Grub Error Collection [Part 5]

[jmbsvicetto]

NeddySeagoon has already told you that you should use grub-install --no-floppy /dev/hda or grub --no-floppy.

I overlooked NeddySeagoon’s response initial post; my bad.
Inputting

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(chroot) livecd grub # grub-install /dev/had –no-floppy

gives me the same errors as before:

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end request: I/O error. dev fd0, sector 0 
end request: I/O error. dev fd0, sector 0 
end request: I/O error. dev fd0, sector 0 
Buffer I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0

Please use the proper syntax. You should use grub-install --no-floppy /dev/hda and not grub-install /dev/hda --no-floppy.

Oh and here is what my /boot looks like:

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(chroot) ls /boot
2.6.16 bzImage grub lost+found

Please post the contents of /etc/fstab and the output of fdisk -l and ls -l /boot.

[Drone4four]

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(chroot) fdisk -1

Disk /dev/hda: 8-GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9726 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes


	Device Boot	Start	End	Blocks		Id	System
/dev/hda1	*	    1	 5	  40131		  83	  Linux
/dev/hda2		    6	 249	 1959930	   83	 Linux
/dev/hda3		  250	9729   76148100	   83	  Linux

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(chroot) ls -l boot
total 4065
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2064876 Jun 20 18:11 2.6.16
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2064876 Jun 22 01:07 bzImage
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    1024 Jun 23 01:27 grub
drwx------  2 root root   12288 Jun 19 18:13 lost+found

Please use the proper syntax. You should use grub-install --no-floppy /dev/hda and not grub-install /dev/hda --no-floppy.

Both syntaxes produce the sam error messages as before.

Regarding my fstab: it's very messy and untidy and I don't know why. The columns don't exist, so it's hard even from me to read. I'm going to type it all out which will take some time. Give me half and hour to type out my fstab. =D

[Drone4four]

Here is what my fstab looks like

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tmpfs /newroot tmpfs rw 0 0
/dev/hdc /newroot/mnt/cdrom iso660 ro 0 0 
/dev/loop/0 /newroot/mnt/livecd squashfs ro 0 0
proc /newroot/proc proc rw,nodiratime 0 0
udev /newroot/sys sysfs rw 0 0
devpts /newroot/dev/pts dev[ts rw 0 0
tmpfs /newroot/mnt/livecd/lib/firmware tmpfs rw 0 0
tmpfs /newroot/mnt/livecd/usr/portage tmpfs rw 0 0
/dev/hda3 /newroot/mnt/gentoo ext3 rw,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/hda1 /newroot/mnt/gentoo ext2 rw,nogripid 0 0
/dev/hda3 / ext3 rw, data=ordered 0 0
none /proc proc rw,nodiratatime 0 0
udev /dev tmpfs rw,nosuid 0 0
/dev/hda1 /boot ext2 rw,nogrpid 0 0

Uh, why is it such a disaster?

[NeddySeagoon]

Drone4four,

A few things looking over your recent posts.default 0

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timeout 20
splashimage=(hd0,0)

title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.16
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/2.6.16 root=/dev/hda3

Is not correct because you gave no splashinage filemane. That will cause Error 15 too.

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default 0
timeout 20

title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.16
root (hd0,2)

kernel /boot/2.6.16 root=/dev/hda3

Is better, the splashimage line is gone but now your root (hd0,2) is not correct. This statement tells grub where to find its files and is not related to the kernels root=/dev/hda3. Again, you get Error 15 but for a different reason.

Looking at your /boot and your grun.conf together

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-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2064876 Jun 20 18:11 2.6.16
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2064876 Jun 22 01:07 bzImage
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    1024 Jun 23 01:27 grub
drwx------  2 root root   12288 Jun 19 18:13 lost+found

there are two issues.
Your /boot is missing a recursive symbolic link

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boot -> .

which is essential to booting from a real partition.

Lets expand your

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root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/2.6.16 root=/dev/hda3

The hd0,2 is not correct but the second line expanda to be

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kernel (hd0,2)/boot/2.6.16 root=/dev/hda3

Which means on the boot partition look for a direcrory called boot (which you don't have) and inside that dir a kernel file called 2.6.16.

So ... fix your root (hd.... statement.
Fix the recursive symlink, or remove the excess /boot then you can get past your Error 15 to your next problem.

[paulposition]

Ciao Neddy

Can you post the output of

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ls -l /mnt/gentoo/boot

taken after booting the live CD and mounting your filesystems please?
Thats your /boot. Providing you have no IDE hard drives nor any USB storage devices attached your grub.conf looks about right.

it's this

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livecd ~ # ls -l /mnt/gentoo/boot
total 4878
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1095393 Jun 22 16:50 System.map-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.16-gentoo-r9
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       1 Jun 22 16:17 boot -> .
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    1024 Jun 22 17:38 grub
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1588377 Jun 22 16:56 initramfs-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.16-gentoo-r9
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2271806 Jun 22 16:50 kernel-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.16-gentoo-r9
drwx------  2 root root   12288 Jun 22 16:13 lost+found

Exactly when do you get the error ?
Before or after the grub splash screen loads?
Before or after you select your kernel to load?

I've got this error after I select my kernel to load

[NeddySeagoon]

paulposition,

Your grub.conf, from your first post. contains:-

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

title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.16
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-2.6.16-gentoo-r9 root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 real_root=/dev/sda3 udev
initrd /boot/initramfs-genkernel-amd64-2.6.16-gentoo-r9 

and your /boot contians

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-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1588377 Jun 22 16:56 initramfs-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.16-gentoo-r9
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2271806 Jun 22 16:50 kernel-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.16-gentoo-r9 

These filenames must be identical in /boot and in grub.conf, although that normally gets you an Error 15.

Please check that the information you are providing is accurate, thats why copy and paste is preferred over copy typing.
If you have changed your grub.conf since your first post, we need to see your /boot and your grub.conf as they both were when your error occured.

[Drone4four]

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default 0
timeout 20

title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.16
root (hd0,0)

kernel /boot/2.6.16 root=/dev/hda3

My grub.conf:
(1) with my root variable set to (hd0,0),
(2) a default 0 variable,
(3) with no splashimage
still produces error 15. NeddySeagoon also suggested I add a symbolic link inside my /boot. It's unclear to me what NeddySeagoon is trying to say. For example in the Handbook, there is talk once of adding a symbolic link while installing Gentoo (at step 6.a code listing 3). I don't know what it means to fix the recursive symlink?

The hd0,2 is not correct but the second line expanda to be

Let's clarify. NeddySeagoon, are you trying to say that I need to add (hd0,2) after kernel but before /boot/2.6.16 in my grub.conf?

NeddySeagoon, could you also please fix some of your grammar because I am really confused. I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to have all this clarified in order to get Gentoo functioning.

[jmbsvicetto]

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(
/dev/hda1	*	    1	 5	  40131		  83	  Linux
/dev/hda6		    6	 249	 1959930	   83	 Linux
/dev/hda3		  250	9729   76148100	   83	  Linux

I don't know how well Linux will handle this. Your /dev/hda6 partition doesn't seem to be a valid partition.
Partitions 1-4 must be either primary or extended. You can only have one extended partition. Partitons 5-16/whatever are logical partitions that reside inside an extended partition. Your /dev/hda6 doesn't reside inside any extended partition.

[Drone4four]

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(
/dev/hda1	*	    1	 5	  40131		  83	  Linux
/dev/hda6		    6	 249	 1959930	   83	 Linux
/dev/hda3		  250	9729   76148100	   83	  Linux

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[/quote]
I don't know how well Linux will handle this. Your [i]/dev/hda6[/i] partition doesn't seem to be a valid partition.
Partitions 1-4 must be either primary or extended. You can only have one extended partition. Partitons 5-16/whatever are logical partitions that reside inside an extended partition. Your [i]/dev/hda6[/i] doesn't reside inside any extended partition.[/quote]jmbsvicetto,  my fault again.  That hda6 is a typo on this message board and not on the i386 I''m owrking whichy is sitting right next to me.  I corrected the error.

=D

[NeddySeagoon]

Drone4four,

Either change your grub.conf like this

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default 0
timeout 20
title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.16
root (hd0,0)

kernel /2.6.16 root=/dev/hda3

Notice the /boot has been removed from the kernel line,

Or, inside your /boot make a symbolic link

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ln -s . boot

Its called recursive because it points to itself. This link allows the /boot to be used inside grub.conf, even if its not needed.

[Drone4four]

The

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ln -s boot

sounded good until I rebooted. I now get:

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Error 26: Too many symbolic links

On the Grub website hosted by GNU.org reads as follows for error 26:

This error is returned if the link count is beyond the maximum (currently 5), possibly the symbolic links are looped.

http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual ... ge2-errors

I'm now going to remove the /boot/boot symlink and modify my grub.conf accordingly.

Thanks NeddySeagoon for clarifying what you were trying to say.

[Drone4four]

Wow, removing "/boot" from my grub.conf is the best thing that ever happened to me. Special thanks goes out to NeddySeagoon, jmbsvicetto and filterpunk for their patient guidance through out my lengthy noobish troubleshooting session!

[filterpunk]

Wow, removing "/boot" from my grub.conf is the best thing that ever happened to me. Special thanks goes out to NeddySeagoon, jmbsvicetto and filterpunk for their patient guidance through out my lengthy noobish troubleshooting session!

I don't want to sound insulting, but honestly, read through the handbook more carefully next time. It covers all of this in fairly explicit detail (without going overboard), enough so that any newbie should be able to follow the steps and get Gentoo installed successfully. Case in point: I installed Gentoo for the first time a few days ago. The handbook, coupled with the excellent Gentoo Wiki, have been more invaluable than anything else.

That said, glad your install was finally successful (or so i'm inferring from your post).

[ncage]

Ok guys i just got done installing gentoo 2006.0 and grub is not likeing me. When i boot up i just get grub prompt. That is it. I can boot the machine from the grub prompt though. Here is my conf file:

default 0

timeout 10

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

title=Gentoo Linux

root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/firstkern root=/dev/hda2

Yes the boot partition is on /dev/hda1 and the root partition is on /dev/hda2. It really makes no sense because when i get the gurb prompt wheni reboot i can boot up my system using the same commands. I have tried to use what the op posted for this problem but it did not work. Any help would be appreciated.

[NeddySeagoon]

Drone4four,

The dot in

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ln -s . boot

is important. Its a reference th the current directory.

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emerge grub

makes this symbolic link, so I don't know why yours was missing.
This link allows the same grub.conf content to be used regardless of wether you have a real boot parttion or not.
The full explaination for that is further up this thread.

[NeddySeagoon]

ncage,

Your post suggests that grub cannot find grub.conf. It should be at /boot/grub/grub.conf.
You should also have a symbolic lining in /boot/grub menu.lst -> /boot/grub/grub.conf
The .lst is for .list not for .1st, its a lower case letter "L".

Was your /boot correctly mounted when your instaled grub and the kernel ?
Look in your /boot both with /dev/hda1 mounted and unmounted. /boot should be empty when /dev/hda1 is not mounted.

[ncage]

ncage,

Your post suggests that grub cannot find grub.conf. It should be at /boot/grub/grub.conf.
You should also have a symbolic lining in /boot/grub menu.lst -> /boot/grub/grub.conf
The .lst is for .list not for .1st, its a lower case letter "L".

Was your /boot correctly mounted when your instaled grub and the kernel ?
Look in your /boot both with /dev/hda1 mounted and unmounted. /boot should be empty when /dev/hda1 is not mounted.

Thanks for taking your time in replying. I appreciate your time.

First of all i don't understand why it can't find my grub.conf file. When it boots to the prompt when i reboot my computer i just type
1) root (hd0,0)
2) kernel /boot/firstkern root=/dev/dev/hda2
3) boot

and im able to boot up fine. I checked on the menu.lst symbolic file and its there too. WHen i boot up i use "df" to make sure my boot partition is mounted and it is. I would think if problems with my boot partition being loaded then i wouldn't be able to boot linux. I was going to try to start fresh and i tried a emerge -umerge grub and i got an error when i tried that. Do you have any idea what else i could try?

thanks

[jmbsvicetto]

Hi.

First of all i don't understand why it can't find my grub.conf file. When it boots to the prompt when i reboot my computer i just type
1) root (hd0,0)
2) kernel /boot/firstkern root=/dev/dev/hda2
3) boot
and im able to boot up fine.

Please boot your system, mount your /boot partition and post the output of the following

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# ls -l /boot
# ls -l /boot/grub

[ncage]

Hi.

First of all i don't understand why it can't find my grub.conf file. When it boots to the prompt when i reboot my computer i just type
1) root (hd0,0)
2) kernel /boot/firstkern root=/dev/dev/hda2
3) boot
and im able to boot up fine.

Please boot your system, mount your /boot partition and post the output of the following

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# ls -l /boot
# ls -l /boot/grub

/boot directory:
total 2170
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1 Jun 11 18:23 boot -> .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2197826 Jun 20 17:25 firstkern
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 Jun 24 22:30 grub
drwx------ 2 root root 12288 Jun 11 18:09 lost+found


/boot/grub directory
total 333
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 197 Jun 24 22:30 default
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 30 Jun 24 17:29 device.map
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8052 Jun 24 22:30 e2fs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7812 Jun 24 22:30 fat_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7060 Jun 24 22:30 ffs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 149 Jun 24 17:15 grub.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1624 Jun 23 18:12 grub.conf.sample
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7124 Jun 24 22:30 iso9660_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8544 Jun 24 22:30 jfs_stage1_5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Jun 24 17:36 menu.lst -> grub.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7252 Jun 24 22:30 minix_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9524 Jun 24 22:30 reiserfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 33856 Jun 23 18:12 splash.xpm.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 Jun 24 22:30 stage1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 105512 Jun 24 22:31 stage2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 105512 Jun 23 18:12 stage2_eltorito
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7336 Jun 24 22:30 ufs2_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6708 Jun 24 22:30 vstafs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9372 Jun 24 22:30 xfs_stage1_5

[NeddySeagoon]

ncage,

That looks good. How did you install grub?
If you gave it the wrong root (hdx,y) It would not find your /boot during the boot process, then it could not read grub.conf.
The fix would be to reinstall grub on the MBR.

The only other thing I can think of is that there is a subtle syntax error very early in grub.conf that does not show here.
rename you grub.conf and make a new one.

[ncage]

ncage,

That looks good. How did you install grub?
If you gave it the wrong root (hdx,y) It would not find your /boot during the boot process, then it could not read grub.conf.
The fix would be to reinstall grub on the MBR.

The only other thing I can think of is that there is a subtle syntax error very early in grub.conf that does not show here.
rename you grub.conf and make a new one.

WOOOHOOO I GOT IT WORKING . YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!! ))I have no idea why this worked but i just deleted grub.conf and rewrote it with everything i had in it before and its not working. Ok on to my next question. I then changed grub.conf so my video resolution would be 1024x768 and the screen is working but the resolution doesn't look anywhere near 1024x768. The resolution from the Live CD is a lot higher. I even tried 0x31B but it still lookes in the same. I went to the kernel and compiled in framebuffer support and specifically added framebuffer support for nvidia cards. I have a geforce4 mx. Any ideas on this one?

thanks,
Ncage

[ncage]

ncage,

That looks good. How did you install grub?
If you gave it the wrong root (hdx,y) It would not find your /boot during the boot process, then it could not read grub.conf.
The fix would be to reinstall grub on the MBR.

The only other thing I can think of is that there is a subtle syntax error very early in grub.conf that does not show here.
rename you grub.conf and make a new one.

WOOOHOOO I GOT IT WORKING . YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!! ))I have no idea why this worked but i just deleted grub.conf and rewrote it with everything i had in it before and its not working. Ok on to my next question. I then changed grub.conf so my video resolution would be 1024x768 and the screen is working but the resolution doesn't look anywhere near 1024x768. The resolution from the Live CD is a lot higher. I even tried 0x31B but it still lookes in the same. I went to the kernel and compiled in framebuffer support and specifically added framebuffer support for nvidia cards. I have a geforce4 mx. Any ideas on this one?

thanks,
Ncage

Thanks guys but i got it working. I am using the nvidiafb driver instead and had to mess around with it a little bit but its working good now.

ncage

[paulposition]

paulposition,
Your grub.conf, from your first post. contains..... CUT..CUT..CUT
These filenames must be identical in /boot and in grub.conf, although that normally gets you an Error 15.
.....

sorry, i've made a mistake with cut&paste

i've recompiled the kernel with genkernel and following also the wiki howto for using gentoo with RAID controller and I've got the same error.
my grub.conf is:

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default 0
timeout 10
splashimage (hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Gentoo Linux
kernel (hd0,0)/kernel-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.15-gentoo-r5 root=/dev/ram0 real_root=/dev/mapper/sil_agafbgcaejca3 init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 dodmraid
initrd (hd0,0)/initramfs-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.15-gentoo-r5

ls -la /mnt/gentoo/boot is:

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-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1073027 Jun 26 11:46 System.map-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.15-gentoo-r5
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       1 Jun 23 17:43 boot -> .
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    1024 Jun 26 10:35 grub
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1841001 Jun 26 11:50 initramfs-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.15-gentoo-r5
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2242330 Jun 26 11:46 kernel-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.15-gentoo-r5
drwx------  2 root root   12288 Jun 23 17:38 lost+found

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ls -la /dev/mapper/
crw-rw----   1 root root  10, 62 Jun 26 11:58 control
brw-------   1 root root 254,  0 Jun 26 11:58 sil_agafbgcaejca
brw-------   1 root root 254,  1 Jun 26 11:58 sil_agafbgcaejca1
brw-------   1 root root 254,  2 Jun 26 11:58 sil_agafbgcaejca2
brw-------   1 root root 254,  3 Jun 26 11:58 sil_agafbgcaejca3
brw-------   1 root root 254,  4 Jun 26 11:58 sil_agafbgcaejca4

fdisk -l /dev/mapper/sil_agafbgcaejca

Disk /dev/mapper/sil_agafbgcaejca: 164.6 GB, 164695506944 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 20023 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

                       Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/mapper/sil_agafbgcaejca1   *           1          13      104391   83  Linux
/dev/mapper/sil_agafbgcaejca2              14        1010     8008402+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/mapper/sil_agafbgcaejca3            1011        4901    31254457+  83  Linux
/dev/mapper/sil_agafbgcaejca4            4902       20023   121467465   83  Linux

but also the same error:
Error 28 : Selected item cannot fit into memory

thanks a lot
ciao
Paul

[NeddySeagoon]

ncage,

The nvidiafb kernel option is incompatable with the binary nvidia driver for Xorg.
If you want frambuffer with an nvidia card you should use the vesa-tng or vesa frambuffer in the kerenl.

[NeddySeagoon]

paulposition,

Can you add mem=1024M to your kernel line and see if it will start ?
That tells the kerenl you only have 1Gb of memory.