OK, here's the thing: Somehow or other I killed my MBR. I was able to recover Windows XP with no problem, but now my GRUB has been ruined and I can't load Linux.

I've searched and seen this problem posted a hundred times, but never with my particular circumstances.

Here's what I'm running:

Windows XP and Suse 9.1 dual-boot. (well, single now that the GRUB is gone).

Here's what I've tried.

(1) Runing with the Suse install CD, in rescue mode:
grub-install /dev/hda

That doesn't work: it says, can't find ?usr/lib/stage 1. Well, I found those files. I can even modify the path in the grub-install shell to point to those files. But then it says /dev/root is a block drive and can't do anything with it.

I've also tried this:
http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/0...nstall_91.html

That's the official fix, I guess but it doesn't work.


(2) I've tried running Suse Linux Live CD. When I open the home folder and chec the devices, I can see one device: Hard Disc. No mention of CDRoms or the varioous hard drives/parrtitions that exist.

When I use YAST to look at the partitions, they're all properly listed. But I can't seem to mount or access them.

I can also try going in to the Boot Loader configuration but it doesn't work since it won't find /dev/hda and it won't create a floppy for me either.

(3) Rescue System from Suse 9.1 Install CD

Here you can select (from the DOS looking prompts) to run the Installation/system

There are three options:
- Install
- Boot installed system
- Boot from flopp

When I select the second option (since I already have an installed system) it asks for the root partition, BUT it only lists /dev/hda2 (the Windows partition). Then it can't boot from that obviously; there's no way to select the proper partition.

(4) I've booted using Knoppix, but can't seem to access the Linux partitions (can see and read the Windows partitions and Windoes rescue partition).

SUMMARY:

- I can't boot Linux
- Linux in rescue mode doesn't seem to know where the linux partitions are
- Linux Live doesn't seem to know where Linux partitions are
- I can't in any way access those linux partitions (there's some data I'd like to save).


Someone please tell me I can do something other than an entire reinstall of linux. (which would erase my home folders, yes?)

I really don't want to reinstall linux if I can somehow get it booted. I'd even settle for Grub on the Linux parition if someone can show me how to put it there and configure the Windows Boot.ini to select that as an option.

Sorry for the long post and thanks from a frustrated guy missing his linux.

Mark

You need to run grub-install from within your installed filesystem. When you boot with the rescue cd what do you get from running:
fdisk -l
df -h

You can boot the installed system instead, boot on cd 1 choose "installation"
when the installation starts, press "abort" in the bottom of the screen
at the new menu choose "start installation/system"
then choose "boot installed system"
When you're in your system reinstall grub from yast.
I'm sure there's an F-key to do this but i can't remember which one.

Thank you but nope. Sorry. That didn't do it. When I selected to boot the system, same thing: it only gives a choice as hda2, which is the NTFS Windows partition.

But read on to my next post...perhaps that will shed some light...I hope it will cause it doesn't for me.

OK...I hope this turns out so you can read it...( couldn't cut and paste it).

fdisk -l


df - h yields the following....


When I run grub-install to /dev/hda or even to /dev/sda/ I get the folllowing:

/dev/root: Not found or not a block device

I assume that the asterisks in the above data are showing which partition is the boot partition, but I'm trying to get grub to change it. I don't dare install Grub on hda2, do I? Will that screw things up? I dont' think Linux could write to that drive anyway, could it?

Still hoping there's a solution out there short of reinstalling!

Thanks for the help so far.

Mark

To be honest it doesn't look like you have any partitions containing a linux installation.

You only have a fat partition, an ntfs partition and a swap partition.

Well, I'd like to know what happend to them!

If hda3 isn't the linux partition, what is it? And if not, what could have happened to it?

hda3 is the Linux partition and hda5 is the Linux Swap partition.

If I open the Partition manager in Yast (using the Suse live CD) it lists them, though come to think of it, I can't ACCESS them.

The only thing I can think of that I did was to use Windows to format a very small disk space that was marked "Unallocated." (Yes, I was messing around with the windows disk manager). But it wasn't the linux drives. When things glitched, I wondered if that "unallocated" was actually the space where the MBR was located.But it was not formatted, so that couldn't be it, huh?

I dunno.