LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] Failed updating Ubu 11.04 with LVM/Raid, grub-env-export not found

I thought the attempt might be truly knuckle-headed.
talk about brain-dead...
HAALLLPPP!!

failed on last step. It told me it was unusable. It sure was correct!
grub rescue: set
prefix=(md0)/boot/grub
root=md0

It refuses to do:
insmode (md0)/boot/grub/normal.mod
some other grub export symbol not found

rescue will only accept:
insmode (md0)/boot/grub/cat.mod
and similar useless.

I can mount this "upgraded" raid set from a similar but older system.
I CAN'T mount it with the Natty try-it-out disk....guessing that's because
that standard install disk isn't the alternate with all the RAID/LVM support.

And <shudder> I have a backup of my /home/self ~ directory. Unfortunately there's
a bunch of encrypted stuff in /home/.encrypted/self that I couldn't back up.
It was too big (and I didn't know about it before yesterday).
Lots of personal gimp artwork in there.

======================= Boot Info Summary: ===========================

=> Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector
1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and
looks in partition 1 for (,msdos1)/boot/grub.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.
=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sde.
=> Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdf and looks at sector
1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and
looks for (md0)/boot/grub on this drive.

The statement for /dev/sdf looks just GREAT to me. And I can inspect (md0)/ all I want using ls (from inside grub rescue). And the Grub.cfg looks like it should work just fine.

I'm out of ideas.
Should the UUID in the /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf file match something?

# mdadm.conf
#
# Please refer to mdadm.conf(5) for information about this file.
#

# by default, scan all partitions (/proc/partitions) for MD superblocks.
# alternatively, specify devices to scan, using wildcards if desired.
DEVICE partitions

# auto-create devices with Debian standard permissions
CREATE owner=root group=disk mode=0660 auto=yes

# automatically tag new arrays as belonging to the local system
HOMEHOST <system>

# instruct the monitoring daemon where to send mail alerts
MAILADDR root

# definitions of existing MD arrays
ARRAY /dev/md0 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=cdbb7fe0:9056597b:3077fa42:6d74d3d6
ARRAY /dev/md1 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=e8d64ef2:bc9f185c:b2530707:a3b8bb05

# This file was auto-generated on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 10:36:43 -0400
# by mkconf $Id$

sdd1: __________________________________________________________________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdf1: __________________________________________________________________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 1274aa8a-3cda-45c1-aba7-a7198a0c776d ext3
/dev/sda2 8aoDIr-Hjhm-NV8M-W0F8-GH5O-Eaed-y99z42 LVM2_member
/dev/sda3 e8d64ef2-bc9f-185c-b253-0707a3b8bb05 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdb1 561891fb-824d-4e45-8847-60ec2008ecc0 Hitachi
/dev/sdb2 e8d64ef2-bc9f-185c-b253-0707a3b8bb05 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdc1 6e00e5f2-54ea-4d2b-a5f0-4e1085d48561 ext3 snip
/dev/sdd1 cdbb7fe0-9056-597b-3077-fa426d74d3d6 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdd2 382C4B182C4AD094 ntfs
/dev/sde1 6CA7812067232CE1 ntfs PTMvirtuals
/dev/sde2 eb1c82e6-835f-40dd-b6ba-f10c8357d14f ext4 snip1
/dev/sdf1 cdbb7fe0-9056-597b-3077-fa426d74d3d6 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdf2 4de430b4-bf4c-46b5-ae3c-b6b319a83b7b ext4 snip2

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sdc1 /media/Hitachi ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdd2 /media/382C4B182C4AD094 fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions)
/dev/sde2 /media/snip ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdf2 /media/snip ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)

The bootinfo script now shows the grub.cfg from the sda1 partition...which I'm not using. So I add /dev/sdf1 grub.cfg

The grub.cfg UUID matches (md0), the RAID set using /dev/sdf1 and /dev/sdd1

I had to patch this file together from several runs. I THINK the grub.cfg is patch consistent. There seems to be a bug in cut/paste, probably due to this older system I'm using.

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
}

insmod raid
insmod mdraid09
insmod part_msdos
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(md0)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root c0ccac6d-fa94-47a2-a1b2-460cd2c36f61
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod raid
insmod mdraid09
insmod part_msdos
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(md0)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root c0ccac6d-fa94-47a2-a1b2-460cd2c36f61
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=5
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
insmod raid
insmod mdraid09
insmod part_msdos
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(md0)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root c0ccac6d-fa94-47a2-a1b2-460cd2c36f61
insmod jpeg
if background_image /boot/grub/silent-640x480.jpg; then
true
else
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
if [ ${recordfail} != 1 ]; then
if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
set linux_gfx_mode=keep
else
set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
elseb2-460cd2c36f61 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-15-generic
}
set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
else
set linux_gfx_mode=keep
fi
else
set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode
if [ "$linux_gfx_mode" != "text" ]; then load_video; fi
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-15-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
insmod raid
insmod mdraid09
insmod part_msdos
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(md0)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root c0ccac6d-fa94-47a2-a1b2-460cd2c36f61
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-15-generic root=UUID=c0ccac6d-fa94-47a2-a1b2-460cd2c36f61 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-15-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-15-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
insmod raid
insmod mdraid09
insmod part_msdos
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(md0)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root c0ccac6d-fa94-47a2-a1b2-460cd2c36f61
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.38-15-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-15-generic root=UUID=c0ccac6d-fa94-47a2-a1b2-460cd2c36f61 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-15-generic
}

<BIG SNIP>

################################################################################
# #
# Current developer: Gert Hulselmans #
# #
# Past developer: Ulrich Meierfrankenfeld (meierfra) (ubuntuforums.org) #
# Past contributor: caljohnsmith (ubuntuforums.org) #
# #
# Hosted at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/bootinfoscript/ #
# #
# The birth of Boot Info Script: #
# http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=837791 #
# #
# Tab width: 8 spaces #
# #
################################################################################

reverse link to original help request is:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...nd-4175417478/

This Grub2 borkage has wolfed several days now.
Any ideas, no matter how incomplete, would help.

I tried using http://members.iinet.net/~herman546/p20.html and its nice info...mostly:
grub-setup -v -d /wherever/boot/grub /dev/sdf
sdf is where my original boot MBR was for this raid set.
Out of several combinations that I tried, the above actually finished without an error. The verbose switch shows a complaint about no device map found. But it continues on unperturbed. Could that be part of the problem? It does claim to hook the sdf MBR to the /dev/md0 raidset.

I'm considering using grub-mkimage to build a new core image file.
Another possiblity is to force the boot block into /dev/md0 ... but I'm reluctant to try that since it might make things worse. It doesn't make sense anyway.

If I could get additional info, like, is the grub.cfg being found and failing inside it somewhere? Or is there a problem starting the Raid/LVM stuff and it doesn't even get to the grub.cfg? Could I boot someshere else and script something to start up the RAID/LVM? ...then chroot?

Is there a trace function on the boot process that I could turn on?

ANYTHING you could tell me would be great. :)