grub rescue> ls (hd0,1) . . . boot from grub command line ?

[jenaniston]

Ever since I tried Karmic 9.10 grub2 has messed me up good . . .

I now just want to go back to 9.04, but now with a new install to USB drive of Ubuntu 9.04 or Xubuntu 9.04 with
the good ole' grub - well - things have changed leaving me with a boot to the " grub rescue> " prompt . . .

Any ideas ? . . . for the way to finish the boot from here . . .

I have used these commands alright . . .

grub rescue> ls
(hd0) (hd0,5) (hd0,1) (hd1) (hd1,5) (hd1,4) hd1,3) (hd1,1)
grub rescue>

and following the advice from a google search I set prefix but that was obviously wrong so I tried this improvement . . .

grub rescue> set prefix=(hd0,1)/boot/grub
grub rescue>

and now get . . .

grub rescue> set
prefix=(hd0,1)/boot/grub
root=hd0,1
grub rescue>

But . . . should I set prefix different though . . . ? These are ls results . . .

grub rescue> ls (hd0,1)/boot
./ ../ System.map-2.6.28-11-generic abi-2.6.28-11-generic config-2.6.28-11-generic
memtest86+.bin vmcoreinfo-2.6.28-11-generic vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic 
grub/ initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
grub rescue>

grub rescue> ls (hd0,1)/boot/grub/
./ ../ device.map stage1 stage2 e2fs_stage1_5 fat_stage1_5 jfs_stage1_5 
minix_stage1_5 reiserfs_stage1_5 xfs_stage1_5 default installed-version menu.lst
grub rescue>

Any ideas as I experiment to further nudge this along to the usual and expected 9.04 boot screen ?

Thank you very much.

P.S. . . . obviously NOT a very fast boot sequence, eh ?

[kansasnoob]

Ever since I tried Karmic 9.10 grub2 has messed me up good . . .

I now just want to go back to 9.04, but now with a new install to USB drive of Ubuntu 9.04 or Xubuntu 9.04 with
the good ole' grub - well - things have changed leaving me with a boot to the " grub rescue> " prompt . . .

Any ideas ? . . . for the way to finish the boot from here . . .

I have used these commands alright . . .

grub rescue> ls
(hd0) (hd0,5) (hd0,1) (hd1) (hd1,5) (hd1,4) hd1,3) (hd1,1)
grub rescue>

and following the advice from a google search I set prefix but that was obviously wrong so I tried this improvement . . .

grub rescue> set prefix=(hd0,1)/boot/grub
grub rescue>

and now get . . .

grub rescue> set
prefix=(hd0,1)/boot/grub
root=hd0,1
grub rescue>

But . . . should I set prefix different though . . . ? These are ls results . . .

grub rescue> ls (hd0,1)/boot
./ ../ System.map-2.6.28-11-generic abi-2.6.28-11-generic config-2.6.28-11-generic
memtest86+.bin vmcoreinfo-2.6.28-11-generic vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic 
grub/ initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
grub rescue>

grub rescue> ls (hd0,1)/boot/grub/
./ ../ device.map stage1 stage2 e2fs_stage1_5 fat_stage1_5 jfs_stage1_5 
minix_stage1_5 reiserfs_stage1_5 xfs_stage1_5 default installed-version menu.lst
grub rescue>

Any ideas as I experiment to further nudge this along to the usual and expected 9.04 boot screen ?

Thank you very much.

P.S. . . . obviously NOT a very fast boot sequence, eh ?

In order to get a better look at your system I need you to boot a Live CD with all drives, including the USB drive, connected and then post the results of the Boot Info Script as described here:

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

[jenaniston]

In order to get a better look at your system I need you to boot a Live CD with all drives, including the USB drive, connected and then post the results of the Boot Info Script as described here:

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

A live version would be great if it would boot a live version -
but the "BusyBox" is what I get - I can press escape to see what happens before it stalls though.


sda1 is a SATA hard drive with Windows XP - but the XP recovery utility did a destructive process
(the OS is still there but only because linux and freebsd have told me it is there)
There is a logical and extended fat32 partition sda5

The full install USB OS is currently Xubuntu 9.04 64 bit . . . has always been dev/sdb -
with grub rescue it looks like it lists as (hd0,1)

grub was installed to that sdb device at sdb1 with the live CD installer . . .
along with a logical 1GB swap area at sdb5

What file is needed by the grub rescue ?
. . . grub was installed to the sdb1 partition by the live installer utility.

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer.

[kansasnoob]

A live version would be great if it would boot a live version -
but the "BusyBox" is what I get - I can press escape to see what happens before it stalls though.


sda1 is a SATA hard drive with Windows XP - but the XP recovery utility did a destructive process
(the OS is still there but only because linux and freebsd have told me it is there)
There is a logical and extended fat32 partition sda5

The full install USB OS is currently Xubuntu 9.04 64 bit . . . has always been dev/sdb -
with grub rescue it looks like it lists as (hd0,1)

grub was installed to that sdb device at sdb1 with the live CD installer . . .
along with a logical 1GB swap area at sdb5

What file is needed by the grub rescue ?
. . . grub was installed to the sdb1 partition by the live installer utility.

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer.

If BIOS is set to boot from CD first you should never get to grub booting an Ubuntu Live CD.

If you installed using a Live CD the BIOS settings are probably OK, but can you eject the CD tray?

And then can you fully reboot? I think Ctrl + Alt + Delete should reboot you if stalled at grub.

Have you tried other Live CD's? (Age doesn't matter)

We really need a look at just what's installed where, not just operating systems, but boot files, etc.

[ratcheer]

You know what, I was just doing this, today. I did not succeed, but here is what the instructions said to do:

You have correctly set the prefix and root stuff.

Then, you "insmod /boot/grub/linux.mod". This is the part that failed on me.

Then, "linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdXY ro" where, based on your OP, XY would be "01".

Next, "initrd /initrd.img"

Finally, if all the above worked, "boot".

These changes will be temporary and, if you do get back up, successfully, you should run "sudo update-grub" to fix it, permanently.

Good luck,
Tim

[darkod]

Also, if you are sure grub is installed on /dev/sdb1 (with a number, that's a partition), and not /dev/sdb (the MBR of the disk), you can't expect to boot from it. That's why the default location for grub is the MBR of a disk, that's where bootloader should be.
If it's installed on a partition you need to call it from another bootloader.

[darkod]

Then, you "insmod /boot/grub/linux.mod". This is the part that failed on me.

Wasn't that supposed to be

insmod ext2

?

[kansasnoob]

Also, if you are sure grub is installed on /dev/sdb1 (with a number, that's a partition), and not /dev/sdb (the MBR of the disk), you can't expect to boot from it. That's why the default location for grub is the MBR of a disk, that's where bootloader should be.
If it's installed on a partition you need to call it from another bootloader.

That's why you must always be able to boot from some external media (or access from another computer) if things go haywire!

Grub will never stop you from booting a Live CD or USB. That occurs in BIOS before GRUB ever appears.

[ratcheer]

Wasn't that supposed to be

insmod ext2

?

Well, the instructions I was following did not say that. I was following the official grub2 documentation on ubuntu.com.

Tim

[jenaniston]

. . .
We really need a look at just what's installed where, not just operating systems, but boot files, etc.

Well sorry to be confusing . . . all live versions (or operating systems) are USB pendrive . . . no CD on the laptop.
BIOS was happy before U9.10 with the USB boot - and bios is still ok with it.

Everything is on the USB OS dev/sdb - partition 1 - but what file and command does grub rescue need to look there ?

The install of the full OS to the USB was on a different machine using a live CD running on that machine . . . and ported to a "virtually thin" laptop
(the hard drive Windows XP partition is not bootable/accessible - well, yet - at least until I get a linux or freebsd unix up on a USB OS)
It worked ok this way until Karmic and grub2 was tried . . . now i get the grub rescue> prompt.

So yes, boot files and the entire OS from the live version were installed to the sdb1 partition . . .
the USB OS primary partition - the only other on the USB is a swap area partition sdb5..

Where does the grub rescue need to go to boot the grub on partition sdb1 ?