Error 18 when trying to boot with GRUB or GRUB2

DaneM · 09-01-2005, 09:27 PM

Hello, everybody.

Whenever I try to boot up using GRUB or GRUB2 I get an "Error 18" and it won't let me get to a command prompt. Here is my fstab:

Code:

/dev/hda4        swap             swap        defaults         0   0
/dev/hda1        /                reiserfs    defaults         1   1
/dev/hda2        /var             reiserfs    defaults         1   2
/dev/hda3        /home            reiserfs    defaults         1   2
tmpfs           /dev/shm        tmpfs   defaults        0 0
/dev/hdc1       /mnt/hdc1       reiserfs        defaults        1 2
/dev/pts           /dev/pts         devpts      gid=5,mode=620   0   0
proc             /proc            proc        defaults         0   0
#Submount devices
/dev/hdb /mnt/cdrom subfs fs=cdfss,ro,iocharset=iso8859-1,umask=0 0 0
/dev/hdd /mnt/cdrom2 subfs fs=cdfss,ro,iocharset=iso8859-1,umask=0 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy subfs fs=floppyfss,rw,user,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,umask=0 0 0
/dev/sda1 /mnt/usbdrv subfs fs=vfat,rw,sync,umask=0 0 0

/dev/hde1 /mnt/E ext3 user,rw 0 0
/dev/hdf1 /mnt/C ntfs defaults,user,ro 0 0

Here is my menu.lst:

Code:

# Color Scheme
#color light-gray/blue black/light-gray

# By default, boot the first entry.
     default 0

# Boot automatically after 30 secs.
     timeout 30

# Fallback to the second entry.
     fallback 1

# Splash image
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/bike_gua.xpm.gz
#splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/slack_nalug.xpm.gz

# For booting Slackware Linux
     title  Slackware Linux 2.6.12.5-ck6
     kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12.5-ck6 root=/dev/hda1 vga=791

     title  Slackware Linux 2.6.12.4-ck5
     kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12.4-ck5 root=/dev/hda1 vga=791

     title  Slackware Linux
     kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.8-ck7 root=/dev/hda1 vga=791

# For booting Windows XP
     title Windows XP
     rootnoverify (hd5,0)
     map (hd5) (hd0)
     makeactive
     chainloader +1

I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks!

--Dane

jailbait · 09-01-2005, 10:00 PM

"Whenever I try to boot up using GRUB or GRUB2 I get an "Error 18""

You have a mismatched BIOS and hard drive. Your hard drive is bigger than the BIOS has addressing provision for. This does not bother Linux because Linux does not use the BIOS to address the hard drive, except during boot. During boot grub uses the BIOS to find some information in /boot. Your /boot directory happens to be sitting beyond the range ability of your BIOS. There are 2 possible solutions.

1. Set up a small /boot partition at the beginning of the hard drive so that /boot for sure is within the BIOS range.

2. Update your BIOS to handle larger hard drives.

As a temporary expediency you can boot using a live CD.

------------------------
Steve Stites

DaneM · 09-01-2005, 10:08 PM

Thanks for the input, Steve. I'll probably end up updating my bios. (I've already got a bunch of stuff at the beginning of the drive.) Just out of curiosity, do you know why Lilo would boot and not GRUB in this situation? Any ideas on how to make one boot the other? Thanks.

--Dane

jailbait · 09-02-2005, 12:29 AM

"do you know why Lilo would boot and not GRUB in this situation?"

lilo also uses the BIOS during boot. Whether lilo or grub happens to work in your situation is the luck of the draw as to where the files they need are placed on the hard drive.

---------------------------
Steve Stites

DaneM · 09-02-2005, 01:58 AM

Thanks for the reply; that makes sense. I went to ASUS' web site and downloaded and installed a new bios. Now it works! (Mostly; I'm still messing with the splash image...) Thanks for your input!

--Dane

TroelsSmit · 09-20-2005, 03:13 AM

Grub 18 error can also be solved by creating a small boot partition (I use 32 mgb) at the beginning of the disc and mounting it as /boot.

DaneM · 09-20-2005, 03:45 PM

Hi TroelsSmit.

I think I read about that somewhere, and now that I think about it, I can't recall having any problems with installations where that partition has been created.

Have a good one.

--Dane