Arch Linux

Hendrix

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 11

"Error loading OS"

I'm currently using Windows. This is because I just cannot get Arch to work. Ubuntu installed fine, so did Kororaa (live-cd-install). But with Arch it just doesn't work!

Partitioning works fine, installing packages, kernel etc. And I install a bootloader, however... when I try to boot it doesn't work! There's a message telling me that there was an "Error loading OS". I reckon this has something to do with the installation of the bootloader (grub), or the configuration file. Perhaps the hard-drive names are different with SATA? "sda" instead of "hda"?

I've gotten arch to work several times before, on a laptop. I'm now using a stationary PC, with AMD64. Could anyone help me?

elasticdog

Member

From: Washington, USA

Registered: 2005-05-02

Posts: 995

Website

Re: "Error loading OS"

I believe that you are correct; you should be using <code>sda</code> instead of <code>hda</code>.  Also, can you post your <code>menu.lst</code> file and partition setup?

Hendrix

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 11

Re: "Error loading OS"

Alright, elasticdog. I will try installing arch again, this time using "sda" as harddrive name. I'll post again once I get it up and running, should it work...

Hendrix

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 11

Re: "Error loading OS"

I've gotten GRUB to work now. My partition table looks as follows:

sda1 /boot    [primary]
sda5 /swap   [logical]
sda6 /          [logical]
sda7 /home  [logical]
sda3 NTFS    [primary]

I can boot windows with grub, but I can't boot arch, apparently. There must be something wrong with my grub config, because I can't boot that partition.

After installing arch, I only changed one thing to the "# (0) Arch Linux" section. I changed whatever you call it to this (instead of the normal hd0,0):

hd0,5

When I try to boot the arch partition using GRUB, there's an error message.

"Error 15
File not found"

Before that comes up, it says it has found the partition. Is the kernel missing?

Lone_Wolf

Forum Moderator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 11,958

Re: "Error loading OS"

The error is probably in your menu.lst
iirc the example config doesn't work when there is a separate boot partition.

menu.lst with a separate boot partition needs something like this :

kernel vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda6
initrd initrd26.img

---

Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

(A works at time B)  && (time C > time B ) ≠  (A works at time C)

elasticdog

Member

From: Washington, USA

Registered: 2005-05-02

Posts: 995

Website

Re: "Error loading OS"

In your case, <code>(hd0,5)</code> points to your <code>/</code> (root) directory, which is the correct value for the "root" line in your <code>menu.lst</code> .  However, since you do have a separate <code>/boot</code> partition, GRUB needs that information on the lines where you are pointing to the kernel (because the kernel isn't just under (hd0,5)...

Therefore, you'll have to add a specifying partition to the beginning of your lines...something like this should get you going:

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux  [/boot/vmlinuz26]
root   (hd0,5)
kernel (hd0,0)/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/hda6 ro
initrd (hd0,0)/initrd26.img

In case it helps, I too have a separate <code>/boot</code> partition.  My <code>menu.lst</code> and partition scheme file look like this for the stock kernel:

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux  [/boot/vmlinuz26]
root   (hd0,6)
kernel (hd0,0)/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/hda7 ro
initrd (hd0,0)/initrd26.img

Filesystem    Type    Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda1     ext2     92M   11M   77M  12% /boot
/dev/hda6 reiserfs    3.9G  202M  3.7G   6% /var
/dev/hda7 reiserfs     23G  8.9G   15G  39% /
/dev/hda8 reiserfs     46G  1.7G   45G   4% /home

Hendrix

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 11

Re: "Error loading OS"

Lone_Wolf, you're right, the error lies in the menu.lst, however, what you said was already there. elasticdog, I actually didn't know that the kernel took residence in /boot! I will have another go at arch linux now, I strongly believe this will work. I also checked out the menu.lst Ubuntu gave me after a fresh install, and there too it points to the boot partition, so, I'll report within hours of (hopeful) success.