Gentoo wont boot after kernel upgrade (grub problem)

[EzMe]

Hi all,

I've got a weird problem with my gentooserver after upgrading my kernel with genkernel. For some reason it wont boot anymore. When i try to boot it says:

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Grub loading Stage1.5
Grub loading, please wait...

Then grub hangs up indefinetely.

So, i booted from a gentoo liveCD, setted up my network and sshd and logged into it. After that:

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swapon /dev/sda2
mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/gentoo 
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/gentoo/boot 
mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc 
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev
cp -L /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/gentoo/etc/resolv.conf

then chroot to the system"

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chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash 
env-update 
source /etc/profile 
export PS1="(chroot) $PS1" 

After that i updated /etc/mtab sinds Grub needs this:

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cp /proc/mounts /etc/mtab

My partitiontable:

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(chroot) livecd / # fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 33.8 GB, 33820286976 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4111 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x277b277a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1           5       40131   83  Linux
/dev/sda2               6          37      257040   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3              38        4111    32724405   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table
(chroot) livecd / # 

After that i tried reinstalling Grub:

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(chroot) livecd grub # grub-install /dev/sda
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Installation finished. No error reported.
This is the contents of the device map /boot/grub/device.map.
Check if this is correct or not. If any of the lines is incorrect,
fix it and re-run the script `grub-install'.

(fd0)	/dev/fd0
(hd0)	/dev/sda
(hd1)	/dev/sdb
(chroot) livecd grub # 

When i did a "ls -al /boot/grub" i noticed there was not grub.conf nor a menu.lst so i tried installing it by hand:

(/boot is on sda1)

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grub
grub> root (hd0,0)
 Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83

grub> setup (hd0)
 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
 Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
 Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)"...  17 sectors are embedded.
succeeded
 Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hd0)1+17 p (hd0,0)/boot/grub/stage2
/boot/grub/menu.lst"... succeeded
Done.

grub> quit

but still no menu.lst nor grub.conf. So i made my own:

menu.lst:

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default 0
timeout 15
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title Gentoo Linux 2.6.34-gentoo-r6
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-2.6.34-gentoo-r6 root=/dev/sda3
initrd /boot/initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6

after that:

ln -s menu.lst grub.conf

and rebooted but still the same problem.

I also used a clean CFLAG and recompiled Grub with:

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CFLAGS="-O2 -march=i686 -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe" emerge grub

as stated here: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/h ... stall-auto

After that i ofc installed grub again with:

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grub-install --no-floppy /dev/sda

Still the same problem...

Here is the content of my /boot:

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(chroot) livecd / # ls -l /boot
total 31482
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       0 Sep 22 14:58 Regenerating
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1272275 Jul 12  2009 System.map-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1272275 Jul 12  2009 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1354903 Feb 28  2010 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1444884 Sep 22 18:00 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root       1 May 23  2007 boot -> .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2715888 Jul 11  2009 bzImage-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   91255 Jul 12  2009 config-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    1024 Sep 23 12:39 grub
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    1024 Aug 19 14:32 grub.old
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3209774 Jul 12  2009 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3189625 Feb 28  2010 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3415722 Sep 22 18:51 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 kernel-2.9.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2799456 Feb 28  2010 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3155008 Sep 22 18:00 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
drwx------ 2 root root   12288 May 23  2007 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 vmlinuz-2.6.29-gentoo-r5

I got nu more clue's where to look for next. Anybody willing to help?

Thanks in advance!

Grtz EzMe

[EzMe]

I also tried the suggested options stated here: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-691704.html Still the same probs...

[jetboo]

Hi, did you try to

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e2fsck /dev/sda1

before mounting it when you chrooted ?
Maybe its a file system corruption ?

[EzMe]

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livecd ~ # e2fsck /dev/sda1
e2fsck 1.40.8 (13-Mar-2008)
/dev/sda1: clean, 76/10040 files, 33648/40128 blocks
livecd ~ # 

Looks all ok

btw i also wiped my MBR with:

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dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=446 count=1

and reinstalled grub.. still noting :/

[Randy Andy]

Hi EzMe.

It seems that the root cause was that the automatism of genkernel, if it was started with --bootloader=grub (or it is activated into genkernel.conf) shreddered your grub / grub.conf.
You don't submit your fstab. Did it mount your /boot partition everytime?
Otherwise you have to mount it manually before starting genkernel with the --bootloader=grub option.

You also did not post the content of your /boot/grub directory, so i have to shot in the dark a little.

Beside of this it seems to me that you have done nearly everthing right, aside one little thing, not shure if it's responsible for your trouble.

You did this:

ln -s menu.lst grub.conf

which is not correct or not default for gentoo (but default for most of the others distros out there, but in my opinion only gentoo did it right and consistent to the other conf. schemes )

The grub.conf is the real file, and the menu.lst is the symbolic link which points to it, so you have to reverse it:

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ln -s grub.conf menu.lst

If you want try a minimal solution, change only this, and repeat the grub-setup in the grub-shell in the same way you have done, and retry.
If this doesn't work for you, do exactly this, and i'm pretty shure it will work for you:

Delete all files into your /boot direytory except for the kernels, System.map and initramfs you will need further.
Delete all files into your /boot/grub directory except the grub.conf and the menu.lst
Really all others, all your old grub.old directories, and especially the boot -> . links and so on.

You can reinstall grub easier without chrooting into your system using this way:
Boot your Live-CD and then do excactly this don't append /boot to the mentioned path this time, cause we only mount the target partition for your grub:

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mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/gentoo
grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/gentoo /dev/sda1

then do again what you did

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grub 
grub> root (hd0,0) 
 Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83 

grub> setup (hd0) 
 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes 
 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes 
 Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes 
 Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)"...  17 sectors are embedded. 
succeeded 
 Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hd0)1+17 p (hd0,0)/boot/grub/stage2 
/boot/grub/menu.lst"... succeeded 
Done. 

grub> quit

Reboot / retry

Eventually you have to correct your kernel boot line, if it is not fully right (real_root...)
but your main problem should be fixed then.

Much success, Andy.[/quote]

[EzMe]

Hi Randy Andy,

Thanks for you reply.

Hi EzMe.

It seems that the root cause was that the automatism of genkernel, if it was started with --bootloader=grub (or it is activated into genkernel.conf) shreddered your grub / grub.conf.
You don't submit your fstab. Did it mount your /boot partition everytime?
Otherwise you have to mount it manually before starting genkernel with the --bootloader=grub option.

Im pretty sure i mounted my /boot partition before compiling my kernel. I compiled it like this btw:

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genkernel --bootloader=grub all

You did this:

ln -s menu.lst grub.conf

which is not correct or not default for gentoo (but default for most of the others distros out there, but in my opinion only gentoo did it right and consistent to the other conf. schemes )

The grub.conf is the real file, and the menu.lst is the symbolic link which points to it, so you have to reverse it:

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ln -s grub.conf menu.lst

If you want try a minimal solution, change only this, and repeat the grub-setup in the grub-shell in the same way you have done, and retry.

Good notice! I tried it the other way around but that didn;t seem to fix my problem. So im gonna try your other option.

If this doesn't work for you, do exactly this, and i'm pretty shure it will work for you:

Delete all files into your /boot direytory except for the kernels, System.map and initramfs you will need further.
Delete all files into your /boot/grub directory except the grub.conf and the menu.lst
Really all others, all your old grub.old directories, and especially the boot -> . links and so on.

/boot looks now like:

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(chroot) livecd boot # ls -al
total 31554
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root    1024 Sep 24 14:10 .
drwxr-xr-x 20 root root    4096 Mar 26 13:02 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Sep 24 03:35 .keep
-rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Sep 22 14:58 Regenerating
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1272275 Jul 12  2009 System.map-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1272275 Jul 12  2009 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1354903 Feb 28  2010 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1444015 Sep 23 23:56 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2715888 Jul 11  2009 bzImage-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   91255 Jul 12  2009 config-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    5120 Sep 24 14:13 grub
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3209774 Jul 12  2009 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3189625 Feb 28  2010 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3401991 Sep 24 00:45 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 kernel-2.9.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2799456 Feb 28  2010 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3154656 Sep 23 23:56 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
drwx------  2 root root   12288 May 23  2007 lost+found
-rw-------  1 root root   79360 Sep 24 02:00 map
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 vmlinuz-2.6.29-gentoo-r5

/boot/grub:

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(chroot) livecd boot # cd grub
(chroot) livecd grub # ls -al
total 7
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 5120 Sep 24 14:13 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 1024 Sep 24 14:10 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  728 Sep 24 04:01 grub.conf
(chroot) livecd grub # 

to make sure i didn;t mount any wrong drives i left my chrooting system:

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(chroot) livecd grub # exit 
exit
livecd ~ # umount /mnt/gentoo/boot /mnt/gentoo/dev /mnt/gentoo/proc /mnt/gentoo 
livecd ~ # df -h
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                 251M   17M  234M   7% /
/dev/sr0              689M  689M     0 100% /mnt/cdrom
/dev/loop0            590M  590M     0 100% /mnt/livecd
udev                   10M  188K  9.9M   2% /dev
tmpfs                 251M  4.0M  247M   2% /mnt/livecd/lib/firmware
tmpfs                 251M     0  251M   0% /mnt/livecd/usr/portage
tmpfs                 251M   23M  228M  10% /boot

and did like you asked me to do:

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livecd ~ # mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/gentoo
livecd ~ # grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/gentoo /dev/sda1
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Installation finished. No error reported.
This is the contents of the device map /mnt/gentoo/boot/grub/device.map.
Check if this is correct or not. If any of the lines is incorrect,
fix it and re-run the script `grub-install'.

(fd0)	/dev/fd0
(hd0)	/dev/sda
(hd1)	/dev/sdb
livecd ~ # 
grub 
grub> root (hd0,0) 
 Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83 

grub> setup (hd0) 
 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes 
 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes 
 Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes 
 Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)"...  17 sectors are embedded. 
succeeded 
 Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hd0)1+17 p (hd0,0)/boot/grub/stage2 
/boot/grub/menu.lst"... succeeded 
Done. 

grub> quit
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
livecd ~ # 

Reboot / retry

But that brought me at a GrubCLI. After checking where things went wrong, i noticed that the grub-installer made a /boot dir in the /boot dir where it could not find the kernel files ofc.

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(chroot) livecd grub # pwd
/boot/boot/grub
(chroot) livecd grub # 

Im gonna do some more puzzling Thanks for the help sofar!

[EzMe]

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Grub loading Stage1.5
Grub loading, please wait... 

Is what i keep getting... i think i rebooted the server now for like 122 times and i gotta run up and down the stairs to get the LiveCD working again Damn.. never knew gentoo would be good for my weight

[Randy Andy]

Hi EzMe,

i'm still missing your fstab, which grub version and filesystem you are using for sda1 (i guess ext2, but what does you enter into fstab, which is not relevant at boot time). Some more ideas to help resolving your problems.

1. - what happens if you comment out the splashimage line into your grub.conf, does it work then, cause the picture file yould be broken?

2. - how big is your sda1 (boot) partition, and how old is your bios. Old bioses has a capacity limitation, and could boot only from (8/20/who don't know)GB big first partions. (i guess your boot partition is 40MB big, so this should not be the problem here)

3. - eventually you have to reformat your boot partion only, and reinstall grub as you did, copy back your saved kernel files and grub.conf and menu.lst before.

No more ideas this time...

So i look forward to here good news from you

[krinn]

/boot looks now like:

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(chroot) livecd boot # ls -al
total 31554
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root    1024 Sep 24 14:10 .
drwxr-xr-x 20 root root    4096 Mar 26 13:02 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Sep 24 03:35 .keep
-rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Sep 22 14:58 Regenerating
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1272275 Jul 12  2009 System.map-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1272275 Jul 12  2009 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1354903 Feb 28  2010 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1444015 Sep 23 23:56 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2715888 Jul 11  2009 bzImage-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   91255 Jul 12  2009 config-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    5120 Sep 24 14:13 grub
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3209774 Jul 12  2009 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3189625 Feb 28  2010 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3401991 Sep 24 00:45 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 kernel-2.9.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.29-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2799456 Feb 28  2010 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.31-gentoo-r10
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3154656 Sep 23 23:56 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
drwx------  2 root root   12288 May 23  2007 lost+found
-rw-------  1 root root   79360 Sep 24 02:00 map
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2715888 Jul 12  2009 vmlinuz-2.6.29-gentoo-r5

/boot/grub:

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(chroot) livecd boot # cd grub
(chroot) livecd grub # ls -al
total 7
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 5120 Sep 24 14:13 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 1024 Sep 24 14:10 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  728 Sep 24 04:01 grub.conf
(chroot) livecd grub # 

Sorry, it's bad:

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ls /boot/grub 
default        grub.conf         reiserfs_stage1_5  stage2.old
device.map     iso9660_stage1_5  splash.xpm.gz      ufs2_stage1_5
e2fs_stage1_5  jfs_stage1_5      stage1             vstafs_stage1_5
fat_stage1_5   menu.lst          stage2             xfs_stage1_5
ffs_stage1_5   minix_stage1_5    stage2_eltorito

if you can't handle the /boot partition and the /boot directory (we're brainless sometimes), gentoo won't kill you from doing that
umount /boot
echo "nothere" > /boot/DONT_USE_ME

lol, i will award the most lame tip with that one

[EzMe]

Hi EzMe,

i'm still missing your fstab, which grub version and filesystem you are using for sda1 (i guess ext2, but what does you enter into fstab, which is not relevant at boot time).

Sorry bout that Here we go:

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(chroot) livecd / # grub --version
grub (GNU GRUB 0.97)

Btw.. i also tried booting from grub2. The kernel seemed to boot but it gave me another error:

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::Activating mdev
::Determing root device
line 513: blkid: not found
Could not find the root block device in UUID=ablahblahblah
::Please specify another value or: press Enter for the same, type "shell" for a shell, or "q" to skip.

I checked with blkid to make sure it was using the right ID but still it gave me this error. Could that imply that there aint an error in the boot partition but in hda3?

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# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# noatime turns off atimes for increased performance (atimes normally aren't
# needed; notail increases performance of ReiserFS (at the expense of storage
# efficiency).  It's safe to drop the noatime options if you want and to
# switch between notail / tail freely.
#
# The root filesystem should have a pass number of either 0 or 1.
# All other filesystems should have a pass number of 0 or greater than 1.
#
# See the manpage fstab(5) for more information.
#

# <fs>                  <mountpoint>    <type>          <opts>          <dump/pass>

# NOTE: If your BOOT partition is ReiserFS, add the notail option to opts.
/dev/hda1               /boot           ext2            defaults,noatime        1 2
/dev/hda2               none            swap            swap            0 0
/dev/hda3               /               ext3            noatime         0 1
/dev/cdrom              /mnt/cdrom      auto            noauto,user     0 0
/dev/sda                /home/big       auto            noatime         0 0
#/dev/fd0               /mnt/floppy     auto            noauto          0 0

# glibc 2.2 and above expects tmpfs to be mounted at /dev/shm for
# POSIX shared memory (shm_open, shm_unlink).
# (tmpfs is a dynamically expandable/shrinkable ramdisk, and will
#  use almost no memory if not populated with files)
shm                     /dev/shm        tmpfs           nodev,nosuid,noexec     0 0
proc                    /proc           proc            nodev,nosuid,noexec     0 0

All looks good if you ask me.

1. - what happens if you comment out the splashimage line into your grub.conf, does it work then, cause the picture file yould be broken?

I tried that also.. didn't work

3. - eventually you have to reformat your boot partion only, and reinstall grub as you did, copy back your saved kernel files and grub.conf and menu.lst before.

Yups, I guess so. Let's see how far we get

I loled at krinn Some mistakes can be so small there are hardly noticed

[EzMe]

OK, i reformatted my /boot partition and reinstalled grub but still having the same problem.

new info looks like this:

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(chroot) livecd / # fdisk -l 

Disk /dev/sda: 33.8 GB, 33820286976 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4111 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1           5       40131   83  Linux
/dev/sda2               6          37      257040   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3              38        4111    32724405   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table

Code: Select all

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# noatime turns off atimes for increased performance (atimes normally aren't
# needed; notail increases performance of ReiserFS (at the expense of storage
# efficiency).  It's safe to drop the noatime options if you want and to
# switch between notail / tail freely.
#
# The root filesystem should have a pass number of either 0 or 1.
# All other filesystems should have a pass number of 0 or greater than 1.
#
# See the manpage fstab(5) for more information.
#

# <fs>                  <mountpoint>    <type>          <opts>          <dump/pass>

# NOTE: If your BOOT partition is ReiserFS, add the notail option to opts.
/dev/hda1               /boot           ext2            defaults,noatime        1 2
/dev/hda2               none            swap            swap            0 0
/dev/hda3               /               ext3            noatime         0 1
/dev/cdrom              /mnt/cdrom      auto            noauto,user     0 0
/dev/sda                /home/big       auto            noatime         0 0
#/dev/fd0               /mnt/floppy     auto            noauto          0 0

# glibc 2.2 and above expects tmpfs to be mounted at /dev/shm for
# POSIX shared memory (shm_open, shm_unlink).
# (tmpfs is a dynamically expandable/shrinkable ramdisk, and will
#  use almost no memory if not populated with files)
shm                     /dev/shm        tmpfs           nodev,nosuid,noexec     0 0
proc                    /proc           proc            nodev,nosuid,noexec     0 0

/boot

Code: Select all

total 7867
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root    1024 Sep 27 14:46 .
drwxr-xr-x 20 root root    4096 Mar 26  2010 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1444015 Sep 27 14:22 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    1024 Sep 27 14:24 grub
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3401991 Sep 27 14:22 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3154656 Sep 27 14:23 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
drwx------  2 root root   12288 Sep 27 14:12 lost+found

/boot/grub

Code: Select all

total 231
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   1024 Sep 27 14:24 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root   1024 Sep 27 14:46 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    197 Sep 27 14:18 default
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     45 Sep 27 14:18 device.map
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   8692 Sep 27 14:18 e2fs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7820 Sep 27 14:18 fat_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7088 Sep 27 14:18 ffs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    271 Sep 27 14:26 grub.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7088 Sep 27 14:18 iso9660_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   8676 Sep 27 14:18 jfs_stage1_5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      9 Sep 27 14:20 menu.lst -> grub.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7292 Sep 27 14:18 minix_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   9684 Sep 27 14:18 reiserfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  33856 Sep 27 14:24 splash.xpm.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    512 Sep 27 14:18 stage1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 107808 Sep 27 14:18 stage2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7344 Sep 27 14:18 ufs2_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   6692 Sep 27 14:18 vstafs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   9524 Sep 27 14:18 xfs_stage1_5

grub.conf

Code: Select all

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

title Gentoo Linux 2.6.34-gentoo-r6
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6 root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc real_root=/dev/sda3
initrd /boot/initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6

fdisk -l:

Code: Select all

(chroot) livecd grub # fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 33.8 GB, 33820286976 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4111 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1           5       40131   83  Linux
/dev/sda2               6          37      257040   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3              38        4111    32724405   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table

*note sda = IDE, sdb = SATA

[P.Kosunen]

Code: Select all

/dev/hda3               /               ext3            noatime         0 1

grub.conf

Code: Select all

kernel /boot/kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6 root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc real_root=/dev/sda3

Hda in fstab, but Sda in grub.conf?

[Randy Andy]

Yepp,

that's why i want to take a look at fstab.

EzMe, please correct all dev/hda lines to sda, and the sda line to sdb ift this is your second hard drive with /home/big mount point and retry!

Regards, Andy.

[EzMe]

Hmm.. you guys allmost gave me hope

I changed my /etc/fstab like this:

Code: Select all

/dev/sda1               /boot           ext2            defaults,noatime        1 2
/dev/sda2               none            swap            swap            0 0
/dev/sda3               /               ext3            noatime         0 1

/dev/cdrom              /mnt/cdrom      auto            noauto,user     0 0

/dev/sdb                /home/big       auto            noatime         0 0

shm                     /dev/shm        tmpfs           nodev,nosuid,noexec     0 0
proc                    /proc           proc            defaults                0 0

Reinstalled grub checked the configs and rebooted.

But still.. you feel it comming now.. it doesn't boot Same problem.

More info:

/boot:

Code: Select all

(chroot) livecd boot # ls -al
total 7946
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root    1024 Sep 27 21:31 .
drwxr-xr-x 20 root root    4096 Mar 26  2010 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Sep 27 20:58 .keep
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1444015 Sep 27 14:22 System.map-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       1 Sep 27 15:20 boot -> .
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    1024 Sep 27 21:14 grub
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3401991 Sep 27 14:22 initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3154656 Sep 27 14:23 kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6
drwx------  2 root root   12288 Sep 27 14:12 lost+found
-rw-------  1 root root   79360 Sep 27 16:14 map

/boot/grub

Code: Select all

chroot) livecd grub # ls -al
total 338
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   1024 Sep 27 21:14 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root   1024 Sep 27 21:31 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    197 Sep 27 21:14 default
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     45 Sep 27 21:01 device.map
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   8692 Sep 27 21:14 e2fs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7820 Sep 27 21:14 fat_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7088 Sep 27 21:14 ffs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    643 Sep 27 21:03 grub.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7088 Sep 27 21:14 iso9660_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   8676 Sep 27 21:14 jfs_stage1_5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      9 Sep 27 21:00 menu.lst -> grub.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7292 Sep 27 21:14 minix_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   9684 Sep 27 21:14 reiserfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  33856 Sep 27 21:00 splash.xpm.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    512 Sep 27 21:14 stage1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 107912 Sep 27 21:14 stage2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 107912 Sep 27 21:00 stage2_eltorito
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   7344 Sep 27 21:14 ufs2_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   6692 Sep 27 21:14 vstafs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   9524 Sep 27 21:14 xfs_stage1_5
(chroot) livecd grub # 

grub.conf:

Code: Select all

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

title Gentoo Linux 2.6.34-gentoo-r6
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6 root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc real_root=/dev/sda3
initrd /boot/initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.34-gentoo-r6

fdisk -l

Code: Select all

(chroot) livecd boot # fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 33.8 GB, 33820286976 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4111 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0fbadbe8

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1           5       40131   83  Linux
/dev/sda2               6          37      257040   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3              38        4111    32724405   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table
(chroot) livecd boot # 

Code: Select all

(chroot) livecd / # lspci 
00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 645xx (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge (AGP)
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS963 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 04)
00:02.1 SMBus: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961/2 SMBus Controller
00:02.3 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] FireWire Controller
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE]
00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Sound Controller (rev a0)
00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.2 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller
00:04.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet (rev 91)
00:07.0 RAID bus controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3512 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller (rev 01)
00:08.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV28 [GeForce4 Ti 4200 AGP 8x] (rev a1)

[EzMe]

http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wiki/WindowsErasesGrub didn't fix it eather..

[krinn]

show that please

Code: Select all

file -s /dev/sd*

[EzMe]

Code: Select all

livecd ~ # file -s /dev/sd*
/dev/sda:  x86 boot sector; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, stage2 address 0x2000, stage2 segment 0x200; partition 2: ID=0x82, starthead 0, startsector 80325, 514080 sectors; partition 3: ID=0x83, starthead 0, startsector 594405, 65448810 sectors, code offset 0x48
/dev/sda1: x86 boot sector; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, 1st sector stage2 0x9041, code offset 0x48
/dev/sda2: Linux/i386 swap file (new style) 1 (4K pages) size 64259 pages
/dev/sda3: x86 boot sector, LInux i386 boot LOader
/dev/sdb:  Linux rev 1.0 ext3 filesystem data (needs journal recovery) (large files)
livecd ~ # 

[Randy Andy]

Hi EzMe.

Here are the same info from two different of some of my gentoo-boxes for comparison.

Code: Select all

netbook andy # file -s /dev/sda*
/dev/sda:  x86 boot sector; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, stage2 address 0x2000, stage2 segment 0x200; partition 1: ID=0x83, starthead 32, startsector 2048, 40960000 sectors; partition 2: ID=0x83, starthead 254, startsector 40962048, 40960000 sectors; partition 3: ID=0x83, starthead 254, startsector 81922048, 228612096 sectors; partition 4: ID=0x82, starthead 254, startsector 310534144, 2045952 sectors, code offset 0x48, OEM-ID "      м", Bytes/sector 190, sectors/cluster 124, reserved sectors 191, FATs 6, root entries 185, sectors 64514 (volumes <=32 MB) , Media descriptor 0xf3, sectors/FAT 20644, heads 6, hidden sectors 309755, sectors 2147991229 (volumes > 32 MB) , physical drive 0x7e, dos < 4.0 BootSector (0x0)
/dev/sda1: x86 boot sector; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, 1st sector stage2 0x204cb38, code offset 0x48
/dev/sda2: x86 boot sector; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, 1st sector stage2 0x3187810, code offset 0x48
/dev/sda3: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data (needs journal recovery) (extents) (large files) (huge files)
/dev/sda4: Linux/i386 swap file (new style) 1 (4K pages) size 255743 pages Label swap
netbook andy # exit

vdr1 ~ # file -s /dev/sd*
/dev/sda:  x86 boot sector, LInux i386 boot LOader; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, stage2 address 0x2000, stage2 segment 0x200; partition 1: ID=0x83, starthead 1, startsector 63, 29543472 sectors; partition 2: ID=0x83, active, starthead 254, startsector 29543535, 28676025 sectors; partition 3: ID=0x83, starthead 254, startsector 58219560, 562821210 sectors; partition 4: ID=0x82, starthead 254, startsector 621040770, 4096575 sectors, code offset 0x48
/dev/sda1: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data (needs journal recovery) (extents) (large files) (huge files)
/dev/sda2: x86 boot sector; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, 1st sector stage2 0x24efc7f, code offset 0x48
/dev/sda3: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data (needs journal recovery) (extents) (large files) (huge files)
/dev/sda4: Linux/i386 swap file (new style) 1 (4K pages) size 512070 pages
/dev/sdb:  x86 boot sector; partition 1: ID=0x83, starthead 1, startsector 63, 398283417 sectors, code offset 0xb8
/dev/sdb1: Linux rev 1.0 ext3 filesystem data (needs journal recovery) (large files)
/dev/sdc:  x86 boot sector; partition 1: ID=0x83, starthead 1, startsector 63, 1465144002 sectors, code offset 0xb8
/dev/sdc1: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data (needs journal recovery) (extents) (large files) (huge files)
vdr1 ~ # 

For your information of my drive layout. None of my boxes has a seperate boot partition, but everyone contains two different systems (one on sda1, second one on sda2) which i can boot from with its own boot loader. The both grub bootloaders are connected via chainloader. I prefer this layout for my own, that's why i'm not so experianced in using a seperate boot partition.

Nevertheless it seems wrong to me, that your sda3 contains a bootloader, cause its your root partition.
If none has a better idea, i guess you should move your needed files / system / kernels to free space on sdb. Then reformat / partitioning the whole drive to your needs, and copy back your files to the newly created directories.
Then reinstall / configure grub again.

Good luck, Andy

[EzMe]

Thanks for your advice Andy! I donno where to go from here nether anymore. I kinda had the same thing in mind as you. Thanks again, i learned alot of this!

[Randy Andy]

No problem EzMe.

Please let us know if you are successfull in solving this problem.

'til then,

Andy.

[EzMe]

Hehehe i completely removed all partitions, formatted the disk reinstalled gentoo and guess what... same problem I donno.. it must the a hardware issue then. I might wanna change the disk where it's on.