suse 9.0 grub loading error 17
 

hi,
as i've just mentioned in the member intro, i'm new here and i'm just starting with linux. i was given a computer with suse 9.0 linux system. it has raid array and when i boot up it gives me a "critical message in array 1". i've installed a new hard disk and tried to rebuild the array but it stopped at 3% complete and nothing happened. i've let it that way for 3 days and the display stayed the same. i deleted the array in the hope of clearing the error, and now the computer dosen't boot up and gives this message "grub loading....... error 17". I've tried to look for the solution here but nothing seem to work for me. I'll appreciate your help the soonest. Thanks a lot in advance.

If the data on those disk are not valuable, just format and install an OS again (newer, if possible). If the data have been permanently corrupted, there is little you can do about it.

that's the problem, it's got important files that must not be deleted. before i deleted the array i was able to boot by disregarding the "critical error". can i install a newer version (say, suse 10.1)? what would be the effect on my system? thanks again.

Grub Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition
This error is returned if the partition requested exists, but the filesystem type cannot be recognized by GRUB.

This error usually happens when Grub is looking for its files on a partition it doesn't recognize, usually a windows partition. It would be useful if you could post your partition information. If you can log in run the command: fdisk -l (lower case Lettere L) as root user in a konsole, log in and use "su" or "su -" and enter password. If you can't log in, use or get a Linux Live CD. Are there any other operating systems on the computer?

If you installed a newer system, you would need to install to unallocated space or a partition which doesn't have data on it or it would be overwritten during the install. Your partition info would be useful for that also.

From your response, installing a newer system looks scary to me, so I don't think I'll take that path.

I can't login anymore and I couldn't find a SUSE 9.0 CD, but I was able to get a SUSE 10.1. Can I use it and how? I'm realy totally new to Linux. By the way, there are no other operating system on the unit, only Linux.

Thanks a lot.

You can load the Opensuse 10 CD and select "Rescue System" from the menu which you should have. You should then see: Rescue Login prompt. Type "root" (without quotes) and hit enter. Type "fdisk -l" (lower case Letter L not a one, without quotes) and you should get partitin information which you can post here. Navigate to the /boot/grub/menu.lst file by typing at the prompt: cat /boot/grub/menu.lst, post that info here.

after entering "root"
this is what appeared: "Rescue:~ #", I then typed "fdisk -l" and the screenshot on the attachment is what appeared. looks like it's not the expected display? There is nothing to navigate the boot/grub/menu.lst?

Yes, that's pretty much the expected display. It shows you have two 60GB hard drives with one swap partition on each and one Linux partition on each. What is unexpected is that the drives are labelled hde and hdg. The drive naming starts with hda so this would indicate there were other drives at some time. To show a little about what is on the system, create mount points and mount the partitions.

Enter the following consecutively at the Rescue# prompt, make sure you enter root first, hit enter key after typing each line:

mkdir /mnt/hde
mkdir /mnt/hdg
mount -t reiserfs /dev/hde /mnt/hde
mount -t reiserfs /dev/hdg /mnt/hdg

Use the Opensuse disk again and log on as you did before to the Rescue login prompt. This time instead of typing the fdisk -l, type: cat /mnt/hde/boot/grub/menu.lst
(be sure to put a space after cat, before /boot. This should show you a Grub menu file which you can post here to get help with a correct entry to boot the system.
If you get no output from this do: cat /mnt/hdg/boot/grub/menu.lst.
Post the output here, if none any error messages.

It appears that the hard drives could not be mounted, please see attached screenshot.

I don't have an Opensuse 10 CD but do have the Opensuse 11.1. I loaded it in the CD drive, opened the Konsole window, logged in as root and got this output:

The "su" logs in as root. It created the directory as you can see from the output of "ls" command. Not sure what the problem is here. I've never used RAID so am not familiar with what effect that would have.

In your first post, you indicated you installed a new hard drive, also a 60GB drive? Was there any operating system on this drive?

I've replaced one hard drive with new one and is exactly the same type & size.

For some reason, when I boot up the computer it gives me this display on Image_0111. Then I hit "Ctrl-F" and gave me the Image_0112. I press "2" for Drive Assignment and it showed Channel Drive 1 "Free" (this is the new replacement drive), and Channel Drive 2 "Array 1". When I press "3" it gives me Image_0114, and when I press "5" it gives me the following:
Array No.: Array 1
RAID Mode: Stripe
Total Drive: 2
Capacity: 122985
Status: Offline
"Recovery Is Not Applicable"

When I press "ESC" to continue booting thru Hard Drive, the message said "Operating System Not Found".

I haven't got a clue what the problem is but it's definitely with the RAID setup which I have never used. Might start a new thread dealing with probelms with RAID array.

I posted the case to the other thread and was able to get a good feedback (Thread: RAID Array).
All along I was working with the wrong original hard drive (sorry just a newbie). So I swapped the two original hard drive then I was able to see two hard drives already. I then saw two arrays (1 & 2), so I deleted the arrays, because originally the setup is in Mirror (RAID1) not Stripe (RAID0). I then do a rebuilding of the arrays and now it's working! Thanks a lot!