[SOLVED] Multi Boot Problems

[Davepet]

Tried to install PCLOS10 on my main box tonight, & it's now a boat anchor for all intents & purposes.

Here's what I started with:
sda1- Xandros 4
sda2 - Xandros 3
sda3 - swap
sda5 - xan4 home
sda6 - kliket
sda7 - data
sda8 - pclos2007
sda9 - pclos2007 home
I was using xan4's LILO as boot manager, with pclos07 set as default

I reformatted sda1 & sda5 from reiserfs to EXT4 & installed pclos10 in sda 1 with sda 5 as /home. This installed pclos grub as boot manager. Pclos grub failed to even notice Xan 3 (no surprise there) but also failed to see PCLOS07 ( big surprise). It found klikit & set it up to boot just fine ( I've booted Klikit exactly 4 times in 2 years, it just doesn't like my hardware).

Well, I couldn't get pclos 10 to find my modem & cant boot into pclos07 to see where to tel 10 to look. It is a USR, full hardware modem, but plugs into a USB port.

SO I figure, boot the xan3 cd & hit the 'Repair Xandros" mode, this worked fine, & PCLOS07 was on the boot menu (PCLOS10 was not). The problem is that now PCLOS07 can't find the reiserfs file systm that used to be on sda5 & refuses to boot or offer an option to try to boot.

The message is:

    Reiserfs_open: The reiserfs superblock cannot be found on /dev/sda5.
    Failed to open the filesystem.

    If the partition table has not been changed, & the partiton is valid & it really contains a reiserfs partition, than the superblock is corrupted & you need to run this utility with --rebuild-sb.


Anyone have some thoughts on how to dig my way out of this one?

Dave

[Bald Brick]

Anyone have some thoughts on how to dig my way out of this one?

No thoughts yet, but are you now booting with LILO or with Grub?

[Old-Polack]

Tried to install PCLOS10 on my main box tonight, & it's now a boat anchor for all intents & purposes.

Here's what I started with:
sda1- Xandros 4
sda2 - Xandros 3
sda3 - swap
sda5 - xan4 home
sda6 - kliket
sda7 - data
sda8 - pclos2007
sda9 - pclos2007 home
I was using xan4's LILO as boot manager, with pclos07 set as default

I reformatted sda1 & sda5 from reiserfs to EXT4 & installed pclos10 in sda 1 with sda 5 as /home. This installed pclos grub as boot manager. Pclos grub failed to even notice Xan 3 (no surprise there) but also failed to see PCLOS07 ( big surprise). It found klikit & set it up to boot just fine ( I've booted Klikit exactly 4 times in 2 years, it just doesn't like my hardware).

Well, I couldn't get pclos 10 to find my modem & cant boot into pclos07 to see where to tel 10 to look. It is a USR, full hardware modem, but plugs into a USB port.

SO I figure, boot the xan3 cd & hit the 'Repair Xandros" mode, this worked fine, & PCLOS07 was on the boot menu (PCLOS10 was not). The problem is that now PCLOS07 can't find the reiserfs file systm that used to be on sda5 & refuses to boot or offer an option to try to boot.

The message is:

    Reiserfs_open: The reiserfs superblock cannot be found on /dev/sda5.
    Failed to open the filesystem.

    If the partition table has not been changed, & the partiton is valid & it really contains a reiserfs partition, than the superblock is corrupted & you need to run this utility with --rebuild-sb.


Anyone have some thoughts on how to dig my way out of this one?

Dave

Super simple. Where /etc/fstab says reiserfs, edit it to say ext4. To boot PCLinuxOS 2010, write a boot stanza in /boot/grub/menu.lst. All you need to do is boot from the liveCD, log in as root, mount the PCLinuxOS 2010 partition somewhere, and the Xandros 3 partition somewhere else. For lack of simpler places, as root, in a terminal;

[root@localhost ~]# mkdir /here /there                  <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda1 /here            <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda2 /there            <Enter>

Now open /here/boot/grub/menu.lst in kwrite. Also open /there/boot/grub/menu.lst in another kwrite window. Use copy/paste to copy the first PCLinuxOS stanza from it's window, and paste it into the Xandros kwrite window. Change the title from Linux to PCLinuxOS 2010, if you haven't already. Save the file and you can then boot PCLinuxOS 2010 from the new entry to the boot menu.

If you prefer to use the PCLinuxOS menu.lst as the master menu.lst, do the copy/paste in reverse, and copy the Xandros first stanza to the PCLinuxOS menu.lst, and do the same with each of the other OS first stanzas.

To do the /etc/fstab edit in the 2007 fstab;

[root@localhost ~]# umount /here         <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda8 /here         <Enter>

Now open /here/etc/fstab in kwrite and edit the reiserfs entries, for the partitions you reformatted, to read ext4. Save the file. Done.

[Davepet]

Some progress:

Thanks for the tips, old-polak, I booted the live disk & was able to use dolphin to open & edit the PCLOS07 fstab. This allowed me to boot into 07 again (from the Xan3 lilo). I now have the modem info I was after.

I discovered in the process that both Xan3 &PCLOS 07 have no knowledge of the ext4 file system. This will not be a problem once I'm doen reconfiguring my machine, but it is a bit inconvenient at the moment.

My goal is to get PCLOS10 installed & boot everything else using it's grub. I don't see a /boot/grub/menu.lst in 07. It's grub was never used to boot any other OS, since Xan 4 Iilo was always used for choosing what to boot. I am completely unfamiliar with grub.

I did find under /boot/install.sh :

Code:

grub -device-map=/boot/grub/device.map -batch <<EOF
root (hd0,5)
setup -stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0)
quit
EOF

Is that useful in setting up PCLOS10's grub to boot 07?

Thanks, Dave

[Old-Polack]

Some progress:

Thanks for the tips, old-polak, I booted the live disk & was able to use dolphin to open & edit the PCLOS07 fstab. This allowed me to boot into 07 again (from the Xan3 lilo). I now have the modem info I was after.

I discovered in the process that both Xan3 &PCLOS 07 have no knowledge of the ext4 file system. This will not be a problem once I'm doen reconfiguring my machine, but it is a bit inconvenient at the moment.

My goal is to get PCLOS10 installed & boot everything else using it's grub. I don't see a /boot/grub/menu.lst in 07. It's grub was never used to boot any other OS, since Xan 4 Iilo was always used for choosing what to boot. I am completely unfamiliar with grub.

I did find under /boot/install.sh :

Code:

grub -device-map=/boot/grub/device.map -batch <<EOF
root (hd0,5)
setup -stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0)
quit
EOF

Is that useful in setting up PCLOS10's grub to boot 07?

Thanks, Dave

Not particularly, but then again, grub stanzas are not hard to write from scratch anyway. To set PCLinuxOS 2010's grub as the master boot loader in the MBR;

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,62786.msg508062.html#msg508062

Once booted to PCLinuxOS 2010, open /boot/grub/menu.lst in kwrite, and add stanzas for each OS on the drive. The pattern will always be;

title <Something>
kernel (hd0,n)/boot/vmlinuz<possibly something> root=<UUID or /dev/sdan or LABEL=<whatever>> resume=<swap partition>
initrd (hd0,n)/boot/initrd.img

Replace <Something> with the OS name, and n with the appropriate number for the partition, (grub counts from 0, so /dev/sda1 = (hd0,0)) If there is a link named vmlinuz pointing to the actual kernel the OS uses, <possibly something> will be nothing. If there is no vmlinuz link, the full name of the kernel can be used, or a link can be created. The root= entry is followed by the designation for the / partition of the installed OS, in the form you choose. I like labels. The resume= entry is followed by the designation for the swap partition. If a link named initrd.img exists in /boot, pointing to the initrd image that corresponds to the kernel pointed to by the vmlinuz link, that's all that needs to be entered on the initrd line. If there is a link, with a different name, use the name of the existing link. If there is no link, create one or use the full name of the initrd image.

There are other options that can be added to the kernel line, but the above should allow the OS to boot, unless you have problematic hardware that needs the extra options, Check what other options are on the existing PCLinuxOS stanza and use them with the other stanzas.

[Davepet]

I'm guessing that " /boot/grub/menu.lst " doesn't get generated until grub actually has a list of OS's to choose from? I can't find it while running the live CD of 2010, & it's not on my installed version of 07 .

I think I've figured out the stanza I need to add to boot 07, but a bit gun-shy to reinstall 2010 after last night's fiasco until I'm sure, so does this look like it'll workt? :

Code:

title PCLOS2007
root (hd0,8)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root- devhd0,8
initrd (hd0,8)/boot/initrd.img

Dave

[Old-Polack]

I'm guessing that " /boot/grub/menu.lst " doesn't get generated until grub actually has a list of OS's to choose from? I can't find it while running the live CD of 2010, & it's not on my installed version of 07 .

I think I've figured out the stanza I need to add to boot 07, but a bit gun-shy to reinstall 2010 after last night's fiasco until I'm sure, so does this look like it'll workt? :

Code:

title PCLOS2007
root (hd0,8)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root- devhd0,8
initrd (hd0,8)/boot/initrd.img

Dave

First, /boot/grub/menu.lst is generated when grub is installed on the system. It won't be on the liveCD, because that boots from isolinux, not grub. If your 2007 installation was completed, there was a /boot/grub/menu.lst. If it is not there now, you've deleted it. The system won't do that on it's own. More likely is that it's there and you looked in the wrong place.

As to a stanza to be added to the 2010 menu.lst, either use a separate root (hd0,7) line in the stanza, or include the (hd0,7) in the path on both the kernel and initrd lines, Don't do both.

You've told us PCLinuxOS 2007 is on /dev/sda8, so the grub entry for it would be (hd0,7). Everything in the kernel line, after the location of the kernel, is a kernel parameter, and the kernel does not speak grub. The root= entry cannot use a grub designation.

title PCLOS 2007
kernel (hd0,7)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda8 resume=/dev/sda3 vga=788
initrd (hd0,7)/boot/initrd.img

or

title PCLOS 2007
root (hd0,7)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda8 resume=/dev/sda3 vga=788
initrd /boot/initrd.img

[Davepet]

Glad I waited for your input, old-polack, I'd have been right back where I started if I hadn't, thanks, I'll give it a try here shortly & let you know how it works out.
Dave

[Davepet]

Well, I copied the stanza into /boot/menu.lst & saved it' It now stops at:
well, retrying read-only without any flag
mount:error2 mounting ext3
switching to new root
ERROR opening /dev/console!!!!:2
unmounting old/proc
unmountingold/sys
switchroot: mount failed:22
initrd finished
kernel panic - not syncing:attempt to kill init

not sure what to try next

Dave

[Old-Polack]

Well, I copied the stanza into /boot/menu.lst & saved it' It now stops at:
well, retrying read-only without any flag
mount:error2 mounting ext3
switching to new root
ERROR opening /dev/console!!!!:2
unmounting old/proc
unmountingold/sys
switchroot: mount failed:22
initrd finished
kernel panic - not syncing:attempt to kill init

not sure what to try next

Dave

The first thing I would do is run an fsck -f on that partition, /dev/sda8. This can be done from the 2010 installation, from a terminal, as root. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do the same for each partition, except /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda3. This is just to eliminate filesystem corruption as a cause of the problem.

[root@localhost ~]# fsck -f /dev/sda8              <Enter>

Repeat for each partition you want to check, replacing the 8 with the appropriate number. When done with the filesystem checks, try to boot the 2007 installation again.

Post your results.

[Davepet]

Well, OK here are the results:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# fsck -f /dev/sda8
fsck from util-linux-ng 2.16.2
e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
/dev/sda8: 101980/642560 files (0.5% non-contiguous), 725695/1283184 blocks

Remember I had PCLOS 07 booted up & running fine just 2 hours ago before re-installing PCLOS 10 . It works fine when I boot it using Xandro LILO . This has to be something stupid simple that I'm missing ....
I'm going back to check menu.lst

THe good news is I'm now typing this from PCLOS 2010

[Old-Polack]

Well, OK here are the results:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# fsck -f /dev/sda8
fsck from util-linux-ng 2.16.2
e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
/dev/sda8: 101980/642560 files (0.5% non-contiguous), 725695/1283184 blocks

Remember I had PCLOS 07 booted up & running fine just 2 hours ago before re-installing PCLOS 10 . It works fine when I boot it using Xandro LILO . This has to be something stupid simple that I'm missing ....
I'm going back to check menu.lst

THe good news is I'm now typing this from PCLOS 2010

Try mounting that partition and checking to see what the stanza reads for the PCLOS 2007 installation. It should be in the lilo.conf file in /etc.

Open a new terminal in 2010 and use the su - command. Give the root password when asked. Then;

[root@localhost ~]# mkdir -p /mnt/here              <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/here                   <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# kwrite /mnt/here/etc/lilo.conf                <Edit>

Post the stanza for PCLOS 2007. It will have to be modified for grub, but we should be able to see any additional options for it.

[Davepet]

Code:

image=/disks/pclinuxos/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18.8.tex5
label=PCLinuxOS_release_2007_on_sda8
vga=788
root=/dev/sda8
initrd=/disks/pclinuxos/boot/initrd-2.6.18.8.tex5.img
append=" acpi=on splash=silent"

BTW, the stanza that boots PCLOS 2010 looks like this:

Code:

title linux
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=fb755661-1a7b-4d15-9b4c-551c226c1e7b vmalloc=256M vga=788
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

[Davepet]

Stupid simple it was, after all.

The stanza I used was:

Code:

title PCLOS 2007
root (hd0,7)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda8 resume=/dev/sda3 vga=788
initrd /boot/initrd.img

I switched to:

Code:

title PCLOS 2007
kernel (hd0,7)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda8 resume=/dev/sda3 vga=788
initrd (hd0,7)/boot/initrd.img

& am now posting from my pclos07 partition.

I changed the name of the thread from what do I do now to multi-boot problems- solved to more accurately reflect it's content.

Thanks for all your help,
Dave

[Old-Polack]

Stupid simple it was, after all.

The stanza I used was:

Code:

title PCLOS 2007
root (hd0,7)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda8 resume=/dev/sda3 vga=788
initrd /boot/initrd.img

I switched to:

Code:

title PCLOS 2007
kernel (hd0,7)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda8 resume=/dev/sda3 vga=788
initrd (hd0,7)/boot/initrd.img

& am now posting from my pclos07 partition.

I changed the name of the thread from what do I do now to multi-boot problems- solved to more accurately reflect it's content.

Thanks for all your help,
Dave

Grub booting errors usually are simple. Usually minor typos, but they can drive you nuts, looking for them.