I just installed FC 4 on an old Dell Dimension 8100 Bios rev A09. After the install process had finished the machine rebooted, but all I get is a blinking underscore cursor.

Background info and any other data that my help troubleshooting.
I FULLY erased the entire disk using DSS DiskWipe which is a 3 pass DoD drive formatter.
I chose the "automatic disk partitioning" option during install and I did not alter the boot loader options.

I used the Fedora Core 4 rescue disk and then entered:
#chroot /mnt/sysimage
#fdisk -l
Disk /dev/hda:40.0 GB, 40020774320 bytes
255 heads, 63 nsectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 13 4865 38973690 8e Linux LVM

sh-3.00# rpm -q grub
grub-0.95-13

sh-3.00# pm -q --filesbypkg grub

grub /boot/grub
grub /sbin/grub
grub /sbin/grub-install
grub /sbin/grub-md5-crypt
grub /sbin/grub-terminfo
grub /usr/bin/mbchk
grub /usr/share/doc/grub-0.95
grub /usr/share/doc/grub-0.95/AUTHORS
grub /usr/share/doc/grub-0.95/COPYING
grub /usr/share/doc/grub-0.95/ChangeLog
grub /usr/share/doc/grub-0.95/NEWS
grub /usr/share/doc/grub-0.95/README
grub /usr/share/doc/grub-0.95/TODO
grub /usr/share/doc/grub-0.95/menu.lst
grub /usr/share/grub
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/e2fs_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/fat_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/ffs_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/iso9660_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/jfs_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/minix_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/reiserfs_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/stage1
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/stage2
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/stage2_eltorito
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/ufs2_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/vstafs_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/grub/i386-redhat/xfs_stage1_5
grub /usr/share/info/grub.info.gz
grub /usr/share/info/multiboot.info.gz
grub /usr/share/man/man1/mbchk.1.gz
grub /usr/share/man/man8/grub-install.8.gz
grub /usr/share/man/man8/grub-md5-crypt.8.gz
grub /usr/share/man/man8/grub-terminfo.8.gz
grub /usr/share/man/man8/grub.8.gz

#grub
grub>root (hd0,0)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
grub> setup (hd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... no

Error 15: File not found

now I am pretty much stupmed
I have read some threads, and it would seem that the problem is the grub.conf file. Sadly enough, I can not find any grub.conf file anywhere.

If anyone has had a similar problem and knows how to fix this, I'd love your input.

grub.conf often appears in /boot/grub as "menu.lst"

BUT--what you describe is not consistent with this file being missing. What does it do before it gets to the blinking cursor?

You may want to consider simply starting over....

grub.conf often appears in /boot/grub as "menu.lst"

BUT--what you describe is not consistent with this file being missing. What does it do before it gets to the blinking cursor?

You may want to consider simply starting over....

The dell bios screen lodas and then blinking cursor.
By starting over I assume you mean wipe the disk and reinstall?

The clue is the last thing that you see before the blinking cursor---eg something like "grub loading"

To re-install, just boot from your install CD and do a clean install---no need to wipe first.

Well the last thing I see is the dell bios loading screen...that's it. No grub loading, nothing, just straight to blinky cursor.

I'm going on hunches here, so don't make major stock trades based on my advice.....

First, verify that you can boot up from a CD or floppy---This establishes the integrity of the hardware, bios, etc.

Assuming all that's working, re-install from the Fedora CD. When prompted, put grub on a floppy--not the HD. Let us know if this works.

(You did not mention dual-boot: If you have Windows on this machine, run the windows installer from CD, select "repair", and when you get to the console, type: "fixmbr". Reboot and verify that you can get to windows.)

I can boot from an MS-DOS boot disk and the FC4 Rescue Disk. This works so I reinstalled Fedora Core CD.
I still boot straight to a blinking cursor after the Dell BIOS screen loads.
How do I put grub on a floppy?
I do not have a dual boot, there is only HD and one OS (FC 4).

Hmmmm

the Fedora installer should have given you the option of putting grub on a floppy. What did it tell you about boot loader, grub, etc. during the install?

The symptoms suggest that grub is not installed---but I thought in that case that there would be some kind of error message from the BIOS.

OK i ran the Linux Rescue CD
#chroot /mnt/sysimage
#grub-install hd0

so now when I boot I go straight to grub.
when I tried to set the kernel
grub>kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1
as taken from GRUB manual http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/man...#GNU_002fLinux
I get:
Error 15: File not found

What am I doing wrong or to say better now that I am booting into grub how do I get to Fedora Core?

I'm rapidly getting in over my head here.....

I have tried to read the grub manual, but I am not totally comfortable with it.

Using the rescue CD, can you see the file system for the FC4 installation?

For example, if "grub>kernel /vmlinuz....etc" is supposed to boot your kernel, then you need the exact file name and path.

On my machine it's : "vmlinuz-2.6.9-11.ELsmp", and it is in the /boot directory

Thus (I think!!!) you would need: grub>kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.9-11.ELsmp.....etc." Obviously, you have to substitute the file name from your machine....

I'm still leaning towards re-install, but we ARE learning some stuff on the trail.....