SOLVED - Two Pclos versions installed but can only boot one of them

[Maurice]

Result from booting into 1st Pclos

Error 15 File not found
kernel (hd0,2) /boot/vmlinuz Boot_Image=linux root=/dev/sda3.....etc

Result from booting into 2nd Pclos

root (hdo,2)
File system type is exr2fs, partition type 0x83
kernel /boot/vmlinuz Boot_Image=linux root=/dev/sda2.....etc
Error 15 file not found

[Old-Polack]

Result from booting into 1st Pclos

Error 15 File not found
kernel (hd0,2) /boot/vmlinuz Boot_Image=linux root=/dev/sda3.....etc

Result from booting into 2nd Pclos

root (hdo,2)
File system type is exr2fs, partition type 0x83
kernel /boot/vmlinuz Boot_Image=linux root=/dev/sda2.....etc
Error 15 file not found

OK, time to do some actual investigation of what's on /dev/sda3. I want the partition mounted on a specific mount point directory, so first thing is to create the directory using the mkdir command. followed by actually mounting the partition, then doing a quick check to see what's there. Open a terminal, su to root, then enter the following commands.

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

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/here                         <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# ls -l /mnt/here                            <Enter>

Post your results.

Leave the partition mounted, and don't shut the computer down. We will be checking a number of things on the partition, and what we check will depend partly on the results of the previous checks. What we find, or don't find, will determine the next step to take, so it will be a bit slow going, but hopefully a thorough investigation.

[Maurice]

OK, time to do some actual investigation of what's on /dev/sda3. I want the partition mounted on a specific mount point directory, so first thing is to create the directory using the mkdir command. followed by actually mounting the partition, then doing a quick check to see what's there. Open a terminal, su to root, then enter the following commands.

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

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/here                         <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# ls -l /mnt/here                            <Enter>

Post your results.

Leave the partition mounted, and don't shut the computer down. We will be checking a number of things on the partition, and what we check will depend partly on the results of the previous checks. What we find, or don't find, will determine the next step to take, so it will be a bit slow going, but hopefully a thorough investigation.

total 24
drwx------  2 root    root    16384 Aug 24 01:50 lost+found/
drwxr-xr-x 30 maurice maurice  4096 Aug 31 04:36 maurice/
drwxr-xr-x  6 root    root     4096 Jun 25 08:23 mysql/

[Old-Polack]

OK, time to do some actual investigation of what's on /dev/sda3. I want the partition mounted on a specific mount point directory, so first thing is to create the directory using the mkdir command. followed by actually mounting the partition, then doing a quick check to see what's there. Open a terminal, su to root, then enter the following commands.

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

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/here                         <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# ls -l /mnt/here                            <Enter>

Post your results.

Leave the partition mounted, and don't shut the computer down. We will be checking a number of things on the partition, and what we check will depend partly on the results of the previous checks. What we find, or don't find, will determine the next step to take, so it will be a bit slow going, but hopefully a thorough investigation.

total 24
drwx------  2 root    root    16384 Aug 24 01:50 lost+found/
drwxr-xr-x 30 maurice maurice  4096 Aug 31 04:36 maurice/
drwxr-xr-x  6 root    root     4096 Jun 25 08:23 mysql/

That would appear to be your /home partition, not a second installation / partition. That's a pretty good reason why you can't boot from it. 

[Maurice]

That would appear to be your /home partition, not a second installation / partition. That's a pretty good reason why you can't boot from it. 

That stanza was placed into my menu.lst after I re-did the mbr from my livecd

[Old-Polack]

That would appear to be your /home partition, not a second installation / partition. That's a pretty good reason why you can't boot from it. 

That stanza was placed into my menu.lst after I re-did the mbr from my livecd

Let's find the real second / partition. First we start with seeing all your partitions.

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l                          <Enter>

Post your results.

[Maurice]

Let's find the real second / partition. First we start with seeing all your partitions.

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l                          <Enter>

Post your results.

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0007671a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1              63   286712054   143355996    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2   *   286713856   513054719   113170432   83  Linux
/dev/sda3       513054720   745840639   116392960   83  Linux

[Old-Polack]

Let's find the real second / partition. First we start with seeing all your partitions.

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l                          <Enter>

Post your results.

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0007671a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1              63   286712054   143355996    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2   *   286713856   513054719   113170432   83  Linux
/dev/sda3       513054720   745840639   116392960   83  Linux

If that's the only hard drive in the machine you only have one / partition and one /home partition. There is no second Linux installation.

[Maurice]

If that's the only hard drive in the machine you only have one / partition and one /home partition. There is no second Linux installation.

Yes that's the only hard drive on the machine. So - no dual booting of the two Pclos versions?

Many thanks for the time and effort you've put in on this o-p and for the other replies. I much appreciate them.

[Old-Polack]

If that's the only hard drive in the machine you only have one / partition and one /home partition. There is no second Linux installation.

Yes that's the only hard drive on the machine. So - no dual booting of the two Pclos versions?

Many thanks for the time and effort you've put in on this o-p and for the other replies. I much appreciate them.

There is still enough room on the hard drive to add a partition or two, so you could install the PCLinuxOS full version in what is now unused space, if you want, or you could install it to a VirtualBox VM, and run it from within your MiniMe installation. The only limiting factor with VBox is having enough physical RAM in your machine to be able to share with a VM and still have enough to run the host decently. I would recommend having at least 4 GB physical RAM, but In the past I was able to run VBox, with a single VM, fairly well with only 2 GB. The general bloat of all OS makes that a bit more troublesome these days.

With my last build of this machine, what sparked the build was a Black Friday sale from Newegg, offering 16 GB DDR3 1600 RAM for $60.00. Figuring that was just too cheap to pass up, I got a motherboard and 4 core CPU to go with it. I now have more than 20 VMs with various Linux configurations, as well as a Win2K VM, from which I run my scanner. I can run two, three, or four, of the VMs at the same time, with each having 2 GB shared RAM, and still have at least 8 GB RAM free to run the host.

[Maurice]

There is still enough room on the hard drive to add a partition or two, so you could install the PCLinuxOS full version in what is now unused space, if you want, or you could install it to a VirtualBox VM, and run it from within your MiniMe installation. The only limiting factor with VBox is having enough physical RAM in your machine to be able to share with a VM and still have enough to run the host decently. I would recommend having at least 4 GB physical RAM, but In the past I was able to run VBox, with a single VM, fairly well with only 2 GB. The general bloat of all OS makes that a bit more troublesome these days.

With my last build of this machine, what sparked the build was a Black Friday sale from Newegg, offering 16 GB DDR3 1600 RAM for $60.00. Figuring that was just too cheap to pass up, I got a motherboard and 4 core CPU to go with it. I now have more than 20 VMs with various Linux configurations, as well as a Win2K VM, from which I run my scanner. I can run two, three, or four, of the VMs at the same time, with each having 2 GB shared RAM, and still have at least 8 GB RAM free to run the host.

No it's too much trouble and my know-how is not quite good enough to even try it.

I envy you your 16gb of ram. Would be nice for my two Flight Simulators.

Thanks again for your help.

[agmg]

Adding a second or a third installation is not as hard as it may seem and surely not "too much trouble". When I started using Linux, even "dual booting" was strange to me. Not to mention "chainloading" or "manually editing GRUB". Now I have a standard dual boot installation between Windows and my every-day PCLinuxOS system and a spare 100GB of hard disk space for testing (PCLinuxOS and occasionally other distros that may draw my attention).

Virtual machines are even better, provided you have a fair amount of RAM in your system as Old-Polack mentioned...

Don't be afraid. If you want to learn new stuff you will have to try new stuff. Backup your data and go for it. You may break things a couple of times but I consider the failure as an alternative way of learning   

[Bald Brick]

I consider the failure as an alternative way of learning   

The only effective way of learning! 

[Maurice]

Adding a second or a third installation is not as hard as it may seem and surely not "too much trouble". When I started using Linux, even "dual booting" was strange to me. Not to mention "chainloading" or "manually editing GRUB". Now I have a standard dual boot installation between Windows and my every-day PCLinuxOS system and a spare 100GB of hard disk space for testing (PCLinuxOS and occasionally other distros that may draw my attention).

Virtual machines are even better, provided you have a fair amount of RAM in your system as Old-Polack mentioned...

Don't be afraid. If you want to learn new stuff you will have to try new stuff. Backup your data and go for it. You may break things a couple of times but I consider the failure as an alternative way of learning    

The only effective way of learning! 

Thanks fellas. You're right of course. But I reckon the old anni domini are taking their effect.