Slackware 15.0 installation takes me to grub

subscrive · 02-14-2022, 08:45 AM

Hello

I had debian on my old Asus i3/4GB laptop. Since it was slow and SW 15.0 was available, I backedup my data and used complete 1 TB to install SW.

Problem is that I am taken to grub> prompt during login. This login shows tonnes of options.

Fortunately I had created a USB bootable. Sticking this USB during laptop restart takes me to SW login prompt.

Kindly help to fix this lilo issue.

Br

colorpurple21859 · 02-14-2022, 09:16 AM

Post the following:

Code:

cat /etc/fstab
cat /sys/firmware/efi

And as root

Code:

parted -l

subscrive · 02-14-2022, 03:33 PM

Code:

bash-5.1$ cat /etc/fstab
/dev/sda2        swap             swap        defaults         0   0
/dev/sda1        /                ext4        defaults         1   1
#/dev/cdrom      /mnt/cdrom       auto        noauto,owner,ro,comment=x-gvfs-show 0   0
/dev/fd0         /mnt/floppy      auto        noauto,owner     0   0
devpts           /dev/pts         devpts      gid=5,mode=620   0   0
proc             /proc            proc        defaults         0   0
tmpfs            /dev/shm         tmpfs       nosuid,nodev,noexec 0   0
bash-5.1$ cat /sys/firmware/efi
cat: /sys/firmware/efi: Is a directory
bash-5.1$ parted -l
bash: parted: command not found
bash-5.1$ su
Password: 
bash-5.1# parted -l
Model: ATA ST1000LM035-1RK1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name  Flags
 1      1049kB  993GB   993GB   ext4
 2      993GB   1000GB  6993MB  linux-swap(v1)        swap


Model: Generic Flash Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 16.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  17.8MB  16.8MB  primary  fat16        boot


bash-5.1#

subscrive · 02-14-2022, 04:11 PM

bash-5.1$ cat /etc/fstab && cat /sys/firmware/efi
/dev/sda2 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/sda1 / ext4 defaults 1 1

(Trying to make this readable with good spacing. But

)

bassmadrigal · 02-14-2022, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subscrive

(Trying to make this readable with good spacing. But

)

If you put it within [code][/code] tags, it will keep your spacing.

Code:

bash-5.1$ cat /etc/fstab && cat /sys/firmware/efi
/dev/sda2        swap             swap        defaults         0   0
/dev/sda1        /                ext4        defaults         1   1

RadicalDreamer · 02-14-2022, 08:57 PM

Did you use EFI?

Code:

bash-5.1# fdisk -l | grep EFI

colorpurple21859 · 02-14-2022, 09:10 PM

The bootable usb is booting the system in uefi mode and it appears that the system was installed in legacy mode as there is no efi partition and no mention of problems during installation.

as root run the following

Code:

grub-install --target=i386-pc --force /dev/sda
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

you will get message about blocklist, however should get message the installation finished.

If you prefer lilo run liloconfig

KeithE · 02-14-2022, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

The bootable usb is booting the system in uefi mode and it appears that the system was installed in legacy mode as there is no efi partition and no mention of problems during installation.

as root run the following

Code:

grub-install --target=i386-pc --force /dev/sda
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

you will get message about blocklist, however should get message the installation finished.

If you prefer lilo run liloconfig

I tried to install Slackware 15 over Mint 20.3 on my HP Envy laptop and had the same issue, even though ELILO was installed in the UEFI partition. As my laptop is a 64-bit machine, will liloconfig work with ELILO (This is the first time I've used it)?

LinBox2013 · 02-14-2022, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeithE

I tried to install Slackware 15 over Mint 20.3 on my HP Envy laptop and had the same issue, even though ELILO was installed in the UEFI partition. As my laptop is a 64-bit machine, will liloconfig work with ELILO (This is the first time I've used it)?

You should skip installing a bootloader. Reboot and use the install media to boot into the system and run (as root):

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=GRUB

Than:

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Than:

cp /usr/share/locale/en\@quot/LC_MESSAGES/grub.mo /boot/grub/locale/en.mo

You should be able to reboot into a working system. These are the steps I took.

RadicalDreamer · 02-14-2022, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeithE

I tried to install Slackware 15 over Mint 20.3 on my HP Envy laptop and had the same issue, even though ELILO was installed in the UEFI partition. As my laptop is a 64-bit machine, will liloconfig work with ELILO (This is the first time I've used it)?

If you are using EFI then check:

Code:

bash-5.1# efibootmgr

See what "BootCurrent: XXXX" is.
May need to change boot order. XXXX is the number after Boot like Boot0000. Then do this to change it:

Code:

efibootmgr -o 0000

KeithE · 02-14-2022, 10:46 PM

Thanks, LinBox2013 and RadicalDreamer. I'll give both of your suggestions a shot.

RadicalDreamer · 02-14-2022, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeithE

Thanks, LinBox2013 and RadicalDreamer. I'll give both of your suggestions a shot.

I'm using elilo. The code for Slackware would be found with this

Code:

bash-5.1# efibootmgr | grep Slackware

I forgot to tell you that you are supposed to use eliloconfig with elilo. It copies the vmlinuz from /boot/ to /boot/efi/EFI/Slackware/ and registers elilo to NVRAM. The vmlinuz needs to be copied to /boot/efi/EFI/Slackware/ each kernel update, and initrd.gz does to if you are using the generic kernel.

subscrive · 02-15-2022, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RadicalDreamer

Did you use EFI?

Code:

bash-5.1# fdisk -l | grep EFI

bash-5.1# whoami
root
bash-5.1# fdisk -l | grep EFI
bash-5.1#

RadicalDreamer · 02-15-2022, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subscrive

bash-5.1# whoami
root
bash-5.1# fdisk -l | grep EFI
bash-5.1#

Did you install grub to EFI because the bootloader would be registered in your NVRAM? I'd reset the NVRAM if that is what you did or use elilo or grub with Slackware and set the bootloader to them with efibootmgr.

If it is using EFI then I would think that efibootmgr would show grub as being BootCurrent if you used the command efibootmgr in terminal as root.

I'm confused because I would think that lilo would overwrite whatever was installed on mbr.

subscrive · 02-16-2022, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RadicalDreamer

I'm confused because I would think that lilo would overwrite whatever was installed on mbr.

#MeToo (

), but I guess it didnt. Better to reinstall, since HDD is anyways without personal data.