Most stupid GRUB !!
 

I installed Ubuntu 7.04 onto HDD (sda5) but the stupid GRUB only causes problems. In the first attempt it reported Error 22, after repartitioning and second install it now reports Error 17.

All I want is a method to boot from /dev/sda5 partition. What would be the easiest way to achieve this? Actually, since I loath GRUB, I'ld prefer a boot floppy. But how to create it? - A GRUB floppy does not help anything, it even has no kernel to load (but demands one).

Is it simpler to create a LILO floppy? Any good hints for descriptions?

Hints? Read a lot, and search Grub in the option LQ has.

Oh-and stop blaming software for the problem. Computers are stupid, but software is designed (especially in Linux) on the idea that users know what they are doing.

We will need a more complete description of your system. eg what is on the other partitions? What was the configuration before installing Ubuntu?

Normally, the Linux installer will prompt you as to where to install the bootloader. What option did you select?

If you cannot get into any Linux on the HD, then can you boot from the Ubuntu install CD? If it is a "live CD", then open a terminal after it boots, and run "fdisk -l" and post the output here. (If it is NOT a lived CD, you should be able to get a command-line by typing ctrl-alt-F1 (or F2)

GRUB would normally be the first choice for a bootloader, so I would advise you to stick with it. If you put it on a floppy to make a boot disk, you do not need to install a kernel also.

To create a boot floppy with grub--assuming that the Ubuntu /boot is on sda5 as you state above:
From the live CD terminal:
grub starts the grub shell
root (hd0,4) points grub to where /boot is (grub counts from zero and always uses "hd")
setup (fd0) puts grub on a floppy (blank must be in the drive before doing this)

GRUB manual here.

Pixelany, thanks for the effort! But the problem is that all those install procedures seem unreliable and perform guesswork instead of ensured quality for such important initialization settings. (Probably a typical Linux problem.)

In the meanwhile I am one step further. I managed to produce a Grub boot disk and I am quite sure the partition references are ok by now. It really runs!

Next problem: The only partition I can boot from is hd0,0 (Windows). hd1 is unused; hd2,4 == sda5 (Ubuntu 7.04) now produces an error 15 - File not found. But when I look into the /boot directory, all referenced files are there! Ubuntu partition is unchanged since installation from CD!

If the erratic GRUB would say what it is missing, I might get further, but cunningly it doesn't!

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Edit: I used "#grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/floppy fd0" to install GRUB on the floppy. (As described in Linux Wiki -> Boot Floppy)

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Edit: This is the Grub entry in "menu.lst".

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
root (hd2,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=/dev/sda5 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quiet
savedefault

What is the "quiet" on the last line but one?

Probably protocol output, I have tried also without it with same result.

Here is a printout of fdisk partition table of /dev/sda. I wonder what the '+' signs would mean on the crucial entries??

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 4079 32764536 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 4080 6168 16779892+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 6169 8779 20972857+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 8780 30401 173678715 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 8780 11329 20482843+ 83 Linux

The filesystem used under Linux partitions is EXT3.

How did you determine that "hd2,4 = sda5"?? and why do you say that "hd1 is unused"? If you have just one hard disk (sda), then sda5 would be hd0,4 in grub syntax.


What does this mean??
There is no guesswork in installing and configuring grub--you simply have to know what the disk and partition configuration is.

In another thread we just had similar problem, it turned out the BIOS was unable to access the whole HDD due to an improper BIOS setting. Are you sure your HDD is recognized by BIOS correctly and in full capacity?

Pixellany, I never said that sda was the only hard drive! Error 15 also indicates that (hd2,4) is a valid reference.

"hd1 is unused" means that GRUB takes not reference into it.

Suggest you send that good prayer to Ubuntu develpers! ;) It is fact that the GRUB partition settings from the installation process is often spoilt (and people are left with a (seemingly) dead computer.)

Quite sure. I can see it there, and Ubuntu as well as OpenSuse were installed ontu this drive. I can invenstigate directories and files in the Live-CD, no problem.

I do not understand this....How many drives do you have? Again: How do you know that hd2,4 is the same as sda5?

You missed the point. The question was: can BIOS see the HDD correctly and in full capacity?

Operating systems do not use BIOS to access the HDD, GRUB has do do it via BIOS.

I have 3 drives in that computer. I know that (hd2) is sda because I mapped it so in the device.map settings of GRUB. The counting follows the device counting (but is always one less).

How many boot partitions are on your system?

Wait a minute, doesn't Feisty reference all hard drives as sd now, whether they are PATA or SATA? Wouldn't that mean that your SATA disk is not sda at all but perhaps sdc?