problems using grub

Thu Oct 23 03:16:34 UTC 2003

Thanks a lot for the detailed help!

I will try as you suggest tomorrow. When i mentioned that I took off RAID from
the system, I meant that I disabled it using the BIOS. 

No, I have not read a formal grub tutorial. Thanks for the suggestion, but
surely this should not be so difficult if we want people to get into Linux and
away from OS's like Windoze? 

As I have said, I am a newcomer - I am not sure I am very interested in the
precise details of a system -- I just want something that will be fast and
allow me to do my computation-intensive work efficiently. The graphics card
(ATI Radeon R300 NG FireGL X1) would not provide good resolution (1600x1200)
and so i decided to try Fedora out. I did get a higher resolution after
manually installing the driver, but it really messed up some things (such as
acroread). (Of course, I get 1080xwhatever resolution with Fedora, so I am not
sure it is even worth the effort. Actually, I thought I would try Fedora out
after the post on the ATI Radeon cards in order to contribute to the
testing....)

Btw, I did install LILO. But am clueless as to how to get it to work....Maybe I
will try out the google search you recommend.

Thanks for your help. I will look into it, and post. Unless I decide to go back
to RH9 tonight....

Thanks!

--- Robert L Cochran <cochranb at speakeasy.net> wrote:
> If you post the text of your /boot/grub/grub.conf, that would help a 
> lot. Also post the output of 'df -h' You can get all this information 
> simply and quickly by:
> 
> 1. Make sure your CD drive is the first boot device -- go into BIOS to 
> make sure
> 2. Put Fedora CD #1 in the CD drive
> 3. Reboot computer; at the boot: prompt enter 'linux rescue'
> 4. After your system has been mounted enter 'chroot /mnt/sysimage'
> 5. Mount a floppy disk
> 6. 'df -h > /mnt/floppy/df.txt'
> 7. 'cp -a /boot/grub/grub.conf /mnt/floppy'
> 8. 'umount /mnt/floppy', then remove the floppy.
> 9. 'exit'
> 10. 'exit'
> 
> Have you actually read a grub tutorial and learned how to make a Grub 
> boot disk and reinstall Grub itself? Hint: try the IBM DeveloperWorks 
> tutorial on Grub. :-)
> 
> I do not know how you "took off RAID" on your system. Are you using 
> software RAID? Just how did you disable RAID?
> 
> My suggestion is to read the RAID HOWTOs that are on 
> http://www.tldp.org/ (The Linux Documentation Project), and try to 
> troubleshoot your RAID problem. Sometimes it can take a while to clearly 
> understand how devices work with software RAID, if that is what you are 
> using, but once you do, it is all a snap and the problem goes away with 
> the corrected config files.
> 
> I suppose you could find Lilo from somewhere, do a Google search for it. 
> But installing it will be tough to do and you will face the same issues 
> with RAID. What is another bootloader going to do for you? If you messed 
> up your RAID configuration in a panic, a different bootloader is not 
> going to be a magic cure.
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Globe Trotter wrote:
> > Thanks a lot! But my problem seems to exist even when I have disabled the
> raid
> > device. Any ideas as to how I can get a new bootloader?
> > 
> > Thanks again and best wishes!
> > 
> > 
> > --- Robert L Cochran <cochranb at speakeasy.net> wrote:
> > 
> >>If you are doing RAID1, then in your grub.conf file entry:
> >>
> >>kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.22-1.2097.nptl ro root=/dev/md1
> >>initrd /initrd-2.4.22-1.2097.nptl.img
> >>
> >>The key parameter is passing root=/dev/md1 (or whatever your RAID device 
> >>configuration is for the root partition of the RAIDed disks). I use RAID 
> >>1 with 2 hard disks, and mirror /boot and /, and never had a problem I 
> >>couldn't fix. Sometimes it just takes a little experimentation and try, 
> >>try again.
> >>
> >>Bob
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>Globe Trotter wrote:
> >>
> >>>OK, I decided to give installing Fedora Core Test3 a try on my Dell
> >>
> >>Dimension
> >>
> >>>650 Dual HDD, Dual Intel Processor and have had several several
> frustrating
> >>>hours. I am in need of help!
> >>>
> >>>First problem: I have RAID on the system. Installing with Grub meant a
> >>
> >>blinking
> >>
> >>>light after grub stage 2 and precious little more. So I took off RAID
> >>>completely, with not much difference in results. Except that sometimes I
> >>
> >>can
> >>
> >>>hit the escape button and then the graphical screen for booting in does
> >>
> >>show
> >>
> >>>up. I have still been unable to reproduce this reliably enough to find a
> >>>pattern in this madness. It works sometimes, but then sometimes not. Can
> >>>someone please help me out here?
> >>>
> >>>While installing, I was offered the choice of creating a boot diskette.
> >>
> >>When I
> >>
> >>>happily lapped up the opportunity, I was told that my kernels were far too
> >>
> >>big
> >>
> >>>to fit in a floppy. An option to write to a CD or several diskettes would
> >>
> >>be
> >>
> >>>really great here!
> >>>
> >>>Also, is it possible to get into interactive startup? I have tried fixing
> >>
> >>my
> >>
> >>>finger on "i" to no avail. Of course, the more pressing problem currently
> >>
> >>is
> >>
> >>>how to get a reliable boot into the machine.
> >>>
> >>>Finally, and this is very important, because I want to bring back RAID on
> >>
> >>my
> >>
> >>>system: how do I install another bootloader? I am somewhat of a newbie but
> >>
> >>an
> >>
> >>>adventurous (perhaps foolish) one at that, so could you please tell me
> what
> >>
> >>I
> >>
> >>>have to do to bring up LILO boot as an option. Assuming of course, I can
> >>
> >>get
> >>
> >>>into the system the next time I reboot (right now it is blinking grubbily
> >>
> >>at me
> >>
> >>>and refusing my esc carrot).
> >>>
> >>>I understand that the grub coalition may come at me for throwing a spanner
> >>
> >>into
> >>
> >>>their notions of enforced choice, but here I am, having read and tried all
> >>
> >>the
> >>
> >>>posts on GRUB and RAID and whatnot but still stuck. I prefer the look of
> >>
> >>GRUB
> >>
> >>>but am happier with a grubbier-looking LILO which works for me....
> >>>
> >>>Thanks and best wishes!
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>__________________________________
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> >>>
> >>>--
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> >>>fedora-test-list at redhat.com
> >>>http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-test-list
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>-- 
> >>Bob Cochran
> >>Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
> >>http://greenbeltcomputer.biz/
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>--
> >>fedora-test-list mailing list
> >>fedora-test-list at redhat.com
> >>http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-test-list
> > 
> > 
> > 
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> > 
> > 
> 
> -- 
> Bob Cochran
> Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
> http://greenbeltcomputer.biz/
> 
> 
> 
> --
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