Getting grub rescue normal.mod not found on some machines and normal boot on others
Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Getting grub rescue normal.mod not found on some machines and normal boot on others
Hello...
I am fighting with an odd issue.
Trying to install and debian based nas server onto my external USB drive...
Everything goes smooth, install goes all way and like always...asking to reboot...
And then...grub rescue> cant find normal.mod...
googled my fingers bloody...
Reinstalled grub with ubuntu live cd, tried to ls into the folder to fix it...
checked drive content on normal debian machine and see all the files where they belong...
And then i tried to boot my regular debian machine with it and all th sudden, it boots th debian on the usb drive like no problem was happening before...
All happy i switched back to the other machine and again. normal.mod not found
Both machines are bios and not efi...
So i am running out of ideas and hopefully someone can say something
Thx in advance
The output of ls is (hd0), (hd0,msdos1), (hd1), (hd1,msdos1)
drilling into them ends with ls (hd0,msdos1)/boot/ which comes back empty
But ls (hd0,msdos1)/ shows all the content of the correct drive
I followed the how tos regarding changing/fixing the prefix, i reinstalled grub via ubuntu live cd and on top, this darn drive boots just fine on the other computer
Is it possible that some external usb drives just dont boot via grub?
Cause i had it working on USB stick...but running an OS from USB stick isnt quite smart and slow on top...
But will def check if and what the output of the set command will be...
CPU is an Intel E6700 @ 3.2 ghz with 4 gig ddr2 ram on a pretty simple board
Since the machine you are using is Legacy/MBR, when you did the initial install which option did you select for the installation of Grub, was it to the MBR of the external drive?
Trying to install and debian based nas server onto my external USB drive
How did you do this? What medium and/or commands?
What does ls (hd0,msdos1)/ show?
what commands/tutorial did you follow to do this?
post the ouput of
Code:
set
at the the "grub rescue>" prompt
Sooo...for the first question...its the openmediavault 5.x iso from the openmendiavault page
Copied over via windows rufus 3.11 and tried with iso and dd option
Second question...
What does ls (hd0,msdos1)/ show: It show a list of folders ala: ./ ../ lost+found/ etc/ media/ bin boot/ dev/ export/ home/ initrd.img initrd.old lib lib32 lib64 libx32 mnt/ opt/ proc/ root/ run/ sbin sharedfolders/ srv/ sys/ tmp/ usr/ var/ vmlinux vmlinux.old
And lasy tbut not least...set in the grub rescue prompt bringt this output:
cmdpath=(hd0)
prefix=(hd0,msdos1)/boot/grub
boot=hd0,msdos1
Now for the second responder:
Since the machine you are using is Legacy/MBR, when you did the initial install which option did you select for the installation of Grub, was it to the MBR of the external drive?
Well...this question is hard to answer...in the install it gives me a list of my drives and i select which on i want to install to...i am not aware of any selection if gpt or mbr or so...
does the drive need to be mbr and not gpt? I could check/correct that if wrong
What do you see on (hd1) and (hd1,msdos1)?
ls (hd1) filesystem is unknown
ls (hd1,msdos1) filesystem is unknown
Are both computers Legacy or is one UEFI? Both computers i tried on are legacy
Quick note on the side...
just redid install to see if there was an mbr or external selection or gpt/mbr selection and there was not...
But everytime it said something with grub install or grub in general it had (amd64) behind it and the folder it seems not to find is the boot/grub/i386/normal.mod....
not sure if that matters...was junst thinking of it and thought i mention it
What does ls (hd0,msdos1)/ show: It show a list of folders ala: ./ ../ lost+found/ etc/ media/ bin boot/ dev/ export/ home/ initrd.img initrd.old lib lib32 lib64 libx32 mnt/ opt/ proc/ root/ run/ sbin sharedfolders/ srv/ sys/ tmp/ usr/ var/ vmlinux vmlinux.old
Code:
ends with ls (hd0,msdos1)/boot/ which comes back empty
for some reason /boot is empty. Did you attempt to create a boot partition on the usb?
Of course i want the boot partition on the usb hard drive...
Thats my boot drive of choice...640 gig, 2,5 inch usb 2.0
But when i look onto the drive from a different pc, the boot folder is not empty nd it does contain the grub and the normal.mod file...
thats the part that puzzles me...in grub rescue i cannot ls into it but regular computer shows all the files
on a running system with the usb plugged in,
what is the ouput of
Code:
parted -l
What is the contents of /etc/fstab on the usb?
at the grub rescue prompt what does
Code:
ls (hd1,msdos1)/
ls (hd1)/
ls (hd0)/
show anything
ls (hd1)reports filesystem is unknown...
ls (hd1,msdos1)/ filesystem is unknown
the rest of the answers i have give u tomorrow...already in the horizontal and need to get out early...thx anyway so far for your time and effort...
highly appreciated
Since the machine you are using is Legacy/MBR, when you did the initial install which option did you select for the installation of Grub, was it to the MBR of the external drive?
The question was not whether it was an MBR or GPT drive but rather which drive did you select to install Grub to. Are the instructions and images shown at the openmediavault installation page at the link below what you saw during your installation? If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will see an image "Running grub-install /dev/vda". Is that what you saw or was it /dev/sda or /dev/sdb...? That will tell us to which drive Grub was installed. I don't see an image or instruction on that page where the user selects the drive which I've never seen on a Linux system install, did you get an option for a drive to install Grub to?
If (hd1,msdos1) is the partition on whcih you installed openmediavault and it shows filesystem is unknown that's a serious problem as openmediavault uses the standard ext4 filesystem.
Before the picture of what it is installing where, it is actually asking me whoch drive i want to install to...
Since i only have the install media, my usb drive and an internal soldered 28mb drive in there it is easy to say which one is the one i want to install to and select it...
It normally is sda and that is also the drive that i see ext2 as filesystem and the folders in when ls to (hd0) and ls (hd0,msdos1)/
It should just be easy...shouldnt it?
USB external hard drive...install system and grub to it and boot...
Thx!!
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.
