Grub Error Collection [Part 8] [POST GRUB QUESTIONS HERE!]

sixmind80 · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 31

wow great details. thanks i think i understand it more now, but should take a little bit more time to take in all those info ;p

so if i want to use grub, my best bet is keep reinstalling grub on mbr everytime i reinstall windows? is this what most people do? i did some reading from google and other various linux forums about how they should not install grub on mbr to avoid this problem from beginning. but now, i'm beginning to think how's that going to help the situation. can you tell me the advantages of having a separate /boot? and why some people chose not to install grub on mbr?

i mean, if i were to install grub on mbr, i wouldn't have needed to have a separate /boot partition would i?

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject:

sixmind80,

Well, you could just stop reinstalling windows, then theres no problem :)

The origins of the /boot partition are from the history of the PC too. Every now and again, hard drives get bigger than BIOSes can completely read.
This first happened when drives reached 528Mb. As the BIOS needs to be able to read many of the files involved in booting, the solution was to create a small partition (/boot) at the start of the drive, to keep all the files needed to boot. the full history lesson is at tldp.org in the Large Drive HOWTO.

As you can have at most, one bootloader in the MBR, you can't win. If you choose to use ntldr, when you reinstall Windows, it will lose the grub boot sector file from C:\. If you use grub, windows installs will overwrite grub on the MBR it.

I would choose to use grub and boot with the liveCD to reinstall it every time you reinstall Windows.

If you use a system with two hard drives, you can have one bootloader per drive and swap between them by choosing which drive to boot from.
You can, but don't have to, have one drive for Windows and one for Linux but thats not required.

About the only reason I can think of not to install grub on the MBR is beacise you have a selection of operating systems installed and grub cannot boot them all. Under such circumstances, you may need to use grub as a 'secondary' boot loader, where its started by the primary boot loader. Much as it can be, if you use ntldr to start grub on a Windows/Linux install.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

sixmind80 · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 31

sixmind80 · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 31

oh...one more thing, when creating the logical volume, what's the command to to create lv with the size taking the rest of the partition?
so say you have 15Gb total partition, then you create 2 lv with 5G each, then the third lv will use up the rest of the space..

Slippery Jim · Apprentice Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Posts: 264

Just noticed that grub gets compiled as a 32 bit app on my amd64 arch. Is there some reason it can't be a native 64 bit app? I hate having x86 emul libs pulled in, just to get 32 bit ncurses support in grub, and it kind of sucks on a general philisophical level too.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 2:20 pm Post subject:

Slippery Jim,

You may use grub-static if you prefer. Its still 32 bit.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

Slippery Jim · Apprentice Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Posts: 264

Thanks. I suppose that's an option. I guess it would be more appropriate for me to ask the grub people why it's 32 bit only.

guyr · Apprentice Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 237

Well, remember your AMD64 initially boots up in 32-bit mode so that it is compatible with the 99.999% of the x86 market that is *not* running in 64-bit mode. The loader for your 64-bit OS is what knows it can run in 64-bit mode, and switches the CPU at that time. So that's why grub needs to stay 32-bit mode. I can't foresee a time when this will go away, seeing as today's CPUs still have the ability to run DOS 1.0 from 1981.
_________________
Guy Rouillier

guyr · Apprentice Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 237

I have a Toshiba AMD Turion X2 laptop. I run the AMD64 version of Gentoo. I use System Commander to handle multi-boot, so I install grub into the boot partition: sda5. Works fine until emerge --update pulls in a grub update. The last two times that happened (yesterday is the latest), the laptop boots via System Commander, but attempting to boot Gentoo goes to grub, which spews binary garbage. I have to pull out the LiveCD, chroot, emerge grub then "grub-install /dev/sda5". Then I'm back in business.

Obviously, this is a nuisance. I also use System Commander on a 32-bit system and this doesn't happen. Any clue why this is happening on the laptop, and how I can prevent it in the future? I suppose I could permanently mask the grub package, but that seems harsh.

Thanks.
_________________
Guy Rouillier

sixmind80 · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 31

neddy,

can you explain why when /boot partition is active, windows installer would not load? in fact, xp will not load, and vista would load but can't install. all these problems would go away once /dev/hda1 de-activated and windows partition re-activated. and the mbr is not modified yet at this time.

thanks

rivitir · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 105

I've installed grub before without issue, and I've done it the same way every time, but for some reason this time grub won't display the splash screen or boot my kernel. Every time I boot my computer grub goes straight to it's command line and then I have to type:

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject:

rivitir,

You have the missing symlink
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

rivitir · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 105

Thanks NeddySeagoon, I did remember reading that post but I must have had a brain fart because I didn't think it applied to my issue.
Thanks for your assistance.

m_0_r_0_n

WARN: postinst
*** IMPORTANT NOTE: you must run grub and install
the new version's stage1 to your MBR. Until you do,
stage1 and stage2 will still be the old version, but
later stages will be the new version, which could
cause problems such as an unbootable system.

Where do I find the installation guide for the newest stage??? I read this warning by accident. The warning "could cause problems such as an _unbootable_ sytem" makes me angry. This should never happen!

Thomas B

desultory · Bodhisattva Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Posts: 9410

Merged the above post.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 5:46 pm Post subject:

sixmind80,

Windows is fussy about having its C:\ flagged bootable.
Linux doesn't care
Some BIOSes need exactly one partition on the boot drive to be flagged as bootable

I've not seen a BIOS yet that would refuse to boot Linux from a partition not marked as bootable.
It follows that you should mark the windows parition bootable and check booting both OS.

Sight of your grub.conf may be useful too.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

grizzly000 · n00b Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

Hi 2 all!
I have problem with evms and grub

# less boot/grub/grub.conf

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

title=gentoo 2.6.23
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/linux-2.6.23-r9 root=/dev/evms/root ramdisk=8192
initrd (hd0,0)/evms-2.5.5-initrd.gz

# ls -al boot/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 20 2007 .keep
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1 May 5 16:53 boot -> .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3148526 May 7 14:47 evms-2.5.5-initrd.gz
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 May 13 17:12 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3142968 May 13 17:11 linux-2.6.23-r9
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3267640 May 12 18:30 linux-2.6.24-r7
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3376824 May 5 21:08 linux-2.6.24-r7_old
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3404088 May 8 20:39 linux-2.6.24-r7_old_2
drwx------ 2 root root 12288 May 5 16:08 lost+found

Configuration EVMS:
hdc1,hdd1 -> md0 -> /dev/evms/boot
hdc2,hdd2 -> md1 -> /dev/evms/swap
hdc3,hdd3 -> md3 -> /dev/evms/root, /dev/evms/usr, /dev/evms/var, /dev/evms/home

# less /usr/src/linux-2.6.23-gentoo-r9/.config | grep INIT
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD=y
CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE=""
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM=y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM_COUNT=16
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM_SIZE=4096
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM_BLOCKSIZE=1024
# CONFIG_NVRAM is not set
CONFIG_RAMFS=y

When boot i have thise messages:
RAMDISK: Compressed image found at block 0
VFS: Mounted root fs (ext2fs)......
..............
VFS: Cannot open root device "evms/root" or unknow block
..............
Kernel panic - not syncing:VFS:unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (2,0)

maybe is it my mistake: hdc3,hdd3 -> md3 -> /dev/evms/root, /dev/evms/usr, /dev/evms/var, /dev/evms/home?

flacvest · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:36 pm Post subject: First Boot error...

Hello All!!!

I have an error upon booting my new install. I used genkernel, and my the three values spat out by the command in the guide are:

/boot/initramfs-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.24-gentoo-r8
/boot/kernel-2.6.24-gentoo-r8
/boot/kernel-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.24-gentoo-r8

when grub loads genkernel, it gets to the mdev and complains

>> Activating mdev
ls: : No such file or directory
>> Determining root device ...
!! Block device /dev/sda2 is not a valid root device ...
!! Could not find the root block device in .

Please specify another value or: press Enter for the same, type "shell" for a shell, or "q" to skip...
root block device () ::

WT* does this mean? Did I set up or install grub/grub.conf incorrectly??? I am BRAND new to Gentoo, have a year of Xubuntu/Ubuntu under my belt, hate Hardy because it broke my system, and WANT to "step up" to a better brand of Linux, so here I am, I just know I made some elementary and foolsih error or something and I am clueless as to what to do next.

Here's my partitioning scheme:

Primary /dev/sda1 ext3 /boot bootable flag set
Primary /dev/sda2 ext2 /
Primary /dev/sda3 swap swap (at end of drive via GParted)
Extended /dev/sda4 -- -- (houses all logical partitions)
Logical /dev/sda5 ext2 /tmp
Logical /dev/sda6 ext2 /var/tmp
Logical /dev/sda7 xfs /usr
Logical /dev/sda8 xfs /var
Logical /dev/sda9 xfs /usr/portage
Logical /dev/sda10 xfs /usr/portage/distfiles
Logical /dev/sda11 xfs /opt
Logical /dev/sda12 xfs /vault

Primary /dev/sdb1 xfs /home

:oops:

_________________
.:{flacvest}:.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:30 pm Post subject:

flacvest,

I suspect that genkernel made you r kernel with SATA support missing and your hard drives are either /dev/hd... or not present.
Please boot the CD or some other Linux and post the output of the lspci command. That will show us your hardware so we can check your kernel setup.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

Erlend · Guru Joined: 26 Dec 2004 Posts: 493

flacvest

root@sysresccd /root % lspci
00:00.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP55 Memory Controller (rev a1)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP55 LPC Bridge (rev a2)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation MCP55 SMBus (rev a2)
00:01.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP55 Memory Controller (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP55 USB Controller (rev a1)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP55 USB Controller (rev a2)
00:04.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP55 IDE (rev a1)
00:05.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP55 SATA Controller (rev a2)
00:05.1 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP55 SATA Controller (rev a2)
00:06.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP55 PCI bridge (rev a2)
00:06.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP55 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
00:08.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP55 Ethernet (rev a2)
00:0f.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP55 PCI Express bridge (rev a2)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CMI8788 [Oxygen HD Audio]

I
_________________
.:{flacvest}:.

flacvest · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject: contents of grub.conf...

default 0
timeout 30
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title Gentoo Linux 2.6.24-r8
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.24-gentoo-r8 root=/dev/ram0 init=linux$
initrd /boot/initramfs-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.24-gentoo-r8

-------------

So I should remove the /boot?? from the kernel line and the initrd line?
_________________
.:{flacvest}:.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject:

flacvest,

These are your hard drive chip sets

flacvest

Hi (Thanks _so_ much for the help you guys)

Neddy, I don't have SATA_NV in my "/mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config" file. Does that mean I should reconfigure the kernel? If so whereabouts in the Handbook is that info located, or do you know some shorthand (i.e. command) to get it in there?

I apologize for being so uselessly lost, but this is my first experience with the guts of Linux... but I'm so eager to make it happen I can taste it!

BTW I have the pretty splash screen! LOL

:oops:

_________________
.:{flacvest}:.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:51 pm Post subject:

flacvest,

Get back into your chroot and rebuild your kernel.
Check these options in the kernel setup, except in the