"/boot may not meet booting constraints" in RH 9

[Rick Stevens]

On Sat, 2006-07-22 at 08:08 +0000, Salman Siddiqui wrote:
>   
> On Fri, 2006-07-21 at 13:11 +0000, Salman Siddiqui wrote:
> > I tried to install Red Hat Linux 9 on my friends machine and tried
> all
> > type of ways:
> > Automatic partition
> > Manual Partition
> > 
> > Under both conditions while it creates the /boot partition it gives
> > following warning:
> > 
> > "Boot Partition /boot may not meet booting constraints for your
> > architecture. Creation of boot disk is highly encouraged."
> > 
> > what can be the problem?
> > 
> > Below is the configuration of its harddisk(40Gb with 256 Mb RAM) as
> > shown by disk druid:
> > 
> > /dev/hda
> >  /dev/hda1              ntfs              10004
> >  /dev/hda2              ntfs              9996
> >  /dev/hda3              Extended          18154
> >      /dev/hda5            vfat              15002
> >      /dev/hda6    /boot  ext3              103
> >      /dev/hda7    /      ext3              2540
> >      /dev/hda8            swap              509  
> >  Free                    Free space        7
> > 
> > 
> > Below is the boot loader configuration which is shown after the
> > partition is done:
> > 
> >    DOS                /dev/hda1
> >    Red Hat Linux      /dev/hda7
> > 
> > 
> > after the installation is completed & when the computer is restarted
> > it shows the grub prompt:
> > GRUB>
> > 
> > nothing else....we are not able to access his windows even...
> > 
> > 
> > I work on FC4 dual boot on my computer and have done FC4
> installation
> > on my system (dual boot) many times
> > But I didnt see any /boot warnings ever...
> > 
> > how to get past GRUB> prompt and bring his computer back to working
> > state...
> > 
> > 
> > I would like to mention one more thing:
> > When few months back I tried to install FC4 on his computer, it
> > wouldnt install & instead it would restart the window, probably due
> to
> > non matching hardware configuration.
> 
> First off, RH9 awful old.  Second, depending on the hardware and the
> disk layout, you can't boot anything that's beyond cylinder 1024.
> We really need to see the output of "fdisk -l".
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> now how can u except me to tell u wot fdisk -l shows when I am not
> able to pass through the GRUB> prompt???

Put in your first CD and boot into rescue mode:

	boot: linux rescue

Do NOT let the system mount the existing Linux configuration.  At the
"#" prompt, enter "fdisk -l" and post the output.

> About RH 9.....I know its old but because that computer isnt letting
> us install FC4 (due to some hardware problems) we have to relly on RH9

Hardware problems?  As in "this system isn't supported anymore"?  It's
true that 80386 support was deleted in kernel 2.6 and that FC4 needs a
lot more RAM, but beyond that, I can't think what isn't supported that's
even remotely current (e.g. <5 years old).

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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-     I.R.S.: We've got what it takes to take what you've got!       -
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