Need a bit of help getting brub to run, i think

rogan999 · 01-12-2004, 01:26 AM

I am having a bit of a problem trying to get my linux to actually boot. I have just installed Slackware onto a drive that already had windows installed on it.. i have and 80 gig drive, that i had partitioned into two 40gig, one Windows System Partition, and one for Storage, I just deleted the Storage partition and installed Linux.. The instalation goes all the way to the end, and restarts.. the computer then reboots and goes directly into windows. i belive this is happening because the Master Boot Record of the drive is never being updated with the new boot information. how do i do this?

rogan

megaspaz · 01-12-2004, 01:37 AM

did the install, give you the option of making a linux boot disk? if so, and if you made one, pop it in and it should boot you into linux. then use these commands from a shell terminal:

1. su
<enter root password>
2. grub-install /dev/hda

make sure you use hda and not hda1 or hda2 or etc...

#2 will install grub onto your MBR.

before rebooting, make sure your grub.conf file exists and looks something like this (simple windows/redhat 7.3 dual boot):

Code:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE:  You do not have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
#          root (hd0,10)
#          kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda11
#          initrd /boot/initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,10)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
password --md5 $XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/
title Red Hat Linux 7.3
	root (hd0,10)
	kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.X.XX-XX ro root=/dev/hda11 hdb=ide-scsi hdc=ide-scsi
	initrd /boot/initrd-2.X.XX-XX.img
title Windows
	rootnoverify (hd0,0)
	chainloader +1

the full file path to grub.conf is /boot/grub/grub.conf and you can use any gui text editor with that. you need to be logged in or su'ed into root. aw hell here's the commands for opening grub.conf

1. su
<enter root password>
2. kwrite /boot/grub/grub.conf

in grub.conf, don't worry if you see that root= is using a different hdaXX or something. that's the partition where my linux install is residing. yours may obviously be on a different partition.

rogan999 · 01-12-2004, 01:42 AM

Whenever i try to install it.. i get an error.. nothing specific, just says that it could not install and i need to load my Linux from a boot Floppy

megaspaz · 01-12-2004, 01:44 AM

well, yeah. that's what i asked you first. did you make a boot floppy? you need to boot linux from the boot floppy before trying to install grub AFAIK.

alar · 01-12-2004, 01:48 AM

You could try boot from Linux CD and check in the installer
for help on boot options.
You will probably have to add one package for the installer
to make any changes to your boot option though...
Else it will say no changes.

rogan999 · 01-12-2004, 01:48 AM

Oh, ok..

Although i made a mistake with a password, so i am not able to log into the install... Oooops

Rogan

megaspaz · 01-12-2004, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alar
You could try boot from Linux CD and check in the installer
for help on boot options.
You will probably have to add one package for the installer
to make any changes to your boot option though...
Else it will say no changes.

actually if you can boot from the install cd into linux, then you can run the grub-install command in linux. i'm not sure how slack does it, but in redhat 7.3, the install cd will not save changes unless you install the kernel that's higher than the already installed kernel (which is impossible). i remember trying to fix grub that way on my father's laptop and installing the kernel on the cd didn't work. still said no changes. but either way, give it a shot. alar's suggestion may work out better for you.