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Grub bootloader not working


lawsonrc
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I used mcc to change the bootloader from lilo graphical login to grub. When I restarted the computer, grub just hangs and won't boot.

 

1. Why did graphical lilo boot, but Grub doesn't?

 

2. How can I get Grub to boot?

 

3. If there is no solution to getting Grub to boot, how do I get lilo back as the bootloader?

 

Thanks!

 

Richard

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by fedault, grub should work. we would need to take a closer look at grub in order to find the solution to your problem with it (maybe a messed up mbr?). if you have a live cd, you could take a look at the /boot/grub/menu.lst file and post it in here, so we can take a look at it.

 

if you want to restore lilo, use your first mandrake cd, boot your box, then hit f1 for advanced options. from there you can reinstall the bootloader, which will be lilo by default. then reboot and it should work.

 

good luck :)

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Thanks arctic,

 

In the last couple of versions of MDK/MDV, pressing F1 on the first disc has not worked. It seems to freeze everything up, which is odd, since after pressing F1, I can't then press Enter to do an upgrade. Rather I have to turn off the computer and then I can press Enter.

 

I have a Kanotix live cd. I'll post my results of menu.lst and lilo.conf here in the next couple of days.

 

Thanks again!

Richard

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Since F1 didn't work, I used "Upgrade" and choose lilo as the bootloader, now all is okay.

I still want to use grub.

 

Below is my lilo.conf, followed by my menu.lst for grub:

 

Lilo.conf:

 

default="linux"
boot=/dev/hdb2
map=/boot/map
keytable=/boot/us.klt
prompt
nowarn
timeout=100
message=/boot/message
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hdb2
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb1 splash=silent"
vga=788
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux-nonfb"
root=/dev/hdb2
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="splash=silent acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb1"
read-only
other=/dev/hda1
label="windows"
table=/dev/hda
other=/dev/hda1
label="alt_windows"
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hdb2
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="failsafe splash=silent acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb1 devfs=nomount"
read-only

 

Here his menu.lst for grub:

 

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
default 0

title linux
kernel (hd1,1)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hdb2 acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb1 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,1)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd1,1)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hdb2 splash=silent acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb1
initrd (hd1,1)/boot/initrd.img

title windows
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

title alt_windows
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

title failsafe
kernel (hd1,1)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hdb2 failsafe splash=silent acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb1 devfs=nomount
initrd (hd1,1)/boot/initrd.img

 

Hope this helps!

 

Richard

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I've had to bang away at installing grub on occasion; it just wouldn't seem to go the first time. I have never had luck with the gui but only tried it a couple of times. On the command line, there are a couple of ways to try. You have to be root. In /boot/grub, there is install.sh, a script for installing grub. You should cat it or view it in an editor to make sure it is correctly configured. Here is mine:

$ cat /boot/grub/install.sh
grub --device-map=/boot/grub/device.map --batch <<EOF
install (hd1,6)/boot/grub/stage1 d (hd1,6) (hd1,6)/boot/grub/stage2 p (hd1,6)/boot/grub/menu.lst

The d option specifies which device to install grub on. In my case, during install, I chose to install to my / partition. The MBR would be d (hd0) The other paths are the locations of stage1 and stage2; p is the location of the menu configuration file. Also, in /boot/grub, check device.map to make sure it is right. That has got off for me before.

$ cat /boot/grub/device.map
(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/hda
(hd1) /dev/hdb
(hd2) /dev/hdg

If all looks good, as root, try

# sh /boot/grub/install.sh

 

You can install from the grub shell but, also, check these two files as I think they might be used by the grub shell install. Start the shell, as root, by typing grub The commands to install grub to the MBR when the / device is hdb2 and quit the shell are:

grub> root (hd1,1)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit

 

Sometimes running these installations will give you an error with a clue about where to look to fix it. Once, IIRC, installing grub only worked when I booted a rescue disk to command line, mounted my / partition, did a chroot to that partition, and ran the grub shell.

 

See info grub

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  • 2 weeks later...

i am a bit puzzled. your menu.lst file looks okay, so writing to the mbr must have been the problem i guess. follow rolfs instructions and inform us if it doesn't work.

 

good luck :)

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