einhexenmeister
August 11th, 2016, 12:07 AM
sorry for the lengthy question
i have a 200 gb ssd formated as gpt with protective bios and grub2 (kubuntu 1404 did this back in 2014)
amd 8 core mobo with uefi bios
a year ago
after a clonzilla from this ssd to a second ssd (same type) with cloning or copying boot and mbr by clonezilla resulted in will not boot
can't boot, but a friend helped me to fix a grub2 issue ... don't remember what he did, but it worked fine afterwards
now
did clonezilla again with same result ... no longer booting ... friend not avail, so i worked on it
i booted from rescatux / super-grub usb stick and did the following tests
gparted
sda1 500 mb ext2 (my /boot)
sda4 2 mb unknown
sda2 200 gb ext2 (my /root and home and usr/local)
sda3 11 gb unknown
initially i ran boot-info and it complained that on sda1 and sda2 the core.img file can't be found at xxxxxxx
boot from kubuntu live 1604 (not 1404)
i did a mount of sda2 /mnt and sda1 /mnt/boot and a bunch more mount --bind xxx as instructed
did a chroot
sudo grub-install /dev/sda and it succeeded
note : my kubuntu is 64 bit, but the grub-install did a i-386 flavour ???
ctrl-D to exit chroot
umount all prev mounts
and reboot
no success
boot from rescatux stick again
now boot-info shows no longer "can't find core.img at xxxxx" for partition sda1 /boot
sda2 /root still shows can't find core.img
zeroed 1st 512 bytes of sda2 assume mbr space with dd
now boot-info no longer looking for image on sda2 /root
tried either boot, esp or bios-rub flags on sda1 /boot and or 2nd unknown 2mb partition after sda1, but doesn't boot
boot from rescatux stick again
ran fsck on sda1 /boot and sda2 /root with result "clean"
used wxhexeditor to look at
ssd (globally) and it shows mbr image on 1st 512 bytes
ssd.part1 assuming sda1 /boot and shows data (possibly core.img) which contains "loading" and "Geom Read Error" as readable pieces within 1st 500 bytes
ssd.part2 assuming 2mb unknown partition containing 0s ... scary if this is supposed to be the core.img perhaps
ssd.part3 assuming sda2 /root all 0s was cleared with dd 512 bytes
ssd.part4 assuming 11 gb unknown format at end of ssd containing surprisingly same signature as ssd.part1 /boot ??? core.img
also boot-info showed
Boot sector type: Grub2's core.img on this unknow filesystem partition at the end of the ssd ... don't know how it got there ... maybe during the 1st grub repair a year ago by friend
i'll include at the end part of the boot-info
boot attempt symptoms :
bios splash -> f2 -> f8 to get boot menu and selecting ssd
upon enter pc seems to power down and fan spins down ... a few secs later boots up again and again and again
if i boot from rescatux or kubuntu life i can mount both partitions and have access to all files as it seems all well as a "clean" result from the unmounted partitions with fsck
i do not know of anything else to get more diagnostic info
i also don't know on how to check the gpt partition info and or mbr content for validity and proper linkage
there are also a few question
1) is it legal that the grub-install installs a i-386 grub2 in a 64 bit kubuntu os
1a) is there an issue with restoring grub2 from a 1604 disk on a 1404 install
2) the ssd shows the following partitions
sda seems to show a valid mbr as shown in wxhexeditor ... don't know another tool to look at sector content
sda1 500 mb ext2 (/boot) ... seems to have possibly core.img at 1st 512 bytes
sda4 2 mb unknown (following sda1, is this supposed to hold the core.img) ... shows 0s ... i didn't touch it
sda2 200 gb ext2 (/root and all else) ... 1st 512 bytes 0s as cleared my dd
sda3 11 gb unknown (remainder of ssd) seems to also containing core.img, maybe from the 1st grub boot fix a year ago
3) i assume that the mbr on sda 1st 512 bytes contains a valid mbr by looking at it ... don't know of tools to verify validity and linkage
i do not know on how to verify or get info on the linkage of the mbr for continuation
4) sda1 (1st partition) contains what looks like core.img in the 1st 512 bytes ... the reminder "clears" fsck
5) if sda4 2 mb unknown (2nd partition ... is 0s) is this supposed to hold core.img
6) sda2 200 gb ext2 (3rd partition with 1st 512 bytes 0 seems ok since fsck indicates "clear")
7) if the mbr at the 1st 512 bytes of the ssd is correct, where does it link to and how to verify or change it
8) is it correct that the 1st partition ext2 (boot) contains what seems to be core.img in the 1st 512 bytes
9) is the core.img supposed to be contained in the following 2mb partition currently holding 0s any tools to put the core.img onto it since it's 0s
10) is it correct that the 3rd partition ext2 with holding /root and all else has the 1st 512 bytes being 0s
it's very hard to find answers to any of the above loq level questions about the disk architecture, it's link addresses and tools to verivy and correct or change the settings
any help is highly appreciated, cheers EinHexenMeister
gdisk printout
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10
Partition table scan:
MBR: protective
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: present
Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 468862128 sectors, 223.6 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 02FA083F-9F81-4010-9DAC-B92B681C64E6
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 468862094
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 3181 sectors (1.6 MiB)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 1001471 488.0 MiB EF00
2 1005568 444370943 211.4 GiB 8300
3 444370944 468860927 11.7 GiB 8200
4 1001472 1005567 2.0 MiB 8300
boot-info part
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 2048
of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location.
=> libparted MBR boot code is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.
=> libparted MBR boot code is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc.
=> No known boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext2
Boot sector type: Grub2's core.img
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files: /grub/grub.cfg /grub/i386-pc/core.img
sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS
Boot files: /etc/fstab
sda3: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system:
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''
sda4: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system:
Boot sector type: Grub2's core.img
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''
mount: unknown filesystem type ''
i have a 200 gb ssd formated as gpt with protective bios and grub2 (kubuntu 1404 did this back in 2014)
amd 8 core mobo with uefi bios
a year ago
after a clonzilla from this ssd to a second ssd (same type) with cloning or copying boot and mbr by clonezilla resulted in will not boot
can't boot, but a friend helped me to fix a grub2 issue ... don't remember what he did, but it worked fine afterwards
now
did clonezilla again with same result ... no longer booting ... friend not avail, so i worked on it
i booted from rescatux / super-grub usb stick and did the following tests
gparted
sda1 500 mb ext2 (my /boot)
sda4 2 mb unknown
sda2 200 gb ext2 (my /root and home and usr/local)
sda3 11 gb unknown
initially i ran boot-info and it complained that on sda1 and sda2 the core.img file can't be found at xxxxxxx
boot from kubuntu live 1604 (not 1404)
i did a mount of sda2 /mnt and sda1 /mnt/boot and a bunch more mount --bind xxx as instructed
did a chroot
sudo grub-install /dev/sda and it succeeded
note : my kubuntu is 64 bit, but the grub-install did a i-386 flavour ???
ctrl-D to exit chroot
umount all prev mounts
and reboot
no success
boot from rescatux stick again
now boot-info shows no longer "can't find core.img at xxxxx" for partition sda1 /boot
sda2 /root still shows can't find core.img
zeroed 1st 512 bytes of sda2 assume mbr space with dd
now boot-info no longer looking for image on sda2 /root
tried either boot, esp or bios-rub flags on sda1 /boot and or 2nd unknown 2mb partition after sda1, but doesn't boot
boot from rescatux stick again
ran fsck on sda1 /boot and sda2 /root with result "clean"
used wxhexeditor to look at
ssd (globally) and it shows mbr image on 1st 512 bytes
ssd.part1 assuming sda1 /boot and shows data (possibly core.img) which contains "loading" and "Geom Read Error" as readable pieces within 1st 500 bytes
ssd.part2 assuming 2mb unknown partition containing 0s ... scary if this is supposed to be the core.img perhaps
ssd.part3 assuming sda2 /root all 0s was cleared with dd 512 bytes
ssd.part4 assuming 11 gb unknown format at end of ssd containing surprisingly same signature as ssd.part1 /boot ??? core.img
also boot-info showed
Boot sector type: Grub2's core.img on this unknow filesystem partition at the end of the ssd ... don't know how it got there ... maybe during the 1st grub repair a year ago by friend
i'll include at the end part of the boot-info
boot attempt symptoms :
bios splash -> f2 -> f8 to get boot menu and selecting ssd
upon enter pc seems to power down and fan spins down ... a few secs later boots up again and again and again
if i boot from rescatux or kubuntu life i can mount both partitions and have access to all files as it seems all well as a "clean" result from the unmounted partitions with fsck
i do not know of anything else to get more diagnostic info
i also don't know on how to check the gpt partition info and or mbr content for validity and proper linkage
there are also a few question
1) is it legal that the grub-install installs a i-386 grub2 in a 64 bit kubuntu os
1a) is there an issue with restoring grub2 from a 1604 disk on a 1404 install
2) the ssd shows the following partitions
sda seems to show a valid mbr as shown in wxhexeditor ... don't know another tool to look at sector content
sda1 500 mb ext2 (/boot) ... seems to have possibly core.img at 1st 512 bytes
sda4 2 mb unknown (following sda1, is this supposed to hold the core.img) ... shows 0s ... i didn't touch it
sda2 200 gb ext2 (/root and all else) ... 1st 512 bytes 0s as cleared my dd
sda3 11 gb unknown (remainder of ssd) seems to also containing core.img, maybe from the 1st grub boot fix a year ago
3) i assume that the mbr on sda 1st 512 bytes contains a valid mbr by looking at it ... don't know of tools to verify validity and linkage
i do not know on how to verify or get info on the linkage of the mbr for continuation
4) sda1 (1st partition) contains what looks like core.img in the 1st 512 bytes ... the reminder "clears" fsck
5) if sda4 2 mb unknown (2nd partition ... is 0s) is this supposed to hold core.img
6) sda2 200 gb ext2 (3rd partition with 1st 512 bytes 0 seems ok since fsck indicates "clear")
7) if the mbr at the 1st 512 bytes of the ssd is correct, where does it link to and how to verify or change it
8) is it correct that the 1st partition ext2 (boot) contains what seems to be core.img in the 1st 512 bytes
9) is the core.img supposed to be contained in the following 2mb partition currently holding 0s any tools to put the core.img onto it since it's 0s
10) is it correct that the 3rd partition ext2 with holding /root and all else has the 1st 512 bytes being 0s
it's very hard to find answers to any of the above loq level questions about the disk architecture, it's link addresses and tools to verivy and correct or change the settings
any help is highly appreciated, cheers EinHexenMeister
gdisk printout
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10
Partition table scan:
MBR: protective
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: present
Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 468862128 sectors, 223.6 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 02FA083F-9F81-4010-9DAC-B92B681C64E6
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 468862094
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 3181 sectors (1.6 MiB)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 1001471 488.0 MiB EF00
2 1005568 444370943 211.4 GiB 8300
3 444370944 468860927 11.7 GiB 8200
4 1001472 1005567 2.0 MiB 8300
boot-info part
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 2048
of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location.
=> libparted MBR boot code is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.
=> libparted MBR boot code is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc.
=> No known boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext2
Boot sector type: Grub2's core.img
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files: /grub/grub.cfg /grub/i386-pc/core.img
sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS
Boot files: /etc/fstab
sda3: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system:
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''
sda4: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system:
Boot sector type: Grub2's core.img
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''
mount: unknown filesystem type ''