had in grub that i didn't had with the previous partition table (new install due a dead HD)
i think i was using grub 0.96 and now i'm using 0.97 (which i believe has just been released).

My previous partition table:
Code:
hda1 --> vfat (music and stuff)
hda2 --> extended
       hda5-->boot
       hda6-->swap
       hda7-->root
hda3 --> vfat (more stuff)


and it worked with this grub.conf:
Code:
default 0
timeout 2
splashimage=(hd0,4)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/gentoo-2.6.21-r3 root=/dev/hda7 rootflags=data=writeback video=vesafb:mtrr:3,ywrap,1400x1050-32@60 splash=verbose,fadein,theme:fingerprint-bs quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1
initrd /boot/Fingerprint fbcon=scrollback:128K




Now i have this partition table:
Code:
hda1 --> extended
         hda5-->boot
         hda6-->swap
hda2--> root
hda3--> vfat (music and stuff)


and grub fails with with this grub.conf:
Code:
default 0
timeout 2
splashimage=(hd0,4)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/gentoo-2.6.21-r3 root=/dev/hda2 rootflags=data=writeback video=vesafb:mtrr:3,ywrap,1400x1050-32@60 splash=verbose,fadein,theme:fingerprint-bs quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1
initrd /boot/Fingerprint fbcon=scrollback:128K


but works with this grub.conf:
Code:
default 0
timeout 2
splashimage=/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,4)
kernel /gentoo-2.6.21-r3 root=/dev/hda2 video=vesafb:mtrr:3,ywrap,1400x1050-32@60 splash=verbose,fadein,theme:livecd-2007.0 quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1
initrd /Gentoo-2007 fbcon=scrollback:128K rootflags=data=writeback


Notice that i no longer need to/can make the filenames starting with '/boot/'
Am i doing something wrong? or it's something new to this version of Grub (0.97)?

PS.:I also had to create /boot/grub/menu.lst symlink manually!! any particular reason?

Thx in advance for the enlightenment :!:
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NeddySeagoon
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MixedSoul,

When you have a real boot partiton the /boot/ in the pathname is not required, its normally taken up with the symbolic link
Code:
boot -> .
which is boot pointing to itself.
This arrangement allows the same grub.conf to work regardless if boot is a partition or a directory of the root filesystem.

It sounds like none of your symlinks were made for some reason
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MixedSoul
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well... i've installed Gentoo a lot of times so when i'm reading the manual at each new install i don't pay as much attention to details as i probably should! (it's more like a guideline now).
So i must've overlooked something that caused this.. but i have no idea what it could be!

Anyway thanks for the enlightenment :)
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easyray
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:17 pm    Post subject: Grub error 17 on boot Reply with quote

I have a new software raid 10 configuration on 4 hard drives. Boot is a mirrored raid1 on 4 hard drives,hde,hdf,hdg,and hdh. The whole system was configured using evms. Boot is /dev/evms/boot. I built a grub floppy using grub.img. I can boot using the floppy by typing in "configfile (hd0,0)/boot/grub/grub.conf". If I try to boot without the floppy, I get a grub error 17, which means,grub cannot recognize the file system. Is there anyway around this obstacle?
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cyrillic
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Keep in mind that the BIOS, and therefore GRUB, can only understand your individual drives, and not the EVMS stuff.

When you install GRUB with a RAID1 /boot partition, you should install GRUB 4 times (once on each physical drive).
Code:
# grub
grub> root (hd0,0)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> root (hd1,0)
grub> setup (hd1)
grub> root (hd2,0)
grub> setup (hd2)
grub> root (hd3,0)
grub> setup (hd3)
grub> quit



EDIT :
If that isn't enough to get your machine to boot, then please post your grub.conf and the output of "fdisk -l".
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easyray
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:41 pm    Post subject: Grub error 17 on boot Reply with quote

Performed grub setup on all four drives and still grub error 17. Here is the output from fdisk -l and grub.conf:
Disk /dev/hde: 400GB, 40020664320 bytes
16 heads, 63 sectors/track,77545 cylinders
Units=cylinders of 1008 * 512=516096 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hde1 * 1 1040 524128+ 83 Linux
/dev/hde2 1041 1560 26280 82 Linux swap/Solaris
/dev/hde3 1561 77545 38296440 8e Linux Lvm

Disk /dev/hdf: 400GB, 40020664320 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track,4865 cylinders
Units=cylinders of 16065 * 512=8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdf1 * 1 65 522081 83 Linux
/dev/hdf2 66 98 265072+ 82 Linux swap/Solaris
/dev/hdf3 99 4865 38290927+ 8e Linux Lvm

Disk /dev/hdg: 400GB, 40020664320 bytes
16 heads, 63 sectors/track,77545 cylinders
Units=cylinders of 1008 * 512=516096 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdg1 * 1 1040 524128+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdg2 1041 1560 262080 82 Linux swap/Solaris
/dev/hdg3 1561 77545 38296440 8e Linux Lvm

Disk /dev/hdh: 400GB, 40020664320 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track,4865 cylinders
Units=cylinders of 16065 * 512=8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdh1 * 1 65 522081 83 Linux
/dev/hdh2 66 98 265072+ 82 Linux swap/Solaris
/dev/hdh3 99 4865 38290927+ 8e Linux Lvm


grub.conf

default 0
timeout 10
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splashimage.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.20-r8
root (hd0,0)
kernel /kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.20-gentoo-r8 root=/dev/ram0 ramdisk=8192 init=/linuxrc real_root=/dev/evms/root doevms2
initrd /initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.20-gentoo-r8
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desultory
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Merged the above three posts, formerly topic "Grub error 17 on boot".
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cyrillic
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:54 am    Post subject: Re: Grub error 17 on boot Reply with quote

easyray wrote:
Disk /dev/hde:
16 heads ...

Disk /dev/hdf:
255 heads ...

Disk /dev/hdg:
16 heads ...

Disk /dev/hdh:
255 heads ...

Uh-oh, I think you are having a harddrive geometry problem.

Most BIOSes expect the drives to be setup for 255 heads (LBA mode), and when you are doing RAID, you really want all the drives to match too.
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

easyray,

To add to what cyrillic said, the disk geometry is used by fdisk to round partition sizes so that they end on a cylinder bounday.
With differing geometries you will find it impossible to make identical partitions on the drives. In turn, that upsets mdadm.
When LBA is used, the myth of geometry is totally ignored, however its enforced by fdisk in case you want to install a 16 bit OS, like DOS or Windows <= windows 95. Thats unlikely.

Either fix your geometery - fdisk may be able to help or it may be jumper options or ignore geometry entirely and copy the same primary partition table to all 4 drives using dd. This will destroy your raids in the process. fdisk will kick and scream about partitions net beginning/ending on cylinder boundaries but you don't care.

You can only boot from unraided or raid1 space, since grub just ignores the raid.
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orangecakez
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 11:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay, so I have Gentoo working on my laptop fine. I used vanilla-sources and manually configured my kernel. Here is my grub.conf for that:

Code:
default 0
timeout 2
title=linux-2.6.20.7
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/linux-2.6.20.7 root=/dev/hda3


I only have one internal hard drive on the laptop.

Now I'm trying to install Gentoo on an external hard drive using vanilla-sources, but using genkernel for it, instead of manually configuring. Here is my grub.conf for that:

Code:
default 0
timeout 2
title=linux-2.6.20.7
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.20.7 root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 real_root=/dev/sda3 udev
initrd /boot/initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.20.7


But I get a mounting filesystem error or something.
I'm pretty sure a line in the grub.conf is wrong...what can it be? Maybe the (hd1,0)? Or something about the ram lines?

But this is just a test. What I am trying to do here is: Be able to boot this external hard drive on another computer that has Windows on it, so I can use Gentoo on that computer for a while. So that's why this is my first time using genkernel for the generic stuff so it will work on other computers too.
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

orangecakez,

You need to build up to this slowly. First add
Code:
title=linux-2.6.20.7
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.20.7 root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 real_root=/dev/sda3 udev
initrd /boot/initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.20.7
to your internal drives grub.conf and put the files kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.20.7 and initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.20.7 in the internals drive /boot too.
That will boot your external install from a kernel installed on your internal hard drive, except it probably won't.
I'm guessing that your external drive is USB.
genkernel will not make you a kernel that will boo from USB for several reasons.
1.) USB support needs to be built into the kernel, as you will use it to mount root. Putting it in your initrd fails because of the next problem.
Normally, the USB subsystem is not started until after root i mounted. Now, thats a problem if root is on USB.
2.) You need an extra kernel parameter rootdelay=<seconds> which makes the kernel continue to initialise hardware but wait <seconds> before attempting to mount root. values of seconds from 7 to 30 are reported to work.

Its never been clear to me that rootdelay= can work at all with an initrd, since you have two roots and applying it to the root=/dev/ram0 will not be effective.

The last problem is that many BIOSs, report the drive they boot from as (hd0) so you may find that your external drive becomes (hd0). Thats BIOS dependant, so you need to experiment.

The grub.conf you have may work if you add rootdelay=15 (say) to the kernel line.
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orangecakez
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another question, though: What if the internal hard drive only has Windows on it? And I want to boot Gentoo from the USB external HD, but I can't add the code you gave me to the internal, because the internal doesn't have GRUB (since it's Windows). How would I work about this then?
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

NeddySeagoon wrote:
The last problem is that many BIOSs, report the drive they boot from as (hd0) so you may find that your external drive becomes (hd0). Thats BIOS dependant, so you need to experiment.

As far as I know, all BIOSes do this (at least the ones that let you choose which drive to boot from).
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:58 am    Post subject: can`t load gentoo with grub.. Reply with quote

Ok, i install gentoo from minimal CD, and install grub (with dual-boot XP). Afret reboot, i see one black screen, with marker on left corner, and when press "enter" , load windows... so, whats wrong? 8O
p.s. I`ve used grub.conf before, and i think, is right.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

orangecakez,

You have two choices, you can use the Nt Bootloader to start grub, which will start GEntoo or you can tell your BIOs to boot from the USB drive (if the BIOs supports this)

The first option has a mini-HOTO for WindowsNT on www.tldp.org.
The second option requires some care in preparing your kernel and a kernel parameter. The default genkernel will not work.
You must add USB support and USB storage support as built into your kernel. They are needed to mount root.
The last wrinkle, is that USB is not normally started until after root is mounted. You need the rootdelay=<seconds> kernel parameter to ensure USB is up before root is mounted. rootdelay=15 is a good starting point.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Abyssos,

There is either an error in or before your grub.conf splashimage line or grun is failing to find the file at all,
possibly because of a missing menu.lst -> grub.conf symbolic link.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:10 pm    Post subject: cool Reply with quote

NeddySeagoon wrote:
Abyssos,

There is either an error in or before your grub.conf splashimage line or grun is failing to find the file at all,
possibly because of a missing menu.lst -> grub.conf symbolic link.


Thanks, i fix it, now is ok :)
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:16 pm    Post subject: (hd0,0) does not exist Reply with quote

I've installed grub, but when I try to boot I get error 21 "Selected disk does not exist." Right now I'm running grub through it's prompt. After typing 'root (' and using tab completion, it lists only fd0 and hd1 as possible disks, and root (hd0,0) throws error 21. (hd1, 0) is the only partition, and trying to boot from there results in "Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7" (which should be an old windows installation, so that doesn't surprise me).

My system has three harddrives: a non-raided IDE Maxtor 6L100P0 (/dev/hdf, it is set as the default boot drive in BIOS) and two other drives configured for raid0 (/dev/sda), but my filesystem is setup on the non-raided drive:

/dev/hdf1 (bootable) NTFS
/dev/hdf2 (extended)
/dev/hdf5 (bootable, boot partition ext2)
/dev/hdf6 (swap)
/dev/hdf7 (filesystem ext3)

When I installed grub for the first time, I used grub-install from the gentoo environment and it mapped the drives as follows:

(hd0) /dev/hdf
(hd1) /dev/sda
(hd2) /dev/sdb

But swapping the device mapping around didn't fix anything,...

Nothing I've tried has worked,... Shouldn't grub see (hd0,0)? Any ideas?

Edit: I just tried LILO, and it worked, but installed with a warning that 32-bit addressing was assumed (though my architecture is amd64). I'd still like to use grub, . . .
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