F7-x86-64 Stopped Booting - GRUB Issue - Fixed!

[Karl Larsen]

Raymond C. Rodgers wrote:
> Jacques B. wrote:
>> Check out
>> http://www.pmg.lcs.mit.edu/~chandra/install/install_dualboot.html
>>
>> Go down to section 7 (although this may only apply to Lilo so not
>> sure) and see if that sounds familiar.
>>
>> Also I found the following at
>> http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux/grub-w2k-HOWTO.html
>>
>> "# When I select Linux from the boot menu, I get a frozen "GRUB" (or
>> an "L" in the case of LILO)
>> # Make sure you created the linux.bin file correctly with the dd
>> command. If you think you ran the command correctly, the problem may
>> be that your /boot partition is beyond cylinder 1024 and your BIOS
>> can't reach it. At system startup, the Windows boot loader lists the
>> choices from boot.ini. When you select Linux, the boot loader then
>> loads the 512-byte linux.bin file, and then BIOS tries to access the
>> /boot partition to run GRUB. Some BIOS implementations can only
>> address the first 1024 cylinders of a hard drive, which corresponds to
>> ~8.5 GB. How do you fix this? Create your /boot partition before
>> cylinder 1024; i.e. before ~8.5 GB."
>>
>> Does this scenario sound familiar?  Did you have to create a linux.bin
>> file or a BOOTSECT.LNX  file on your Windows box?  If it, it sounds
>> like a kernel update may require that you rebuild either applicable
>> file in order for it to work again.
>>
>> Having said that you are getting the grub prompt so it would appear
>> that the Windows boot loader is pointing to the right place for your
>> grub boot loader.  Which brings us back to a likely grub.conf
>> configuration problem.  But before suggesting how to trouble shoot
>> that I'd like to make sure that what I suspect is happening (as per
>> previous posting) is indeed happening.
>>
>>   
> The solution was as I had originally guessed: I needed to make a new 
> copy of the boot sector, and place it [in a file] on my Windows XP 
> boot partition for NTLDR via boot.ini to load and use. Once I did 
> that, Fedora booted just fine. I immediately did another yum update, 
> and saw yet another new kernel come down the pipe, so I made a new 
> copy of the boot sector right away, just in case.
>
> Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and tips. And for the 
> record, Karl, yes, my grub.conf was pretty much configured exactly as 
> you stated, which is apparently the correct configuration. But it was 
> indeed that I needed to update the boot sector file that NTLDR used.
>
> Raymond
>
Thanks and it is true that I knew nothing about the windows boot system. 
It sounds quite crude :-)

If you ever want to do it RIGHT, do not worry about loosing windows and 
set up grub as your only boot system. Then when you get a update to F7 
your system will still work fine. As it is now, every kernel update will 
be a pain.



-- 

	Karl F. Larsen, AKA K5DI
	Linux User
	#450462   http://counter.li.org.