Arch Linux

tinhtruong

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2008-12-18

Posts: 117

Grub install problem with error 15

Hello everyone,
I have 2 hard drives, one is for data, one dual boot Fedora and Windows XP with Grub. I delete all linux partition of Fedora to install Arch and I've got the error 15 : File not found when I install the Grub bootloader (of Arch 2008.6).
Here is what I've got from fdisk -l:

Disk /dev/sda: 20.0 GB, 20020396032 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2434 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0afd0afd

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda2   *           1        2434    19551073+   f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5            1096        2434    10755486    b  W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/sdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000119ad

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1        2611    20972826    7  HPFS/NTFS   <--- Windows XP
/dev/sdb2   *        2612        2635      192780   83  Linux  <--- /boot
/dev/sdb4            2636        9729    56982555    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5            2636        2884     2000061   82  Linux swap / Solaris   <--- swap partition
/dev/sdb6            2885        5374    20000893+  83  Linux    <--- /home
/dev/sdb7            5375        6552     9462253+  83  Linux    <--- /
/dev/sdb8            6553        9729    25519221    7  HPFS/NTFS   <--- Just plain data partition

The /dev/sda is just a data hdd, nothing's special. And the GRUB will be installed on the MBR of /dev/sdb. Here is the menu.lst file:

# 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  [/boot/vmlinuz26]
#root   (hd0,0)
root    (hd1,1)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb7 ro
initrd /kernel26.img

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

After save my changes to this file, the installer ask me to select the boot device where the GRUB bootloader will be installed. There is a list as following:

sda
sdb
sda2
sda5
sdb1
sdb2
sdb5
sdb6
sdb7
sdb8

I select the sdb, the installer ask me to enter the full path of the root device. I don't know what the "root device" referred to. First I enter the /dev/sdb2, I've got error 15 on tty5. Then I change the "root device" to /dev/sdb7, I've got the same error.
Although the wiki at http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beg … Bootloader is quite clear, but it's still a little bit confusing with a newbie like me.
Any help is appreciated.
Many thanks.
Tinh

koch

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2008-01-26

Posts: 369

Re: Grub install problem with error 15

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux  [/boot/vmlinuz26]
#root   (hd0,0)
root    (hd1,1)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb7 ro
initrd /kernel26.img

your arch is on sdb7?

change it to

root   (hd1,6)

"1" stands for the second harddisk and "6" for partition 7 because grub starts counting with "0".

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Grub

you should also have a look at this...

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Per … ice_naming

Last edited by koch (2008-12-26 16:03:26)

tinhtruong

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2008-12-18

Posts: 117

Re: Grub install problem with error 15

I start over the installation  and now I can install grub, but this created an interesting situation:cool: (or my understanding is wrong )

# 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
[b]root   (hd0,1)[/b]
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/bc2dcd6e-098e-47ee-bbf5-b1e890d04f25 ro
initrd /kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
[b]root   (hd0,1)[/b]
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/bc2dcd6e-098e-47ee-bbf5-b1e890d04f25 ro
initrd /kernel26-fallback.img

# (2) Windows
title Windows XP
[b]rootnoverify (hd0,0)[/b]    <--- Windows XP installation here, it's the /dev/sdb1 as listed in the arch installer
makeactive
chainloader +1

From the bold text in the menu.lst above, GRUB was installed on the first hdd, it should locate on the second hd, right?
Can anyone explain this situation?
Thanks
Tinh