New kernels do not work.
Steve
zephod at cfl.rr.com
Sun May 25 15:50:17 UTC 2008
---- Tim <ignored_mailbox at yahoo.com.au> wrote:
> On Sun, 2008-05-25 at 10:51 -0400, Steve wrote:
> > ...and I should have added in my note that after I edited grub.conf,
> > rebooted and I was still stuck with just GRUB on the screen, that I
> > re-installed grub from the DVD while in rescue mode and then rebooted
> > again. No luck - still just GRUB. At this point I think my next move
> > may be to do a complete re-install. <Sigh!>
>
> Still sounds most likely that it's just GRUB that you have problems
> with, not the whole system.
>
> As I recall, if GRUB had managed to load the first stage, but not the
> next, you'd see "GR" on the screen. If it got stuck loading a further
> stage, you'd see "GRUB". If it'd got as far as reading the grub.conf
> file, you'd be seeing menus or much more wordy written error messages.
> If GRUB couldn't find an OS, you'd get a message saying something about
> that. If GRUB started booting an OS, but the OS couldn't continue on
> loading, you'd get a message from the OS about something it didn't like.
>
> Try setting up GRUB by hand, rather than playing with grub-install. Get
> yourself into a GRUB shell, somehow. e.g. From a command line on a
> rescue disc, typing the "grub" command. Then, while in its shell, use
> the "root" command to set the drive partition that is your /boot (this
> is GRUB's root, not your Linux root), then use the "setup" command to
> write the bootloader to where your BIOS can read to start booting up,
> then the "quit" command to write the changes.
>
> For instance, my /boot is /dev/sda1 (the first partition on my first
> hard drive), and I'll write bootloader to the MBR of that same drive.
>
> [root at localhost ~]# grub
> Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
>
> GNU GRUB version 0.97 (640K lower / 3072K upper memory)
>
> [ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB
> lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
> completions of a device/filename.]
>
> grub> root (hd0,0)
> grub> setup (hd0)
> grub> quit
> [root at localhost ~]#
>
> Adjust the hdx,y values to suit your system (x being drive number, y
> being partition number). GRUB counts hard drives, ignoring optical
> drives, starting from zero. Likewise, it counts partitions from zero
> (zero is the first partition). Not specifying a partion means that
> it'll use the master boot record for that drive.
>
> If you don't actually have a /boot partition, you could be in for some
> grief. And dual-boot systems can be a problem if you've messed with
> drive boot order in your BIOS (different drives are "first" from the
> BIOS's point of view, and other steps along the way). Externally
> plugged in drives can also modify the order of which drives are which.
> Linux avoids that with reading labels and UUIDs on the drive partitions,
> but GRUB is reliant on using BIOS devices to read from drives.
>
> Once you get past the "GRUB GRUB GRUB" messages while trying to boot a
> system, then you can see if there's anything wrong with your grub.conf
> file to start booting the OS. Probably due to an error in the "root="
> parameter on the kernel line.
Thanks Tim. I'll try this on Tuesday.
Steve
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