Hi, first off I'm a new user to ubuntu and I don't know a whole lot. I'm building a Rocks mini-cluster with old machines, and many of the nodes that I'm trying to install rocks on encounter GRUB errors.

Currently I'm working on one node that I DBAN'd, and now I've booted from a LiveCD and created a new eth2 partition. This is where I am stuck. DBAN wiped my boot loader, correct? If I put in the Rocks Mega CD nothing happens.

So do I have to install GRUB through the LiveCD? And if so, I've already looked at this thread...

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=224351

but I run into problems when trying that. I have no data I want to save, I only have one hard drive per node, all I need is to get these nodes running Rocks Mega.

Thank you, and sorry if I sound clueless, because I sort of am.

Do you want to boot from hard disk? Yes? Yes.
I don't know what Rocks is, but the Ubuntu installer CD will install grub for you. I don't know why you're creating a new ext2 partition manually.. probably because I don't know what Rocks is.

Thanks for the reply.

Rocks is a distribution, it's basically an OS for a cluster of computers. The thing is, I'm not installing Ubuntu, I'm trying to install Rocks, but I'm trying to install GRUB w/ the LiveCD if that's what I need to do.

To boot from a LiveCD, you do not need to install GRUB (or anything else). Just insert the CD and boot. You might have to change the BIOS settings to boot from CD before the hard drive.

So you don't know a whole lot, but you're prepared to install a (mini) cluster.
Good for you ...

Yes, you need a boot-loader; nuthin boots without a bootloader. Not Linux, not Windoze not OSX. After DBAN, you probably just need to write a partition table - no need to install anything; grub included.
If the Rocks CD can't handle a DBAN'd disk, the disk partitioning tools must be old-ish. Fix it from the Ubuntu disk if you want, then try the install again.

I understand how to boot from a LiveCD, and the Ubuntu LiveCD is working fine. What's not working is booting the Rocks Mega CD, it just won't boot, and that's what I'm trying to fix.

I nuked the hard drive, now I am able to run the Ubuntu LiveCD, but nothing happens when I put in the Rocks Mega CD, the software I need for the mini-cluster. So is ROcks Mega not a LiveCD? That's where I'm stuck at this point.

Thanks for the reply .

Ok, so the Rocks CD isn't handling the DBAN'd disk, how do I fix it from the Ubuntu disk.

And if you are talking about the Partition Editor, I already created a new partition with ext2. "/dev/sda1"

the problem with booting the Rocks CD has nothing to do with the hard-drive being erased..

I assume that you have determined that the CD is SUPPOSED to be bootable (as a Live CD or otherwise).

Did you use the "burn from iso" or "burn from image option" when burning the CD? If in doubt, look at the contents---there should be various file and directories--not just one iso file.

Finally, what happen when attempting to boot the CD? Will it boot in a different computer?

I found the problem, of course it was something simple (when isn't it?). The nodes that weren't booting Rocks don't have DVD drives, and of course Rocks was burned on a DVD. Now, I'm still having problems when I'm loading Rocks but that is irrelevant to this forum. Thanks everyone.