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Old 01-17-2010, 08:42 PM   #1
bgraybr
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Can't install boot loader- both Grub and Lilo failed. And other problems.


I have a Dell Inspiron 1721. Recently I replaced Windows Vista Home Edition (32 bit) with Slackware Linux 13.

Lilo wouldn't work, when I turned on the computer it printed "Li" and then 20 lines of 090909... and then the computer would hang up. So I just used my Slackware-boot-flashdrive-thing that I created during installation to boot my computer and told myself that I would fix it later.

Also, when I installed, cfdisk (or it might have been sfdisk) complained that /dev/sda did not contain a valid MS-DOS partition table. fdisk still worked, so I used it to create a new table, and cfdisk worked fine and the installation went along normally.

I reinstalled Slackware about two days later (I realized that I had installed the 32 bit version instead of the 64 bit). Lilo still didn't work.

I thought it might be something wrong with the Slackware DVD, so I downloaded and attempted to install about 4 different distributions. None of the CDs would work. The computer would start up, Linux would start to load, and the computer would freeze.

Xubuntu was the only distro I had that I could get to install. Halfway through the installation, (Surprise!) I got an error, something like "Package Grub failed to install, you will not be able to boot your new operating system".

The rest of the install went fine, so I restarted my computer and tried to use another one of my CDs to boot Xubuntu. I got the error "/dev/sda does not contain a valid partition table", and later "ext4-fs: checksum failed on dev sda at sector...", and "please specify a valid partition for root=". I am absolutely positive that I entered the correct partition, I triple checked and entered other partition names to make sure.

-----

I'd also like to add that the computer makes horrible crunching noises when it starts up and when I do stuff like press keys. So is something seriously wrong with my hardware, or is there another explanation for all of this? Because I really don't want to have to try to repair the computer and can't pay to have it repaired.
 
Old 01-17-2010, 09:17 PM   #2
kbp
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I originally thought that your BIOS may have boot sector protection enabled but after you mentioned crunching noises I would have to guess your hard disk is on the way out, try replacing it.

cheers
 
Old 01-18-2010, 07:47 AM   #3
onebuck
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Hi,

I think 'kbp' may be onto something with the locked BIOS. Check your BIOS for entries.

The disk activity could be the BIOS accessing the IPL repeatedly to attempt the boot.

 
Old 01-24-2010, 07:45 PM   #4
bgraybr
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Quote:
Originally Posted by onebuck View Post
Hi,

I think 'kbp' may be onto something with the locked BIOS. Check your BIOS for entries.
Try as I might, I can't find anything in the BIOS settings that resembles boot sector protection or a lock. I'll keep looking.

Quote:
The disk activity could be the BIOS accessing the IPL repeatedly to attempt the boot.

I think that's probably it, since the noises stop some time after the computer boots.
 
Old 01-24-2010, 07:53 PM   #5
damgar
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I had a similar problem with my current disk. I couldn't install Grub and I couldn't install LILO. I know that the HDD is dying, but that doesn't seem to have been the problem with the boot loader. What I had to do was to use fdisk to write an empty partition table, then add my partitions (I chose one primary for / and 2 logicals on an extended partition for /swap /home, then when the Slack installer asked I did the SLOW option to format the primary partition that checks for errors. For /home I just used the regular method because all the bad blocks caused the install to just sit for a couple of hours. I then installed LILO to the MBR when asked and all has been working fine.

EDIT: I also set the primary partition / as bootable in fdisk before entering setup.

This may or may not work for you, but it did get me a litlle life out of a dying drive.
 
Old 01-24-2010, 08:23 PM   #6
bgraybr
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damgar View Post
I had a similar problem with my current disk...
This may or may not work for you, but it did get me a litlle life out of a dying drive.
Oh! When I ran fdisk again and I got the following warning:

The number of cylinders on this disk is set to [a large number] This is slightly larger than [a slightly smaller number], which may cause problems with some software that runs at boot, such as older versions of LILO.

Could this be the problem?
 
Old 01-24-2010, 08:44 PM   #7
damgar
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I think you are talking about the LBA warning. I don't think that would be the issue.
 
Old 01-25-2010, 07:58 AM   #8
onebuck
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Hi,

GNU/Linux doesn't require the 'boot' flag being set.

 
Old 01-25-2010, 08:52 PM   #9
damgar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by onebuck View Post
Hi,

GNU/Linux doesn't require the 'boot' flag being set.

Good to know,
 
  


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