[F9] laptop not booting - reinstall MBR?

[Don Levey]

Phil Meyer wrote:
> Don Levey wrote:
>> My F9 laptop won't boot this morning - I go through the POST, but when 
>> I ordinarily get to the "Hit Enter for options" boot screen, all I get 
>> is:
>>
>>     GRUB
>>
>> at the top left of my screen.  Does this mean I need to reinstall grub 
>> and the MBR?  I can access the HD via a liveCD, and everything *seems* 
>> OK from what I can tell.  Any thoughts?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>  -Don
>>
> 
> This condition occurs whenever the BIOS changes the drive order.
> 
> First things to check:
> 
> Do you have a USB drive plugged in?  A camera, ipod, memory card, or 
> thumb drive may all have this affect on some BIOS.  Unplug them before 
> powering on the system and you might boot normally.
> 
I have an external drive *nearby* but not plugged in. Nothing else 
except the network cable is plugged in.

> Did you add an internal hard drive since the last time you booted?
> Did you make any modifications to the BIOS since the last time you booted?
> Did the BIOS battery expire and force you to hit F1 to continue the boot 
> process?
> 
No modifications at all.  But perhaps hitting F1 to "force"/reset the 
order would work?

> All of these factors, and more, can cause the BIOS to report a different 
> drive order to grub.
> Only in the case of a new drive should you be forced to fix the MBR, and 
> then only if the BIOS insists on calling the new drive a lower order 
> than the existing one.
> 
OK, so it sounds like this shouldn't be necessary, but...
I've just checked the BIOS; no changes or weirdness detected.  But 
clearly we're getting to the drive because it's at least *starting* 
grub, isn't it?

I guess I'll try the MBR reinstall.  Thanks again!
  -Don