Arch Linux

matnik

Member

From: Kraków, Poland

Registered: 2010-11-19

Posts: 8

GRUB Error:"Filename must be either an absolute pathname or blocklist"

Hello. I've recently installed ArchLinux as my first "aware" linux installation. Unfortunately I have a small problems concerning bootloader.
Here's the thing:

Everything's goes fine, GRUB shows it's "system choice" window and even when I run ArchLinux everything seems normal. But when I want to boot my second OS (Win7), i see such  outcome:

Booting 'Windows 7'

rootnoverify (hd0,2)
chainloader +

Error 1: Filename must be either an absolute pathname or blocklist

Press any key to continue...

As far as my partitions are concerned:
dev/sda1 - (extended)
dev/sda2 - /boot - ext3
dev/sda3 - Windows Partition - NTFS
dev/sda5 - /root - ext3
dev/sda6 - /swap - Swap
dev/sda7 - /home - ext3

First, I have configured my partitions using GParted. Then I've installed my Win7 on the dev/sda3. I booted it, checked if it was working, and indeed it was. After that I've installed ArchLinux following Unofficial Install Guide. In this step where I have to install bootloader, I've selected GRUB and opened the menu.lst file. The windows part was commented, so i deleted the '#' signs and left it almost without any changes (i changed only (hd0,0) -> (hd0,2)). After that I believe I've chosen dev/sda as GRUB's boot. And here we go. Linux works, Windows can't boot. Ah! And I've also deleted the "makeactive" line.

Finally, believe me, I've tried changing this (hd0,2) to almost each possibility (hd0,0), (hd0,1) ... None of them worked...
Can anyone help me?

Last edited by matnik (2010-11-19 23:39:07)

skunktrader

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2010-02-14

Posts: 1,543

Re: GRUB Error:"Filename must be either an absolute pathname or blocklist"

Mine says chainloader +1

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gr … th_Windows

matnik

Member

From: Kraków, Poland

Registered: 2010-11-19

Posts: 8

Re: GRUB Error:"Filename must be either an absolute pathname or blocklist"

I've changed it. It changed the output a lil' bit, but still nothing...

Output:

Booting 'Windows 7'
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
chainloader +1

And it's doing nothing...

matnik

Member

From: Kraków, Poland

Registered: 2010-11-19

Posts: 8

Re: GRUB Error:"Filename must be either an absolute pathname or blocklist"

Ok, I've realised i mixed up my partitions. sda1 is with windows, sda3 is the extended one. So i changed rootnoverify(hd0,2) to rootnoverify(hd0,0)
And it shows something entirely different now. For a blink of about 0.5 seconds, it shows:

Booting 'Windows 7'
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

GRUB loading stage2...

After that 0.5 seconds GRUB goes back to the "system select" screen, the countdown to the default choice goes again, and this whole process loops to eternity...

Problem solved! Frankly speaking, I can't really know why. Everything was solved after I reinstalled both systems. The only difference was that the line makeactive was commented out, not deleted... And I think it is that.

Last edited by matnik (2010-11-20 14:55:04)