[SOLVED] how can a boot sector be repaired to then allow grub to install for chainload booting

fishwater00 · 10-05-2009, 04:18 PM

learn lots

Larry Webb · 10-05-2009, 04:40 PM

It is simple once you get the routine down, the hardest part for me was making the menu.lst. This would not have been hard if Saikee had put it in brackets and bold print telling me to make a boot directory and a boot/grub directory to put the menu.lst. Thanks for catching my typo in my prior post Saikee.

saikee · 10-05-2009, 05:03 PM

The reason I say Grub is simple because the commands in menu.lst is what we can use manually to boot a system.

Therefore in a Grub prompt if one wants Linux in (hd0,4) chainloadable the commands are

Code:

root (hd0,4)
setup (hd0,4)

one can fire it immediately by commands

Code:

chainloader +1
boot

Also even if a Linux hasn't been made chainloadable it can always by booted by commands

Code:

root (hd0,4)
configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst

The command set from a Grub prompt is good enough to fire up any Linux even it has no boot loader inside!

I always maintained if there is something difficult in Linux it cannot be its boot loaders.

james2b · 10-07-2009, 03:16 PM

I have only just the one Linux partition boot sector not fully allowing the grub to install there, my Ubuntu 9.04 on sda5, (hd1,4), but I have no problem to chainload all other Linux and windows XP too. It says stage 1 and 2 succeed, but stage 1.5 install fails, (this may not be fatal). And when I attempt to chainload to that (hd1,4) it gives grub error 12, which is "Invalid device requested", then if I try with the map commands, it will give error 13. But I can boot it normal method fine, so thanks.

Larry Webb · 10-07-2009, 03:20 PM

If ubuntu is listed as sda5 you should be trying

root (hd0,4)

sda would be the first hd seen and there for would be (hd0)

sdb would be the second hd and would be (hd1)

james2b · 10-08-2009, 09:07 PM

From a grub prompt I ran; "geometry (hd0)" which shows all my partitions on the internal IDE hard drive, which from fdisk -l, is seen as; sdb. And that external sata drive shows from the; "geometry (hd1)", and when it is connected by eSATA, is as; sda, as shown in a fdisk -l. So each Linux will view drives in their own way, but most are consistent.