Arch Linux

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

[SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Hi,

just installed Arch. Everything went smoothly, except that I can't boot into Windows. Grubs either just stops with no error message or with either error 13 or 15.

I tried to include the map workaround, no success and used Grub Superdisc, didn't work either.

Here's my grub/menu.lst:

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

# (1) Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

And my fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information
#
# <file system>        <dir>         <type>    <options>          <dump> <pass>
none                   /dev/pts      devpts    defaults            0      0
none                   /dev/shm      tmpfs     defaults            0      0

/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom   iso9660   ro,user,noauto,unhide   0      0
/dev/dvd /mnt/dvd   udf   ro,user,noauto,unhide   0      0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/fd0   vfat   user,noauto   0      0
/dev/sda1 /tardis ext3 defaults 0 1
/dev/sdb2 / ext3 defaults 0 1
/dev/sdb5 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/sdb6 /home ext3 defaults 0 1

fdisk -l has the following result:

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1       11474    92160000    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2           11474       12933    11719417+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb3           12933       47217   275386230    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5           12933       13176     1951866   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb6           13176       47217   273434301   83  Linux

That's honestly all I can throw into the field.

Hope someone can help!

Last edited by Raisuli (2007-09-30 12:16:46)

somairotevoli

Member

Registered: 2006-05-23

Posts: 335

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

What disk and what partition does Vistsa reside on?

If it's sdb1 change rootnoverify (hd0,0) to rootnoverify (hd1,0) in your menu.lst

Last edited by somairotevoli (2007-09-29 01:44:28)

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Thanks for the quick reply. Just tried it, Grub gives me an error 13.

somairotevoli

Member

Registered: 2006-05-23

Posts: 335

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Does your linux root "/" reside on  sdb2 ? if so then change root   (hd0,1) to root   (hd1,1)

Since sdb is you second drive in grub that would be "1". If it was sba then it would be "0"

Last edited by somairotevoli (2007-09-29 01:58:06)

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Ok, tried that, could neither boot Arch or Vista. I thought, sdb should be hd1 as well, but apparently it's not.
What else could I try?

sykesm

Member

From: Reading, UK

Registered: 2006-09-03

Posts: 70

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

have you done some searching of the forum? Double boot issues are discussed in various posts the link below is an example, good luck

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=35572

DkSoul

Member

Registered: 2005-11-24

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Hi,

Do you have two hard drives?
Which one is the primary boot device in BIOS?
Have you installed GRUB to the MBR of sda or sdb?
What are the contents of /boot/grub/device.map?

DkSoul

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

@ sykesm: thanks for the interesting link. I searched the forum last night, but didn't see this thread. It seems the problem could be related to the BIOS boot order, but switching drives there doesn't seem to work.

@DkSoul: yes, I have two hard drives, one IDE (data drive, sda), one S-ATA (linux and windows, sdb).
The IDE drive is listed as the primary boot device. I switched that to the SATA drive, but Vista still wouldn't boot, neither would Arch.
Grub has been installed to the MBR of sdb
About /boot/grub/device.map: I don't have that file.

Thanks for your help!

Last edited by Raisuli (2007-09-29 12:59:20)

DkSoul

Member

Registered: 2005-11-24

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Try create the /boot/grub/device.map with the following contents (it is a tab between (hdX) and /dev/sdX, not spaces!):

(hd0)    /dev/sdb
(hd1)    /dev/sda

After that, it is necessary to reinstall GRUB in the MBR:

grub
root (hd0,1)
setup (hd0)
quit

Go to BIOS and make sdb (SATA disk) the primary boot device.
Try booting both Arch and Windows.

Hope it helps,
DkSoul

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

@DkSoul: when I try to reinstall GRUB after creating device.map I get the following errors:

grub> root (hd0,1)

Error 22: No such partition

grub> setup (hd0)

Error 12: Invalid device requested

szlnk

Member

Registered: 2006-07-06

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

I have a SATA and an IDE drive.

SATA:
- Arch Linux on /dev/sda3

IDE:
- Windows XP on /dev/hda2
- Gentoo Linux on /dev/hda4

GRUB is installed in the MBR of the SATA drive, which is the primary boot device.

Relevant part of menu.lst:

# Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro vga=792
initrd /kernel26.img

# Gentoo Linux
title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.15
root (hd1,3)
kernel (hd1,3)/boot/bzImage-2.6.15-g-r1 root=/dev/hda4

#Windows XP
title=Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd1,0) 
makeactive 
chainloader +1
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)

I have spent some time to figure out how "map" works.

I hope this helps,
szlnk

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

@szlnk: thanks for the suggestion. I made sdb my primary boot device and added "map", still no luck. Arch boots, Windows doesn't. I would even be willing to reinstall Vista and Arch at this point, if I thought this would help.

Last edited by Raisuli (2007-09-29 16:52:55)

DkSoul

Member

Registered: 2005-11-24

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

If you still have the /boot/grub/device.map:

grub
root (hd1,1)
setup (hd1)
quit

Make sure SATA disk is the primary boot device.

If you still cant boot Windows (and using the szInk sugestion), try:

# (1) Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
makeactive
chainloader +1

DkSoul

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

@DkSoul: Thank you, but still no luck.
Just to make sure I didn't screw up, here's grub/menu.lst:

title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

# (1) Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
makeactive
chainloader +1

and /boot/grub/device.map

(hd0)   /dev/sdb
(hd1)   /dev/sda

After staring at these for so long, it wouldn't surprise me, if something totally obvious was missing.

DkSoul

Member

Registered: 2005-11-24

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

I'm getting out of sugestions so here goes...

To simplify, and to increase the probability of success, disconnect the IDE drive from your computer.
Insert your Windows Vista DVD in drive and boot from it:
  - Select your language and press Next.
  - Select Repair Computer
  - Select your Vista install.
  - Select Command Prompt
  - At the command prompt, type:

bootrec /FixMbr

- Reboot the computer

You should now be able to boot your Windows Vista.

Insert your Arch Linux CD in drive and boot from it.
At the prompt type:

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/
mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
mount -t proc proc /mnt/proc
chroot /mnt/ /bin/bash

Now you are inside your Arch Linux install.
Modify your /boot/grub/menu.lst to read:

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

# (1) Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Rerun GRUB to replace your Vista MBR:

grub
root (hd0,1)
setup (hd0)
quit

Reboot your computer and test it.

DkSoul

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

@DkSoul: This is weird. After bootrec /FixMbr, which Windows installer claimed was successful, I rebooted and ended up in Grub again. I could not boot Windows from there either. Is there a possibility that during the Arch install Windows was somehow corrupted and can't boot at all?

And thank you again for taking the time to work with me on this!

DkSoul

Member

Registered: 2005-11-24

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Try both commands:

bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /FixMbr

DkSoul

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

bootrec /FixBoot responds with "volume does not contain recognized file system". This can't be good.
/FixMbr seemed to work, but I booted right into GRUB again.

DkSoul

Member

Registered: 2005-11-24

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Did you resized/messed up your partitions when installing Arch?

DkSoul

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

I didn't touch the Windows partition, but I did resize / and /home.

Lone_Wolf

Member

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 11,911

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

The problem is that Vista boots different than all other windows versions and uses the MBR for the bootloader.
Installing GRUB on the vista drive overwrites the vista bootloader, so vista can't boot anymore.

A possible solution adapted from Dual_Boot_Vista_and_Linux :

-  remove the ide drive temporarily and re-install vista on the sata drive
(if it is possible to repair the bootloader reinstalling is not necessary, but it looks like you already tried that.)

- put the ide drive back in and make it the primary boot drive

- install grub in the mbr on the IDE drive

- edit your menu.lst to something like this :

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

# (1) Windows Vista
title Windows Vista
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1

NOTE : make sure the vista partition is the ONLY active partition on the sata drive

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2007-09-29 21:25:24)

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Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

@Lone Wolf: Thank you for your help. I followed your instructions, but got a "missing operating system" error after I made the ide drive the primary boot drive.

Would it help to just run the ide drive externally, so I would only need to change fstab and grub.menu settings? That would be slightly inconvenient, but maybe a lot easier than trying to figure out this mess.

DkSoul

Member

Registered: 2005-11-24

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Did you installed GRUB in the IDE drive before trying to boot from it?

DkSoul

Raisuli

Member

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 135

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

@DkSoul: I thought I did, but apparently not.

After reinstalling Windows and installing GRUB to the IDE drive everything's working fine. It was a long and bumpy road and I could never have figured this out by myself. Thank you all for helping me!

In case, someone has the same setup and runs into the same trouble, I'll post my grub.menu.lst and grub.device.map again:

title  Arch Linux
root   (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

# (1) Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
makeactive
chainloader +1

device.map:
(hd0)   /dev/sda
(hd1)   /dev/sdb

DkSoul

Member

Registered: 2005-11-24

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error with Arch/Vista dual boot

Glad to hear that it's working

DkSoul