i'm running suse90 and want to use XOSL (extended operating system loader) as my boot manager. when i install the os, and select to write boot image to boot sector of /boot partition (250mb 2nd partition) so that i can call it from my boot loader (worked with every other distro i tried), it only boots to a grub prompt.

-so-

i installed using default settings (writing to mbr) and installed XOSL after os was in. but now when i try to boot the /boot partition, it just stops. is there a way to reinstall grub but save all my current boot options? also, i formated /boot xfs, is this a problem?

thx

grub-install , but remember to read the man page first

if i do grub install, can i still use the existing image files? and is xfs natively supported or should i have used a different fs for /boot?

ok, i used a rescue disk, and got to grub prompt and typed:

root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0,0)

(hd0,0 is my grub partition)

rebooted.

if i try to boot the /boot partition using xosl it sends me to the grub> prompt (as it did when i was installing initially). it looks like i'm making progress, but i'm not sure how to load linux from here, and how to write a script so it will load automatically (i believe the file i want to load is vmlinuz-2.4.21-99-athlon unless the root/setup command did something).

i am using xosl for my wife's sake (she likes the gui), but i'm hoping to ditch windows soon if i can make linux friendly enough, and maybe i could just use grub as a boot loader with only a 2sec delay or something so she won't even think about it... next thing she sees is a pretty kde or gnome ;-).

dunno, i've kinda come to like xosl, lol.

thanks again for the help

bah,

i booted linux from command line using a cd, but cannot find the "vmlinuz" file. the /boot partition is empty now :S... ummmm, any ideas? can i make a custom boot file with menu items etc? can't be that hard.

anyone grub guru's who can point me in the direction of the files i need to reference to get the baby going again? i'm reading the grub manual but could use some insightful suggestions

umm, lmao, i think i'm just looking at the /boot the loaded with the cd.... let me try to mount the other /boot partition and see if i can find anything there...

lol

lmao,

the problem is that the grub install invalidates an xfs /boot partition. you can read about it at the bug report :

http://mail.gnu.org/archive/html/bug.../msg00061.html

i'll try an alternative fs for /boot

yup, different fs (ext3) worked like a charm.

Problem resolved. I would STRONGLY suggest SUSE modify the installation and Yast menu's to make it impossible to install grub on XFS if grub install WILL NOT be writing to mbr. Grub will boot fine it seems on a dedicated xfs /boot partition ONLY if it can write to mbr AND NOT the boot sector of the xfs /boot partition.

thx again

might be helpful if a moderator put XFS in the tread title in case others have similar problem... i tried to edit my first post to read "how to reinstall/recover grub on XFS?" so it would come up on searches better, but it didn't change the thread. good to have xosl and grub living peacefully together again