Seek desperate help for Grub loader problem.

nesrail · 03-25-2009, 07:12 AM

Hello.
I have/had a problem with my grub loader in ubuntu.
Almost everytime I start my computer the grub loader comes with an error, error 18 or error 16.

I can reinstall the grub, using Ubuntu LiveCD but it still sucks to do it almost everytime I start my computer.
Someone says its because " on some machines, the bios hides a part of the hard drive to put a rescue partition on it"

I followed this guide http://www.debianhelp.org/node/1479#comment-959.

This is how my partition looks like when I follow the guide

Model: ATA WDC WD1600BEVT-2 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 160GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32,3kB 155GB 155GB primary ext3 boot
2 155GB 160GB 4631MB extended
5 155GB 160GB 4631MB logical linux-swap

Shouldn't the Primary start at zero???

I hope someone can help or I am about to give up on linux.

Thanks

vlademir · 03-25-2009, 10:15 AM

Hi,
to find where grub is installed please use this command :

Quote:

find /boot/grub/stage1

After retry the reinstallation of grub, see this threat

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...grubh1-714341/

sundialsvcs · 03-25-2009, 10:20 AM

Patience... let us see...

When I do info grub, and look around the "Errors" section, I find under "Stage2 Errors" a list of numeric codes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the 'info' manual:

16 : Inconsistent filesystem structure
This error is returned by the filesystem code to denote an internal error caused by the sanity checks of the filesystem structure on disk not matching what it expects. This is usually caused by a corrupt filesystem or bugs in the code handling it in GRUB.

18 : Selected cylinder exceeds maximum supported by BIOS
This error is returned when a read is attempted at a linear block address beyond the end of the BIOS translated area. This generally happens if your disk is larger than the BIOS can handle (512MB for (E)IDE disks on older machines or larger than 8GB in general).

Okay, when I read this, I conclude that the GRUB is probably looking in the wrong place, because if it were looking in the right place it would not find "inconsistent" structures.

Start by assuming that the simplest possible explanation for the problem is the most likely one. And that explanation would be, of course, "human error." You do recall, for instance, that GRUB generally starts numbering things at zero, not one? Desk-check all of the specifications that you have given in the configuration-file. Review the specifications for the GRUB install procedure, and repeat it carefully.

I'm always on the lookout for the "b**lsh*t message."

Lots of error-messages (and codes) are of course absolutely correct in that they tell you in graphic detail that "the poor schmoe hit the concrete floor at the foot of the stairs, rather hard." But what they don't usually tell you is why: whether you forgot to install one of the steps, or somebody greased the bannister, or you accidentally left a roller-skate on the upper landing. So I'm generalizing from these two error-codes, having located their descriptions.