Problems with Grub after a fesh install [solved]

the[V]oid · 2009-05-13 02:02:32

Hi,

I have installed Arch today. The problem is, Grub doesn't seem to work at all. Every time I boot up my computer, I get a command-line prompt from grub but not the expected graphical menu. What could I have done wrong? Where to start to seek for the error? I have no idea, please help me.

Best regards

EDIT: As I have read from another thread, these information might be useful:
When booted from Live-CD (Legacy IDE support) and mounted /dev/hda2 as /mnt/mounted-root:

fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000b0070

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *           1       17654   141797376    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2           30309       30401      747022+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda3           17654       30308   101650610   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/hdb: 81.9 GB, 81964302336 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9964 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x5ebb1b1b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdb1   *           1        9964    80035798+   c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

cat /mnt/mounted-root/etc/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             /media/cd   auto    ro,user,noauto,unhide   0      0
#/dev/dvd               /media/dvd  auto    ro,user,noauto,unhide   0      0
#/dev/fd0               /media/fl   auto    user,noauto             0      0

UUID=246e7470-731e-45ef-b992-868bff58c5c8 / ext4 defaults 0 1
UUID=b9d5c5d4-19f3-449c-b3ec-888029cde18e swap swap defaults 0 0

/dev/sda1        /mnt/win2k8    auto    ro,auto,defaults    0      0
/dev/sdb1        /mnt/shared    auto    ro,auto,defaults    0      0

cat /mnt/mounted-root/boot/grub/menu.lst

# Config file for GRUB - The GNU GRand Unified Bootloader
# /boot/grub/menu.lst

# DEVICE NAME CONVERSIONS 
#
#  Linux           Grub
# -------------------------
#  /dev/fd0        (fd0)
#  /dev/sda        (hd0)
#  /dev/sdb2       (hd1,1)
#  /dev/sda3       (hd0,2)
#

#  FRAMEBUFFER RESOLUTION SETTINGS
#     +-------------------------------------------------+
#          | 640x480    800x600    1024x768   1280x1024
#      ----+--------------------------------------------
#      256 | 0x301=769  0x303=771  0x305=773   0x307=775
#      32K | 0x310=784  0x313=787  0x316=790   0x319=793
#      64K | 0x311=785  0x314=788  0x317=791   0x31A=794
#      16M | 0x312=786  0x315=789  0x318=792   0x31B=795
#     +-------------------------------------------------+
#  for more details and different resolutions see
#  http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB#Framebuffer_Resolution 

# general configuration:
timeout   5
default   0
color light-blue/black light-cyan/blue

# boot sections follow
# each is implicitly numbered from 0 in the order of appearance below
#
# TIP: If you want a 1024x768 framebuffer, add "vga=773" to your kernel line.
#
#-*

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/246e7470-731e-45ef-b992-868bff58c5c8 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/246e7470-731e-45ef-b992-868bff58c5c8 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

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

I have Windows Server 2008 installed on /dev/hda1, just wanted to mention it, in case this information is of any matter.

Last edited by the[V]oid (2009-05-14 11:01:50)

perbh · 2009-05-13 02:46:05

Honestly - I just cannot bring my brain around all this disk_by_uuid stuff ...
Change it to /dev/sdaX, tell us exactly what kind of grub error you get - and I shall be happy to have a look at it.
By-the-way - in your menu.lst above - there is nothing 'graphical' about it ... all you you get are two lines with archlinux and archlinux fallback - and that's all ...

the[V]oid · 2009-05-13 08:00:11

By 'graphical' I meant an interface that is more than just a command line.
Grub gives me no error at all.

My updated menu.lst:

# general configuration:
timeout   5
default   0
color light-blue/black light-cyan/blue

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/hda2 vga=775
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/hda2
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

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

My updated fstab:

# <file system>        <dir>         <type>    <options>          <dump> <pass>
none                   /dev/pts      devpts    defaults            0      0
none                   /dev/shm      tmpfs     defaults            0      0

/dev/hda2        /        ext4    defaults        0      0
/dev/hda3        swap        swap    defaults        0      0

/dev/hda1        /mnt/win2k8    auto    ro,auto,defaults    0      0
/dev/hdb1        /mnt/shared    auto    ro,auto,defaults    0      0

It still doesn't work.

I tried re-installing grub following this wiki article but when it comes to

grub> root (hdx,x)

I keep getting "Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82" for hd0,1 (which actually should be ext4) and "Filesystem type is xfs, partition type 0x83" for hd0,2 (which actually whould me swap). I thaught this was kinda strange and I should mention it. And when I try a simple

grub-install /dev/hda

I got "/dev/hda does not have any corresponding BIOS drive." So I performed a

grub-install --recheck /dev/hda

and since then I'm getting "The file /boot/grub/stage1 not read correctly." when running grub-install.

Last edited by the[V]oid (2009-05-13 08:29:06)

FrozenFox · 2009-05-13 08:28:54

I'm confused.

You say:

"When booted from Live-CD (Legacy IDE support) and mounted /dev/hda2 as /mnt/mounted-root: (output)"

however, fdisk -l right underneath that suggests that 2 is swap and *3* is the root.. so that couldn't have been right.

/dev/hda2 30309 30401 747022+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda3 17654 30308 101650610 83 Linux

then grub also switches 2 and 3 what appears to be incorrectly:

title Arch Linux
# /boot is on the first hd (correct), 2nd partition (not correct according to fdisk?)
root (hd0,1)
# / is on hda2, which fdisk says is swap
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/hda2 vga=775
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

Perhaps switch it accordingly?

Also, try perhaps using "(hd0)" (with quotes for a change, IIRC) instead of /dev/hda?

If not, perhaps you would have more luck making a /boot partition separately, chrooting into it, then mounting /boot accordingly after chrooting, adding the /boot partition to fstab, reinstall grub, reinstall kernel26 and kernel26-firmware, then see if you have any luck? Note that if you do this, remove all "/boot" prefixes from menu.lst and change the set root= line to point to the /boot partition.

To save yourself from most of the confusion involved in this mess in the future, you might try using gparted on a non-mounted system (new ext4-supporting livecd, like System Rescue CD, my favorite, or the official gparted livecd) and giving all of your partitions a label of your own for fstab and menu.lst/grub.cfg to use. For instance, on my setup, I made this nonsense a whole lot simpler by labling them with "Arch4" (Arch root, 4 for ext4), "Home4", "Boot4", "Swap" case sensitive. (Oh and fyi, in order to label swap, you need to delete it and make a new one. Apparently you can only label it in gparted when it's being made, not after.)

Ie:

/etc/fstab entries:

LABEL=Arch4 / ext4 defaults 0 1
LABEL=Home4 /home ext4 defaults 0 1
LABEL=Boot4 /boot ext4 defaults 0 1
LABEL=Swap swap swap defaults 0 0

/boot/grub/grub.cfg (the menu.lst equivalent for Grub2-gfxmenu, obviously uses a different format, and this is set to point to my particular /boot partition, but you get the idea):

# Entry 0 - Arch Overlord
menuentry "Arch Overlord" --class "arch2" {
set root=(hd0,5)
linux /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/Arch4 ro
initrd /kernel26.img
}

EDIT: Added a couple things above.

EDIT2: Added more

Last edited by FrozenFox (2009-05-13 08:42:25)

the[V]oid · 2009-05-13 10:58:32

Thanks! I really somehow managed to install arch on the swap partition and didn't notice it... Now it's working

FrozenFox · 2009-05-13 11:46:02

Hehe. It happens

I just got done un-screwing my sister's x64 that I managed to install a random assortment of like 30 i686 (including some important ones) packages onto without paying attention mixed in with the x64's. Some bizarre stuff happened there!

Would appreciate if you would edit the original post to mark it [SOLVED].

Last edited by FrozenFox (2009-05-13 11:47:06)

perbh · 2009-05-13 13:57:13

Just a li'l extra comment here - and it has to do with device names.
If you boot off a live-cd with legacy-ide - then your ide-drives will come up as /dev/hda, /dev/hdb, etc
If your installed archlinux is default (ie non-legacy-ide), then those same disks will be /dev/sda, /dev/sdb etc

One should always keep this in mind when using a live cd, because it may not show the same devices as the installed distro, and if you use a live cd to alter/change your /etc/fstab or reinstalling grub, then pay extra attention to what you are actually doing.

Last edited by perbh (2009-05-13 13:58:41)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-05-13 02:02:32

Problems with Grub after a fesh install [solved]

#2 2009-05-13 02:46:05

Re: Problems with Grub after a fesh install [solved]

#3 2009-05-13 08:00:11

Re: Problems with Grub after a fesh install [solved]

#4 2009-05-13 08:28:54

Re: Problems with Grub after a fesh install [solved]

#5 2009-05-13 10:58:32

Re: Problems with Grub after a fesh install [solved]

#6 2009-05-13 11:46:02

Re: Problems with Grub after a fesh install [solved]

#7 2009-05-13 13:57:13

Re: Problems with Grub after a fesh install [solved]

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