[SOLVED] can't boot into PCLinux; hd designation was wrong; now multiboot...

[slipstream6]

hello, I'm new to PCLinux OS and have an older computer that requires that I create boot partitions at the start of my HDs.  I have 3 HD in total 2 sata one IDE.  PCLinuxOS is located on sdb (sata drive).  I had originally installed PClinux OS on that HD and could not boot succesfully.  It's been a little while, so I might have remembered some of the grub messages wrong, but I got either kernel panic, or missing initrd files or kernel not found or file not found.  

Then, I installed other OS with grub 2 on the mbr of same drive.  I did have to change the orientation of the first bootable drive but I chainload to said hd where I tried several versions of bootmenu for PCLinux in grub2 custom menu.  Perhaps I have forgotten something about grub legacy?

Note:  In the meantime, I succeed in booting to other my other newly installed OS including lilo booted OS with the same menu commands as follows:

Code: [Select]

menuentry "Salix OS Success sdb5,sdc13" --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root de34717f-b99c-40ec-b966-bcd342b9b0f9
linux /vmlinuz resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/0637629c-1522-4b2f-bff3-a4549ae505e7 resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/0637629c-1522-4b2f-bff3-a4549ae505e7 root=/dev/sdc13
}
So I tried this for PcLinuxOS; still file not found with:

Code: [Select]

menuentry "PClinuxOs test main hd2,6" --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext3
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0
        linux /vmlinuz resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/1bccc403-28d9-4306-96b2-0a7ec2c7cc01 resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/1bccc403-28d9-4306-96b2-0a7ec2c7cc01 root=/dev/sdb7
}

Here is relevant part of PCLinuxOS menu list:

Code: [Select]

timeout 30
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
password --md5 $1$PCPd.1$9r3TThvEAt0uIBwNOJOjV/
default 0
 
title linux
kernel (hd1,5)/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0  quiet nokmsboot vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=36b8a4ed-2f44-48e4-9342-a6feec99cf0c splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,5)/initrd.img
 
title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd1,5)/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0  quiet nokmsboot vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=36b8a4ed-2f44-48e4-9342-a6feec99cf0c
initrd (hd1,5)/initrd.img
 
title failsafe
kernel (hd0,5)/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0  quiet nokmsboot failsafe vmalloc=256M acpi=off
initrd (hd0,5)/initrd.img

I beleive that the error in my menu.lst is the partition designation; my boot partition is actually hd1,6 and / is hd1,7.

If anyone could advise me on how to boot correctly, Id really appreciate it!

[sling-shot]

While waiting for more knowledgeable people to help, please post the outputs of these commands for reference:

fdisk -l
blkid

[slipstream6]

Hello sling-shot,
Here it is!  

blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="Boot_Absolute_Li" UUID="bfda47d3-b8b8-49a0-87a4-985f8c5be50b"
TYPE="ext2"
/dev/sda3: UUID="36b8a4ed-2f44-48e4-9342-a6feec99cf0c" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda4: LABEL="Boot_Xubuntu" UUID="9dc67129-3430-4766-a3f3-267666d1dcee" TYPE="ext2"
/dev/sda5: LABEL="Movies_and_Video" UUID="b942dff7-7d9d-469b-99ef-7ecb8262ebbd"
TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda6: LABEL="Multimedia" UUID="3c0d6510-19e7-45eb-a22d-0e937773d14b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda7: LABEL="Linux_Data" UUID="aad64c6a-4c48-4f02-ab9f-1812fd779699" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda8: LABEL="Linux_Spare" UUID="691a4464-d0f2-48a5-aa91-db5dd48e65e6" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda9: LABEL="Xubuntu_Precise" UUID="116f8119-45de-4d2e-b184-cdceeda732f6" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda10: LABEL="Xubuntu_Home" UUID="c50285ab-7c10-46cd-a3fe-ce0c827200b2" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda11: LABEL="Salix_Home" UUID="53e0b50e-df18-4d63-84d6-6f4b5e4ac712" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda12: LABEL="Arch-Bang Linux" UUID="f2dfccba-ad43-4fea-bc7e-a252ad56e2a2"
TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda13: LABEL="Salix_Os" UUID="0637629c-1522-4b2f-bff3-a4549ae505e7" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda14: LABEL="Absolute_Linux" UUID="22bf3c0c-43ab-4883-9e5d-c76536fc5835" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda15: LABEL="Absolute_Linux_H" UUID="cc4cb2ec-195e-4016-8107-54399566d39b"
 TYPE="ext4"
/dev/zram0: UUID="21215167-794f-46a2-85c5-25f18b4ab6c9" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdc2: LABEL="Boot_Bodhi" UUID="d10415d5-2e13-4c20-8b79-474f00a3ce1b" SEC_TY
PE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdc4: UUID="307753d9-3e18-4098-9a12-472292719b37" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdc5: LABEL="Boot_SalixOs" UUID="de34717f-b99c-40ec-b966-bcd342b9b0f9" TYPE
="ext2"
/dev/sdc6: LABEL="Boot_PcLinucOs" UUID="1bccc403-28d9-4306-96b2-0a7ec2c7cc01" SE
C_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdc7: LABEL="PcLinuxOs" UUID="2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0" TYPE="e
xt4"
/dev/sdc8: LABEL="PcLinuxOs_Home" UUID="9dd5bf90-2af4-4d67-ba15-f4e7abb92a96" TY
PE="ext4"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="85b9721f-8454-4e96-bff0-6aa1667b70ef" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdb5: LABEL="Boot_ArchBang" UUID="f1a43108-9706-49f0-ad8c-b832a5759c16" TYP
E="ext2"


sudo fdisk -l

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: 0x0002145b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048      385023      191488   83  Linux
/dev/sda2          780286   972863487   486041601    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3       972865536   976773119     1953792   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4          385024      776191      195584   83  Linux
/dev/sda5       107941888   413302783   152680448   83  Linux
/dev/sda6       413304318   692546084   139620883+  83  Linux
/dev/sda7       692546148   877165064    92309458+  83  Linux
/dev/sda8       877165128   937648127    30241500   83  Linux
/dev/sda9        44845056    59688959     7421952   83  Linux
/dev/sda10       59691008    83542015    11925504   83  Linux
/dev/sda11       83544064   107939839    12197888   83  Linux
/dev/sda12      937650176   972863487    17606656   83  Linux
/dev/sda13       30027776    44843007     7407616   83  Linux
/dev/sda14         780288    12421119     5820416   83  Linux
/dev/sda15       12423168    30025727     8801280   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdc: 18.4 GB, 18400000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2237 cylinders, total 35937500 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: 0x000a043b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1          331776    32032767    15850496    5  Extended
/dev/sdc2   *        2048      331775      164864   83  Linux
/dev/sdc4        32033610    35937404     1951897+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc5          333824      587775      126976   83  Linux
/dev/sdc6          589824      966655      188416   83  Linux
/dev/sdc7          968704    13955071     6493184   83  Linux
/dev/sdc8        13957120    32032767     9037824   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 36.4 GB, 36420075520 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4427 cylinders, total 71132960 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: 0x000024ea

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1        67227648    71131135     1951744   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb3            2048    67223551    33610752    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5            4096      348159      172032   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6          350208    14671871     7160832   83  Linux
/dev/sdb7        14673920    34013183     9669632   83  Linux
/dev/sdb8        34015232    67223551    16604160   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order


I just realised that i have the UUIDs mixed up  the root UUID should be the boot UUID- that might solve it...I will test that if I can tonight...

[slipstream6]

Just wanted to mention, no luck!    

I tried switching the UUIDs and I do get to what seems to be PCLinux's grub:

booting a command list

after a moment:

kernel panic not syncing: VFS unable to mount root fs on unknown block (0,0)
PID: 1  ..... 3.2.18-Pclos2.bfs  and so on

I hope someone can help me, I always wanted to PCLinux out...    

[Old-Polack]

Seriously? An 18.4 GB hard drive, and you have it partitioned into 8 partitions? You only have room for one practical sized PCLinuxOS / partition on that drive, which would then need to have your /home as just a directory, not a separate partition.

You say you need a boot partition. What brand, model, and year of manufacture is this machine? Nothing produced in this century requires a boot partition. You can have one, if you choose to, but you only need one, or one per drive, if you choose, not one per installation.

[Just17]

Have you tried altering the drive number in the boot stanza? ......  maybe to  (hd2,5)  ?

[kjpetrie]

Welcome to the forum.

You don't like things very tidy do you? I wonder whether your labels are as accurate as they should be in all that chaos.

The kernel root parameter in the pclos menu.lst should point to /. /boot is found by the hd(... designation.

You get as far as pclos's kernel, so grub 2 and grub's jobs are done. The kernel panics because it can't mount /. It appears pclos' grub stage 1 isn't installed on the same drive, however! In that case, I presume its failsafe option fails to find the kernel. Please confirm that is the case. (If it does we have more to investigate.)

Your pclos partitions are just big enough for a basic install, thought you'll need to find extra space for a working directory if you want to remaster it. Your /boot partition appears to be much too big and is just a waste of space, but that's not a critical issue.

[slipstream6]

kjpetrie, I will try to see which one of the 3 menu.lst boot options-but I beleive that I tried all 3-will have more free time in a couple of hrs...I think that I will need to modify menu.lst from live cd, correct?

Just to recapitulate: sdb 17.14G

/dev/sdb2   ext3        /boot    Boot_Bodhi          161.00 mb
/dev/sdb1   extended                                      15.12 G
/dev/sdb5   ext2        /boot    Boot Salix Os        124.00 mb
/dev/sdb6     ext3   /boot     Boot_PcLinuxOs   184.00 mb
/dev/sdb7    ext4     /            PCLinuxOS              6.19 G
/dev/sdb8    ext4    /home    Pclinux_home       8.62 G
/dev/sdb4            linux-swap                             1.86 G

My blkid is updated and better labelled- well I had posted an older one-see my updated one in previous post if needed,thnks.

Note: 6 G for / and 8.6 G for /home is too small even for lxde version??  Can PCLinux be upgraded to newer version without re-installation as with certain distros?  Otherwise, I realise that separate /home drive has no purpose then...

I have no choice but to have separate /boot drives for various OS otherwise I will encounter: grub error 18 :

Code: [Select]

Selected cylinder exceeds maximum supported by BIOSyes its an older workstation, still runs smooth though!

thanks again for the help

[kjpetrie]

That isn't what fdisk says. fdisk says sdb is 36.4 GB and your /boot partition is around 7 GB.

I want to know what you see when you boot failsafe because it links to a different partition from the other two entries. You boot to a pclos kernel, but your menu.lst entries look strange. If they boot to the partition you seem to think grub stage one is installed on a different disc.

I want to be sure you haven't got a pclos kernel installed somewhere you shouldn't which is fooling us.

[slipstream6]

i'm back,

Ok i found out that my 34G drive is having issues and a friend actually has a replacement for me soon, so that could be the reason for this mess- also I did switch the bootable drive in bios but that was AFTER I couldn't boot into PClinuxOS so I decided that another OS would be the "master" grub- then I chainload to the 18G which has PclinuxOs installed.  I re-verified that all the PCLinuxOS files/components are in the right partitions: boot components are in /sdc6 and / is in sdc7 and so on. 

So my fdisk was off: now it makes more sense and yes it shows that PClinux is on the sdc drive but the OS from which PClinux can boot from sees it as sdb and hd2 (it boots 2 other OS with the same designation in its grub.cfg file so that is not the issue).  If I installed PClinuxOS when its HD was the bootable HD and taking into account that grub designates IDE drives and SCSI drives the same (all hdX) and I just realised that it counts partitions from zero as well- which I forgot!  Then /boot would be (hd0,5)?? and / root would be (hd0,6??) hence why PCLinux grub gave (hd0,5) or (hd1,5) could be explained by failing hd (the 34G one)?

(I excluded sda for now)

Disk /dev/sdc: 18.4 GB, 18400000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2237 cylinders, total 35937500 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: 0x000a043b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1          331776    32032767    15850496    5  Extended
/dev/sdc2   *        2048      331775      164864   83  Linux  [grub.cfg that boots to PCLinuxOS
/dev/sdc4        32033610    35937404     1951897+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc5          333824      587775      126976   83  Linux
/dev/sdc6          589824      966655      188416   83  Linux
/dev/sdc7          968704    13955071     6493184   83  Linux
/dev/sdc8        13957120    32032767     9037824   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 36.4 GB, 36420075520 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4427 cylinders, total 71132960 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: 0x000024ea

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1        67227648    71131135     1951744   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb3            2048    67223551    33610752    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5            4096      348159      172032   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6        14673920    34013183     9669632   83  Linux
/dev/sdb7        34015232    67223551    16604160   83  Linux
/dev/sdb8   *      350208      694271      172032   83  Linux    -this is now correct!
/dev/sdb9          696320    14671871     6987776   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

So if blkid gives:

/dev/sdc6: LABEL="Boot_PcLinucOs" UUID="1bccc403-28d9-4306-96b2-0a7ec2c7cc01"
/dev/sdc7: LABEL="PcLinuxOs" UUID="2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0"
then menu.lst should show?


title linux
kernel (hd0,5)/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=1bccc403-28d9-4306-96b2-0a7ec2c7cc01  quiet nokmsboot vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0 splash=silent vga=788 or 773 (?)
initrd (hd0,5)/initrd.img

Is it /boot UUID first then resume is  / UUID? just like in grub2 grub.cfg?


I will attempt to correct the menu.list, but I hope that I got it right this time...

[slipstream6]

kjpetrie,

Well now i couldn't even get to what I thought was PClinuxOS grub anymore after I updated menu.lst & I'm stumped at this point.  I tried even to boot from both hds.  Unless you have a solution, I will have to postpone until I try re-installing on a replacement HD in the future with the other drives unplugged, just to be sure.

Interesting now my bios can scan the troublesome hd again and no more hd 'seeking' noises (like a long low squeak) anymore-I hope there isn't an issue with the controller as well...

[sling-shot]

Have you tried the suggestion by Just17? Looking at your partition structure that may be the correct thing to do.
You say /sdc6 is where /boot of PCLinuxOS is. Then it becomes (hd2,5) for GRUB.
Use vmlinuz, initrd.img from the same partition.
Your root is /sdc7.
Your resume however is not the same as root. Set it to the swap partition as given below.

Code: [Select]

title linux
kernel (hd2,5)/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=1bccc403-28d9-4306-96b2-0a7ec2c7cc01  quiet nokmsboot vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=85b9721f-8454-4e96-bff0-6aa1667b70ef splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd2,5)/initrd.img

There seems to be some differences in the output posted in different posts. If this did not work, please use 1 post (preferably the 2nd one by you) to show the updated blkid and fdisk -l outputs.

[Just17]

It is extremely difficult to figure out what the Grub numbering should be due to the mess that is the partitioning of the drives.

IMO you need to sort out the drives so the partitions are logically numbered, and ensure that all primary partitions are before any extended partition.

This is an example from your post listed by partition number


   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1        67227648    71131135     1951744   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb3            2048    67223551    33610752    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5            4096      348159      172032   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6        14673920    34013183     9669632   83  Linux
/dev/sdb7        34015232    67223551    16604160   83  Linux
/dev/sdb8   *      350208      694271      172032   83  Linux    -this is now correct!
/dev/sdb9          696320    14671871     6987776   83  Linux


This is the same drive listed by partition order (the way Grub sees it)

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb3            2048    67223551    33610752    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5            4096      348159      172032   83  Linux
/dev/sdb8   *      350208      694271      172032   83  Linux    -this is now correct!
/dev/sdb9          696320    14671871     6987776   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6        14673920    34013183     9669632   83  Linux
/dev/sdb7        34015232    67223551    16604160   83  Linux
/dev/sdb1        67227648    71131135     1951744   82  Linux swap / Solaris


So I suggest you get the partition numbers corrected so that both partition numbering and partition order are the same.

After that it should be much easier to figure out any minor problems.

[Old-Polack]

I previously asked, "What brand, model, and year of manufacture is this machine?" and you have yet to answer the question. You've posted your opinion about why you feel you need a boot partition, but haven't supplied the information that would allow us to determine if that is true. You say that you've changed the hard drive boot order in BIOS, but that option didn't appear in most BIOS versions until after the ability to read large disk volumes, so maybe you have other BIOS settings causing erroneous reads, or grub stanzas looking for partitions that don't exist on the drive being searched, which will also give the error you referred to.  We cant tell, because we can't see your machine, and have to rely on you giving us accurate information. We can't get that if you don't answer the precise questions asked.

As previously pointed out, your partition number seems excessive for the purpose, (and drive size) and are terribly out of order on all your drives. Your partitions are the foundation on which everything else rests. They should be of the correct size and type, and numbered to show in the correct order as they physically appear on the drive, before installing anything on them, or trying to troubleshoot what is wrong with booting from them.

If you are to have many installations from different distributions using different versions of grub, you need to have a clear and thorough knowledge of both versions of grub, and how they each see, and deal with, drive partitions. If you are using both IDE and SATA hard drives, we need to know how this is made possible. If it is because both types of controllers are native to the motherboard, or through the use of add in controller cards, we need to know that, and if the latter, which add in cards are used. If any of your drives are mounted from external cases, we need to know that as well. With what you've posted so far, we have a very incomplete picture of what your hardware consists of, and only know for certain that your partitions are a mess.

Let's start over, with you telling us about the machine you are working on. Is it store bought as a unit, or custom built from individually purchased components? If purchased as a pre built unit, who built it, and what model is it? If built from individual components, what motherboard was used, what power supply, how much (and what type) RAM is installed? What graphics card or GPU is present? In either case, what add in cards are present? This may seem like superfluous information for dealing with the problem at hand, but it gives us a more complete understanding of what may possibly be involved. Too much information can't hurt, while too little can.

Once we understand what hardware we are dealing with, we can help you to better organize your hard drives for greater efficiency and use of the space available.

[kjpetrie]

I tend to agree with Just17 and O-P. Sling-shot, remember it's a chain load, so pclos' grub will see the drive it's booting from as hd(0). Grub 2 on a different disc might see it as hd(2).

But really, it's difficult to be sure because everything is too untidy.

However, you still have the wrong partitions in the menu.lst entry. It should be:
title linux
kernel (hd0,5)/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0  quiet nokmsboot vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=<whichever swap partition you have in /etc/fstab> splash=silent vga=788 or 773 (?)
initrd (hd0,5)/initrd.img

or using Just17's order:
title linux
kernel (hd0,4)/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=2f1edff8-4be4-420c-9745-1a5b11a388e0  quiet nokmsboot vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=<whichever swap partition you have in /etc/fstab> splash=silent vga=788 or 773 (?)
initrd (hd0,4)/initrd.img

With mechanical discs there is an advantage to using a swap partition on a different drive, as it means one drive can read and the other write when swapping occurs and the heads stay in the same partition. If swapping to the same drive data has to be read in chunks, stored in RAM while the head is moved to the other partition, and then written out to the disc. Then the head has to be moved back to read again... slow and cumbersome and a lot of work for the kernel to handle.

If you can't even get to pclos' grub your chain loading is messed up in grub 2, but I don't know how to set up grub 2.

If my two guesses don't get you there you really have to take O-P's route. Your system is simply too untidy for us to understand.