[SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

pjox · 2012-08-14 07:06:21

I just upgraded the GRUB as described in the archwiki.

But when I restarted the computer I got Error 15 while loading GRUB, so it doesn't even load the GRUB, I cannot do anything.

I have an old Archlinux cd, the one before the lastone, what can I do?

Last edited by pjox (2012-08-16 03:47:00)

jasonwryan · 2012-08-14 07:38:08

Boot from the live image and fix your menu.lst (or whatever the Grub2 config is called). Error 15 is pretty straightforward.

Moving to Newbie Corner.

pjox · 2012-08-14 07:49:30

And how I boot from the live image and fix your menu.lst? Sorry if I'm asking obvious things, I've never actually interacted with the grub config files before...

Zancarius · 2012-08-14 08:15:32

Stick your installation medium into the drive and boot to that. If the disc you have is dated, fixing grub2 might be tricky but chrooting can help.

You'll want to go back through the upgrade or installation process for grub 2. As I suspected, if you're getting error 15 after "upgrading" to grub 2, you probably forgot something. In other words, the old grub-legacy bootloader is still in the MBR, so you very likely skipped the grub-install step (adjust for whether you're using an EFI or legay BIOS system).

pjox · 2012-08-15 04:56:21

I'm using a BIOS system as far as I know. I tried to get the grub legacy back and know I have GRUB 0.97 again, the problem is that I was not able to get my old configuration back and when I try to load the kernel it shows error 15 again... I think I messed it because I chose the wrong sda when I tried to upgrade it in the first place.

Anyway, is there an easy way to solve this or is it better to install the whole system again? And what does error 15 means?

Thank you in advance for your answers. Right now I do not have acces to the computer, so I'll try to work on this tomorrow and post more details so that you can have a better idea of how the config files and the rest of the stuff look like...

Thanks.

pjox · 2012-08-15 05:05:17

Sorry Zancarius, I hadn't read your workaround before... Would that work even if I have the GRUB legacy now and it is showing the error15 as well?

Lennie · 2012-08-15 07:17:38

Reinstall Grub in mbr. Grub looks for a file on an exact sector at the hard drive. If that file is saved on another place, even if that's also in /boot/grub, Grub can't find it. When you (re)install Grub in mbr, Grub will be told where to look for that file. (I think it's stage1_5 or stage2 for Grub legacy, I don't remember which file Grub2 is looking for.)

pjox · 2012-08-15 21:15:26

How do I know which is the correct partition? is it sda0?

pjox · 2012-08-15 21:48:35

which is the equivalent in arch linux of the command:

dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc

jasonwryan · 2012-08-15 21:55:04

pjox wrote:

which is the equivalent in arch linux of the command:
dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc

Have you read the wiki page? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Grub#Configuration

pjox · 2012-08-15 22:14:58

Yeah I have read it, but my arch disk is old so it does not have GRUB2 as far as I know, and to be honest I'm not even sure which grub I have because when I boot it says grub 0.97.

So I don't know if that actually works.

jasonwryan · 2012-08-15 22:18:03

0.97 is legacy grub https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB_Legacy

cfr · 2012-08-16 00:17:12

Even if you've installed grub2, you should be able to use the old media to fix the issue since you're booting in BIOS mode. At least, I think so. Once you've chrooted, it would be the system's grub you'd be using, right? Whether it is legacy or 2...

[If you were booting in EFI mode, it would be a different story. But you're not so you don't have that problem!]

Zancarius · 2012-08-16 01:03:28

pjox wrote:

Yeah I have read it, but my arch disk is old so it does not have GRUB2 as far as I know, and to be honest I'm not even sure which grub I have because when I boot it says grub 0.97.
So I don't know if that actually works.

As cfr said, if you chroot, you should be able to install it (again) without trouble.

Other posters (including myself) have pointed out that your problem appears to be that when you attempted to update to grub2, you didn't do so completely. Thus, grub-legacy still remained in your MBR. Read the GRUB wiki entry again, follow the steps from grub-install onwards (for BIOS systems), and be sure to run grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg when you're done to regenerate the config.

Arch doesn't have anything completely analogous to dpkg-reconfigure because it's assumed that system operators know enough about the software they're installing to reconfigure it themselves or can search the wiki. Personally, I find it to be a Debianism that gets in the way of developing a better understanding of how the software works "under the hood."

lilsirecho · 2012-08-16 01:20:42

Perhaps the procedure I used to generate grub2-bios will solve your dilemma.

First, chroot into your system.

Run pacman -S grub2-bios.

This should call for removing grub legacy...answer yes. Wait for grub2-bios install complete with no errors.

Then perform : grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grubcfg and wait for the response.

Then do: grub-install /dev/sd(x) to install the grub2-bios to MBR.

EDIT: Don't forget to run............ mkinitcpio -p linux

Reboot

Last edited by lilsirecho (2012-08-16 01:53:11)

pjox · 2012-08-16 03:21:46

It is not letting me chroot, I get "chroot: cannot run command '/bin/bash': Exec format error", and yes I'm using the same architecture.

pjox · 2012-08-16 03:46:16

I'm installing the whole system again, I need this computer working now.

Anyway, thank you for your help.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-08-14 07:06:21

[SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#2 2012-08-14 07:38:08

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#3 2012-08-14 07:49:30

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#4 2012-08-14 08:15:32

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#5 2012-08-15 04:56:21

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#6 2012-08-15 05:05:17

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#7 2012-08-15 07:17:38

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#8 2012-08-15 21:15:26

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#9 2012-08-15 21:48:35

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#10 2012-08-15 21:55:04

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#11 2012-08-15 22:14:58

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#12 2012-08-15 22:18:03

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#13 2012-08-16 00:17:12

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#14 2012-08-16 01:03:28

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#15 2012-08-16 01:20:42

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#16 2012-08-16 03:21:46

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

#17 2012-08-16 03:46:16

Re: [SOLVED]Error 15 on GRUB2 upgrade.

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