HELP!! to edit grub.conf through knoppix?

illstrategies · n00b Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 4

hi i just installed 2.4/rev6, although ive f'd up my grub.conf file (typo error, nothing serious; its just annoying having to edit it at the gen2 splash)... and probably my fstab since i get an error midway thru boot process saying ROOT cannot be mounted, thus not being able to load my desktop (or anything else for that matter)

im using knoppix right now to write this thread, but i cant figure out how to get root access to edit my grub.conf and fstab? when i open up terminal to chroot (via su command), it says to me:

"chroot: cannot run command /bin/bash : no such file or directory"

im hoping this is a common problem and/or easy fix/solution... anyone out there have any help/ideas?

id sincerely thank/appreciate it since ive spent 1/2 days installing/configuring gentoo/linux

also.. im also a novice/"newbie" so layman/baby terms would be great/awesome

black hole sun · Apprentice Joined: 14 Aug 2004 Posts: 245

Do the following commands to get to your fstab. Change X to the partition number on which you installed Gentoo. Change Y to the partition number on which you installed /boot.

mkdir /mnt/gentoo
mount /dev/hdaX /mnt/gentoo
mount /dev/hdaY /mnt/gentoo/boot
mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc
chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
source /etc/profile
nano -w /etc/fstab
_________________
Running Slackware Linux (I no longer use Gentoo, but I still like this forum

)

illstrategies · n00b Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 4

nope, no luck... still stuck with this telling me about /bin/bash being non-existant while (trying to) chrooting

Griswold · Apprentice Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 212

Hello, there should be a special terminal called root-terminal or something under the knoppix menu. This will log u in with root access in which u may then procede to use black hole sun's commands. I am not sure exactly where it is, but it shouldnt be that hard to figure out, since i havent used knoppix in a while. The other option is to boot with the gentoo livecd and then you dont have to worry about the su command or sudo or anything since it automatically logs u in as root. You may use links on the livecd to view this post if u need help, or just write it down on paper.

illstrategies · n00b Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 4

much to my dismay, i looked at my mounted "root" partition while in knoppix jsut now and there are ZERO items in the folder. wtf i went step by step with the handbook and compiled the kernel, did this-that... took 2 days to finish this shyte and i get nothing. something must be seriously wrong, i think maybe some hacker bastard took advantage of my comp and erased everything?

ive heard so many good things about gen2... how great it is, how powerful your machine could be, how simple it is to upgrade.. but honestly this 2 day installation kills me. i want this OS but i dont want 2 have to suffer installing it for the 3rd time.. its giving me gray hairs. i might even switch back to win2k if i cant get it working this time.

does anyone have any pointers that arent included, or are obscure in the handbook to help along with this install? if so id appreciate the consideration alot

count_zero · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:26 pm Post subject:

You realize that you don't have to chroot to edit your grub.conf file, right? Make sure you know your partition layout (check out the output of "fdisk -l" if you're not sure, the one with the * is the bootable partition). Boot into knoppix or any other livecd, mount your BOOT partition (not root) to any mountpoint (/mnt/boot/ works just fine, be sure to make the directory first) and edit the file: