Dear experts,

On another Dell machine, I installed Redhat Advanced
Server 2.1 last night. Twice, actually.

There are two hard drives. XP is on the first
hard drive, and also has the first partition for
backup on the second drive.

Linux is installed on the subsequent partitions
on the second disk.

Everything seemed to go well, except that,
grub did not install. But the boot floppy worked.
grub.conf seems to be fine. So it seems that there
is something wrong with the MBR.

I want grub to come up upon booting and give me
the choice of Linux, or Windows, just like on my
other dual boot machine. This uses the MBR.

I'm sure that the solution is to use grub-install.
Will others concur with this? What is the exact
syntax that I should use?

Thanks a lot

linuxquestion@yahoo.com wrote:
I prefer not to use grub-install because it burned me once, although not
irrepairably. grub-install runs without prompts. If it finds something
funky, it starts making assumptions. Linux on not-the-first-partition
of not-the-first-drive probably may meet the definition of funky. I
haven't tried grub-install lately, though. Anyway, manually:

$ grub
Make sure /boot/grub/grub.conf is setup with correct paths. If you have
a /boot partition, you don't need "/boot" in grub.conf paths, otherwise
you do need it.

linuxquestion@yahoo.com wrote in message news:<672ceaed.0401160739.69906325@posting.google. com>...
You proboably failed to install grub when you installed RH, or you
installed grub to the boot sector of your /boot partition on hdb. You
don't mention whether the XP loader is still installed and boots XP
ok, but I'm assuming this is the case. Also assuming the boot disk
you mention is a RH boot disk (not a grub boot disk).

If you post your current grub.conf and fstab files and the output of
the df command we could be sure (confident) what syntax to use to
install grub.

My standing hesitation about recommending grub in the MBR of a
dual-boot with a Win OS is the fear that some dim witted Windows
file/disk utility will scramble things. You have a boot disk, though,
which you will need to keep current as you upgrade kernel images. I
would also make a grub boot disk (see "info grub") as a way to
recover.

With grub in the MBR you should end up with a grub.conf similar to
mine:
[snip]
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Red Hat Linux (2.4.20-13.8) >>>got to update this box!
root (hd0,1) >>> this will be different, _probably_ (hd1,1)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.20-13.8 ro root=LABEL=/ hdc=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.20-13.8.img
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
Also check it against your other box till you undersand grub's naming
syntax.

If your RH seems ok other than the grub issue, then this should work
(_assuming_ I've guessed right about your RH partitions) when entered
as root:
[root]# # grub-install --root-directory=/boot /dev/hdb2(????)
The problem is that Anaconda has a habit of installing partitions
where it thinks they should go. Most people don't notice this in the
flurry of installing RH. This is why we really need to see just where
your /boot (partition or directory) is located. The output of df will
give us this.

Once we know where /boot is physically located on hdb, we should be
able to send back the correct syntax. Till then be sure to check:
$ info grub >>>from prompt
and read up on grub in the RH Installation Guide and the Reference
Guide available here:
https://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/

hth,
prg
email above disabled

P Gentry wrote:

And you can be 100% confident of getting reported to your ISP and to Google
for violating the aow-xp charter, fucknuts.


--
Your Free Insult: Thou ascertaining, screaming, fawning fistula boohooing pygmy.

Well, more surprises. I hope someone can help out.
Any ideas?

----------------

First, some history. Originally, I had made this a
dual boot machine with Suse and lilo. To "deinstall"
Suse, with my windows boot disk, I did:

fdisk /mbr

And only Windows booted, as planned.

------------------

Now that I've installed Redhat Advanced Server, I can't
get grub to work. I tried:

/sbin/grub-install /dev/hda

it gave:

grub>

root (hd1,4)
File system type unknown, partition type 0x6

setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 --prefix=/grub (hd0)

Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition

quit

--------------------
Tried grub with individual commands:

grub

find /boot/grub/stage1
Error 15: file not found

root (hd1,4)
File system type unknown, partition type 0x6

setup (hd0)
Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition


----------------

Pretty strange. The file system is of type FAT.

On this Dell, the first drive has two partitions.
The first is
39 megs, and has no Windows letter drive.

----------------
In linux terms, /dev/hda is:

Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 7294 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 1 5 40131 de Dell Utility
/dev/hda2 * 6 7294 58548892+ 7 HPFS/NTFS


----------------

For what it is worth, /boot/grub/grub.conf is:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd1,4)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdb6
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=3
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd1,4)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Red Hat Linux Advanced Server (2.4.9-e.3enterprise)
root (hd1,4)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.9-e.3enterprise ro root=/dev/hdb6 hdd=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.9-e.3enterprise.img
title Red Hat Linux Advanced Server-smp (2.4.9-e.3smp)
root (hd1,4)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.9-e.3smp ro root=/dev/hdb6 hdd=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.9-e.3smp.img
title Red Hat Linux Advanced Server-up (2.4.9-e.3)
root (hd1,4)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.9-e.3 ro root=/dev/hdb6 hdd=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.9-e.3.img
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1



Allen Kistler <ackistler@oohay.moc> wrote in message news:<IpWNb.1200$BA2.386@newssvr26.news.prodigy.co m>...

linuxquestion@yahoo.com wrote:
<points Javanese blow-dart at linuxquestion@yahoo.com>


--
Your Free Insult: Thou vibrating, flouncing, fobbing coal miner's lung lobbying hog.

----------

I did exactly what I did the last time that I installed AS 2.1.
It worked on the other machine.

The directory /boot/grub has files: grub.conf, stage1, and stage2

----------

Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on

/dev/hdb6 5162796 211256 4689284 5% /
/dev/hdb5 101089 25432 70438 27% /boot
/dev/hdb8 5162796 32836 4867704 1% /home
/dev/hdb9 10325748 164200 9637028 2% /opt
/dev/hdb13 5162796 32828 4867712 1% /oracle
/dev/hdb14 10325748 32828 9768400 1% /oradata
none 385024 0 385024 0% /dev/shm
/dev/hdb12 5162796 35900 4864640 1% /tmp
/dev/hdb10 5162796 2624320 2276220 54% /usr
/dev/hdb11 5162796 117140 4783400 3% /var


My grub.conf is in another post. It is very similar.
More strange info there too.

The problem seems to be more fundamental, that it can't
get to grub.conf. Not the grub.conf file itself. (Just like my
questions two weeks ago. It wasn't the hosts file, it was
that the ethernet drivers were not installed.)

"Kadaitcha Man" <nospam@rainx.cjb.net> wrote in message news:<HWL3tdNSDGOLA83E974E6bgqS6erJmwH@nsa.iqnet.c z>...
Oh my! You're so right! I missed the fact that the OP cross-posted
to an alt.xxx NG!

In any case, they've been requested, posted, and helped solve problems
here for years. Hell, I post my own regularly. There is nothing
dangerous, insecure about it. If they get root, these files and every
thing else is theirs already. Without root, who cares -- these will
not help them get there.

However, your alt.xxx fear mongering may well get the OP's setup in a
"really fun state" to correct (almost as fun as re-installing a MS
OS). Then again, over here we tend not to run Windows after a few
months on Linux except when necessary -- damn, if only they would port
those games to Linux!

Crack your nuts elsewhere, please
prg
email above disabled

PS it is cross posted again -- damn that Google edit box!

P Gentry wrote:
What the fuck are you gibbering on about, you insane baboon?

And still you are bouncing around your cell walls in fits of obtuseness.

What nuts? I have no nuts. I have no dick. That's why I'm cracking yours.

So?

Real meaning: all the linux readers are shit.


--
Your Free Insult: Thou paraphrasing, failing, insufficient bouncer disaffecting vegetarian.

Kadaitcha Man wrote:
Can we keep the windows group (removed here) and the pissing
contest out of this.

jmh

Here's another little piece on info.

First keep in mind, both my machines are Dells, with a hidden
(no drive letter) first partition on the first drive with the MBR.

I heard yesterday from a visitor that dual boots with
XP, and XP Pro will give different results with grub.
In particular, there was a problem with XP Pro.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

My machine that works fine, runs XP.
The one that is giving me problems, runs XP Pro.

Has anyone else successfully dual booted, on a Dell,
XP Pro, and Redhat, with grub? Has anyone had problems?

Thanks

On 21 Jan 2004 06:59:18 -0800, linuxquestion@yahoo.com wrote:

I have setup dual boots with XP Pro and RH just fine. No problems.

Did you install to the MBR as well? Thanks.

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.misc.]

So anyway, it was like, 15:50 CET Jan 23 2004, you know? Oh, and, yeah,
linuxquestion@yahoo.com was all like, "Dude,

Please don't top-post. Thank you.

I always install grub (or lilo, in the past) to the MBR, I've never
had any trouble getting that to work with an ms (or bsd) os. I've even
had a combination of linux, w2k/nt4 and w98/w95 on the same box at
times. In those cases I prefer to chain-boot w9x, leaving grub or lilo
do only deal with choosing linux or ms.

I've found that the best path for a virgin box is to first partition
the disk (using whichever tool makes you most warm and fuzzy inside),
making sure to allocate a small partition (say 30M) right at the
beginning of the disk for /boot, then install the ms osen first,
leaving linux for the last.

As far as dell goes tho, I don't have any personal experience.

--
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. Perth ---> *
16:17:45 up 14 days, 6:09, 6 users, load average: 2.03, 2.06, 2.02
$ cat /dev/bollocks Registered Linux user #261729
strategize extensible metrics

Well, after MUCH struggle, and MANY hours, I have
finally discovered the secret, and got grub to work.

When I first installed Suse, I used lilo, and it
worked fine. So, today I thought that I would try
installing Suse once again. Only this time, I used grub.
Suse installed fine, and gave me a nice dual boot.


But before installing Suse, I did notice with fdisk
that the /boot and / partitions were FAT16!

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 1 1959 15735636 c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hdb2 * 1960 14593 101482605 f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hdb5 1960 1972 104391 6 FAT16
/dev/hdb6 1973 2625 5245191 6 FAT16


Why? This made no sense. When I installed, I
instructed Redhat to format the partitions as ext3.
But they always showed up again as an unknown file type.

Call me demanding, but I do expect that when I give the
format command, and when it does proceed to format, that
the partitions would in fact get formatted as ext3. But it
must be too much to ask of the Redhat installer. I guess
it's just there for a warm fuzzy feeling inside, so
you can watch the taskbars slowly move across the screen
as you waste your time.

Originally, I had created the partitions with Windows
Diskpart. It was very easy to use, and I knew that I
wouldn't be destroying my Windows partitions with it.
During the Redhat install, I would then assign the
filesystem (/boot, etc.) Why the first two stayed as
FAT16, and failed to format, but not the others, is
beyond me.

After Suse's installation worked, I then tried installing
Redhat. This time I noticed that the partitions were
actually linux partitions. The installation worked, grub
got installed, and it worked. Ta Da!

So, I would say that there is a problem with the
Redhad Advanced Server installer. It doesn't format
the partitions the way it says it does. Suse's
installer worked fine, but Redhat's did not. Go figure.


I must say, that Suse's Yast2 install is so much
better than Redhat's. It formatted the partitions
right. It had a nice GUI for configuring the partitions
too. It gave a really good tool for configuring
the boot loader, even allowing me to see the grub.conf
file before proceeding. And it had all three grub
commands required for grub to boot Windows on Dell.
It took me a day to figure how to boot Windows with
Redhat grub, which only inserted two lines in grub.conf.

Suse probed my machine and found so much more that
Redhat did. It configured the sound, ethernet, DHCP,
printer, and the video card automatically. I could
even test the graphic configuration before proceeding.
When I rebooted, X windows came up cleanly.

With Redhat, it took another number of days to figure
out that the video, and ethernet were not even installed,
and more hours to fix it.

Too bad that Suse can't set some other fundamental
things: the modem, memory and shmmax. It might make
a good server.


I started this fiasco on Jan. 16th, and it is now
Jan. 24th. About 40 hours or more of my time wasted.
Thanks for nothing Redhat.


------------


linuxquestion@yahoo.com wrote in message news:<672ceaed.0401160739.69906325@posting.google. com>...

In comp.os.linux.setup linuxquestion@yahoo.com wrote:
The partition type has nothing to do with the partition format.
The type is only an entry in the partition table.

It is. I call you a badmouthed idiot.

Peter

linuxquestion@yahoo.com wrote in message news:<672ceaed.0401241906.5486eeb0@posting.google. com>...
you with info about using pre-existing partitions.

Tried to get this to you earlier, but ...

Sorry for the late post -- now, I have the family cold!

I've snipped all the data from your last post (in response to mine).
If anyone is interested it can be found here:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...blelynx.com%2B

Here is what I think has happened.

- you had some FAT16 partitions already on disk when you installed
Linux. The installer will happily re-use pre-existing partitions.
Otherwise, I'm not sure how you got partitions typed as FAT16.

- the type field in the partition table is not used by Linux at all.
It uses only the Sector Start and # of Sectors fields, ie., what disk
sectors are used by this partition.

- installation proceeded by making an ext3 _filesystem_ on these FAT16
typed partitions, ie., all the data structures, etc., that format an
ext3 _filesystem_.

- this left you with ext3 _filesystems_ in partitons _typed_ as FAT16.
No matter, Linux does not use the partition table's type field.

- this is why you can mount/access these partitions _after_ you've
loaded the Linux kernel from the cd. /etc/fstab has the correct info
on how they are to be mounted by the kernel. You can confirm that
they are indeed mounted as ext3 by typing "mount" (no options) at the
prompt.

- GRUB, on the otherhand, has no means of "detecting" a filesystem
type beyond what info is available in the partition table's type
field. That is how it knows which Stage1.5 "filesystem" driver to
load. It reads FAT16 from partition table, loads fat_stage1_5 so it
can navigate the filesystem to find Stage2, but cannot succeed since
it is using the wrong Stage1.5 driver. (This is speculation -- have
not read source. It's a certainty, however, that Stage1 contains only
a _very_ simple means to detect which Stage1.5 to load -- MBR doesn't
allow for "tricks" with less than 512 bytes for all code!)

- therefore, you need to change the type field in the two FAT16
partitions that house your /boot and / partitions to ext3. This can
be done with sfdisk like this:

From 'man sfdisk'for ?c or ??id number [Id] options:
.... This option has the two very long forms --print-id and
--change-id. For example:
[root]# sfdisk --print-id /dev/hdb 5
6 <- tells that /dev/hdb5 has a partition Id of 6
[root]# sfdisk --change-id /dev/hdb 5 83
OK <- changes /dev/hdb5 to type 83 (Linux native)

Change 5 above to 6 to change the type field to ext3 (Linux native,
actually) on /dev/hdb6. Note that the sfdisk command has a space
between the device (/dev/hdb) and the partition # (5 or 6).

Here are some links that finally convinced me that I was on the right
track (with thanks to Michael Schwendt <ms-nospam-0306 arcor de> for
his insight/patience in the below):
Start of long thread:
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedor...tml#00338.html
The "good stuff":
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedor.../msg00433.html
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedor.../msg00436.html
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedor.../msg00452.html
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedor.../msg00474.html
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedor.../msg00485.html

The only thing I noticed in your data was the sfdisk output which
shows every partition table taking up 63 sectors. Probabaly innocent,
but that happens to be what some disk overlay programs do. Did you
load a disk manager file (eg., E-Z Drive) when you installed your new
hd? If everything works OK from a cd boot, I don't think it matters.

Again, sorry for the late post. Hope this will get your setup working
the way you want.

regards
prg
email above disabled