MBR Problem

[Old-Polack]

Thanks JohnBoy and Old Polack for your help.  My probllem is being a Noob(or maybe a Dummy) but I'm not swift with the command line and do not seem able to get a copu of menu.lst to send.  Sorry about that but this old timer is trying to learn linux the hard way.  Can you show me how to find menu.lst???  Would be appreciated to no end.


Nuxnerd7EZ

It's not so much a problem with command line as knowing where things are actually located on your hard drives. You have three Linux partitions, not counting the swap partition. I'm guessing that /dev/hdb1 is the / partition. If that is correct, Boot from the liveCD, log in as root, then open a terminal. At the prompt enter these commands.

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/hdb1                       <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# cat /mnt/hdb1/boot/grub/menu.lst          <Enter>

You should get a printout of the contents of your installations menu.lst. Copy/paste the results into your next post.

If one of the other partitions is your / partition, substitute the correct partition designation in place of hdb1.

[nuxnerd7EZ]

Thanks Pirate for print out Fig.1.....got some of these old brain cells working.

Old-Polack and JohnBoy: Found menu.lst on Sytem:/media/hdb1/boot/grub.  As you can see it is no different than the last copy I sent.  Is this because I tried the Redo MBR on the live cd?


timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan

gfxmenu (hd1,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 3

title linux
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=644148144147621 acpi=on resume=UUID=62a13517-a616-4d82-9417-15e1db523270 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=5a9f184b-0d5b-483a-a08b-1d4ced1bf309 acpi=on resume=UUID=62a13517-a616-4d82-9417-15e1db523270 splash=silent
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=5a9f184b-0d5b-483a-a08b-1d4ced1bf309 failsafe acpi=on
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title windows
root (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Using OO Word Processor looked at old menu.lst and it was the same as the first listing that had the extra "0" at the start of the string.

[Old-Polack]

Thanks Pirate for print out Fig.1.....got some of these old brain cells working.

Old-Polack and JohnBoy: Found menu.lst on Sytem:/media/hdb1/boot/grub.  As you can see it is no different than the last copy I sent.  Is this because I tried the Redo MBR on the live cd?


timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan

gfxmenu (hd1,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 3

title linux
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=644148144147621 acpi=on resume=UUID=62a13517-a616-4d82-9417-15e1db523270 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=5a9f184b-0d5b-483a-a08b-1d4ced1bf309 acpi=on resume=UUID=62a13517-a616-4d82-9417-15e1db523270 splash=silent
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=5a9f184b-0d5b-483a-a08b-1d4ced1bf309 failsafe acpi=on
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title windows
root (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Using OO Word Processor looked at old menu.lst and it was the same as the first listing that had the extra "0" at the start of the string.

Working with that file, don't use a word processor, use the text editor, kwrite, as root. Right click on the file, choose Actions --> Edit as Root. Give the root password when asked. When the file opens in kwrite, change;

title linux
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=644148144147621 acpi=on resume=UUID=62a13517-a616-4d82-9417-15e1db523270 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

to

title linux
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=/dev/hdb1 acpi=on resume=/dev/hdb5 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

Save the file, then try a reboot to the installed system.

[nuxnerd7EZ]

[root@localhost guest]# cat /mnt/hdb1/boot/grub/menu.lst
timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd1,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 3

title linux
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=/dev/hdb1 acpi=on resume=/dev/hdb5 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=5a9f184b-0d5b-483a-a08b-1d4ced1bf309 acpi=on resume=UUID=62a13517-a616-4d82-9417-15e1db523270 splash=silent
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=5a9f184b-0d5b-483a-a08b-1d4ced1bf309 failsafe acpi=on
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title windows
root (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1


bove is menu.lst afterr editing in kwrite, restarted and got to this legend;


PCLinuxOS release 2010 (PCLinxOS) for i158
Kerneel 2.6.26.8 tex33 on an i186 system
(None)Login:


That's as far as I got.............tried guest, root and my normal ID and Passwords.  Both as User and Root.  Didn't get any further.

Thank you for the help.  Not curing the problem but I'm gaining an education on learning the Cmd line and looking behind GUI and linux features.

[Old-Polack]

nuxnerd7EZ:

If you've gotten to a login screen, grub is no longer involved. It would seem you have issues with your users, and video, which would indicate some sort of partition corruption, or possibly memory problems. I would start by running an fsck on the partition, booted from the liveCD, logged in as root. From a terminal, with the partition unmounted;

[root@localhost ~]# fsck -f /dev/hdb1            <Enter>

When the process completes, try to boot to the installed system again. If you can then log in as root, try;

[root@localhost ~]# video                <Enter>

If that works you should be able to set up your video card again to get back to the GUI desktop. If you still can't log in, try running memtest86 from the liveCD start menu, for about an hour.

Post your results.

[nuxnerd7EZ]

Hi! Old=po;ack.............ran osck -f on /dev/hdb1.  Stated no corruptions found.   Checked Video ...........normal check.   Had to go to see Doctor so I ran memtest 86 for close to three hours  while I was gone and no errors were listed.  Re-booted system selected PCLinusOS.  Same as was I posted yesterday.  Tried PCLinuxOS Safe Mode with same outcome(but dark screen).  Tried to log in with varied Login codes but it just keeps asking same (NONE)Login:  with blinking cursor.  Also tried Linux  Single  as login.  No luck.  Maybe I should give up and see if I can trnsfer my files to CDs or DVDs and do another installation?

As Always thank you for your help!!!

[Was_Just19]

When you ran  video     did you get to select the video driver and other options and did you do a test to see if all was OK before accepting the settings?

Checked Video ...........normal check.

[Old-Polack]

Hi! Old=po;ack.............ran osck -f on /dev/hdb1.  Stated no corruptions found.   Checked Video ...........normal check.   Had to go to see Doctor so I ran memtest 86 for close to three hours  while I was gone and no errors were listed.  Re-booted system selected PCLinusOS.  Same as was I posted yesterday.  Tried PCLinuxOS Safe Mode with same outcome(but dark screen).  Tried to log in with varied Login codes but it just keeps asking same (NONE)Login:  with blinking cursor.  Also tried Linux  Single  as login.  No luck.  Maybe I should give up and see if I can trnsfer my files to CDs or DVDs and do another installation?

As Always thank you for your help!!!

Do you have a separate /home partition? Do you also have a separate data partition? Just guessing, as you have three Linux partitions, and I'm wondering what they are. If they are a /home partition and a data partition, you could reinstall the system, without losing any of your personal data or settings; Just don't format anything but the / partition. create your users in the same order as before, so the UID numbers are the same, and you should have full access to your present /home/<users> directories.

Normally I like trying to fix, rather than reinstall, but you are having problems with even logging in on the command line, which falls into the category of serious system fail. You could end up chasing one problem after the other, spend a lot of time, then realize you need to reinstall anyway. Being as PCLinuxOS is so easy to install, and takes so little time, I'd be thinking more along those lines in this case.

Do you have a personal remaster?

[nuxnerd7EZ]

Using Live CD I opened the install program.  When it got to the step where it looked where to install it listed existing partitions:

Choose the mount points;

hdb1 (7.8G, /, reiserfs  = /
hdb6(29G, /home,etc3) =/home
hdb7(33G, /usr, ext3)   =/usr

Looks to me that I can go ahead and reinstall PCLinuxOS by only formatting the / partition.  Yes or no?

[Old-Polack]

Using Live CD I opened the install program.  When it got to the step where it looked where to install it listed existing partitions:

Choose the mount points;

hdb1 (7.8G, /, reiserfs  = /
hdb6(29G, /home,etc3) =/home
hdb7(33G, /usr, ext3)   =/usr

Looks to me that I can go ahead and reinstall PCLinuxOS by only formatting the / partition.  Yes or no?

Yes, but I'm not sure why you have a separate /usr partition. Unless you are sharing the installed apps between machines, this is not usual for home systems. If this partition is reused as /usr you should format it too, as you may have problems with duplicate (different version) files, as the ones from the previous installation will not show up in the new rpm database.

Were it me, I'd copy off the /home partition data, then repartition, giving / about 15 GB, at least, for process room when doing things like remasters. I'd then make the rest of the space one large /home partition, format it, and copy back the data and such after reinstalling. It's a more efficient use of the hard drive space.

[nuxnerd7EZ]

Old Polack and JohnBoy:
  Looked at all files and folders on hdb6 and hdb7.  Copied most of them to DVD's and decided to bite the bullet.  I'm now typing this on MY PCLinuxOS and so far there doesn't seem to be any missing files with the execeptition of Picasa 2.7 and Vie Scan(used with my slide scanner).


  I do have one problem that has bugged from the start of my problems, the fact that when I start up the system I can no longer use my Logitech cordless keyboard to select between Linux or Windows.  It used to work great before all this began.  When in my sweet PCLinuxOS  there is no problems with typing or using the cordless mouse.  Could it have something to do with Numlock or ACPI??

 Well besides all that I want to sincerely thank you for all the help.  This forum is great!!  Because of the time you have spent helping this old 1/2 polack(Polish/Slovak) I'm donating $25 using my Pay Pal account.  I hope there is a place where I can state that is for your help.

P:S:  When I'm sure everything is working I'll use remaster or mklivecd to do a complete backup.  Once more ......THANK YOU.

[Was_Just19]

I would first check the BIOS settings for any option to enable the BIOS to use USB mouse and keyboard.

Not being able to use them at that early stage is not due to the OS, but most likely (I think) to a BIOS setting.

regards.

[nuxnerd7EZ]

HI! JohnBoy,     Jeezzz.....slap me on the side of my dense head.   You were right on!!  When I first started with my Linux not loading I went into the BIOS and changed some of the booting options and one of them was USB.

I did donate like I said I would.  Have a question on that.  What difference using Pay Pal or Buy Now?  Goes into the same coffers to support the program, right??  I hope so.

Again; thanks for the help!

[Was_Just19]

Hey! Glad to see things have settled for you.

I hope you enjoy the experience of using Linux/PCLOS. Most of all 'Have Fun'   

I have no idea about the payment methods .... maybe someone who knows will comment .....

regards.