problems using grub

Thu Oct 23 05:39:41 UTC 2003

--- Robert L Cochran <cochranb at speakeasy.net> wrote:
> All operating systems are complex. They have to be. No matter what the 
> project is, you will end up needing to learn more operating system 
> detais than you expect.

I agree. I just don't think that it helps by making little things unnecessarily
obscure. That is all I am trying to say.

> 
> Reading the documentation can be a fair amount of work but there is a 
> mass of good documentation out there, it is free, the quality is very 
> high and a good read of the right HOWTO can solve a lot of small 
> problems. I've spent hours reading documentation and wished I've done a 
> better job by re-reading a lot of it!
> 
> There is a HOWTO on Lilo as well, if memory serves, and there are 
> magazine articles you can read.
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> Well I think the Radeon FireGL cards are very ancient.
> 
> Globe Trotter wrote:
> 
> > 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!
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>__________________________________
> >>>>>Do you Yahoo!?
> >>>>>The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
> >>>>>http://shopping.yahoo.com
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>--
> >>>>>fedora-test-list mailing list
> >>>>>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
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>__________________________________
> >>>Do you Yahoo!?
> >>>The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
> >>>http://shopping.yahoo.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>--
> >>>fedora-test-list mailing list
> >>>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
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
> > http://shopping.yahoo.com
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > fedora-test-list mailing list
> > 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

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
http://shopping.yahoo.com