Arch Linux

jmak

Member

Registered: 2008-12-21

Posts: 453

I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

Hello,

I would like to restore grub to mbr.
This is what I have done so far.
I mounted the target partition into /mnt.
I arch-chroot-ed into /mnt
I issued the command: grub-install /dev/sda
I got the message: rm cannot remove /boot/grub/i386-pc/core.img: Operation not permitted

Could anyone help how to proceed?
Thanks.

Last edited by jmak (2012-10-07 22:15:14)

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gr … boot_files

dm_mod?

2ManyDogs

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2012-01-15

Posts: 4,646

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

How did you install grub the first time? Did you set the immutable flag on core.img when you installed grub? Did you issue this command:

# chattr +i /boot/grub/i386-pc/core.img

?

jmak

Member

Registered: 2008-12-21

Posts: 453

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

How did you install grub the first time? Did you set the immutable flag on core.img when you installed grub? Did you issue this command:

# chattr +i /boot/grub/i386-pc/core.img

?

Yes, I did because, the first time I installed grub in its own partition, rather than mbr.

2ManyDogs

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2012-01-15

Posts: 4,646

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

You will need to unset that flag. "immutable" means "don't allow this file to be changed or deleted."

# chattr -i /boot/grub/i386-pc/core.img

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

From man 1 chattr :

 A  file  with the `i' attribute cannot be modified: it cannot be deleted or renamed, no link can be created to this file and no data can be written to the file. 

jmak

Member

Registered: 2008-12-21

Posts: 453

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

You will need to unset that flag. "immutable" means "don't allow this file to be changed or deleted."

# chattr -i /boot/grub/i386-pc/core.img

How should I do that? Or you think it is better not to mess with grub and leave as it is now?

2ManyDogs

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2012-01-15

Posts: 4,646

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

Use the command in my post (the one you quoted). You set it with +i, so unset it with -i.

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-10-07 21:31:02)

jmak

Member

Registered: 2008-12-21

Posts: 453

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

Use the command in my post (the one you quoted). You set it with +i, so unset it with -i.

One more question before I go ahead and do that. After instlling grub:

# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck --debug /dev/sda

Do I still have to do:
# mkdir -p /boot/grub/locale
# cp /usr/share/locale/en\@quot/LC_MESSAGES/grub.mo /boot/grub/locale/en.mo

I already have done these when intalled arch at first time.

I already have the "locale" directory on my system.

Im asking these questions just to make sure I won't mess up my system.

2ManyDogs

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2012-01-15

Posts: 4,646

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

I'm not absolutely sure. I suspect you do not have to do those steps again if the directory exists and you ran the cp command.

Just so we're clear, I never promised that anything I recommended would not "mess up your system." But if it does, I'm sure WonderWoofy will be happy to help you fix it (And breaking things and fixing them is a learning opportunity)

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-10-07 21:51:01)

jmak

Member

Registered: 2008-12-21

Posts: 453

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

I'm not absolutely sure. I suspect you do not have to do those steps again if the directory exists and you ran the cp command.

Just so we're clear, I never promised that anything I recommended would not "mess up your system." But if it does, I'm sure WonderWoofy will be happy to help you fix it (And breaking things and fixing them is a learning opportunity)

Thanks for everybody the help.

Grub now, successfully installed in mbr.

One more question before I mark the thread solved.

Should I issue the: # chattr +i ... command to make the directory "immutable" again, or just leave as it is?

2ManyDogs

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2012-01-15

Posts: 4,646

Re: I ran into a glitch when trying to restore grub into mbr[SOLVED]

You can leave it unset. That command is not part of the instructions for installing grub to the mbr.

By the way, if you're wondering how I knew the answer to this question, I just did an Ixquick search on the exact error message you got, and I found a topic on another board that discussed how to fix it.