[SOLVED] Grub loading please wait ... Error 17

sc_ijin · 07-29-2010, 05:52 PM

Hi,
I am trying to install Puppy 5.0.1 on a laptop (Specs in the end of the post). Live CD runs fine, but I can't install it. After installation I see Grub loading please wait ... Error 17

'pmount puppy drive mounter' says that I have

ATA ST94019A sda1 ext3 34.3 G 31.5G free [I set it to be bootable]

GRUB file is shown below.

What should I do to install Puppy on the laptop?

PS. Please use simple English and write command lines in your answer.

Thanks.
Ijin.

Code:

# GRUB configuration file '/boot/grub/menu.lst'.
# generated by 'grubconfig'.  Thu Jul 29 21:58:01 2010
#
# Start GRUB global section
#timeout 30
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray
# End GRUB global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
  title Linux (on /dev/sda1)
  root (hd0,0)
  kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=790
# Linux bootable partition config ends
title Install GRUB to floppy disk (on /dev/fd0)
pause Insert a formatted floppy disk and press enter.
root (hd0,0)
setup (fd0)
pause Press enter to continue.
title Install GRUB to Linux partition (on /dev/sda1)
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0,0)
pause Press enter to continue.
title -     For help press 'c', then type: 'help'
root (hd0)
title -     For usage examples, type: 'cat /boot/grub/usage.txt'
root (hd0)

Specifications.

Code:

Intel Pentium M 725 (1.6 GHz, 400 MHz FSB, 2M L2 Cashe)
Ati Mobility Radeon 9700/64Mb
256 Mb DDR
40 Gb HDD
Network card, CD-ROM

sc_ijin · 07-29-2010, 06:02 PM

BTW, I tried
restarting computer after partitioning, but before installing Puppy,
using ext2 and ext3 file systems
disconnecting the charger and battery

with no effect on GRUB 17 error message.

syg00 · 07-29-2010, 06:30 PM

From the liveCD do this from a terminal

Code:

parted /dev/sda "print"

Possibly you need a initrd to support your chipset, but I'm surprised Puppy wouldn't set that up for you.

sc_ijin · 07-29-2010, 09:06 PM

parted /dev/sda "print"

Code:

Error /dev/sda: unrecognised disk lebel

parted /dev/sda1 "print"

Code:

Model:unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/sda1: 36.9 GB
Sector size (logical/physical) 512 B/512 B
Partition table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags

What does it mean?

yancek · 07-29-2010, 09:07 PM

Which other operating systems, if any, do you have on the computer?
If you have, what are they?
Info in your first post shows 2.8GB used and Puppy is only about 110MB.
Also the Grub error 17:

Quote:

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

would indicate Grub is trying to mount a non-Linux filesystem.

Your menu.lst file indicates Grub is pointing to the first partition on the first drive?

sc_ijin · 07-29-2010, 09:33 PM

I don't have any other operation systems. I have no idea why it says

Quote:

ATA ST94019A sda1 ext3 34.3 G 31.5G free

I am trying to make in Puppy only. There should be only two partitions: Ext3 (for Puppy Linux) and swap for puppy swap.

Quote:

Your menu.lst file indicates Grub is pointing to the first partition on the first drive?

I don't know. The menu.lst is shown in the first post. What command should I use on Linux to answer this question?

sc_ijin · 08-02-2010, 06:20 PM

Do I understand correctly that this problem cannot be solved and I should use another distro instead?

syg00 · 08-02-2010, 11:35 PM

I'm confused with what you have managed to do - go to sf.net and get the bootinfoscript. It can be run from the liveCD - post the RESULTS.txt it generates.

Karl Godt · 08-12-2010, 10:16 AM

I Don`t know .
I run Macpup Foxy3.0/1 (4.3.0/1) on three partitions (full install (ext2-4)) of 1.2 G each (1050 MHz 384 MB RAM) :

Code:

# parted /dev/sda "print"
Model: ATA QUANTUM BIGFOOT_ (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 4335MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  1258MB  1258MB  primary  ext2              
 2      1258MB  2517MB  1258MB  primary  ext3              
 3      2517MB  3775MB  1258MB  primary  ext3              
 4      3775MB  4335MB  559MB   primary  linux-swap        

# mut
 fd0:   empty   floppy  floppy.0   3.5 floppy HD
 sda:   4.33GB  disk    ide   4 partitions
 sdb:   20GB    disk    ide   2 partitions
 sdc:   170MB   disk    ide   1 partitions
 sr0:           cdrom   ide   CD-ROM CRD-8402B

# partprobe -s
/dev/sda: msdos partitions 1 2 3 4
/dev/sdb: msdos partitions 1 2
/dev/sdc: msdos partitions 1

# probepart -s
/dev/sda1|ext2|1228941
/dev/sda2|ext3|1228972
/dev/sda3|ext4|1228972
/dev/sda4|swap|546210
/dev/sdb1|reiserfs|17824086
/dev/sdb2|swap|1726987
/dev/sdc1|vfat|166457
/dev/sr0|none|1048575

# probedisk
/dev/sda|Direct-Access|ATA     QUANTUM BIGFOOT_
/dev/sdb|Direct-Access|ATA     ST320410A       
/dev/sdc|Direct-Access|ATA     WDC AC1170F     
/dev/sr0|cdrom|COMPAQ  CD-ROM CRD-8402B

# probedisk2 -s
/dev/sda|drive|ATA QUANTUM BIGFOOT_
/dev/sdb|drive|ATA ST320410A 
/dev/sdc|drive|ATA WDC AC1170F 
/dev/sr0|optical|COMPAQ CD-ROM CRD-8402B

# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 4335 MB, 4335206400 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 527 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1         153     1228941   83  Linux
/dev/sda2             154         306     1228972+  83  Linux
/dev/sda3             307         459     1228972+  83  Linux
/dev/sda4             460         527      546210   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 20.0 GB, 20020396032 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2434 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1        2219    17824086   83  Linux
/dev/sdb2            2220        2434     1726987+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdc: 170 MB, 170649600 bytes
6 heads, 55 sectors/track, 1010 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 330 * 512 = 168960 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1   *           1        1009      166457+   6  FAT16

# gr [TAB}
grep              grubconfig        grub-md5-crypt    grub-terminfo
growisofs         grub-floppy       grub-reboot       
grub              grub-install      grub-set-default

Code:

# cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
# GRUB configuration file '/boot/grub/menu.lst'.
# generated by 'grubconfig'.  Sat Jun 26 20:08:24 2010
#
# The backup copy of the MBR for drive '/dev/sda' is
# here '/boot/grub/mbr.sda.24545'.  You can restore it like this.
# dd if=/boot/grub/mbr.sda.24545 of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1
#
# Start GRUB global section
#timeout 30
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray
# End GRUB global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
  title Linux (on /dev/sda1)
  root (hd0,0)
  kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=normal
# Linux bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
  title Linux (on /dev/sda2)
  root (hd0,1)
  kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=normal
# Linux bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
  title Linux (on /dev/sda3)
  root (hd0,2)
  kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda3 ro vga=ask debug
# Linux bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
  title Linux (on /dev/sdb1)
  root (hd1,0)
  kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro vga=normal

Code:

# Linux bootable partition config begins
  title Linux SUSE LINUX 9.2 (on /dev/sdb1)
  root (hd1,0)
  kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 vga=0x31a selinux=0 splash=silent resume=/dev/sdb2 desktop elevator=as showopts
  initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd
# Linux bootable partition config ends

Code:

title Install GRUB to floppy disk (on /dev/fd0)
pause Insert a formatted floppy disk and press enter.
root (hd0,2)
setup (fd0)
pause Press enter to continue.
title Install GRUB to Linux partition (on /dev/sda3)
root (hd0,2)
setup (hd0,2)
pause Press enter to continue.
title -     For help press 'c', then type: 'help'
root (hd0)
title -     For usage examples, type: 'cat /boot/grub/usage.txt'
root (hd0)

Code:

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title SUSE LINUX 9.2
    kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hdb1 vga=0x31a selinux=0 splash=silent resume=/dev/hdb2 desktop elevator=as showopts
    initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- SUSE LINUX 9.2
    kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hdb1 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off vga=normal noresume selinux=0 barrier=off nosmp noapic maxcpus=0  3
    initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: memtest86###
title Memory Test
    kernel (hd2,0)/boot/memtest.bin

Never had any real bootproblems with puppy but the menulist had to be modified manually for Suse.
Sdc is found 170 MB WIN 95 - the only one with bootable flag.

sc_ijin · 08-17-2010, 12:33 PM

I resolved the problem by installing windows xp. I might give linux a try next year.

ax25nut · 08-18-2010, 10:23 PM

It doesn't appear to me that anyone has actually addressed the real problem here. It sounds like you've tried to install to an improper partition type, and now grub can't load the files and boot properly.

Just my two cents worth here, but when you boot puppy up, click MENU, then SYSTEM, then GPARTED. Use this to format your drive ext2 or ext3, and then set the bootable flag on it. After you create the first partition, create a SECOND partition of, say, 512-1024mb for swap space after it, and label it as such. After you've completed this, you can use the Universal Installer to install your new system. Don't waste your time installing frugally, as it's not necessary on this machine. Install to your linux partition (/dev/sda1) with the FULL INSTALL option. Don't worry, it will get to that option during the install process, and you can choose that option when it comes up. Now you know how to install Puppy correctly to a hard drive. Save the frugal installs for usb stix. Trust me on this, as it will make your life simpler, especially when you want to remember where a certain directory or file is. Frugal installs compress all the directories & files into one large file. I find this a nuisance, and rather confusing to start out with, regardless of what others may say. Also, a swap partition isn't required, but Puppy will certainly use one if it's available, so make it at least as large as your memory, preferably double your memory size.

And please, folks, don't confuse this guy any further with "...but you can STILL do a frugalshit option on a fat partition, etc....", as he's obviously having a hard time as it is. I've been where he is, and one simple method is better than a lot of technical-sounding edits of multiple files, etc...

Finally, if you have a 2gb or larger usb stick, you might boot up puppy and install to that stick. Unlike a full hdd install, a usb stick requires a fat partition, and if you can boot from usb drives, you can still take puppy with you and play to your heart's content.

73

akolff · 02-28-2014, 05:20 PM

Thank you for the clear and basic explanation of setting up a hard drive for Puppy Linux.

After struggling with a hard disk install of Puppy Linux 4.3.1 on an old Presario 1685 for two days, your post solved a very frustrating Grub Error 17. If the swap partition is last everything works well. But, if you follow a "fancy" tutorial or two that place the swap partition first it does not.

And I knew better is the real kicker.

Simple is so much better.