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paddy 05-20-2007 03:56 AM

MBR either non-existent or confused
 
my prob:
I can't boot directly from hard disk
in bios, boot order is first hdd, then cd
so, as it (whatever 'it' is) can't find anything bootable on hdd, it starts up the cd, and I have to enter 'start from first hard disk drive' (each and every single bothering time)

what I have tried to do so far:
install a newer version (in my case, kubuntu 7.04b)
in grub menu:
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
(which I assume to the correct parameters)

basically, that's what all threads and helps say:
http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144294
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=554702

and anyway, I don't wanna change anything in grub, but in mbr
(or do I?)
however, I have found something else on wiki:
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/MBR
it says something about using dd. but the dd manual says "copy and convert files" and the command appears to be so comprehensive, I have no idea what to do.

obviously, so far nothing worked, so help will be very much appreciated, ta in advance.

paddy

jschiwal 05-20-2007 04:49 AM

The setup command is for installing grub on the mbr from the grub shell. It shouldn't be in your menu.lst file.

samstar 05-20-2007 05:16 AM

Hi,

So, when you boot, the computer won't boot from the hard drive until you tell it to boot from the first hard drive? Is it the bios that's asking you if you want to boot from the first hard drive?

Since it works when you tell it to boot from there, it's possible that this is a problem with your bios detecting the hard disk's mbr, and not a problem with grub.

In your bios setup, does it detect your hard drive correctly? You can also check for bios updates for your particular motherboard's bios.

Can you give us your system specs, including motherboard, harddisks, etc, and what distribution you're using?

Sam

paddy 05-20-2007 05:18 AM

what exactly does that mean? that I want 'setup (hd0)' to appear in my menu.lst
or
that I want it not to?

>>Since it works when you tell it to boot from there, it's possible that this is a problem with your bios detecting the hard disk's mbr, and not a problem with grub.

hi sam, that's probably it. bios detects the drive correctly though. at the mo, I can tell you this much: I'm running Kubuntu 7.04 on a fujitsu siemens c-series lifebook (c-1020), and I don't know how to find out what board or harddisk that's using but I hope that should be enough info?

ah, but there's one thing: when I got it, windows was already installed and booted without the cd. at least I'm quite positive so.

pat

jschiwal 05-20-2007 05:50 AM

Remove "setup (hd0)" from your menu.lst file. when you run grub and enter the grub shell, you can use that command interactively to install grub on the mbr. Maybe post the contents of your menu.lst file. You message implies that you don't have anything else in it.

paddy 05-20-2007 05:59 AM

here's my menu.lst, without all the stuff at the beginning, explanations and examples (couldn't get anything out of them btw)
setup doesn't appear anywhere.


title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=510ab4fd-a188-46ad-ac8e-4eccf43db8da ro quiet
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quiet
savedefault

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=510ab4fd-a188-46ad-ac8e-4eccf43db8da ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-12-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-12-generic root=UUID=510ab4fd-a188-46ad-ac8e-4eccf43db8da ro quiet
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-12-generic
quiet
savedefault

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-12-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-12-generic root=UUID=510ab4fd-a188-46ad-ac8e-4eccf43db8da ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-12-generic

title Ubuntu, memtest86+
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

pixellany 05-20-2007 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paddy
my prob:
I can't boot directly from hard disk
in bios, boot order is first hdd, then cd
so, as it (whatever 'it' is) can't find anything bootable on hdd, it starts up the cd, and I have to enter 'start from first hard disk drive' (each and every single bothering time)

paddy

Starts up what CD?
And where are you entering the instruction to start from the hard drive?

I'm guessing that the BIOS won't boot the drive because there is no bootable code in the mbr.

Try this:
Boot into Ubuntu using whatever method works.
In a terminal:
grub starts the grub shell
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)


then re-boot and everything should work (your menu.lst looks OK)

More on booting and GRUB here.

paddy 05-20-2007 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixellany
Starts up what CD?

well, any bootable cd should work. in my case, kubuntu install/live cd

as for

root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)

I've already tried that, nothing really happens.

jschiwal 05-22-2007 06:06 PM

Is the partition marked as active?

syg00 05-22-2007 07:20 PM

Active/boot flag is irrelevant in Linux.
Run this from a terminal and let's see the output
Code:

sudo dd if=/dev/hda count=1 | hexdump -C
(it just dumps the MBR so we can see what's there)
Change to sda if relevant.

Edit: mmm - always forget the Ubuntu derivatives need sudo ...

paddy 05-23-2007 02:23 AM

here you go: (whatever you read from it)


1+0 records in
1+0 records out
512 bytes (512 B) copied, 0.010474 seconds, 48.9 kB/s
00000000 eb 48 90 d0 bc 00 7c fb 50 07 50 1f fc be 1b 7c |.H....|.P.P....||
00000010 bf 1b 06 50 57 b9 e5 01 f3 a4 cb bd be 07 b1 04 |...PW...........|
00000020 38 6e 00 7c 09 75 13 83 c5 10 e2 f4 cd 18 8b f5 |8n.|.u..........|
00000030 83 c6 10 49 74 19 38 2c 74 f6 a0 b5 07 b4 03 02 |...It.8,t.......|
00000040 ff 00 00 20 01 00 00 00 00 02 fa 90 90 f6 c2 80 |... ............|
00000050 75 02 b2 80 ea 59 7c 00 00 31 c0 8e d8 8e d0 bc |u....Y|..1......|
00000060 00 20 fb a0 40 7c 3c ff 74 02 88 c2 52 be 7f 7d |. ..@|<.t...R..}|
00000070 e8 34 01 f6 c2 80 74 54 b4 41 bb aa 55 cd 13 5a |.4....tT.A..U..Z|
00000080 52 72 49 81 fb 55 aa 75 43 a0 41 7c 84 c0 75 05 |RrI..U.uC.A|..u.|
00000090 83 e1 01 74 37 66 8b 4c 10 be 05 7c c6 44 ff 01 |...t7f.L...|.D..|
000000a0 66 8b 1e 44 7c c7 04 10 00 c7 44 02 01 00 66 89 |f..D|.....D...f.|
000000b0 5c 08 c7 44 06 00 70 66 31 c0 89 44 04 66 89 44 |\..D..pf1..D.f.D|
000000c0 0c b4 42 cd 13 72 05 bb 00 70 eb 7d b4 08 cd 13 |..B..r...p.}....|
000000d0 73 0a f6 c2 80 0f 84 ea 00 e9 8d 00 be 05 7c c6 |s.............|.|
000000e0 44 ff 00 66 31 c0 88 f0 40 66 89 44 04 31 d2 88 |D..f1...@f.D.1..|
000000f0 ca c1 e2 02 88 e8 88 f4 40 89 44 08 31 c0 88 d0 |........@.D.1...|
00000100 c0 e8 02 66 89 04 66 a1 44 7c 66 31 d2 66 f7 34 |...f..f.D|f1.f.4|
00000110 88 54 0a 66 31 d2 66 f7 74 04 88 54 0b 89 44 0c |.T.f1.f.t..T..D.|
00000120 3b 44 08 7d 3c 8a 54 0d c0 e2 06 8a 4c 0a fe c1 |;D.}<.T.....L...|
00000130 08 d1 8a 6c 0c 5a 8a 74 0b bb 00 70 8e c3 31 db |...l.Z.t...p..1.|
00000140 b8 01 02 cd 13 72 2a 8c c3 8e 06 48 7c 60 1e b9 |.....r*....H|`..|
00000150 00 01 8e db 31 f6 31 ff fc f3 a5 1f 61 ff 26 42 |....1.1.....a.&B|
00000160 7c be 85 7d e8 40 00 eb 0e be 8a 7d e8 38 00 eb ||..}.@.....}.8..|
00000170 06 be 94 7d e8 30 00 be 99 7d e8 2a 00 eb fe 47 |...}.0...}.*...G|
00000180 52 55 42 20 00 47 65 6f 6d 00 48 61 72 64 20 44 |RUB .Geom.Hard D|
00000190 69 73 6b 00 52 65 61 64 00 20 45 72 72 6f 72 00 |isk.Read. Error.|
000001a0 bb 01 00 b4 0e cd 10 ac 3c 00 75 f4 c3 00 00 00 |........<.u.....|
000001b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3a 95 c3 65 00 00 00 01 |........:..e....|
000001c0 01 00 83 fe bf 7c 3f 00 00 00 fe 25 9c 00 00 00 |.....|?....%....|
000001d0 81 7d 82 fe ff 3b 3d 26 9c 00 ff d1 2e 00 00 00 |.}...;=&........|
000001e0 c1 3c 83 fe ff ff 3c f8 ca 00 83 45 31 06 00 00 |.<....<....E1...|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

syg00 05-23-2007 02:54 AM

Looks like a standard MBR - with grub installed. I wonder if jschiwal is on the right track - looks like you don't have any partition marked active/boot.
Linux won't care, but some old BIOS's did - is this a (really) old BIOS ???.
If you boot without a CD, what messages (if any) do you get ???.

r00tb33r 05-23-2007 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00
Looks like a standard MBR - with grub installed. I wonder if jschiwal is on the right track - looks like you don't have any partition marked active/boot.
Linux won't care, but some old BIOS's did - is this a (really) old BIOS ???.
If you boot without a CD, what messages (if any) do you get ???.

+1








(making the required 10 character long response here)

samstar 05-23-2007 03:26 AM

Hey, I was just checking out the Fujitsu website's bioses for the c1020 lifebook. What's the version information for your bios? I read about bioses that would fail to boot under certain conditions.

From Fujitsu's website

Quote:

Bios versions:
...
predecessor V1.26

Solved problems:

- The Battery warning LED did not work after a resume from S3 (Suspend to RAM).
- Some bootable CD�s with special bootcode did not start up correctly.
...
predecessor V1.27

Solved problems:

- The boot sequence would hang while searching for a PXE service. When the boot sequence
failed to find a PXE server, it did not continue onto the next boot device. This was no
problem when PXE boot was the last boot device. Now, the boot sequence will skip
the boot from LAN when no PXE service is available.
...
That's about as far as I can help with this :o .

Sam

paddy 05-23-2007 06:30 AM

wow, thanks. erm, how can I find out the version of my bios? (it certainly cannot be /that/ old)

and how do I mark a partition bootable? fdisk?

I believe it's none of the probs you (samstar) mentioned.

when I start up, no cd, I get a simple dialog asking me where I wanna boot from, options: floppy (a: ), hard disk (c: ) oder cd-rom (yes it specifically says a: and c: )
when I choose hard disk, nothing happens, and I'm asked again (so often until I check cd)

might this sequence be of any importance (from the mbr hexdump posted this morning)
G||RUB .Geom.Hard D||isk.Read. Error.|
??

so long, pats

syg00 05-23-2007 07:02 AM

The BIOS level should splash on startup - else check the BIOS itself.
Then hit the vendor site and see if updates are available.

Update the boot flag via any of the partitioning tools - I use fdisk
Code:

sudo fdisk /dev/hda
a
1
w
q

Quote:

might this sequence be of any importance ...
Nope. That is merely a text area used to build error messages if grub finds an error - you aren't getting that far.

paddy 05-23-2007 07:30 AM

wow! works! thanks, now let me play you a tune on the piano. or have a piece of cake.
thanks everyone I'm CURED (which is good because the cd drive sometimes doesnt read the cd when it should, and sometimes does when it shouldnt, but thats a hardware malfunktion anyway now I can abandon the cd and put it on the shelf HOORAY)

disk simply didnt have a bootable flag. no idea what that means or why it should matter (nor why in the installation process I didn't come across it) but I'll remember that.

UhhMaybe 06-05-2007 06:14 PM

Next time YOU are installing another Linux Distro.....A) Have YOUR ISP/Networking information at hand. B) Go to the BIOS, change the First Boot Device to CD-ROM, Second Boot Device to Hard Drive, Third Boot Device to Floppy Drive. Check all other settings and get them as close to YOUR hard ware as possible. C) Place the CD/Distro in the CD-ROM tray. D) Save YOUR BIOS settings and then E) Reboot the system. After rebooting, the CD-ROM/Distro will start the installer. View the F1, F2, F3, etc help screens. Pick the cheat codes that work for YOUR system. Me, I use "doscsi", "acpi=off", and "apm=off'. Then type something like "linux doscsi acpi=off apm=off" without quotes and please press enter. This should start the installation. Time to partition. IMHO start with a clean slate. <Back-up YOUR data first>. Setup two partitions in CFDISK. First partition for Linux and also for YOUR MBR. Second partition for YOUR Linux swap. Swap needs to be twice YOUR memory if less than 512MB's. If YOU have 2GB's+, swap is not necessary, but useful anyways. I use a swap partition about 1200MB's. It works for me. If YOU install a different Linux Distro often, I suggest a "/home" partition. This way YOU can partition the hard drive and save the data on the "/home" partition each time. YOU can add more partitions if YOU like. Linux needs at least 2GB's for the root partition. <The partition with all the Distro Files>. Setup all the hardware YOU can during the install. Its smoother than after the reboot. If YOU run a lot of USB peripherals, try to install with them unplugged. After being up and running, try to install them one at a time. Good luck. After finishing the install, change the First Boot Device to Hard Drive, Second Boot Device to CD-ROM.


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