GRUB loading error 17

[knixo4]

Although I have found numerous boards dealing with error 17, I haven't found anything that deals with my specific problem, perhaps mostly because I'm not exactly sure what my problem is! I've tried reinstalling(?) GRUB, you know, grub, root, setup, quit, with no luck. What should I do next?

[ronparent]

Have yoou tried 'find /boot/grub/stage1' from a grub prompt (sy=udo grub) in a terminal from the live cd boot.

[knixo4]

Yeah, and I get:
(hd0,0)
(hd0,2)

[knixo4]

I think I want the hd0,2 partition to be "master" or whatever (actually second in the boot order, after the PenDrive Ubuntu OS that I tried to set up, and which I think originated the problem in the first place...) Can anyone help with this?

[ronparent]

Do you know which grub installation you are tryin to get to?

ie

root hd0,0)
setup (hd0)

Will this get your grub menu up on boot?

[knixo4]

Unfortunately, no. I've tried that twice now.

[knixo4]

I should say, I've tried it once with hd0,0, and once with hd0,2. In both cases, the second command was hd0, which I don't understand, but which seemed consistent with everything else I was reading online.

[ronparent]

The command root (hd0,0) designates the location of the file stage1. The command setup(hd0) rewrites the mbr to enable grub to find the grub installation with the stage1, stage2, menu.lst, etc. The error 17 simply states that grub cannot mount selected partition. This error is returned if "the partition requested exists, but the filesystem type cannot be recognized by GRUB". If you examine menu.lst on the target drive are you trying to mount by uuid or by disk and partition number? If by either the uuid should correspond to the uuid of the target drive (ie sda1) or the root of the target (ie (hd0,)). Or if using intrepid or later you might correct the problem with a filesystem check. Check this site for a fuller explanation:

http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p15.htm#17

[k3ntegra]

Were you sure to mount the other partitions you made under windows while installing ubuntu?

If not, next time while you install ubuntu make the windows partition mountable. to do this go to "use as" drop menu and select ntfs. After that go to "mount point" drop down and type in /windows/[partition letter] , keep in mind you can name it what you want, just make sure you set a decent path.

For any linux system i make sure i have swap (1.5 times the size of your ram), / (8gb minimum), and /home (this is where your documents pictures desktop items and stuff will be stored)

I learned this from the OpenSuse dual boot installation guide.

[tirot]

I should say, I've tried it once with hd0,0, and once with hd0,2. In both cases, the second command was hd0, which I don't understand, but which seemed consistent with everything else I was reading online.

Well, have you tried re-installing Grub? A Grub menu booting 100+ Oses (http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143973) has an expert example on booting. Post #4, question 9 details the installation of grub to either the MBR or directly to the partition containing your OS installation.

[pk2003]

hello there,

I had this one earlier:

1. Do not panic. Boot through ubuntu live CD or USB
2. To find the location of your backup superblocks, you use a command like,

xxx@SSS-laptop:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x90029002

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 7737 62147421 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 7738 9690 15687472+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda4 9691 9729 313267+ 88 Linux plaintext
/dev/sda5 7738 9602 14980581 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 9603 9690 706828+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

LINUX ROOT LOCATED AT /DEV/SDA5

SO...


xxx@SSS-laptop:~$ sudo dumpe2fs /dev/sda5 | grep -i superblock
dumpe2fs 1.41.3 (12-Oct-2008)
Primary superblock at 0, Group descriptors at 1-1
Backup superblock at 32768, Group descriptors at 32769-32769
Backup superblock at 98304, Group descriptors at 98305-98305
Backup superblock at 163840, Group descriptors at 163841-163841
Backup superblock at 229376, Group descriptors at 229377-229377
Backup superblock at 294912, Group descriptors at 294913-294913
Backup superblock at 819200, Group descriptors at 819201-819201
Backup superblock at 884736, Group descriptors at 884737-884737


NOW

sudo e2fsck -b 32768 /dev/sda5
9 out of 10 times it should help you out. For the fixes just say yes till it gets complete. Do not exit just press y as many times it asks for fixes.

If that doesn;t fix it, try the same command but replace the number '32768' with the number for a different backup superblock.

[knixo4]

When I type: "sudo fdisk -l" I get:

"Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x10691069

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 9192 73834708+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 11786 12161 3020220 5 Extended
/dev/sda3 9193 11785 20828272+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 11786 12161 3020188+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order"

I did not have windows installed previously. Before this problem, I had two bootable Ubuntu 8.10 OSs, that would be sda1 and sda3 I think. If it weren't for some pictures I'd like to salvage off of one of the partitions I would just start over! I'll try to post the menulst or whatever. Might take me a minute to dig up the command though...

[knixo4]

Okay, after a brief search I decided it must first be necessary to mount the main partition. So I tried to do so with:

sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

Nothing appeared to happen, and at the next cursor I entered:

gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Which, if I remember correctly, was how I originally pulled up the menu.lst. However, this time there was NOTHING in the window that opened up. Just how bad is that? I really appreciate everyone's help so far!

[knixo4]

pk2003,

I followed your instructions, and finally, after hitting "y" many times got:

/dev/sda1: ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
/dev/sda1: 127533/4620288 files (0.4% non-contiguous), 1450809/18458677 blocks


Will follow up with results after rebooting. Hope this worked!