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#1 2012-08-06 07:20:02

MrRoberts
Member
Registered: 2012-07-05
Posts: 47

[Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

The Beginner's Guide isn't giving much instruction on how to correct the problem that I am experiencing with grub-install.

PIII 1GHz laptop, 60GB HD, 1GB DDR, Intel Video Graphic and RTL8188CUS usb wireless

It was flawless until the very end when I attempted to run grub-install...

grub-install /dev/sda

It failed with a message...

/boot/grub is not readable by GRUB on boot. Installation is impossible. Aborting.

I have split the hard drive into 3 partitions (sda1=15GB=root=bootable=jfs, sda2=1.5GB=swap, sda3=40GB=home=jfs)

I've installed base and base-devel sucessfully.

Since I'm using jfs, I chose Grub via pacstrap /mnt grub-bios

Why am I getting that error message and how do I correct it.

Thanks

Last edited by MrRoberts (2012-08-06 14:35:11)

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#2 2012-08-06 07:30:05

olive
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2008-06-22
Posts: 1,490

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

There are posts about problems for grub with jfs. Have you put insmod jfs in grub.cfg. What is your grub.cfg file? If you cannot solve the problem with jfs, you can always make a separate small ext2 boot partition containing /boot

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#3 2012-08-06 07:50:17

DSpider
Member
From: Romania
Registered: 2009-08-23
Posts: 2,273

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

Try Syslinux.


"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

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#4 2012-08-06 07:53:31

olive
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2008-06-22
Posts: 1,490

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

DSpider wrote:

Try Syslinux.

This is exactly what I have done, because grub2 was IMHO unnecessarily complicated. But syslinux will not boot of from jfs. However we could use ext2 for a separate small boot partition.

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#5 2012-08-06 07:57:22

MrRoberts
Member
Registered: 2012-07-05
Posts: 47

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

I noticed from the latest beginner's guide via screenshots...

grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sda

It configured sucessfully.

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#6 2012-08-06 08:06:39

olive
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2008-06-22
Posts: 1,490

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

MrRoberts wrote:

I noticed from the latest beginner's guide via screenshots...

grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sda

It configured sucessfully.

You should be more clear. Are you telling that your problem is now solved? (in this case edit your thread to put  [SOLVED]). If not, obviously something went wrong. So in this case we need more information to help you. Describe exactly what you have done (not just I followed the wiki) and post you (maybe generated) grub.cfg file (use http://pastebin.com/ if it is big). I would try to generate the grub.cfg file with grub-mkconfig and then ensure that there is insmode jfs in it.

Syslinux would probably be easier, because it use a single easy to understand and to edit configuration file. But then you need an ext{2,34} boot partition.

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#7 2012-08-06 09:11:09

MrRoberts
Member
Registered: 2012-07-05
Posts: 47

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

Okay. I have started all over again with an additional partition as /boot using ext4 approx 150MB @ sda4

Will let you know the outcome soon.

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#8 2012-08-06 10:32:29

MrRoberts
Member
Registered: 2012-07-05
Posts: 47

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

I'm almost there :-)

This is what I have...

sda1.....root.......jfs.........55gb
sda2.....swap.....none.....1.5gb
sda3.....boot......ext4......450mb....bootable

All went well up to the point where I have to configure the syslinux.cfg, which I am not sure what to put?

This is what syslinux.cfg shows...

LABEL arch
MENU LABEL Arch Linux
LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
APPEND root=/dev/sda3 ro
INITRD ../initramfs-linux.img

LABEL archfallback
MENU LABEL Arch Linux Fallback
LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
APPEND root=/dev/sda3 ro
INITRD ../initramfs-linux-fallback.img

It is suppose to point to the /boot (sda3) partition or /root partition (sda1)?

Again, thanks for your help.

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#9 2012-08-06 10:42:54

DSpider
Member
From: Romania
Registered: 2009-08-23
Posts: 2,273

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

It's not a good idea to place the boot partition at the end of the disk. Some older motherboards (and with an older BIOS) cannot boot after about 8 GB or so. I don't remember where I saw this information, but it was definitely on the Arch wiki.


Ext2 has a smaller overhead, and is generally considered a good choice for a boot partition. But if you want to use ext4, go ahead, I guess...



PS: "root=/dev/sda3" is not where the root partition is... Should be sda1, from your example. Unless you decide to place the boot partition at the start of the disk, as sda1, in which case the root will be sda2.

Last edited by DSpider (2012-08-06 10:45:13)


"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

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#10 2012-08-06 11:28:16

MrRoberts
Member
Registered: 2012-07-05
Posts: 47

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

I have followed your suggestion and all is well to the point where I exit the chroot.

Experiencing another problem after exit from chroot to install wireless-tools netcfg using pacstrap /mnt

udev is already mounted or /mnt/dev/ busy
ERROR: failed to setup API filesystems in new root

What does that mean?

Last edited by MrRoberts (2012-08-06 11:29:40)

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#11 2012-08-06 12:15:42

2ManyDogs
Forum Moderator
Registered: 2012-01-15
Posts: 4,645

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

It means udev is already mounted or /mnt/dev is busy wink

How did you exit the chroot? Did you unmount eveything after you did?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ch … ing_chroot

When you're finished with system maintenance, exit the chroot shell:

exit

Then unmount the temporary filesystems and any mounted devices:

umount {proc,sys,dev,boot...}

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-08-06 12:16:55)


How to post. A sincere effort to use modest and proper language and grammar is a sign of respect toward the community.

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#12 2012-08-06 12:36:35

MrRoberts
Member
Registered: 2012-07-05
Posts: 47

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

Thanks for that and it is flowing now :-)

By the way, it is not mention in the Beginner's Guide, which is suppose to be for complete newbies with NO assumptions.

It just said 'Exit'.

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#13 2012-08-06 12:40:35

DSpider
Member
From: Romania
Registered: 2009-08-23
Posts: 2,273

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

MrRoberts wrote:

Thanks for that and it is flowing now :-)

By the way, it is not mention in the Beginner's Guide, which is suppose to be for complete newbies with NO assumptions.

It just said 'Exit'.

Because it's the last step and generally not needed... When you reboot you will see the umounting drives message.


"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

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#14 2012-08-06 12:41:40

2ManyDogs
Forum Moderator
Registered: 2012-01-15
Posts: 4,645

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

You're welcome (and right about the BG). Please don't forget to mark your thread [solved] (edit the title of your first post) when you get it working.

(edit) I just checked, and the BG does tell you to unmount (but it doesn't mention the filesystems):

Unmount the partitions and reboot
Exit from the chroot environment:

# exit

Since the partitions are mounted under /mnt, we use the following command to unmount them.

# umount /mnt/{boot,home,}

But Dspider is also right that this is unnecessary because it's right before a reboot.

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-08-06 12:45:26)


How to post. A sincere effort to use modest and proper language and grammar is a sign of respect toward the community.

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#15 2012-08-06 12:46:32

MrRoberts
Member
Registered: 2012-07-05
Posts: 47

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

I'm glad umount is now mention in the Beginner's Guide after the 'Exit' section.

That helps a lot.

But Dspider is also right that this is unnecessary because it's right before a reboot.

That is an assumption thinking that a newbie might know that.

A Beginner's Guide suppose to explain EVERYTHING.

Thank you again.

Last edited by MrRoberts (2012-08-06 12:51:55)

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#16 2012-08-06 12:49:39

2ManyDogs
Forum Moderator
Registered: 2012-01-15
Posts: 4,645

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

Or are you talking about this guide: http://ebalaskas.gr/wiki/archlinux/netinstall

That is an "unofficial" guide (created by a user, and not part of the Arch wiki), and it does not mention unmounting after exiting.

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-08-06 12:50:02)


How to post. A sincere effort to use modest and proper language and grammar is a sign of respect toward the community.

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#17 2012-08-06 12:53:31

MrRoberts
Member
Registered: 2012-07-05
Posts: 47

Re: [Solved] Grub-install failed. Installation is Impossible

Nope. I am talking about the official guide, which recently added 'umount' just a few minutes ago after the 'Exit' section.

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