[rmetz]

I am hoping that someone can help me with my problem. I read some of the other questions along these lines, but none solved my problem. I have XP Home on HDA and I had Ubuntu Breezy on HDB2. There was no problem with Ubuntu, but I decided to try out Fedora. I used the Fedora DVD to reformat my existing linux partions and use the default Fedora partitions. I set up Grub to install in the MBR on HDA, but now, when I try to boot I get a Error 17 after Grub starts and I can not boot Fedora or XP. Here is my current HD FS setup: HDA is NTFS. HDB1 is NTFS. HDB2 is Linux and HDB3 is Linux LVM. I tried grub-install /dev/hda, but I get an error saying "/dev/hdb2 does not have any corresponding BIOS drive." Everything worked fine when I dual booted with Ubuntu, so why am I having these problems with Fedora 5? Thanks in advance for all your help

[danleff]

Quote:

I decided to try out Fedora. I used the Fedora DVD to reformat my existing linux partions and use the default Fedora partitions. I set up Grub to install in the MBR on HDA, but now, when I try to boot I get a Error 17 after Grub starts and I can not boot Fedora or XP. Here is my current HD FS setup: HDA is NTFS. HDB1 is NTFS. HDB2 is Linux and HDB3 is Linux LVM. I tried grub-install /dev/hda, but I get an error saying "/dev/hdb2 does not have any corresponding BIOS drive."

Some thoughts.

17 : Cannot mount selected partition
This error is returned if the partition requested exists, but the filesystem type cannot be recognized by GRUB.

Looks like you did not delete the Ubuntu partition(s) or mucked them up somehow. i don't use LVM and have limited experience with it. But, I wonder if this is ther problem, mixing partitons made with differnt distro installations.

Also, describe how you are trying to run grub-install /dev/hda. Are you trying to run this from rescue mode off the Fedora DVD? If so, did you do the chroot /mnt/sysimage
command once you got to a command line, before running te grub-install command, to get to the root filesystem of Fedora?

The easiest solution may be to re-install Fdora and make sure that you delete the old Ubuntu partition, then allow Fedora to install it's default partition scheme.

Also, are you sure that you wrote grub during the Fedora Installation to hda, or hdb? This could explain why the Grub 17 error, as the Ubuntu grub boot record could still be there with no reference files to refer to, if indeed you deleted the ubuntu partition.

[rmetz]

Thanks for the quick response danleff. I will try to answer your questions as thouroughly as I can. I did not physically reformat the linux partitions, I had fedora install do it with the option of formating the existing linux partitions. What it did beyond that I do not really know. Is there a way for me to reformat the linux partitions only and start over using fdisk or some other linux tool?

In rescue mode, I did chroot /mnt/sysimage first, then I typed in grub-install /dev/hda. After working for a few seconds, it came back with the error that I mentioned above.

I will try to re-install fedora now, but if it did not get rid of the linux partitions when i ran it the first time I have no faith that it will do it the second. I will post back after the re-install with the results of the re-install.

Yes, I am sure that I installed Grub to the mbr on hda. I have looked at grub.conf at it seems to backup my theory that it was installed on the hda mbr. I don't know how to read the grub.conf very well, but it said #boot=dev/hda so I am assuming that is where it was installed.

[rmetz]

I did a re-install of Fedora 5 making sure that Grub was to be loaded on hda and it still does the same thing. Here is what happens when I reboot. It says "GRUB Loading stage1.5. GRUB loading, please wait... Error 17" Then it shows a cursor flashing at the bottom and nothing else happens. It won't allow me to type anything and nothing loads. My only choice is to restart with the iso dvd and force a mount using linux rescue. I hope that you have some idea what the problem can be as I am out of ideas

[esprit]

[danleff]

When you install Fedora, you need to make a decision. You must have a bootloader to boot from. All the directions and instructions that I have seen for Fedora state that Grub should be placed in the Master Boot Record of the boot drive. If you plan to install grub on a second drive and change the boot order in the bios, then you must set the advanced options for grub during the Fedora installation.

When you try to boot Fedora with the drive designations changed in the bios, without the appropriate changes, then Grub is looking at the wrong partition on the wrong drive, hence, the error 17.

You can't install grub on the second drive, then change the boot order in the bios and expect grub to boot correctly.

Windows did not boot for this reason, as when grub invoked the Windows boot.ini, the boot.ini was looking for Windows on the first drive in the boot order, in your case the second drive (which now is the first boot drive). The map commands told grub to reverse the order of the drives, so boot.ini could find and boot Windows.

Same thing for linux. You changed the boot order in the bios. Grub needed to match that change, or it gets confused.

The problem in your case, is that then you reinstalled grub. Did you do this after you changed the boot order in the bios? And if so, how did you exactly reinstall grub and to where?

It looks like from the data that you posted, that you have a very confused grub and /etc/fstab system because of the changes that you made.

Please post exactly how you reinstalled grub and to what drive.

If you used the command line ie; grub-install...., what drive did you install to hda or hdb?

Do you know how to edit grub from the menu screen during the boot process? We can make some changes there and see if they work. If so, then you can add them to your menu.lst file.

Please note exactly what you entered, if via the command line. Some folks make the mistake of installing grub incorrectly, say to hda1 rather than the master boot record hda.

In your case, if you followed the directions posted above, or otherwise, it's important where you installed grub the second time. Was it hda or hdb, or otherwise?

[esprit]

Danleff,

Thanks for your detailed and informative reply. I've read it carefully and realized that I might have commmitted an error. If I understood you correctly, I should have changed the bios settings before I install or reinstall grub. It seems that i took the order for granted as I only changed the bios setting after the installation of linux. The same thing goes for the reinstallation. I also kept changed the bios order several times in order to boot into windows when I couldn't go through grub

I reinstalled grub using grub-install from the rescue CD and did it to hdb

Quote:

Do you know how to edit grub from the menu screen during the boot process? We can make some changes there and see if they work. If so, then you can add them to your menu.lst file.

No, but I would like to know.

[barmaley]

quick fix note :
attention!!! only if you want to REINSTALL Linux

boot from win cd in a fixup mode (f8 i think)
login in existing win partition as a admin
next type FIXMBR when prompted say Y
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/docum...r.mspx?mfr=true
next type FIXBOOT when prompted say Y
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/docum...r.mspx?mfr=true
enjoy windows
after that install RH or other LINUX...

and at the and ... make 3rd instalation :)) try FreeBSD
U WILL LIKE THAT

[barmaley]

mentioned above steps will delete GRUB from MBR
have fun

[danleff]

barmaley;

He does not need to restore the MBR. it is still on his primary master drive. There is no need to do this. The issue is that he installed Fedora on a second drive and chose to install the bootloader on the second drive, not the MBR of the primary master.

He has been changing the boot order in the bios to try to boot both operating systems. He is booting from the second drive and can boot into Windows. He just can't boot into Fedora.

esprit,

I will look for a Fedora specific guide, as each grub does things a little differently from the command line.

[Tazman10]

I was curious and wanted to learn to use Fedora Core 4 and now I'm not so sure. I have had problems from the beginning. I have my home built computer. AMD Duron 2400+ 1.6 GHz, 1GB RAM, 100 GB Western Digital Hard drive(Hda) and a 60GB WD Hard drive(Hdb). I have downloaded FC4 and it downloaded and installed with no problems. I downloaded with the FC4 to boot up first. I then edited (hda) to Windows and then selected automatic partiioning. I also left everthing else to either automatic or default. When my computer rebooted it came back up with a black screen with GNU GRUB version 0.95 (639K lower/1014720 upper memory) Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported and so on. Then grub> and blinking cursor. and nothing else. I have not been able to get anywhere. I tried cat /boot/grub/grub.conf and comes back ERROR 15: File Not Found. I have tried other vaious commands to try and see my partitions and unable to any kind of response. I can't get to my Windows or the FC4 that I just downloaded. Before this I had a GRUB 1.5 Booting... and nothing came up. Do I need to reinstall again or can someone help me. If nothing else at least get my Window (hda)back. I would perfer to have both, though. I knew I was a newbie but didn't expect this much trouble.

[Tetsuo75]

Originally posted by Tazman10:

Quote:

I was curious and wanted to learn to use Fedora Core 4 and now I'm not so sure. I have had problems from the beginning. I have my home built computer. AMD Duron 2400+ 1.6 GHz, 1GB RAM, 100 GB Western Digital Hard drive(Hda) and a 60GB WD Hard drive(Hdb). I have downloaded FC4 and it downloaded and installed with no problems. I downloaded with the FC4 to boot up first. I then edited (hda) to Windows and then selected automatic partiioning. I also left everthing else to either automatic or default. When my computer rebooted it came back up with a black screen with GNU GRUB version 0.95 (639K lower/1014720 upper memory) Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported and so on. Then grub> and blinking cursor. and nothing else. I have not been able to get anywhere. I tried cat /boot/grub/grub.conf and comes back ERROR 15: File Not Found. I have tried other vaious commands to try and see my partitions and unable to any kind of response. I can't get to my Windows or the FC4 that I just downloaded. Before this I had a GRUB 1.5 Booting... and nothing came up. Do I need to reinstall again or can someone help me. If nothing else at least get my Window (hda)back. I would perfer to have both, though. I knew I was a newbie but didn't expect this much trouble.

Hi, I am also a newbie. My system crashed with GDM errors on my Ubuntu when I installed apache2 webserver. So I decided to try Fedora Core 4. But when I slaved my 2nd harddisk to my Win XP PC, (for installing of FC4) my win xp cannot be started when I removed the 2nd harddisk with FC4. It says "Grub Error". So now I need my FC4 in order to boot from my Win XP. How can I remove the 2nd harddisk and let Win XP boot independently? Is there a way to restore my MBR on my Win XP so as not to load Grub? I do not have Win XP installation disc. Thanks in advance for anybody with the steps and procedures. Regards

[danleff]

esprit,

Sorry for the delay. I have to confess, I have been playing with SuSE 10.1 and got lost with it. I have also been giving myself a crash course with Fedora Grub on my system.

The following assumes that you are booting from the second drive, which you changed to after the Fedora installation.

Again, your system has the LVM partition setup, so let's go step by step, as I have a different setup.

Let's try this. At the main grub screen, you should have Fedora will boot in so many seconds. Push enter to get to the dual boot screen, which shows both Fedora and Windows boot options.

Highlight the first Fedora line and push the "e" key on your keyboard. This gets youto the edit screen for Grub. Highlight the first line that has root (hd1,0). Do the same thing once you highlight that line, press the {e} key.

Change that line to root (hd0,0). You will have to use the forward and back keys to navigate the line and edit it.

When finished, hit the enter key to accept the change. Then hit the "b" on the keyboard to attempt a boot. If you still get an error, post it.

[danleff]

Tetsuo75 wrote:

Quote:

So I decided to try Fedora Core 4. But when I slaved my 2nd harddisk to my Win XP PC, (for installing of FC4) my win xp cannot be started when I removed the 2nd harddisk with FC4. It says "Grub Error". So now I need my FC4 in order to boot from my Win XP.

Exactly! There areb two things that happen when you install grub from any distro (flavor of Linux). In your case, you wrote to the MBR of the primary master drive with the grub bootloader.

The second drive has the grub reference files needed for grub to work. If you remove the second drive with the grub reference files, then you disable grub.

The best way to restore the MBR, is with the XP installation disk/cd. You don't have one. So, you have two choices. Leave the second drive in the system, as is, or try a method that may or may not work, to restore the Windows bootloader to the MBR of the primary master drive.

Let me ask, what make and model system is this? Since you don't have an XP disk, I assume Windows was pre-installed on your system?

[danleff]

Originally posted by Tazman10:

Quote:

I have downloaded FC4 and it downloaded and installed with no problems. I downloaded with the FC4 to boot up first.

Do you mean that you chose Fedora to be the first boot option for Grub? You elected grub to be installed on the MBR of hda or hdb?

You did not change the boot order in the bios, did you?

Quote:

I then edited (hda) to Windows and then selected automatic partiioning. I also left everthing else to either automatic or default.

What do you mean by editing hda to Windows? Either you selected manual partitioning, or elected to use free space on the hda drive to install Fedora, or told Fedora to use free space on the windows partition to install.

Let's be clear what drive you installed Fedora to, the primary master drive or the second drive?

Quote:

When my computer rebooted it came back up with a black screen with GNU GRUB version 0.95 (639K lower/1014720 upper memory) Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported and so on. Then grub> and blinking cursor. and nothing else. I have not been able to get anywhere. I tried cat /boot/grub/grub.conf and comes back ERROR 15: File Not Found. I have tried other vaious commands to try and see my partitions and unable to any kind of response.

You can't use normal linux commands at the grub screen. This will not work. There are specific commands that work at the grub command line.

Quote:

I can't get to my Windows or the FC4 that I just downloaded. Before this I had a GRUB 1.5 Booting... and nothing came up. Do I need to reinstall again or can someone help me.

Did you previously have another distro or linux installed? Is that what you are trying to say?

I hate to be a pain, but in order to help, we need to know exactly what you have done to the system, so we can assess what has happened. Folks often leave out critical information when they post.

[danleff]

Folks, if new readers of this thread want to post any problems with their grub issues, please start a new thread. There are too many users posting here and it becomes difficult to follow each problem individually.


Thanks;

Dan

[Tetsuo75]

Hi Dan,

Sorry about the reply to this thread, and thanks for your reply.
Ok, I don't know if having the Win XP installation disc might help? I managed to find mine after hours of searching.

Barmaley mentioned about using FixMBR and Fix Boot on the windows CD to get rid of the grub loader. However, I just wanna know if this is safe? Will I lose my Win XP this way?

I don't wish to marry my Win XP with FC4, cos I have an older pc without a harddisk now.

My Windows PC is running AMD SEMPRON 2500. 512mb RAM.
80GB Win XP

Regards :x

[esprit]

thanks danleff, I was able to boot to fedora for the first time by following your instructions, but when i reboot it post the same error and i have to make the same change again. do i have then to change grub.conf through rescue cd or should i do something else.

thanks again,

esprit

[danleff]

Yes! Now that you know it works, make the changes suggested to the /boot/grub/menu.lst file once you are in Fedora. The command line at the boot menu was a temp. fix, until you know that it works.

[danleff]

Originally posted by Tetsuo75:

Quote:

Barmaley mentioned about using FixMBR and Fix Boot on the windows CD to get rid of the grub loader. However, I just wanna know if this is safe? Will I lose my Win XP this way?

Yes, this is where his post comes in handy. As long as you have the full installation cd, go into recovery mode after booting the cd and use the commands. Follow his links. This will safely recover the Windows bootloader on the MBR of the first drive. One issue is that you need to know the Windows administrative password in order to do this.

So, you have two choices.

Leave the second hard drive in the system and have both operating systems (find another small drive for the older system), or remove the second hard drive after deleting the Fedora installation partiitons.

You mentioned an older system with no hard drive. You need to have a way to reformat the second hard drive before putting it in the older system. Why? If you install anything other than Linux on the old system, say Windows, it will not be able to see the drive during the installation, as it has Linux partitions on it.

However, Windows XP will see the partitions and allow you to remove them and format the second drive. If you go into the control panel-->Administrative Tools--> Disk Management, you can manipulate the partitions on the second drive.

Of course, make sure that it is the second drive that you are formatting!

There are also a couple of Linux based Live Cd distros that can do the job for you as well, such as Mepis or Knoppix, which have a partitioning tool that can easily do this.

You can also boot the Fedora CD and follow the installation process to the partitioning section, pick expert options, manipulate the partitions (make one fat 32 partition on the second drive) and allow the partitoning to continue, then stop the installation at that point.

Each hard drive manufacturer also has a good partitioning tool that you can use to pre-format drives and get them ready for an OS installation (Windows).

But the easiest way is to use the XP tool, if you do not want to download a distro or hard drive tool to burn to a CD.

Of course, this all assumes you will be putting Windows on the older system. but, I hope that you consider a Linux distro instead. :p