[NTLUG:Discuss] Boot Sector problem

Leroy Tennison leroy_tennison at prodigy.net
Thu Apr 6 05:27:05 CDT 2006


Terry wrote:
> On 4/5/06, Terry <trryhend at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> On 4/5/06, Terry <trryhend at gmail.com> wrote:
>>     
>>> Use Mandrake's rescue mode, (hopefully on install CD#1), to boot up
>>> your Mandrake system and do it from there.
>>>
>>>       
>> And then:
>> If I'm not mistaken, Mandrake 10.1 used Grub and so...
>> To install the GRUB boot loader on your drive you should use the utility
>>   grub-install
>>
>>     
>
> Information from grub info:
>
>    Once started, GRUB will show the command-line interface (*note
> Command-line interface::). First, set the GRUB's "root device"(1)
> (*note Installing GRUB natively-Footnote-1::) to the boot directory,
> like this:
>
>      grub> root (hd0,0)
>
>    If you are not sure which partition actually holds these files, use
> the command `find' (*note find::), like this:
>
>      grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
>
>    This will search for the file name `/boot/grub/stage1' and show the
> devices which contain the file.
>
>    Once you've set the root device correctly, run the command `setup'
> (*note setup::):
>
>      grub> setup (hd0)
>
>    This command will install GRUB on the MBR in the first drive.
>
>
>
>
>   
>> (This is assuming the GRUB application is already been installed on
>> your system - and it more than likely has been, as long as you
>> finished the install process to that point and only left off writing
>> the boot loader to the MBR of your hard drive.)
>>
>>     
>>> On 4/5/06, Pervaz Allaudin <pervaza at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>       
>>>> I managed to erase my boot record while trying to switch from Fedora 2 to Mandrake 10.1 on my old dual system. On top of that that all the CDs are erroring out due to crc error so I cannot do another reinstall. So both windows 98 and Linux are dead in the water.
>>>>
>>>>   I am able to boot with Knoppix and did find the grub-install command; My problem is Knoppix gives a read only error and I am not too sure what my non-knoppix hda1&2 is mapped on.
>>>>
>>>>   I tried both - There is /knoppix/dev/had1&2 and a dev/hda1&2 somewhere also if I am not mistaken. had2 was by FD2 /boot and hda1 my windows 98.
>>>>
>>>>   So the question is how can I get my boot loader back into my hard drive?
>>>>
>>>>   Also should I put it on had1 - the windows system - which I think I had previously?
>>>>   The web pages where I checked warned against going into the MBR and went for longer procedure of copying the boot file while into window etc.
>>>>
>>>>   Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>>>>
>>>>   Thanks in advance
>>>>
>>>>   Pervaz
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------
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>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> http://ntlug.pmichaud.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>
>>>>         
>>> --
>>> <><
>>>
>>>       
>> --
>> <><
>>
>>     
>
>
> --
> <><
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://ntlug.pmichaud.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
>   
I need to point out a possible issue here and will add a couple of other 
possible solutions.  First, the find command only finds exact paths so, 
if you happen to have a separate partition mounted at /boot (like I do), 
it won't find /boot/grub/stage1.  The reason is that /boot/grub/stage1 
only exists when the partition is mounted, what's on the partition is 
/grub/stage1.  One way to check this is do 'grub geometry (hd0)'.  (Be 
careful with this command because extraneous entries appended to it 
could have the undesirable effect of ***setting*** the drive's 
geometry.)  Look at the partitions listed to get a clue at to what you 
have.  Another (probably better) way is to 'find /etc/fstab' and then 
'cat <drive>/etc/fstab' so you will know for sure what you have.  In the 
latter case you will replace <drive> with (hd<m>,<n>) where <m> and <n> 
are the appropriate values.

On the Knoppix CD you should be able to run or switch to a command 
prompt (Ctrl-Alt-F1 through F6).  Type 'mount' and see what it shows is 
mounted.  Run 'fdisk' and see what is available.

Another option is to make a grub diskette.  If you feel comfortable 
downloading images from the Web I found a reference to some at 
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/comments-feedback-suggestions/5985-grub-diskette-download.html.

Finally, there are other live CD's out there.  The two I know about are 
SuSE and "Trinity Rescue Kit".  However, if you are getting read errors 
on multiple CDs I'm wondering if you may actually have a (CD) drive 
problem.  Got any additional hardware lying around?



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