mbr boot problem after update

[jbike]

Textar, So that my menu.list looks like this?   Correct?

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 0

title linux
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux #root=UUID=a78be4b2-2b2e-41ab-944e-551119cbc36a  acpi=on
root=/dev/hda1 acpi=on
resume=UUID=878bb41c-01bc-4576-9ac6-17653ff32abd splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=a78be4b2-2b2e-41ab-944e-551119cbc36a  acpi=on resume=UUID=878bb41c-01bc-4576-9ac6-17653ff32abd
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=a78be4b2-2b2e-41ab-944e-551119cbc36a  failsafe acpi=on
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img


Thanks,
Jbike

[Old-Polack]

Here is the answer to the last question...

[root@localhost root]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *           1        2422    19454683+  83  Linux
/dev/hda2            2423        9729    58693477+   5  Extended
/dev/hda5            2423        2931     4088511   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda6            2932        9729    54604903+  83  Linux
[root@localhost root]#         

For whatever reason, your fstab refers to /dev/hdbn but the disk is clearly seen to be /dev/hda. I just wanted to be sure that the correct designations, of the various partitions, were available for future reference.

[Old-Polack]

Textar, So that my menu.list looks like this?   Correct?

Not quite. See modifications below

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 0

title linux
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=/dev/hda1 acpi=on resume=/dev/hda5 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=/dev/hda1 acpi=on resume=/dev/hda5
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=/dev/hda1 failsafe acpi=on
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

[jbike]

With the following menu.lst and fstab, still it will not boot. (this fstab was saved as a backup from long long ago. Should I try the new menu.list with my current fstab as well?).

#ROOT
/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults 0 0
#PROC
none   /proc      proc      defaults   0 0
#PTS
none   /dev/pts   devpts   mode=0620   0 0
#SWAP
/dev/hda5   swap   swap   defaults   0 0
#HOME
/dev/hda6 /home ext3 defaults 0 0



timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 0

title linux
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=/dev/hda1 acpi=on   resume=/dev/hda5 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=/dev/hda1 acpi=on  root=UUID=a78be4b2-2b2e-41ab-944e-551119cbc36a  acpi=on
resume=/dev/hda5
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=/dev/hda1 failsafe acpi=on
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img


Interesting, after changing the files, and endless "reboot" resulted however after I reset the mbr, it just stopped after mentioning grub, and told me to please wait... though the wait was forever.

Thanks, anything else that I could try?
Jbike

[jbike]

I just tried the modified menu.list (from you) with my original fstab ( below)

# Entry for /dev/hdb1 :
UUID=a78be4b2-2b2e-41ab-944e-551119cbc36a / ext3 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/hdb6 :
UUID=3315543d-ddb1-42ae-8114-b63f18cf02c3 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/hdb5 :
UUID=878bb41c-01bc-4576-9ac6-17653ff32abd swap swap defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0

I also tried to get the drive to boot by running grub from the live disk...

[root@localhost ~]# grub  
grub> find /boot/grub/stage2

this command returned: (hd0,0)

grub> root (hd0,0)
 this command returned: Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83


grub> setup (hd0)

and this returned:

 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
 Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)"... 17 sectors are embedded.
succeeded
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hd0)1+17 p (hd0,0)/boot/grub/stage2 /boot/grub/menu.lst"... succeeded
Done.

grub>


with the same results. the machine continues to reboot, unendingly.

Jbike

[Old-Polack]

I just tried the modified menu.list (from you) with my original fstab ( below)

# Entry for /dev/hdb1 :
UUID=a78be4b2-2b2e-41ab-944e-551119cbc36a / ext3 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/hdb6 :
UUID=3315543d-ddb1-42ae-8114-b63f18cf02c3 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/hdb5 :
UUID=878bb41c-01bc-4576-9ac6-17653ff32abd swap swap defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0

I also tried to get the drive to boot by running grub from the live disk...

[root@localhost ~]# grub  
grub> find /boot/grub/stage2

this command returned: (hd0,0)

grub> root (hd0,0)
 this command returned: Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83


grub> setup (hd0)

and this returned:

 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
 Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
 Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)"... 17 sectors are embedded.
succeeded
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hd0)1+17 p (hd0,0)/boot/grub/stage2 /boot/grub/menu.lst"... succeeded
Done.

grub>


with the same results! Puzzling!

Jbike

That blows it for me. I was about to suggest the exact same thing.

OK, two other things to try.

From the liveCD, logged in as root, open a terminal and enter;

[root@localhost ~]# blkid           <Enter>

This should give you a list of the UUID numbers for all your partitions. Check the numbers from that list against the ones in /etc/fstab, to verify that the fstab numbers are correct. If there are any differences, change the entries in fstab to reflect the correct numbers.

Alternately:

From the liveCD, label your partitions and use the labels in both /boot/grub/menu.lst and /etc/fstab.

[root@localhost ~]# tune2fs -L root /dev/hda1          <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# tune2fs -L home /dev/hda6          <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# swapoff -a                      <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# mkswap -L swap80 /dev/hda5          <Enter>

To use the labels;

in menu.lst:

title linux
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=LABEL=root acpi=on  resume=LABEL=swap80 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=LABEL=root acpi=on resume=LABEL=swap80
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=LABEL=root failsafe acpi=on
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

in fstab:

# Entry for /dev/hda1 :
LABEL=root  /  ext3  defaults  1 1
# Entry for /dev/hda6 :
LABEL=home  /home  ext3  defaults  1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/hda5 :
LABEL=swap80  swap  swap  defaults  0 0
none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0

Labels work just like UUID numbers are supposed to, but are easier to understand (for us humans) then long numerical strings. As long as each label is unique, the system will boot to whichever partition carries the designated label, and mount will use the labels to mount whichever partition carries the proper label to the mount point directory indicated in /etc/fstab.

If neither of these two methods works, there is something missing, or corrupted, in the system itself. I would be seriously thinking about reinstalling the OS to the / partition. If one does not reformat the partition, the existing partition labels can still be used. If one does reformat a partition, one can relabel it from the Advanced section of the formatting window.

[jbike]

Thanks so much for your help. I will try all of this to the letter tomorrow morning. I'm running out to dinner now. The whole reason I bothered to make a separate home partition was in the event that I had to reinstall. Should my efforts prove insufficient, I will have to figure out how to reinstall without overwriting my /home.. and hopefully everything will still be setup the way I left it. I hope that installed applications (ones I had added) pickup the old settings.

Thanks,

Jbike

[Old-Polack]

Thanks so much for your help. I will try all of this to the letter tomorrow morning. I'm running out to dinner now. The whole reason I bothered to make a separate home partition was in the event that I had to reinstall. Should my efforts prove insufficient, I will have to figure out how to reinstall without overwriting my /home.. and hopefully everything will still be setup the way I left it. I hope that installed applications (ones I had added) pickup the old settings.

Thanks,

Jbike

Reinstalling with a separate /home partition is quite easy. Just don't format the /home partition. If you have specific questions before doing so, just ask, in this thread. Hopefully you won't need to, but there is a point where trying to fix does take more time than it's worth. Try what was suggested, then Post your results. We'll go from there.

[jbike]

Once again... the endless boot cycle after adding the lables and writing special labled menu.lst and fstab files. Do I need to rerun the grub from the live disk or reset the MBR after these actions? If not, I have just downloaded 2009.2 (since my original disk was a 2009.1) for the reinstall. I will NOT check the format hdb6 box, and hopefully all my stuff will still be there when I am finished.

Thanks,
Jbike

[jbike]

I tried to rerun grub as well as resetting the MBR, still no luck so I reinstalled. All of my old stuff was preserved, and I am presently updating the system. If all goes well, I will reinstall all of my apps in one swoop.

Although we were unsuccessful at the end, this thread still offers a wealth of information for all who end up with similar problems. Thanks so much.

Jbike

[Old-Polack]

I tried to rerun grub as well as resetting the MBR, still no luck so I reinstalled. All of my old stuff was preserved, and I am presently updating the system. If all goes well, I will reinstall all of my apps in one swoop.

Although we were unsuccessful at the end, this thread still offers a wealth of information for all who end up with similar problems. Thanks so much.

Jbike

So many times boot problems develop from well known errors in specific files, we can look for variations of those errors when troubleshooting. Almost always the problem gets solved. Sometimes, even when the problem isn't solved by the known fixes, clues are given that lead to somewhere else, and then the problem gets solved. Sometimes you end up going around in circles, as we seem to have done here, with all clues pointing back to the same thing, and none of the variations available making any difference. There being literally thousands of system files that could be checked, and no clear clue pointing at any particular one, reinstalling sometimes becomes the quickest solution.

Then again, reinstalling may still find one in the same place as before, which generally means the problem is with the installation media, or hardware related. All we can do is take the next obvious step, looking for clues along the way. As you point out, the information on possible fixes is now available to the next person with a similar problem. What didn't work this time for us, may well work for the next ten people that try it, so it's far from a waste of time.

If reinstalling gets you a working system, then we were not unsuccessful in the end. We just used a different approach to gain what we sought.