Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

username17 · 2011-11-17 22:24:10

All,

First post here. I appreciate any help you can offer.

I am having some problems when installing Arch Linux.

I am installing Arch on a brand new (3 days old) Toshiba SatelliteC655D-S5300 Laptop.
Hot sheet can be found at http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content … -S5300.pdf.

I was initially installing from 2011.08.19 x86_64 Core CD but someone suggested using the latest version.
Now I am installing from 2011.11.13 x86_64 CD burned at 4x (the slowest my burner can go).

I am able to complete all steps up to installing GRUB, but it fails to install.
During partitioning I receive a few errors and I believe this is contributing to the issue.

At first I tried automatic partitioning with 100mb boot, 1024mb swap, 10,000mb / and the rest of 320g for /home. Each partition is ext3 except /boot which is ext2.
During the automatic partitioning an error briefly occured: /usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-blockdevices-filesystems.sh: line 355: !((partition_flag)): command not found.

After speaking with a friend they suggested manually partitioning and using UUIDs instead.
1) So far I have removed all partitions, rebooted.
2) Partitioned using cFdisk. Bootable 100mb parition, 1024mb swap, 15,000mb primary (/), 3000mb logical (/var), and the rest 300949mb logical (/home).
3) Once I write the changes and quit I reboot.
4)I go back into the installer and complete steps 1-3.
5) Go to step 4 and and then manually configure block devices, file systems, or mount points.
6) I choose the option for uuid and hit ok.
At this point 3 error messages appear at the bottom:
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'part,' : not a valid identifier
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'type,' : not a valid identifier
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'label,' : not a valid identifier
(Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/OHRKo.jpg)

7) Next it prompts me to add the mount points for each partition set.
8) Select the partition, the mount point, it asks me for label and any additional opts for mkfs.ext3.
9) I leave the label and opts field blank. After selecting ok to the opts field I get the same 3 errors as above:
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'part,' : not a valid identifier
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'type,' : not a valid identifier
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'label,' : not a valid identifier
(Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/QqkSP.jpg)

I am able to successfully set a mount point and format each partition. But I receive the same set of 3 errors occur for each partition.

10) Once I complete the formatting I proceed to step 8, install bootloader.
It says Generating Grub device map.. This could take a while. Please be patient.
I receivieve the following error on this screen: /usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-blockdevices-filesystems.sh: line 355: !((partition_flag)): command not found.
(Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/B5j4K.jpg)

11) After the error displays it goes to the next screen, before installing grub you must review config file. etc.
12) I hit ok and then :q the config file. Is there a critical change in the config file that I'm missing?
13) After closing the file I select which the boot device where the GRUB bootloader will be installed. My only option is /dev/sda. I hit ok
Then I get the following 2 errors:
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-blockdevices-filesystems.sh: line 355: !((partition_flag)): command not found
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-blockdevices-filesystems.sh: line 355: !((partition_flag)): command not found
(Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/ol840.jpg)

13) Error installing GRUB. See /dev/tty7 for output. Ok
14) GRUB was NOT successfully installed. Ok

I checked out TTY7.
It shows the installer issuing the following commands in GRUB.
1) device (hd0,) /dev/sda
Error 12: Invalid device requested
2) root (hd0,0)
Filesystem type is extf2, partition type 0x83
3) setup (hd0,)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0,0)"... failed (this is not fatal)
Running "embed /grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0,0)"... failed (this is not fatal)
Running "install /grub/stage1 (hd0,0) /grub/stage2 p /grub/menu.lst "... succeeded
Done.
4) quit

I have tried rebooting from here and using the Arch CD to boot into the existing OS but it does not work.
I tried grub-install /dev/sda
I get Probing devices to check BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
/dev/mapper../dm-0 does not have any corresponding BIOS drive.

I have tried going into grub and issuing the same commands the install script did.
Same errors.

I'm afraid I don't have network access at the moment so I can't get a successful /arc/report-issues to run.
I hope I've included enough information to start the troubleshooting.

Let me know if I've missed anything!
Thanks in advance,
-Jason

Last edited by username17 (2011-11-17 22:37:56)

satanselbow · 2011-11-17 23:41:26

Looks like problems I was having with a GPT partitioned disk the other day...

Dude look it's midnight here and I'm off to bed

If your still struggling in the morning i'll look this thread up :*

Last edited by satanselbow (2011-11-17 23:41:50)

lilsirecho · 2011-11-18 00:24:17

Perhaps you are attempting to boot from a partition which is not an option in grub since your info does not install grub to sda1 for example but to the mbr.

AFAICT from wiki(very poorly defined) grub does not allow partitioned grub boot.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I did not find an option to install grub to any partition in the arch .iso for the latest version.

username17 · 2011-11-18 00:41:12

Hmm.

The auto-prepare was creating a 32 MB ext2 /boot partition.

I was replicating that by making the 1st partition 100mb and bootable formatted with ext2 and mounted to /boot.
Should I format it without specifying a mount point?

Here's my fstab after manually setting up the partitions.
http://i.imgur.com/nfewe.jpg

EDIT: Wiki says to make the 100mb ext2.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Of … ard_Drives
Look for "on your /dev/sdX1, make an ext2 filesystem with mountpoint /boot".

Last edited by username17 (2011-11-18 00:44:21)

lilsirecho · 2011-11-18 00:47:16

AFAICT you cannot install grub to a /boot partition. During the arch install grub steps there is no option for install grub to a partition....there was in kernel26 .iso but not in the linux .iso.

geckos · 2011-11-18 00:48:45

On step 6, if you choose dev, you receives the same error?

Can you confirm I aif if the partitions were formated with any filesystem, on tty6 or 7 should
appear the mkfs.FS lines..

Last edited by geckos (2011-11-18 00:51:08)

username17 · 2011-11-18 01:03:40

lilsirecho wrote:

AFAICT you cannot install grub to a /boot partition. During the arch install grub steps there is no option for install grub to a partition....there was in kernel26 .iso but not in the linux .iso.

I don't believe it is trying to install it to boot.

GRUB is being installed on /dev/sda.

/boot is dev/sda1

username17 · 2011-11-18 01:21:38

geckos wrote:

On step 6, if you choose dev, you receives the same error?
Can you confirm I aif if the partitions were formated with any filesystem, on tty6 or 7 should
appear the mkfs.FS lines..

Started over with partitioning.
Setup same partitions but on step 6 I chose Dev.
Got the same 3 errors.

I only tried UUID at the suggestion of a friend. dev was my first choice.

Tried grub again for the hell of it.
No change.

Regarding the mkfs, see screenshot of /dev/sda6 ext3 /home
http://i.imgur.com/E3uDL.jpg

geckos · 2011-11-19 03:26:36

There is no 2011.11.13 x86_64 on latest ftp page[1], where did you get it?

Do you have any problem with 08.19 image installation?

[1] ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/iso/latest/

David Batson · 2011-11-19 04:14:00

I could not partition my hard drive properly with the arch install disk. Same problem, grub would not install. You might want to try using something else to partition and format your hard drive prior to installing arch.

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=128300

lilsirecho · 2011-11-19 21:44:41

Your setup id's /dev/sda1 as the boot partition. If grub is installed in /dev/sda , it installs in the MBR. If you desire partitioned boot, AFAICT you cannot use grub which does not allow partitioned boot.

Please correct me if I am wrong and set me straight because the wiki on grub is poorly written with respect to partitioned boot.

satanselbow · 2011-11-19 22:45:24

username17 wrote:

I get Probing devices to check BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
/dev/mapper../dm-0 does not have any corresponding BIOS drive.

Your drive does not have an MBR to install grub to as it is a GPT disk - which is also not supported under the old GRUB.

You need to create a small partition at the very beginning of the drive (8MB is plenty) and set the "bios_grub" flag. ie the "BIOS drive" your error refers to.

You will then need to install the grub2-bios package following the chroot instructions on the grub2 wiki page here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB2#Installation

** Please note that I found the chroot mounts to be outdated - replace "/tmp/install" with "/mnt" **

Your alternative solution is to boot a gparted liveCD and prepare your disk as MBR - this will (most likely) destroy all existing data on the disk.

JokerBoy · 2011-11-19 23:23:02

Or you can try syslinux which doesn't require a small partition at the beginning of the drive and it's a lot easier to install than grub2.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-11-17 22:24:10

Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#2 2011-11-17 23:41:26

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#3 2011-11-18 00:24:17

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#4 2011-11-18 00:41:12

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#5 2011-11-18 00:47:16

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#6 2011-11-18 00:48:45

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#7 2011-11-18 01:03:40

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#8 2011-11-18 01:21:38

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#9 2011-11-19 03:26:36

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#10 2011-11-19 04:14:00

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#11 2011-11-19 21:44:41

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#12 2011-11-19 22:45:24

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

#13 2011-11-19 23:23:02

Re: Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

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