Installed a new drive for my Software RAID1 in Linux but I cannot install grub on it
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Installed a new drive for my Software RAID1 in Linux but I cannot install grub on it
Hello everyone,
I am using Ubuntu 8.04 (32bit) and I am running a RAID1 array (sda,sdb).
Anyway, I replaced /dev/sdb and created bigger partitions, the array was built and in sync after a few hours.
Now, I tried to install grub as I read in the documentation and also tested this in a VM to simulate the RAID1 disk replacement.
grub> root (hd1,0)
grub> setup (hd1)
In the documentation and on my tests this worked like a charm but on the real physical server I get "Error 15".
It cannot find the stage1 in my server, so I tried grub-install and it worked with no errors but after running the bootscriptsinfo,
I can see grub1 is installed in /dev/sdb but will try to boot from hd0 which is not good for me as I want to replace also /dev/sda (hd0).
I have no idea why this didn't work for the real server.
Any help appreciated, I haven't rebooted the server as it is working as a file server and I don't know if it is going to come up, so this weekend I am going to backup /home and reboot it. I also have the old hard drive, so I believe at any point I can actually boot from it and copy over the backup.
Here is my bootscriptsinfo.
---
Boot Info Script 0.61 [1 April 2012]
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Grub Legacy (v0.97) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the
same drive in partition #1 for /boot/grub/stage2 and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
=> Grub Legacy (v0.97) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks on boot
drive #1 in partition #1 for /boot/grub/stage2 and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.
## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0
## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 3
## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu
# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue
## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret
#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#
#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST
### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below
## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs
## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=/dev/md0 ro
## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0
## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,0)
## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true
## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false
## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash
## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false
## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=
## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0
## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single
## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all
## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true
## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false
## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false
Look at the second example in the comments. It installs grub to both. http://blog.bigsmoke.us/2009/06/21/i...-grub-on-raid1
You might consider having the initial partition being non-raid, and use /dev/sdb1 as a n identical clone. A regular or image backup of /boot as well will be a snap due to it's small size.
Thanks for the reply.
Actually that's what I did in my tests and worked fine but if I try to do that with the new hard-drive, I get the Error 15 from Grub.
Try booting from the grub menu after replacing sda' using sdb1 as the grub root. The grub menu has tab-completion. If you can find boot partition from the grub shell, you should be able to boot. If that doesn't work' boot from a cdrom, perform the steps you need after replacing sda, then you can boot from sda1 as normal.
I still prefer a normal /boot partition were possible. Just saying.
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