Can't get to Grub from FSRD Wait: GOT TO GRUB!!]]

Wed Jan 25 03:37:14 UTC 2006

I have precious little experience with what you're trying to do, but can 
answer a few questions.

John Wirt wrote:

> (reformatted version-please help)
>
> WAIT!  If I select the up.down arrows at the opening boot options it 
> seems to hold the boot screen. Then, there is a message to enter "c" 
> at the prompt. I did and  a "grub>" prompt appears. Now I  think I 
> just  need to follow the instructions at 
> www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=232.
>
> So, you have to select Linux FSRD at the openning screen to apparently 
> select the boot "operating system" or the boot quickly pulls that 
> screen away and one is booted to a "#" prompt.  (What is the "#" prompt?)

That is the root shell prompt.  That is the command interpreter ready to 
do your bidding.

> To repeat the previous paragrpah, if I hit the up/down arrows to 
> induce selection of the "only" operating system listed on the boot 
> menu, and then "c," the boot sequence conitnues to what is apparently 
> a Grub prompt.  Contrary to the help on the boot screen, no white bar 
> appears when the up.down arrows are selected to select the operating 
> system.
>
> So, I will try following the rest of the #2 instructions later tonight.
>
> I feel like I  will have be crossed the Rubicon, if I succed. But, if 
> I move Grub and I don't send it  to the right place, the goose may be 
> cooked (i.e., my existing Linux installation will be lost forever).
>
> My concern is that, when attempting to move Grub using the Linux 
> Rescue from the install disk, Linux Rescue would not recognizing any 
> of the Linux partitions (boot, root, and swap) that I KNOW are on 
> drive  2.  The question is will moving _Grub_  using the Grub install 
> commands actually move Grub to a "partition's boot sector, (from) than 
> the MBR," as apparant;y is m,y goal (from the BOOTIT instructions).

Well, it doesn't really _move_ it, but it installs it in the boot 
sector.  The MBR will be ignored.  As drive 1, it is irrelevant.

>
> I am not clear exactly what this means. What is a "partition's boot 
> sector?"  The MBR of the partition?

Well, that's a way to think of it, but there's only one MBR on the disk 
and it's independent of all of the partitions.  In fact, it is where the 
primary partition table is stored.  The boot sector is the first sector 
of the partition.

>   I understand that Linux can be configured to have both a /boot 
> sector (or directory),

It's not a /boot sector.  There is a /boot directory on which is 
sometimes mounted what is rather loosely called a boot partition.

> which my second drive apparently has, and a "root" directory on a 
> different partition.

Yes, the "root" partition mounts on /, and is essential.  A separate 
boot partition is sometimes required by some (especially older) BIOSs.  
I prefer to have a separate boot partition even on new systems.

>   The configuration of the drives on my system is (as reported by 
> BOOTIT) is the following:
>
> Drive 0
>  CDrive    Part'n   5 gb  XP is here
>  '------   Part'    5 gb  free space
>  Extended  Part'n   29gb  extended
>   F Drive  Volume   10gb  logical drive (Windows prog and data)   G 
> drive  Volume   10gb  logical drive
>   '-----------           Volume      5 gb      free space
>  Bootit EMBPM   Partition  8mb
>
> Drive 1
>  MBR Entry 0  Partititon  39mb  Dell boot utility  NO NAME-1    
> Partition   2565mb  FAT32  (I think this is free space)
>  MBR Entry 2  Partititon  102mb   Linux native (Linux MBR partition?)

No, that's probably the boot partition, no relation to the MBR.

>  MBR Entry 3  Partition   32gb    Extended
>   unamed      Volume      30043mb  Linux  Native (the Linux "/"?)

Probably.

>   unnamed     Volume      2gb     Linux Swap/Solaris
>
> As delivered originally by Dell, Drive 0 above was Drive 1 on my 
> machine and Drive 1 was Drive 0.  Drive 0 had Linux installed by Dell 
> on it which ran, fine. Drive 1 was blank, or rather had an empty  
> partition with the Linux file system on it.
>
> To install XP on this (new) blank drive I swapped the SCSI IDs of 
> these two drives, which effectively made drive 1 into drive 0 and 
> drive 0 into drive 1. Then, I created the partition structure on the 
> blank drive 0 as shown above and installed Bootit and Windows XP to it.
> After getting XP to run (it runs great!), my goal was to add the old 
> (i.e., moved) copy of Linux (now on drive 1) to the Bootit menu so I 
> can multi-boot Linux and XP (or "Windoz" as the Linuxers call it).

And some other unflattering names. :-)

>
>> From the BOOTIT instructions, my understanding is that in order to make 
>
> this possible, I need to move GRUB from the Linux /boot directory 
> (which is in the MBR Entry 2 partition?) to the "unamed" Linux Native 
> Volume shown above. This is what I am trying to do with the FSRD disk 
> I made now. Apparently, Dell installed Linux with separate "boot" and 
> "root" partitions. Anyway, that's how I read the partition structure 
> above and this is confirmed by comments from the RedHat install list 
> group. Is this correct?
>
> My basic question is, do I have all of this right above? I.e., mainly 
> that I need to move Grub from the Linux MBR Entry 2 partition to the 
> Linux Native Volume, and then add the Linux Native Volume as the boot
> item in BOOTIT?

IIRC Rick Stevens correctly responded to that question.  I'm not qualified.

>
> My second quesion is, will this work?  In the end, will I be able to 
> boot my machine to either XP or Linux?

I think so.

>
> I have Linux RedHat Enterprise v3. The drives are U320 Seagate 30 gb 
> SCSI's.  I actually have three U320s but the first two (drive 0) are 
> RAID 0'd together into one drive.
>
> Thanks.
>
> I've been working on this for quite a long time with increments of 
> progress forward week-by-week. Now I need to strike pay dirt. i know 
> all the Grub commands I need to move reposition Grub if it is where I 
> think it is, as above. I have gotten a lot of help from Rick Stevens 
> on the RedHat Install group but they know nothing about Bootit. So I 
> need some help from the BootIt world.
>
> Thanks, in advance, as they say.
>
> John Wirt
> Wash, DC, home of corruption.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> John
>
> David F. wrote:
>
>> I'll have to look in to it but maybe just type grub or GRUB
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> -- 
>> David F.
>> TeraByte Unlimited
>> http://www.terabyteunlimited.com
>>
>>
>>
>>  
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: John Wirt [mailto:j.wirt.112 at comcast.net] Sent: Monday, 
>>> January 23, 2006 9:47 PM
>>> To: Terabyte Unlimited
>>> Subject: Can't get to Grub from FSRD
>>>
>>> David,
>>>
>>> I am trying to get to a Grub prompt using the 2nd method described 
>>> in the Additional Information section of Grub Article #2.
>>>
>>> My problem is that the FSRD disk boots to a prompt that does not 
>>> allow me to enter "<c>" as specified in the instructions to get to a 
>>> Grub prompt.
>>>
>>> I am looking at a "Welcome to the Linux FSRD - Version 1.03" screen 
>>> that ends in a prompt like this:
>>>
>>>  #  _
>>>
>>> If I enter "c"  (the letter 'c'), the screen says, "c: not found" 
>>> and returns to the # _ prompt.
>>>
>>> If I enter "<c>", the screen says, "<c> not found. And so on. In 
>>> other words, no Grub prompt.
>>>
>>> I don't; know what the Grub prompt looks like but I don't think  # 
>>> is it..
>>>
>>> So apparently, the instructions in the Additional Information 
>>> section, subsection 2) are wrong.
>>>
>>> How can I get to a Grub prompt with the FSRD boot disk?
>>>
>>> Thank you.
>>>
>>> John Wirt
>>>

Cheers,

-- 
Bob McClure, Jr.             Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.
bob at bobcatos.com             http://www.bobcatos.com
Peace begins not at a Mideast table, but at a Mideast stable