New installation. How do I fix GRUB?

what error are you getting? please post

It just says on the screen ( I never got to boot from the hard disk ): Grub 1.5ç
Error 2
-
The screen stayed there. Thanks for the reply and possible help.

I found out this too:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 1013M 33M 980M 4% /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic/volatile
tmpfs 1013M 33M 980M 4% /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic/volatile
varrun 1013M 100K 1013M 1% /var/run
varlock 1013M 0 1013M 0% /var/lock
udev 1013M 112K 1013M 1% /dev
devshm 1013M 0 1013M 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 1013M 16K 1013M 1% /tmp
/dev/sdb3 2.1G 2.1G 0 100% /target
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo less /target/boot/grub/menu.lst
/target/boot/grub/menu.lst: No such file or directory
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$


There is something wrong with this installation. This disk is 320MB and is empty. I still don't have a GRUB boot loader. Any ideas?

have you tried to reinsatll ubuntu? it should detect the exesting installation. Also, install boot loarder GRUN on MRB instead of the first sector on the partition. It sounds like the BIOS can't find the sectors that GRUB has been installed on. If you install GRUB on MBR, it will surly find it.
those are my guesses but there might be something else causing this.

Something is really screwy about this. This is what I found out browsing around with my live cd. I found /boot/grub/menu.lst attached to a 'disk-1' which is mounted, but I don't know where. I have reinstalled Ubuntu 3 times and each time it installs in a more reduced space, without erasing prior installations. My setup is motherboard Intel chip 945, 2 disks SATA 2 in Raid 0, each one 320MB, Windows XP installed in partition of 20GB. My GRUB menu.lst at present is as follows:

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not change this entry to 'saved' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 10

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=cc6de823-9e89-43a9-ba98-2794fe8ee0aa ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd1,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=cc6de823-9e89-43a9-ba98-2794fe8ee0aa ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quiet
savedefault

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=cc6de823-9e89-43a9-ba98-2794fe8ee0aa ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic

title Ubuntu, memtest86+
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda1.
title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic (on /dev/sda1)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=7f4b6ad8-6f2f-4318-aed5-764d3007aef0 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda1.
title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda1)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=7f4b6ad8-6f2f-4318-aed5-764d3007aef0 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda1.
title Ubuntu, memtest86+ (on /dev/sda1)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
savedefault
boot

As you can see there is a mess here and I don't know how to solve it. I am thinking of erasing everything and start from zero, but I'm afraid that will not solve anything. I have the growing feeling that is my hardware what is the problem here. I also have an XFX Ge Force 7600GT and I'm not sure is supported by linux. I tried to install Suse 10.2 and all went well until we got to the graphics; there I ended up without a screen. Your ideas will be much appreciated.

I used Gparted and erased everything and reinstalled Ubuntu. When the installation finishes and I remove the disk; it reboots from the hard drive and this is what I get on the screen: (and it stays there)

'GRUB Loading, please wait...
Error 2
-

I would like someone to tell me the meaning of this. Please.

There are this pieces of news ( in case it helps someone to help me )>

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 1013M 33M 980M 4% /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic/volatile
tmpfs 1013M 33M 980M 4% /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic/volatile
varrun 1013M 104K 1013M 1% /var/run
varlock 1013M 0 1013M 0% /var/lock
udev 1013M 96K 1013M 1% /dev
devshm 1013M 0 1013M 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 1013M 12K 1013M 1% /tmp
/dev/sda1 288G 2.1G 272G 1% /media/disk
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-install /dev/sda
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
Could not find device for /boot: Not found or not a block device.
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

I-m gonna go and try a couple of more things and fetch /boot/grub/menu.lst and fdisk, and I-ll get back to you.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ fdisk /dev/sda

Unable to open /dev/sda
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

This is /boot/grub/device.map ( there is no menu.lst )>

(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdb

????

I found another GRUB in something called 'disk'. The other one was in something called 'File System'. This latter one had a menu.lst>

# menu.lst - See: grub(, info grub, update-grub(
# grub-install(, grub-floppy(,
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not change this entry to 'saved' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=8e164dcc-1444-49a9-86af-67650b55f278 ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=8e164dcc-1444-49a9-86af-67650b55f278 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quiet
savedefault

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=8e164dcc-1444-49a9-86af-67650b55f278 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic

title Ubuntu, memtest86+
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

Obviously this is wrong. I'll be interested in your ideas. The integrity of the installation disk I checked and is fine. Why do I end up with 2 systems after erasing everything?

Well, I'm back to Suse 10.2. At least it recognized my Raid array, it didn't install two systems in my hard drives and with a little tweaking, it recognized my video card. I wanted to try a new distro, but I don't think Ubuntu is ready for prime time.

i think that ubuntu doesn't recognize the driver for you RAID SATA card. Grub is not able to understand the gemoetry of the drive due to missed or wrong driver.