Grub error 17

[AmericanYellow]

After installing Ubuntu on my hard drive( dual booting with Windows XP) I got the Grub 1.5 Error 17 message. Spent 2 days pulling my hair out trying to figure out why I got the error. Browsed the Ubuntu forums, saw good advice, but nothing help. I was just about to give up on Ubuntu, until I just started messing around with my PC and surprisingly the error was gone! Here's what I did:

For ASUS P4S333 motherboard:

1. Enter BIOS
2. Make sure all HDD's are detected.

* *Take note of (write down) the current settings just in case you need to set things back later**

3. Search for the HDD that has Ubuntu installed and set its MODE to AUTO (not LBA, large, or normal)
4. Also, if you have this option available, set TYPE to USER, but don't change any of the figures that were automatically detected.
5. And you are done!


Just in case this doesn't work, then:
6. Set all drives to TYPE --> USER and MODE --> AUTO (not LBA, large or normal)


I just took the time to post this because of the all the trouble I when through for something so simple to do. I hope that this post helps.....

[Herman]

Thanks AmericanYellow,
You did a wonderful job finding that out and passing it on. You typed it out nice and clearly too. I have added a link to this thread to my Super Grub Disk Page's collection of Grub Errors and some possible solutions to them. Here's the link, Grub error 17. It might help someone there too. I hope that's okay. If you want it edited differently or if you object, please let me know.

Regards, Herman

[SPBesui]

AmericanYellow,

I'm also getting Error 17 and can't boot beyond that.

In your instructions Step 1 is "Enter BIOS" but I'm not sure exactly what you mean. I can enter the Setup menu at boot, and it looks just like this image from Wikipedia (Phoenix AwardBIOS), but I don't see any options for setting the MODE to AUTO for the HDD's.

Am I looking in the right place? If so, how do I change the settings as described in your post?

[Herman]

Hello SPBesui,
Just in case AmericanYellow is away from the computer for a while, maybe I can help. By co-incidence I have an Pheonix Award BIOS too. Take a look in this link and see if that helps you, BIOS Page.
Regards, Herman
.

[SPBesui]

Thanks Herman, I got the same answer on another thread but your link is much more detailed. I'm at work at the moment but I'll give it a shot when I get home. Appreciate the help.

[sub7]

I now have this error and my BIOS isn't capable of modifying any HDD settings that you people are talking about.
I have not touched any BIOS/CMOS settings while i have been using Ubuntu, i have not played with any special settings at all and it won't even get to the OSboot menu.
I now lose weeks of hard work and am completely disillusioned.



Similar except i dont have that system menu option.

[Herman]

Hello sub7,
So you have GRUB error 17?
Did you already check the usual causes of GRUB error 17? You haven't specifically stated whether you already tried the most common cause and remedy already. The cause and solution mentioned here in this thread is rather out of the ordinary, and is the next step after the regular solution doesn't work.

Please make sure you have read this link first, Grub error 17, and i9f you need specific help then you might post a copy of the output from sudo fdisk -lu here please, along with a copy of the bottom portion of your /boot/grub/menu.lst file.

sudo fdisk -lu

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Other wise if it really is a BIOS related problem and you don;t have those BIOS settings, I don't know what to tell you, except to take a look at the way your IDE cables are plugged in and what jumper settings you are using for your hard drive(s). Or use a different computer.

Regards. Herman

[jacksolc]

The specific Award BIOS you're referencing does not show the hard drives you're using. This means that you have your drives on another controller which the BIOS cannot see. These could be either SATA drives or IDE drives on what's being seen as a SCSI controller.

If the Ubuntu install engine detects these drives at all it will see them only during the install process and read them in as IDE drives, giving them an "hd_" designation. But when the install is finished and it's time to boot, the drives will be seen as "sd_" drives, and thus the boot or root volumes will not get referenced.

I was only able to get a successful install on this BIOS by dropping down to a 20GB standard IDE drive and installing to that rather than to my DMA 5 Ultra 250 GB drive installed to the alternate controller.

[mbwardle]

I got this error after installing the Ubuntu 7.10 release candidate.

The error usually happens because Linux and your BIOS detect your hard disks in different orders. GRUB tries to translate between the two using the device.map file in /boot/grub/device.map, which is automatically generated. Chances are, it guessed wrong.

In my case, I have three SATA hard disks.

My BIOS sees them as:
HDD1 - 80 GB - Windows
HDD2 - 80 GB - Linux
HDD3 - 250 GB - Media

Linux sees them as:
/dev/sda - 80 GB - Windows
/dev/sdb - 250 GB - Media
/dev/sdc - 80 GB - Linux

So it generated device.map assuming that order was correct, i.e.:
(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdb
(hd2) /dev/sdc

When the installer installed GRUB using that data, it tried to install the first part of GRUB on /dev/sda and told it to look for the OS on /dev/sdc. Unfortunately, this translated to "install on (hd0) then look for the OS on (hd2)", so it was looking for the OS on the wrong drive.

To fix it, you have to teach GRUB which order the BIOS uses. To do this, follow these steps:

1) Boot from the Ubuntu CD
2) Open a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal)
3) Run "sudo -s"
4) Run "mkdir /ubuntu"
5) Run "mount /dev/sdc1 /ubuntu" (where /dev/sdc1 is your Linux root partition)
6) Run "chroot /ubuntu"
7) Run "cd /boot/grub"
Edit device.map (using vi or another text editor)

In my case, my new device.map was:
(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdc
(hd2) /dev/sdb

which told GRUB that sdc was really the second hard drive, not the third.

9) Run "grub --device.map=device.map"
10) Type "root (hd1,0)" (where hd1,0 is your Linux boot or root partition using the BIOS order)
11) Type "setup (hd0)" (where hd0 is your first boot drive, almost always hd0)

You should see a message that it's now telling GRUB to load 17+(hd1,0) instead of 17+(hd2,0) or something like that. This is what we want.

12) Edit menu.lst

You need to change references from (hd2,0) to (hd1,0), or whatever your Linux boot drive was autodetected as to whatever it is according to your BIOS.

If you get this step wrong, you'll see an error message something like:
Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition

meaning it's looking for a Linux file system on that partition, but it can't find one (because the drive device number is wrong in menu.lst).

13) Reboot

14) Celebrate or complain in this thread!

[Herman]

That looks like the best explanation on the subject of editing GRUB's device.map file I have ever seen!
Well done mbwardle and thanks for sharing that!

Is it okay with you if I add a link to this in my GRUB Page?

Regards, Herman