RH 8 - boots fine from floppy, not from Grub
 

I've been reading the man pages, how-tos, and posts about Grub and still can't seem to find the solution to my problem.

Yes, I know - use LILO. I've seen the posts. Spare me.

This is a clean installation of Red Hat 8.0 download edition. Booting from the floppy works fine, no matter what init level I choose. However, booting from the hard drive just brings me to a single line that simply says:

GRUB (blinking cursor)
Characters typed here aren't even echoed on the screen.:Pengy:

here are the config details:

fdisk -l > /usr/grubconfig.txt
Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 1247 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 14 1215 9655065 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 1216 1247 257040 82 Linux swap

cat /etc/grub.conf >> /usr/grubconfig.txt
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda2
# initrd /initrd-version.img
boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Red Hat Linux (2.4.18-14)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-14 ro root=/dev/hda2=/
initrd /initrd-2.4.18-14.img

ls -C /boot >> /usr/grubconfig.txt
boot.b kernel.h module-info-2.4.18-14 vmlinuz
chain.b lost+found os2_d.b vmlinuz-2.4.18-14
config-2.4.18-14 message System.map
grub message.ja System.map-2.4.18-14
initrd-2.4.18-14.img module-info vmlinux-2.4.18-14

I have included the /boot listing as proof that the files grub.conf points to are there.

It seems to not be related to grub.conf because it doesn't matter what I change it to, I still get the same response.

I ran (in init level 1) grub-install /dev/hda and it appeared to run successfully. Still no change, but it seems to me that Grub is in the mbr or it wouldn't even display GRUB.

I am determined to get Grub working, not because I have any preference, but because I want to figure this out. It is working fine booting from the floppy, so I don't have to get it working any time soon.

try using the command below:

grub-install /dev/hda --force-lba

there is something wrong with ur grub.conf:

title Red Hat Linux (2.4.18-14)
root (hd0,1) ---> this should be (hd0,0)

as what grub.conf says:

# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,0)

so u need root(hd0,0).

boot via floppy, edit /boot/grub/grub.conf, reboot and see if this worked.

Thanks for the suggestions, but neither of them worked. Still the response is:
GRUB (Blinking Cursor)
Shouldn't Grub at least bring up some sort of menu? I would think that if grub.conf were wrong, then it would error out tring to find vmlinuz, but I get nothing at all. I really had hopes for the --force-lba suggestion, but alas, it was not to be.

BTW, this is now my grub.conf:
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda2
# initrd /initrd-version.img
boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Red Hat Linux (2.4.18-14)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-14 ro root=/dev/hda2
initrd /initrd-2.4.18-14.img

can u post the contents of the *.conf file in your boot floppy?

floppy contents:
boot.msg initrd.img ldlinux.sys syslinux.cfg vmlinuz

contents of syslinux.cfg:
default linux
prompt 1
display boot.msg
timeout 100
label linux
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img ro root=/dev/hda2

Also I found the following at http://www.gnu.org/manual/grub-0.92/...e/FAQ.html#FAQ
I have a separate boot partition and GRUB doesn't recognize it...
There are several solutions for this situation...
(3)Install GRUB with the command install, to specify the paths of GRUB images explicitly. Here is an example:
grub> root (hd0,1)
grub> install /grub/stage1 d (hd0) /grub/stage2 p /grub/menu.lst

However, when I tried to follow these instructions exactly, I received a 'file not found' error running the 'install' command. I then repeated it, substituting root (hd0,0) instead of root (hd0,1) as per instructions and the 'install' command completed successfully.

But even after all this I still have the same result.

more info:
I just created a grub boot floppy (http://www.gnu.org/manual/grub-0.92/...0boot%20floppy) so I now know what grub is supposed to look like. I can tell from comparing the differences that grub on my mbr never even finds Stage1. Not sure what this means yet, but it's another clue to the puzzle.

I told you I'm determined to figure this out!

here is the listing of my /boot:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5824 Sep 6 04:53 boot.b
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 612 Sep 6 04:53 chain.b
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 42257 Jan 31 20:05 config-2.4.18-24.8.0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 Feb 7 13:27 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 129514 Feb 7 13:26 initrd-2.4.18-24.8.0.img
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 473 Feb 6 20:09 kernel.h
drwx------ 2 root root 12288 Feb 6 19:56 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23108 Sep 6 22:05 message
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 21282 Sep 6 22:05 message.ja
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 25 Feb 7 13:26 module-info -> module-info-2.4.18-24.8.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15436 Jan 31 20:05 module-info-2.4.18-24.8.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 640 Sep 6 04:53 os2_d.b
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 Feb 7 13:26 System.map -> System.map-2.4.18-24.8.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 503847 Jan 31 20:05 System.map-2.4.18-24.8.0
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3171861 Jan 31 20:05 vmlinux-2.4.18-24.8.0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Feb 7 13:26 vmlinuz -> vmlinuz-2.4.18-24.8.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1112073 Jan 31 20:05 vmlinuz-2.4.18-24.8.0

and here is my /boot/grub:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 82 Feb 6 20:24 device.map
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 10848 Feb 6 20:24 e2fs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9776 Feb 6 20:24 fat_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8864 Feb 6 20:24 ffs_stage1_5
-rw------- 1 root root 663 Feb 7 13:27 grub.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11072 Feb 6 20:24 jfs_stage1_5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Feb 6 20:24 menu.lst -> ./grub.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9280 Feb 6 20:24 minix_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12512 Feb 6 20:24 reiserfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7985 Sep 6 22:05 splash.xpm.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 Feb 6 20:24 stage1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 130340 Feb 6 20:24 stage2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8576 Feb 6 20:24 vstafs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12552 Feb 6 20:24 xfs_stage1_5


compare it with the contents of your /boot and /boot/grub directories. the vmlinuz, System.map and config.* version tags might be different.

equack, do you have a SCSI drive? If so, is it an Adaptec SCSI?

i don't think that its a scsi drive coz its displaying '/dev/hda' not '/dev/sda' when he runs fdisk -l...

Meanwhile, i noticed that you have a

kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-14 ro root=/dev/hda2=/

removed the '=/' part from the mentioned line...

equack posted his latest grub.conf.

i believe he has some problem with some files in his /boot directory.

da_kidd_er's right - no SCSI.

Had no time to post last night. I compared my /boot and /boot/grub directories they were virtually identical to what born4linux posted. The only difference at all was two additional directories, /boot/boot and /boot/boot/grub. /boot/boot was identical, but /boot/boot/grub didnt have grub.conf or menu.lst.

the first thing I tried was copying grub.conf to /boot/boot/grub and creating the menu.lst symlink. - NO

Next I tried to force it using
grub> root (hd0,1)
grub> install /boot/grub/stage1 d (hd0) /boot/grub/stage2 p /grub/menu.lst
- NO

Next I deleted the two extra directories and ran
grub> root (hd0,1)
grub> install /grub/stage1 d (hd0) /grub/stage2 p /grub/menu.lst
- NO

Then I tried grub-install /dev/hda - NO

Then I tried grub-install --root-directory=/boot /dev/hda
- Still NO, but that recreated the /boot/boot and /boot/boot/grub directories, so now I know how they got there. (I had tried that command before.)
:confused:
Next, I'll try to create a grub floppy with a menu interface. (See http://www.gnu.org/manual/grub-0.92/...e/FAQ.html#FAQ)

Did you select not to install grub during ur installation?

I selected the bootloader default for RH8 -- install grub. It just never has worked.
I also made a basic grub boot diskette, but it doesn't work either. it loads Stage2 and waits for a command at grub > but when I type in the first command grub>root (hd0, 0), it hangs with a blinking cursor at the next line.

I also copied /etc/lilo.conf.anaconda to etc/lilo.conf and ran /sbin/lilo but that didn't work either. I might find more time to work on it this weekend.

I must admit to being rather puzzled, but there's a limit to how much time I can spend on the computers here at home and stay married.