Gentoo and grub

wilsonsamm · 02-19-2006, 04:22 PM

I recently installed Gentoo, a long and tedious process
and now it won't boot. I keep on getting Error 15

Can anyone explain how the grub.conf works? none of the files there can be found. Are the paths in grub.conf relative to the partition that accommodates grub or to the root directory?

oneandoneis2 · 02-19-2006, 04:32 PM

Grub uses different hard drive naming conventions to Linux.

Simply put, hda1 will be hd0,0; hda2 will be hd0,1; hdb1 will be hd1,0

To find files, you have to mount a partition as root - something like "root (hd0,0)" - and then the files should be visible as normal.

wilsonsamm · 02-19-2006, 04:37 PM

I'm sure grub is on a partition of its own, hda1.
hda2 is my swapspace
and hda3 is my root.

I suppose hda3 will correspond to hd(0,2)?

I think I get it. I first mount hd(0,2) as root, then all paths to kernels and suchlikes will be relative to that.
Do I really need an initrd?

justanothersteve · 02-19-2006, 06:19 PM

Grub is confusing at first glance, but is picked up easily. Grub simply begins counting at 0 instead of 1, See the following

hda1 = hd(0,0)
hda2 = hd(0,1)
hda3 = hd(0,2)
hda4 = hd(0,3)
hda5 = hd(0,4)

hdb1 = hd(1,0)
hdb2 = hd(1,1)
hdb3 = hd(1,2)

etc...

EDIT: Don't forget to run grub-install /dev/hda

syg00 · 02-19-2006, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilsonsamm

Do I really need an initrd?

If you used genkernel, yes.
Best place for q's like this is probably forums.gentoo.org - but in the meantime, let's see /boot/grub/grub.conf.
In need, boot the CD and do the mounts as per the handbook - then the filename will be /mnt/boot/grub/grub.conf.

If you want to go the whole way, you can chroot back in and run from the HD system.

wilsonsamm · 02-20-2006, 08:32 AM

What is an intird?