Replacing old hard disk with a new one

[Paul Smith]

On 10/26/05, jdow <jdow at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >> >> >> > > Could you please tell me how to install grub to MBR?
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > reboot to the CD1
> >> >> >> > hit F5
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > on the command line type   linux rescue
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > it should find your Fedora installed system and enter
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > chroot /mnt/sysimage
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > /sbin/grub-install /dev/hda
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > that should put Grub back to MBR.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Thanks, Yonas, but no success:
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> # /sbin/grub-install /dev/hda
> >> >> >> Not found or not a block device.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> If I replace hda with hdb or hdc, grub-install gives the same
> >> >> >> result.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Any further ideas?
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Now, I am using a Knoppix liveCD, and having some progress:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > $ grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/hdc1/boot/ /dev/hda
> >> >> > /dev/hda does not have any corresponding BIOS drive.
> >> >> > $
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Can we go further?
> >> >>
> >> >> Have you partitioned the drive yet, Paul?
> >> >>
> >> >> {^_^}
> >> >
> >> > No, I have not, Jdow. How can I do that?
> >>
> >> "fdisk /dev/hda"
> >>
> >> But PLEASE PLEASE read partitioning HOWTOs and documentation first so you
> >> know what you are doing, first.
> >>
> >> Of course, you could bring up the same partitioning tool you saw when
> >> installing, DiskDestroyer or something like that, and use it. But you
> >> still want to read the partitioning HOWTOs to get a notion of how you
> >> want to partition the drive.
> >>
> >> I realize grub documentation is impenetrable by sane people. But do give
> >> it a try. After doing so I recommend a visit with your local shrink if
> >> you think you understand grub's documentation. {^_-}
> >>
> >> {^_^}
> >
> > Thanks again, Jdow. Perhaps, the best solution for a inexpert like me
> > is to install some operating  system on hda, and the partitioning will
> > be done. Tried:
> >
> > $ fdisk /dev/hda
> >
> > Unable to open /dev/hda
> > $
>
> OOPS! THAT is a problem. The OS does not see the disk. This is not a
> good thing. It might be interesting to look at the dmesg log after a
> reboot to see how if the drive is found. If it is then "/dev/hda"
> should be a valid drive. I wonder if something else has it active.
>
> Er, did you hotplug the drive? I'm not even sure how you booted without
> the boot sector in place - I suppose you selected a different drive as
> the boot drive in your BIOS? (To recognize the new drive you probably do
> need to reboot.) I'd expect the knoppix live CD to recognize the drive,
> though, if you're still working from it.

I can see that the BIOS recognizes the disk. So I guess it is
correctly hotplugged. On the other hand, the computer does not boot,
unless I introduce the live CD, as the boot sequence is:

cdrom, disk

Paul