Can someone tell me how to do this? I just formatted a slaved drive for EXT4 and now I'd like to write grub over the MBR. Cannot really find much on Google. tried: grub-install /dev/sda1 and of course didn't work....
View 5 RepliesIs there a way to install grub2 from a linux live cd when linux isn't installed on any of the partitions? I'm setting up a multiboot partition for someone and I don't want to install linux anywhere on the computer since hard drive space is running short.
View 2 Replies View Related"In this tutorial you will prepare a USB flash drive to make it bootable. After you booted it it shows you a menu where you can choose which live system you want to boot. So you might be interested in this tutorial if: You want to have multiple live systems on one USB flash drive In the future you want to create a new bootable live system just by copying the ISO file onto the drive and edit the grub.cfg You don't want to or can't use Distro specific LiveUSB creator tools You prefer a cleaner solution than the most LiveUSB creator tools which create several folders and files at the device root You are feeling bored and want to see cool features of Grub2 If you have a Grub2 version with Lua support you even don't need to manually edit the grub.cfg when you add new or remove live systems." Remainder of information is found here: [URL] This was found in a closed Karmic Development forum - can this be validated and updated if needed for Lucid?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI tried doing a search and couldn't find anything relatively recent on the topic so here is my question.
I am fairly new to the linux world and am in the process of trying out a couple different distributions. I am doing this by installing them to an external hard drive. This allows me to test them out without affecting my main system in any way. I have already tried openSUSE and it installed with no problems. I am trying to install Ubuntu, however when the installation tries to install GRUB2 it fails asking me for a different location to install it to.
When installing I unhook all drives from the computer except for the dvd drive, usb drive I'm installing from, and the external hard drive I am trying to install Ubuntu to. I'm not sure what else may be of use.
i initilally installed ubuntu 9.10 then installed windows 7 ,then i recovered grub2 using livecd as told in the post [URL] i did "sudo update-grub" and got windows 7 menu entry but when i select that entry windows 7 does not load but the grub2 is reloaded again.
i cant boot to windows 7.
Windows 7 have 100 mb partition "System Reserved" the grub2 points to that partition but still windows 7 not loaded.
sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x3c3a81f5
[Code]....
i have downloaded the gnome live cd. how do i install it using a usb pen drive?
View 1 Replies View RelatedSo I install Ubuntu 10.10 on a multi-drive, dual boot with windows 7 computer. At almost the end of the install, I see "running grub-install sda" or whatever it is. sda is my windows drive.So rather than asking where to install the bootloader or give you the option like it used to, it just did it to my "first" drive.
What the hell? Now my Windows MBR is gone. I like to maintain that so if my linux drive dies I can still boot into windows via the old windows boot loader.Possible to move Grub2 to my other drive and repair windows 7 drive MBR?
I want to reinstall windows to its partition on my computer, but I want to be able to restore grub2 afterwards. I use a lot of custom scripts in the /etc/grub.d/ directory on my ubuntu partition, so how can I reinstall grub to the MBR using those specific scripts? Just running "sudo install-grub" or "sudo update-grub" doesn't work for me (I don't know the exact problems, but I can't reproduce it right now). If there's a way to install just the defaults (without overriding my custom scripts!) maybe I can just do that, but I'd really like to put the live cd, run a few commands, and install those custom scripts to the mbr and be on my way.
View 1 Replies View RelatedI have used grub2 to be able to boot multiple iso files on a flash drive as per this thread:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1484582
Is there any way to add a persistent installation of 10.04 to this flash drive, similar to what the startup disc creator application can do? I'd like to be able to have the clean installation and the persistent installation plus the other tools that I have on the flash drive. It's an 8 gb drive so there is ample room.
drive is as follows:
NTFS Partition (Storage)
NTFS Partition (Win7)
Ubuntu
I am trying to put GRUB2 on the Ubuntu partition, but it will only let me pick the first two. If I pick the Ubuntu partition in the last dialog bix, it is listed as /dev/sda-1 I also have no idea why is says "-1", because the first two are fine at 1 and 2 respectively.
Id like to make bootable ISO of a directory using mkisofs + grub2.
View 3 Replies View RelatedI have been frustrated attempting to get Grub2 to boot a Debian Live system from hard disk. Have set aside a 4gb partition /dev/sda1 to contain the Debian Live and some other recovery tools. I actually have them all working from a 4gb USB stick successfully, but getting it to work on my HDD has proved challenging. On USB, I have PartedMagic, Gparted, Grml, and of course my standard 6.01 Squeeze. I have also managed to get the Debian Live booting from that USB stick. Very slick.
However, I can NOT get Debian Live to boot from my HDD; altho all of the others above boot fine. Have tried it two ways - one using an iSO image, which is how it is done on my USB stick. The other attempt is to copy the entire contents of the ISO to a directory.
Here are my directory structures:
debian_live_gnome_squeeze_i386- contains the following: debian-live-6.0.1-i386-gnome-desktop.iso initrd.gz initrd.img vmlinuz which is how it is laid out on my USB stick debian_live - contains the files from the ISO image The error I get is something like "panic unable to find live filesystem" My grub.cfg snippet for the two methods I have tried - the 2nd menuentry is similar to how it works on the USB stick.
menuentry "Debian 6.01 Live (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,msdos1)
[code]....
Probly don't really need to get it working since PartedMagic can do almost everything I need for recovery and I can use the USB for reinstall or whatever else.
I installed Ubuntu 9.10 & grub2 on a Toshiba sattellite laptop last night:
- Win XP shows up in the Grub2 menu.
- When I boot Win XP, it says autock program not found, skipping autocheck, then Win XP stops booting.
- I did a little digging on the net, & found I have to unhide the NTFS partition for Win XP (hd0,1)
- Grub2 doesn't have an unhide command.
- I tried to run parttool, & got the "command not found".
For some time now I have kept 2 partitions for (K)ubuntu versions so go back if the new one is troublesome.So, I have a common /boot partition, 2 partitions for (K)ubuntu versions and a common data partition which both versions can access.After installing 10.10 I lost the grub connection to the earlier version. This did not happen in the past. So far I've failed to get it back by various attempts to do so.Did I make a mistake in allowing the /boot partition to be formatted during install of 10.10 (can't remember what I did before) or has the /etc/grub.d/os_prober in 10.10 failed in some way?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI'm having a problem on startup where GRUB seems to time out attempting to mount my main drive. Here is the error it gives me:
Quote:
Gave up waiting for root device. Common problems:
-Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline)
- Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
- Check root= (did the system wait for the right device?)
-Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/b1517926-aba4-47d1-81f0-42ca5dd36257 does not exist. Dropping to a shell!
I am given a initramfs shell. Sometimes waiting a couple of minutes and then typing 'exit' works. However, I've noticed if I do this:
Code:
(initramfs) mount /dev/disk/by-uuid/b1517926-aba4-47d1-81f0-42ca5dd36257 /root
(initramfs) exit
my laptop will boot.
I'm really not sure what the issue is, or how to even start to resolve it.. I'm not sure what the issue is, since
I've had nothing but trouble with GRUB2. Is it possible to use the original GRUB bootloader?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI'm trying to install GRUB2 on root partition under RAID 5. I tried using the alternate CD, but installation failed. Now I'm trying under the live CD and grub-install ... but I'm being told it can't find the device even though /dev/sda2 (root partition) and /dev/sda are mounted.I have 4 discs, each with a swap partition (/dev/sdX1) and a root partition (/dev/sdX2).
View 9 Replies View RelatedIn short, what I'd like to find is a workaround to install Grub2 onto a USB stick, from a PC running Windows, without using a GUI. After searching, I don't find any way to install Grub2 from Windows. I do have a nice little MS-DOS batch file that installs syslinux onto a USB stick. It's simple, fairly fool-proof, and I'd like to convert it to install Grub2.Did find an example of running grub-install without actually installing anything: grub-install --grub-setup=/bin/true /dev/sdaSo, IFAIKT, this just creates the Grub2 'boot.img' file, and maybe also modifies the 'core.img' file? Is that right? If so, then a little DOS utility to write a USB's MBR using the boot.img should work, yes?
However, I notice the boot.img file is 512 bytes. As I understand it, a drive's partition table is included in that space. I'd like to take that boot.img and use it to install Grub2 on any arbitrary USB stick, without altering the existing partition table. If I snip off the last 72 bytes so the image is only 440 bytes, it seems like this should work (assuming that every USB stick will have Grub2 installed in the /boot/grub subdirectory).If this sounds right, is there a DOS-based MBR update utility that you would recommend? I find several, such as MBRUtility, MBRWizard, and MBRFix, among others
My current setup has the following partition:
sda1: ubuntu 32-bits
sad2: ubuntu 64-bits
sad3: ext3 system for personal storage
sda4: swap
My idea is to format my sda2 to become ntfs and install a windows xp system.., my question is how this could affect my current grub2 config since the MBR loads from sda1?
I was given an external USB drive which has Windows XP Pro on the first partition. I can mount and access the partition with no problem. When I run update-grub, it finds the XP partition and creates a menu entry for it. But when I select it from the Grub menu, I get an error that the device is not found.
Results of sudo fdisk -l
Code:
Disk /dev/sda: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00086c27
[Code]....
I am having trouble with setting up the grub based system on my external hdd. I am trying to have one grub which is going to load operating systems, and livecd if any (usb install). I am stuck at installing Ubuntu 10.10 Minimal version (i don't need gui for linux).Here is what I have done so far:
1. Created 2 primary partitions - windows 7 recovery and data (ntfs)
2. Created an extended partition for linux stuff.
3. Create a logic partition (10MB) for grub (ext2)
[code]....
I'm trying to make a sort of "toolkit" flash drive using grub2 but I am running into some problems. For some reason, every entry below gives me the error "you must load the kernel first" when I try to boot it. I have checked in the grub command line and it appears that grub sees my flash drive as the first drive when booting. This is what my grub.cfg looks like.
Code:
#Clonezilla v1.2.5-17
menuentry "Clonezilla 32"
{
set isofile="/boot/isos/clonezilla32.iso"
loopback loop $isofile
[Code]...
I have a macbook pro 4,1 which does not have a functioning cd drive. I'm trying to install ubuntu by loop-booting an iso from the hard drive (or a usb drive, or using the netbook kernel, or the files from a live usb, or anything really) It will not boot off of usb drives. I've read that this is an issue with the firmware of these machines and there's not much I can do about it. rEFIt sees the usb drive, but the macbook complains there is no OS when it attempts to boot from it.
I've installed grub2 locally by dropping a home-built grub.efi (And modules and whatnot) in /efi/grub. This lets me pick grub from the refit menu, and grub will correctly load up a grub.cfg, and I can get into a grub shell and browse around, pick kernels etc. The problem comes when I try to boot anything. I've tried the netboot kernel and initrd, I've tried loop booting an ISO, I've tried copying a live usb to disk and booting that kernel, but no dice. any way I go about it, I can select the kernel and initrd, and that appears to work fine. Grub gives me some correct-looking info messages about the kernel and initrd that I just loaded, but then when I try to actually boot (i.e. with the boot command), nothing happens, I just get a cursor that sits there and does nothing.
I've tried with everything (the iso, the kernel and initrd) on the first partition, on other partitions, with different filesystems (both hfs+ and fat32) all to no avail, and all with the same symptoms, grub just sits there after the kernel and initrd are loaded and does nothing. I'm wondering if there's some kernel arguments I need to make things happen on the macbook or some other magic like that. This is a pretty non-ordinary boot setup so it's not terribly easy to find info about it.
[Code]..
I just installed Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on an external hard drive (USB connected) and I can no longer boot my Windows XP(SP3) from my internal C Drive. Grub gives me the list of boot choices, but when I choose the C drive, I just get these error messages:
GEOM ERROR
For Realtek RTL8139(X)/8130/810X PCI fast ethernet controller v2.13 (020326)
Client MAC ADDR: 00 13 D3 07 FD F5 GUID: FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF
PXE-E53: No boot filename received
PXE-NOF: Exiting PXE ROM
(The version of Grub is 1.98-lubuntu5). I don't have a Windows System CD to boot from, but is there something I can do from within Ubuntu itself?
I would like to install Linux Ubuntu 11.04 on an external hard drive - its partitioned and ready for Linux.I've downloaded and burnt the .iso file to a DVD so its all good so far...First of all... is this possible without messing up my macbook? I don't particularly want to break into my macbook to disconnect the hard drive (I read on a tutorial for a previous version of Ubuntu that I'd have to do that... - does it still apply to 11.04?) - as it voids the warranty (I checked ).The reason I ask this is because I had a friend who partitioned their internal hard drive and installed Ubuntu on it. But after installation was complete they couldn't boot up Windows 7 or Ubuntu... and it resulted in them having to clean install Windows 7... - I don't want to end up in that situation
Second... If it is possible to install it without messing up my macbook... - Do I just follow the install instructions but just make sure that where possible I make sure that everything is installed on my external hard drive?...I really need someone to put my mind at rest that everything will run smoothly and that I'll be able to run Mac OS X as usual but also that I'll be able to boot from my external hard drive to run Ubuntu.
Alright, what I thought would be a simple task has me tied in knots.
I wanted to make a multiboot USB flash drive that I could easily manipulate to switch to various distros easily. My plans were:
1. Partition my 8GB drive to one large first partition (5GB) so that windows could access it. (P.S. GParted didn't partition correctly, needed to use fdisk. THIS MIGHT BE IMPORTANT IN SOLVING THE PROBLEM BECAUSE THERE MIGHT BE A BLOCK ERROR). I then made an extended partition with 5 500MB logical partitions.
2. Install Grub2 to MBR from Ubuntu
3. Expand ISO's of varios distros (Acronis Recovery, Puppy linux, etc.)
to the partitions, and create syslinux.cfg files for each (from the isolinux.cfg files that were already there)
4. Install syslinux to each partition's boot sector
Code:
#syslinux /dev/sdb5...
5. make grub.cfg on /dev/sdb1 chainload each partition.
THE GRAND PROBLEM:
Grub2 loads, but when selecting what I want to boot, I get the error
Boot error
which is syslinux, not grub2. So I know it's chainloading, but syslinux doesn't seem to find ldlinux.sys.
P.S. I'm not asking for other ways to make a multiboot drive, I know I can just direct boot from Grub2, but I want to be able to pass the boot to the boot loaders on the other logical partitions.
After much struggling with the server (the one referenced in "shifty, shifty drive letters"), I realized that the problem has nothing to do with drive letters at all. The problem is GRUB2, or some way in which it is misconfigured.
To recap:
Ubuntu Server 9.10
/dev/sda solid-state Sandisk (swap)
/dev/sdb1, /dev/sdb2, /dev/sdb3 2 HW RAID0 SCSI (boot, /, tmp)
/dev/sdc - /dev/sdz 24 one-TB SATA drives
I kept getting "device not found" from GRUB2 when trying to boot. The SATA drives are disconnectable from the front of the chassis. So I disconnected each and every one of them and powered the machine up. To my shock, the machine booted into Linux and it was up and running! It seems that when the 24 SATA drives are plugged in, then GRUB2 can NOT see /dev/sdb. Instead, it sees /dev/sda and fifteen of the one-TB drives (and one floppy drive, whatever that is).
I tried deleting /dev/sdc through /dev/sdz from /boot/grub/device.map, but that didn't work. I also tried plugging in only HALF of of the SATA drives. When the system tried to boot in this state, then GRUB2 just hung. I noticed that the blue LEDs on the front of the (plugged-in) SATA drives blinked on and off in sequence, as if GRUB2 was scanning them. I watched this for about 3 minutes before I got impatient.Is there a maximum number of drives in GRUB2? Does GRUB2 hate SCSI if it detects a whiff of SATA? What's going on?
I've tried to be clever but as usual I didn't think before acting and missed a small detail.
I have recently installed karmic (dual booting with Vista) on my dell xps laptop. The install went fine, I'm very happy with my new OS.
I bought a new Seagate 500GB portable external HDD. I got a bit over-excited and installed karmic on the external drive. This worked fine and I got a lovely (but slow to appear) Grub2 menu showing my vista and both ubuntu options.
My problem is that now, when I unplug the external drive, Grub fails and I get a grub rescue> prompt. So I need the external drive to be plugged in if I want to boot.
It seems I have done something to the grub configuration. I have read around the subject but I am not confident about how best to proceed.
I understand there is an 'advanced' option in the installer which will allow me to choose where to install grub. Presumably I want it on the internal drive so that I can boot without the external one plugged in.
Am I right in thinking I can just pop in my install disk and redo the installation?
If I indicate I want to install Grub on the internal drive, which partition should I aim for?
Will I get a grub option for booting to the external drive?
Will I be able to plug the external drive into a different machine and boot from it?
I haven't done anything with the fresh install on the external drive so I don't mind losing that.
I have a very strange problem. My computer is unable to boot from any hard disk but is able to boot from any CD or DVD. I have double-checked the BIOS settings and I am unable to figure out why is this happening. I have noticed that the Windows installer boots from the CD only if one presses a key when the message "Pressany key to boot from CD..." is displayed on the screen, otherwise it boots from the first hard disk.I have a triple boot system with Windows 7 (64-bit), Ubuntu 10.10 (64-bit), and Fedora 14 (64-bit). I have a dedicated GRUB2 partion on one of my disks. What I want is a boot-loader (any would do) on a CD/DVD/USB drive to chain load the GRUB2 present on my hard disk, without a delay, that is, without showing any message, menu, warning, etc. So, is there a way to do that?
View 6 Replies View Relatedno entries exist in the /dev folder for hdc,cdrom,dvd, or any other drive or drive type than hda. The only other similar device is sg0 which doesn't work either. I have tried every variation of mount I can find with every available drive and drive type and nothing works, but this is the drive I installed FC14 with, and it installed perfectly (except for forgetting where it came from!!)Do I have to install a module or recompile the kernel just to get linux to recognize the drive it came from?
View 5 Replies View Related