LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] GRUB error? Mageia 3, can't boot without DVD

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GRUB error? Mageia 3, can't boot without DVD

Hello everyone,

I haven't had any issues for quite some time, so I've only been lurking...until today.

I successfully used and installed (multiple times) Mandriva, Ubuntu, and most recently Mint, on different computers in my home, but wanted to try out Mageia 3 on my main laptop, thinking I could dual-boot as I always have before.
I have completely screwed something up, and I can't say I adequately understand what happened, even after reading through the posts from those with similar issues.
I noticed nothing untoward during installation and I thought I had a good install until I shut it down and attempted to restart. The machine would not boot into either Windows or Mageia.
On boot attempt, I got the following text:
"Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key."
Freaking out, I put the install DVD back in the drive and pressed a key. The GRUB GUI appeared and I selected "Boot Microsoft Windows".
Here is the text I got:
"Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83 make active chainloader +1. Remove disks or other media. Press any key to restart". (Circular logic?)

I can boot into Mageia only with the DVD in the drive, and it appears to be operating from the DVD rather than the hard disk. I was able to import my windows files using MCC import utility, but I haven't restarted since I did so, so I don't know if they were written into the Mageia partition. (Guessing not, so I put it all on a USB). I took a screenshot of the partitions shown on the disk management page of MCC, and it shows the partitions allocated to Mageia and Windows and swap, with a very tiny gray sliver at the far left that I might think is the MBR?

Most everything during install was default, but it is possible that I wasn't paying attention well when it asked me what bootloader I wanted. Having used GRUB before, I might have selected it rather than GRUB 2, as I now know I shouldn't have (after reading the forums).

Best case scenario, I would like to have a working dual-boot operation. I know I can re-install Windows if I have to (since nearly everything is backed up), but because I use a soon-to-expire accounting program for my business, it will be a MAJOR pain-in-the-a**, should it be necessary.

(If I do that, it is unlikely that I would try Mageia again for awhile having been scared witless at this attempt of mine. Please understand, I completely blame my own damn self for not paying better attention.)

Is there a way to fix the MBR without losing both OS's? Is the MBR the problem? Have mercy.

I crossposted this to the Mageia forums as well, hoping against hope that somebody, anybody, has an idea what I've done....besides embarass myself, that is.

Note: my signature line is no longer correct.

This program should help restore your MBR.

What edition of Windows are you using? If it's Windows 7, then you can follow this handy guide (even though it's Ubuntu, the same method applies with other Linux distributions.) GRUB and GRUB2 are personal choices, so either will work in this scenario.

MCMLXXIII, Thank you so much. I will be checking out the program on sourceforge. Got a 403-forbidden error on the link to the guide. I'll try to look it up. Thanks again, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADDn00b (Post 4957661)

That's weird. That link was working fine after I posted it. Then I checked it again after your reply and I get the same message.

It was a dual-boot guide. I'd recommend restoring your MBR and then deleting your Mageia partitions and starting over. See if this link works instead? It's an older article, but the same method applies to non-Ubuntu distributions.

http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/05/22...-ubuntu-11-04/

Sorry but that link isn't accessible from here either. Just input the address manually in your browser to see the content.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCMLXXIII (Post 4957663)

403 on that one too.

Was reading this thread with interest as I have a major problem with grub under Mageia 3 too. Somewhat different than the topic here though.

I have run Mageia 3 on here but needed to do a lot of things to this box and get eye surgery. Finally could install and it is, just haven't figured out how to fix the screwed grub install. I know it is the installation of grub(2) that is the problem because that is the error I got when it was installing.

I think I can fix it.

If the OP has install media for MS he should be able to use it to restore the MS bootloader to the MBR and boot W7 without reinstalling.

Before you start, boot up the DVD, go get bootinfoscript and run it so we can see what your full boot environment is. Post the RESULTS.txt.
You'll probably get similar from boot-repair, but let's see it first.

syg00, I'm not smart enough to get bootinfoscript to work. I'm still working on it though. :)

Not your fault - the instructions are deficient; used to be ok, so I don't even look these days. The download should have given you a file called "bootinfoscript-061.tar.gz" - this is compressed archive (like .zip). Run this to unroll the tar, then you can execute the resultant file as per the website

Code:

tar -xvzf bootinfoscript-061.tar.gz

syg00, I couldn't get that to work, either.

Quote:

[root@localhost ~]# tar -xvzf bootinfoscript-061.tar.gz
tar (child): bootinfoscript-061.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

It gave me the option to "extract", which I did, but it assumes I know what directory it extracted to, and I guess I don't.
Following the instructions that came with it, I got nowhere either. If there is a results.txt, I do not know where it went. It didn't appear to do anything.

I so appreciate your efforts to help me!

The dual-boot guide MCMLXXIII posted above was instructive. I understand now that Windows prefers it's own MBR and bootloader. Wish I hadn't pulled the trigger without doing more research.

Try these - the first one will take a little while to run as it builds a database of all the filenames on your system. The other two just look for filenames (or fragments thereof).

Code:

updatedb

locate RESULTS.txt

locate bootinfo

We can fix the loader problem in all likelihood - we just need some info ... :p

All I see is the bootinfoscript, which extracts to gedit and starts with

Quote:

#!/bin/bash
VERSION='0.61';
RELEASE_DATE='1 April 2012';
LAST_GIT_COMMIT='';
RETRIEVAL_DATE='';
###############################################################################

.

Followed by the copyright notice and then the history of the program and then the follwoing:

Quote:

## Check if the script is run with bash as shell interpreter.

if [ -z "$BASH_VERSION" ] ; then
echo 'Boot Info Script needs to be run with bash as shell interpreter.' >&2;
exit 1;
fi

## Display help text ##
#
# ./bootinfoscript -h
# ./bootinfoscript -help
# ./bootinfoscript --help

help () {
cat <<- HELP

It then displays the help info that was already unhelpful. ;)
IF I had any idea what I was looking at, it almost looks like some part of it should be copied and pasted into the terminal, but I wouldn know where to start or end it.

I'm likely not seeing the forest for the trees.

I don't use a GUI file manager for these things.
The locate commands should show you where the files are - "cd" into the directory with the downloaded file, and run the "tar" command I gave you. Then run this command (presuming you are still root)

Code:

./bootinfoscript

(yes, you do need the dot-slash).

Unfortunately, after trying several things...I've given up and started system recovery. Boo. And I'm now stuck on my tablet while the recovey takes place. Double boo. Any luck and I'll get everything back up and get payroll done by 5.

Next time, and there will be one, I'll be asking you fine folks how to do it right BEFORE I get started!

Thank you both again. I really appreciate it.

how did you resize the windows partition

If it's a new Mageia install why not just do re-install and make sure to use Grub legacy this time. Assuming you didn't use the installers partitioner to resize your windows partition you should be able to boot both OS's.

I resized the Windows partition using the windows shrink tool. I think I figured out what happened in my first install of Mageia...First, Windows 7 doesn't play well with others. I've now learned (thanks to suggested reading from other posters) that GRUB shouldn't be installed in the MBR of the first hard drive (sda). Second, guess where Mageia installs GRUB (legacy) by default? Yep, the MBR of the first hard drive.

From the installation dialogue:

Quote:

Using a Mageia Bootloader:
By default, Mageia writes a new GRUB (legacy) bootloader into the MBR of your first hard drive. If you already have other operating systems installed, Mageia attempts to add them to your new Mageia boot menu.

I assumed (wrongly) that if I just followed defaults along the installation highway, I would be fine. I didn't take the time to understand how different bootloaders work and play together, and I should have. If I was not dual-booting, this would not have been a problem, but I admittedly did not do my due diligence. I''m learning all the time and will continue to try to get my machine to dual-boot, but I will take my time and read, read, read before attempting an installation again. XP was much easier to dual boot, and I didn't make all the necessary adjustments for Win 7.

What I was able to use of Mageia was beautiful and functional, and really seemed to be full-featured. I'm excited about the OS, I just don't want to jump in again until I have time to really look over that bootloader issue.

Thanks to all of you for trying to help me out. I truly appreciate it!

I'm somewhat curious what you've read about Linux with win7. I've installed Linux on around a dozen win7 systems with grub on the MBR (hd0) and never had an issue with that. I did a Google search for Linux win7 boot-loader problems and didn't really find anything.

you should try another install with grub on the mbr and see how it goes. There really is no reason it shouldn't work with win7.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsgregman (Post 4963572)

I agree completely.

Either grub2 or grub-legacy should have no trouble at all with W7. Or for that matter W8 if it was upgraded from W7.