[SOLVED] Weird behaviour of Slackwares GRUB

Mellar · 04-12-2011, 07:04 PM

Hei guys!

I'm dualbooting Slackware and Arch Linux. I'm using Slackwares GRUB installed from /extra

Loading Slackware from GRUB works fine, but loading Arch Linux doesn't. Here's the messages when trying to load Arch from GRUB:

Code:

root (hd0,0) 
filesystem type unknown partition type 0x7 Error 17 : 
Cannot mount selected partition

Here's the weird thing. fdisk -l in Slackware gives me this:

Code:

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1       13544   102392608+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2           13545       14222     5116702+  83  Linux
/dev/sda3           14222       14899     5116702+  83  Linux
/dev/sda4           14899       41346   199936957+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5           14899       15576     5116671   83  Linux
/dev/sda6           15576       17201    12289693+  83  Linux
/dev/sda7           17201       17340     1052226   82  Linux swap
/dev/sda8           17341       41346   181478241   83  Linux

/dev/sda1 is my Arch Linux installation. /dev/sda1 should have been listed with the ext4 filesystem! Yes, I once had Windows installed on that partition, but now it's Arch with ext4. Weird!

Here's my /boot/grub/menu.lst. I've tried adding Arch hd0,0 as a windows partition at first just for fun. But grub complains about executables or something - of course!

Code:

# Other bootable partition config begins
  title Windows on (/dev/sda1)
  rootnoverify (hd0,0)
  makeactive
  chainloader +1

# (0) Arch Linux
 title  Arch Linux
 root (hd0,0)
 kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda1 ro
 initrd /boot/kernel26.img


# Linux bootable partition config begins
  title Slackware on (/dev/sda2)
  root (hd0,1)
  kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=normal
# Linux bootable partition config ends

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

coralfang · 04-12-2011, 07:14 PM

What does `fdisk -l` show from inside arch? (if you can boot it)

I would guess you could try setting the partition identifier back to 83 (linux), somehow it could have changed.

To do that, you would run fdisk as root then press: t,1,83,w,q

I couldn't guarantee it would work (safely) though.

Mellar · 04-12-2011, 07:21 PM

When I once converted the NTFS partition to a ext4 partition, I did it by the command
mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/sda1

Perhaps this isn't enough?

I can't boot Arch, so fdisk -l in Arch is probably not possible at the moment. The /etc/fstab on the Arch partition says /dev/sda1 is ext4 though.

T3slider · 04-12-2011, 07:56 PM

The filesystem is ext4 but the partition type is incorrect. You would have to do as coralfang suggested and change the partition type (using fdisk/cfdisk/sfdisk). This *may* damage the contents of the partition, so you may want to back it up if there is anything valuable on there. *DO NOT* change any of the partition boundaries since this would affect all of your installations (just change the partition type).

vtel57 · 04-12-2011, 08:25 PM

Quote:

# Other bootable partition config begins
title Windows on (/dev/sda1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda1 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# Linux bootable partition config begins
title Slackware on (/dev/sda2)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=normal

It looks to me like you forgot to remove/comment out the entry for Windows. GRUB is confused. You're telling it to chainload Windows from the same partition that you're telling it to boot Arch. Remove the Windows entry from menu.lst and it should boot Arch just fine.

Luck!

colorpurple21859 · 04-12-2011, 09:01 PM

Have you tried mounting sda1 from Slackware to see what is actually installed on it using the mount -t (file system) option.

Woodsman · 04-13-2011, 07:39 AM

Something looks goofy with that sda1 partition type

, but perhaps this might help too:

GRUB and Error 17

Mellar · 04-13-2011, 11:45 AM

Thanks guys.

fdisk /dev/sda
and the instructions from coralfang helped me solve the problem. Had to backup my datas at first.

vtel57 · 04-13-2011, 12:38 PM

COOL!

Have FUN!