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Installation - Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting [closed]
Crest - Jan 23, 2007 - 01:08 AM
Post subject: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting [closed]
I was running du-fixes-h2 for some reason today (usually I'm doing my d-u without the script) and now after rebooting no Grub screen appears. Instead the computer is instantly rebooting when I try to boot sidux. Grub is installed into partition here, not mbr.
The d-u itself ran normal without errors, after that the script asked if I want to install severall sidux related things like gfxboot etc. and several sources for kernel modules. I said no to this but I said yes to fix the grub-gfxboot (didn't knew that there was something to fix here at all). This meant that 2 already installed packages had to be reinstalled and that some grub related stuff was updated. And most probably this is the only error source where I can search since grub is the first thing which gets touched when booting the system.
I have booted the Kanotix LiveCD (2006-01-RC3) and made a look into /boot/grub but couldn't see something strange looking. the file device.map contains valid entries for my 2 hd's. Also the menu.lst looks correct. Is it possible that some gfx related stuff forces the system to reboot? There are several bmp's here (coffee.bmp, sid.bmp and debian.bmp if I remember right) and the message.hd (with correct symbolic link 'message') and message.live
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 01:30 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
The question is how you switched to sidux, and what your starting system was.
I've had similar problems using the etch netinstall and grub graphics boot, and I can't figure out a way to get them fixed.
Like you, the problem seems to occur when the boot loader is on root of partition, not mbr. And what seems to trigger the problem is trying to install grub-gfxboot after the standard grub is running on the partition boot sector already, that's the normal debian stuff that is.
I will assume you are using a netinstall.
I was hoping someone would figure out a way to get the grub-gfxboot running when converting from standard grub, but I haven't read a solution yet so far.
If it's just grub that is failing, all you have to do is paste in the kernel booting stuff from the partition that won't boot's menu.lst into your master grub menu.lst, then you can boot into it fine, that's how I get around it, but I have not yet found a solution to getting grub back on partiton, assuming that's your problem.
We were looking at this problem, but then it sort of faded away, and hasn't really come up anymore, though it's not fixed either.
I've tried all the fixes and none of them worked, so if anyone knows how to restore grub function after switching to grub-grxboot ON PARTITION ROOT, not mbr, please let me know.
Crest - Jan 23, 2007 - 01:38 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
My system was already migrated from Kanotix 2006-01-RC4 to sidux at beginning of last December (with du-fixes-h2) but I said again yes to the question in the script if I want to switch to sidux. The (obviously older) version of grub-gfxboot before running the script worked here without problem.
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 01:52 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
You should not have seen that question again, that's either a bug or caused by deleting /etc/du-fixes.conf.
I can't say anymore, something definitely is not right with either grub-gfxboot or the way it's run, but beyond that I can't say, we have not been able to collect any meaningful information on this issue, since it only seems to happen in the single case of grub on partition boot sector.
However, the graphics stuff, both on sidux and kanotix, has always been absolutely terrible, and by far the worst component of any switch or upgrade, and by far the least reliable, although most people do not seem to have problems with it, except that for netinstall the grub-gfxboot simply doesn't work, in fact, I removed it as an install option since we couldn't figure out anything else to do to fix it in this case.
It's possible that dependencies have changed in the meantime, and that it is now pulled in automatically, which it was not before. I really can't say.
It's also possible that the grub reinstall logic is flawed, I don't know.
I'll post it here so someone can see if they can see a flaw in it:
Code:
local OldGrub=$( awk -F= '/^# groot/{print $2}' $GRUB_PATH )
local bm='/boot/message'
...................
echo "${S}Running ${C}sidux grub${S} fix...${N}"
# make a copy of old penguin graphic
[ -f $bm.hd -a "$DISTRO_LEVEL" -lt 5 ] && cp $bm.hd $bm.hd-bu
# check for old physical file, move to renamed
[ -f $bm ] && mv -f $bm $bm.presidux
apt-get install --reinstall sidux-graphics sidux-graphics-common
# force link to file
if [ -L $bm -o ! -e $bm ]
then
ln -fs message.hd $bm
else
echo "${E}No grub graphics file was found. Sorry, script cannot resolve this for you.${N}"
fi
grub-install --recheck --no-floppy $OldGrub
grub-install --recheck --no-floppy $OldGrub
Crest - Jan 23, 2007 - 01:56 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
I had to re-download the script manually a few days earlier due to the yaird missing problem which is fixed now but I did not delete the file du-fixes.conf. Btw, the file sidux-version was also not touched by the script during/after the d-u. Shouldn't it reflect the date of last d-u with the script?
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 01:59 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
Very difficult to say in that case.
Post: cat /etc/sidux-version
cat /etc/kanotix-version
Crest - Jan 23, 2007 - 02:02 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
kanotix-version was deleted lately, sidux-version is hand edited and contains 'sidux-20070109-d:4'
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 02:04 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
hmm, that's correct, ok. You shouldn't have seen the reinstall grub option at all, unless maybe you converted in the very first weeks of sidux with the script, but even then I thought that was in place, but maybe not.
And reinstalling grub shouldn't break it.
If it's the same problem, you can boot into your install by editing the master grub menu.lst to boot directly to the kernel, not the chainloader. If that's already how you do it then I don't know.
Crest - Jan 23, 2007 - 02:41 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
Chainloader is not used for booting sidux, there are only chainloader entries for the automaticly added Windows partitions. Also preventing to load any gfx by deleting message.hd has not helped. Computer is still instantly rebooting when trying to boot sidux.
Actually I'm not reinstalling, to much work for now since I have changed several things to my needs.
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 04:25 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
how far do you get after hitting enter on grub boot selection? Does the kernel start at all? Or is it instant?
this is actually a new problem, it's not the one where grub just starts like this:
grub>
and nothing else, is it?
This might be a brand new thing, not sure, more details might help.
Crest - Jan 23, 2007 - 04:44 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
As I wrote, it's an instant reboot. I'm selecting my OS within the XFDISK Bootmanager and when selecting sidux I get nothing else than the reboot of my machine. No chance to reach a point where I can start booting any kernel.
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 05:44 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
<<< I'm selecting my OS within the XFDISK Bootmanager >>>
hmmm. So grub is not the main bootmanager? At that point I am pretty much powerless and out of ideas, since I have no idea at all about xfdisk and grub interacting.
Hopefully someone else might have some observation that will be helpful.
Crest - Jan 23, 2007 - 05:53 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
The problem is definitly Grub since my bootmanager is since years able to boot a Linux system. I have tried to start sidux via a linux.bin containing the first 512 bytes of my Linux partition. But using it as additional entry in the boot.ini of my Win2000 system leads only to a message 'GRUB geom error'
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 06:05 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
Well, we'll see if anyone can find a solution, I'd like to know what is causing this issue too, and if it's the same problem, I still have my borked grub stuff on this box to test any solutions on.
Crest - Jan 23, 2007 - 06:43 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
OK, the last try was to repair Grub using the Kanotix CD but also this did not help. Therefore my Linux system is officially 'drop dead' for now. Maybe I'll save my home dir for some later usage. The correct tar/gz command line would be handy for this.
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 07:02 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
Quote:
Is anyone developing XFDisk?
Currently nobody maintains XFDisk development. The original author Florian Painke and the later developer Ulrich Müller have dropped development.
You might reconsider if you actually want to be using this bootmanager.
http://www.mecronome.de/xfdisk/
If you were using grub as your primary boot manager you could almost certainly boot into your system from my experience.
slam - Jan 23, 2007 - 07:02 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
Quote:
Currently nobody maintains XFDisk development. The original author Florian Painke and the later developer Ulrich Müller have dropped development. (Latest change 2001-01-09)
Well, if I remember right we where talking about this piece of crap already at Kanotix some time ago. You cannot run a Ferrari with crude oil! Please use a modern boot loader, this one is antique.
Let me add, we officially support Grub only (the best developed, feature rich and modern boot loader today). If you insist to use any other solution you're not just on your own, but you are obliged to tell as from beginning - not after 10 posts!
Greetings,
Chris
h2 - Jan 23, 2007 - 07:03 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
slam, lol, what are the odds of us posting this at exactly the same moment?
Quote:
But be also warned! XFDisk is a helpful tool, but if you don't use it carefully, you might loose your valuable data. XFDisk is tested thoroughly by many users, but of course I can not give you any warranty, not even the implied warranty of fitness for any purpose. If you plan to partition your hard disk, you will have to back up your files anyway, since deleting a partition destroys all data on it! So do back up your files! You are the one who is responsible for any damage that may be done if you use XFDisk.
So dump it, install grub, add your kernel boot information and you'll probably be in your install in a few minutes.
I have also seen this problem by the way, users posting about some issue, then only far into the thread mentioning some 'trivial' thing, like the fact that they had created a custom kernel, are using a non standard boot loader, etc...
Crest - Jan 24, 2007 - 12:51 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
I have reinstalled the system but I have also leaved sidux for now. After hd-installation from the Kanotix-CD I have changed the sources to Debian Etch and made a full dist-upgrade (and except one single package it was an Upgrade). No real problems at all and everything is running (again). Only some fine tuning needed to make things look again like before (except sidux gfx). But I will follow the things which are going on here.
Slam:
Don't throw shit on Xfdisk if you don't know it. Xfdisk is for me one of the most reliable and flexible bootmanagers, inspired by the good old OS/2 bootmanager which I have used before switching to Xfdisk. And if a tool is working like it should, why pinning a new version number on it every few weeks or month. And don't forget that some gfx-stuff from the d-u via the h2-script destroyed my Grub, not the use of Xfdisk as main bootmanager.
slam - Jan 24, 2007 - 09:42 AM
Post subject: RE: Ran du-fixes-h2, now sidux is not booting at all
Quote:
Slam: Don't throw shit on Xfdisk if you don't know it. Xfdisk is for me one of the most reliable and flexible bootmanagers, inspired by the good old OS/2 bootmanager which I have used before switching to Xfdisk. And if a tool is working like it should, why pinning a new version number on it every few weeks or month. And don't forget that some gfx-stuff from the d-u via the h2-script destroyed my Grub, not the use of Xfdisk as main bootmanager.
I know this boot manager, and I told you so already a year ago at Kanotix. It might have been ok at it's time for the intended purpose, but definitely not for multi-booting modern Linux distributions by chainloading into their partition based own bootloaders. It is up to you to use whatever you want, but please don't blame Grub for your loop boots - it's Xfdisk that's responsible for booting.
There was a minor problem with gfxboot (fixed meanwhile) for a short period, searching for the Grub artwork at (hd0,0) instead the correct partion. This problem however could have been easily fixed by correcting one single letter in /boot/grub/menu.lst.
But: A "reliable and flexible bootmanager" like Grub in such case does nothing else than switching to the non-graphical boot screen, and you can continue as usual. Xfdisk seems to interfere here, taking over - and re-booting into a loop. I am not going to debug this problem here, because fixing bugs of unmaintained software is useless.
Greetings,
Chris