Install grub on pendrive

Hi, i'm writing from italy please excuse me for my bad English.
I'm a slackware user and I would try archlinux. I've tried several times to install arch, but I' ve failed. The installation procedure it's ok (I think), at the end I install grub on /dev/sdc (my pendrive), but at the reboot grub doesn't start the system. I have requested help on an italian forum but without success.
I have some questions:
Is possible to install grub on a pen drive at the time of the system installation ?
There is a particular procedure to install grub on a pen drive?
I have tried to boot the system from a cd-rom but it's impossible. It's normal?
Thanks.
Last edited by mar_jj_88 (2011-10-11 13:08:20)

At the start i have tried some times to install grub during the system installation procedure, but at the restart appeared only the grub prompt (not the menu) and system is freeze . After I have inserted the arch voice in the grub2 menu that I used to load slackware, I'm not an grub2 expert, and I have tried these two solution:
menuentry "ARCH/Linux" --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
insmod ext4
set root='(hd1,8)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fbf10d54-1058-40a0-ba86-bbb71cd54bb4
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sdb9 ro
or
menuentry "ARCH/Linux" --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
insmod ext4
set root='(hd1,8)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fbf10d54-1058-40a0-ba86-bbb71cd54bb4
echo Loading linux-3.0-ARCH
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sdb9 ro
nobody of two it's ok.
Last edited by mar_jj_88 (2011-10-11 13:05:19)

Similar Messages

Install GRUB to usb thumb drive

Hi,
I'm trying to install grub to a usb thumb drive for a portable arch install. I've read the wiki for grub and installing arch on a pendrive but i'm receiving the following error no matter what i do.
sh-4.3# grub-install /dev/sdb
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: warning: Attempting to install GRUB to a disk with multiple partition labels. This is not supported yet..
grub-install: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
grub-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.
sh-4.3# grub-install /dev/sdb1
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1. Check your device.map.
sh-4.3#
Anyone know what this means and how i can install grub?
Thanks.

Then verify that your installation is corresponding with the UUID rather than addressing by kernel name.
What says
$ ls -lF /dev/disk/by-partuuid

How to install archlinux from pendrive/usb?

I downloaded archlinux-2010.05-core-i686.iso.
I unmounted the pendrive.
Would i format the pendrive with ext3/ext4 or fat32 or fat16 format?
After that i would do dd if=archlinux-2010.05-core-i686.iso of=/dev/sda
If i use unetbootin, should i format the pendrive with ext3/ext4 or fat32 or fat16 format?
Has anyone used unetbootin to install archlinux from pendrive/usb?

jasonwryan wrote:I'm pretty sure all of your questions are answered on the wiki: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ins … lash_drive
I did:
dd if=arch.iso of=/dev/sda
But after setting bios boot option to usb and reboot,it's not booting from usb.
What's the problem?
I get the normal grub menu.
Last edited by cola (2010-06-17 09:49:34)

[solved] Cannot complete install, grub fails to boot the new install

I'm using the 2009.08 USB image.
I've tried this 2 weeks ago, tried it again today, same result. (I'm on Win7 meanwhile).
I'm installing arch, everything goes fine.
I've tried 2 setups:
a)
100GB ext4 /
12GB swap
(no separate /boot, should work)
b)
100MB ext3 /boot
100GB ext4 /
12GB swap
Neither a) or b) will boot.
When the newly installed grub boots, I get a error saying:
filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
I get this for the ext3, ext4, and windows partitions.
I get it for both a) and b) setups.
I have doublechecked the menu.lst file. I've even created another entry setting root=/dev/sdb1 (as opposed to the default /dev/disks/by-uuid/..).
I should mention, I have two disks, the first (sda) is currently with a Win7 installation, the 2nd (sdb) is the one I'm trying to install Arch again (and failing).
After the reboot, I've tried booting into the livecd again and manually trying to mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt, it works.
Why isn't my grub boothing from ext{3,4}?
Last edited by Frantic (2009-11-05 18:35:15)

Rede wrote:
I was getting that error but after re-installing grub and making some changes to the menu.lst file it was fixed.
I was able to at one stage boot into arch but it gave problems with the root. Now it just seems to freeze while trying to load grub.
I am currently trying yet another install of grub. I have been noticing though that my menu.lst file has been rolling back or not updating when I chroot back into my install after changing it earlier.
Try mounting your /boot partition under /mnt/boot.

Install Grub error

When i get to the last step of the installation process-- install the bootloader
after i modify the grub cfg file and try to install grub
i keep having the installation error and
the machine told me to look up tty7 for output and installation for grub fails
but when i found tty7, it is not a readable file!
anyone know how to fix this problem?
thanks

oceanliu wrote:i have a separate boot partition
my machine have a win7 install already,
so i put all the arch linux partition in the extended disk.
Umm ok. but you still haven't answered my question.
I'll tell you what, follow the Beginner's Guide to the letter and it should explain everything that you need to know.

Cannot install GRUB.

"parted" shows my partition table as follows:
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 106MB 105MB primary ntfs boot
2 106MB 64.9GB 64.8GB primary ntfs
4 64.9GB 456GB 391GB extended lba
8 64.9GB 96.3GB 31.4GB logical ext4
9 96.3GB 101GB 4277MB logical linux-swap(v1)
7 101GB 105GB 4273MB logical linux-swap(v1)
5 105GB 327GB 222GB logical ntfs
6 327GB 456GB 129GB logical ntfs
3 456GB 500GB 44.4GB primary ext4
While fdisk shows my partition table as follows:
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 206848 126852290 63322721+ 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3 890126748 976772663 43322958 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda4 126853118 890123492 381635187+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 204812685 638648009 216917662+ 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda6 638648073 890123492 125737710 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda7 196450304 204795903 4172800 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8 126853120 188086271 30616576 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 188088320 196442111 4176896 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Partition table entries are not in disk order
I have two linux partition installed at
/dev/sda3 -> Arch Liuxx
/dev/sda8 -> Ubuntu.
GRUB is installed at ubuntu (version 2 grub).
- First of all, why is fdisk not able to detect a ext4 partition. It only shows one partition as Linux ie /dev/sda8.
- When I try to install grub by booting to live CD and I type $root (hd0,3), it shows unknown partition 0xf. Even if I use tabs to do autocomplete, I get this
grub> root (hd0,
Possible partitions are:
Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
Partition num: 4, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
Partition num: 5, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
Partition num: 6, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82
Partition num: 7, Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
Partition num: 8, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82
grub> root (hd0,
God knows why it shows partition number 7 as ext2fs. I cannot choose either 8 or 3 partition
grub> root (hd0,3)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0xf
grub> root (hd0,8)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82
Also, I need to install grub on /dev/sda3 (my arch linux partition) which is currently on UBUNTU's partition so its also not able to find any boot files if I try to mount arch partition and do $root-install --root-directory=/mnt/myarchmounted --recheck /dev/sda.
So, how should I proceed?
TL/DR: I want a way to
- Format ubuntu partition and remove it completely (including its own grub)
- Install GRUB on Arch's partition, so that I can boot it after ubuntu's partition is removed.

shadyabhi wrote:
"parted" shows my partition table as follows:
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 106MB 105MB primary ntfs boot
2 106MB 64.9GB 64.8GB primary ntfs
4 64.9GB 456GB 391GB extended lba
8 64.9GB 96.3GB 31.4GB logical ext4
9 96.3GB 101GB 4277MB logical linux-swap(v1)
7 101GB 105GB 4273MB logical linux-swap(v1)
5 105GB 327GB 222GB logical ntfs
6 327GB 456GB 129GB logical ntfs
3 456GB 500GB 44.4GB primary ext4
While fdisk shows my partition table as follows:
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 206848 126852290 63322721+ 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3 890126748 976772663 43322958 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda4 126853118 890123492 381635187+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 204812685 638648009 216917662+ 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda6 638648073 890123492 125737710 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda7 196450304 204795903 4172800 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8 126853120 188086271 30616576 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 188088320 196442111 4176896 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Partition table entries are not in disk order
I have two linux partition installed at
/dev/sda3 -> Arch Liuxx
/dev/sda8 -> Ubuntu.
GRUB is installed at ubuntu (version 2 grub).
- First of all, why is fdisk not able to detect a ext4 partition. It only shows one partition as Linux ie /dev/sda8.
Type code of /dev/sda3 is wrong, it should be 0x83, not 0x07 (type code for FAT/NTFS partitions)
- When I try to install grub by booting to live CD and I type $root (hd0,3), it shows unknown partition 0xf. Even if I use tabs to do autocomplete, I get this
grub legacy numbers partitions from 0 , wherein (hd0,3) corresponds to /dev/sda4 (the extended partition in your disk). IN your case you should try (hd0,2) for /dev/sda3 (after changing the part type code to 0x83)
God knows why it shows partition number 7 as ext2fs. I cannot choose either 8 or 3 partition
grub> root (hd0,3)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0xf
grub> root (hd0,8)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82
(hd0,7) == /dev/sda8 == ext4
(hd0,3) == /dev/sda4 == extended part
(hd0,8) == /dev/sda9 == linux swap
Also, I need to install grub on /dev/sda3 (my arch linux partition) which is currently on UBUNTU's partition so its also not able to find any boot files if I try to mount arch partition and do $root-install --root-directory=/mnt/myarchmounted --recheck /dev/sda.
So, how should I proceed?
TL/DR: I want a way to
- Format ubuntu partition and remove it completely (including its own grub)
- Install GRUB on Arch's partition, so that I can boot it after ubuntu's partition is removed.
Your question is not clear. But you can boot into Arch, install its grub2 package (recommended over grub legacy), install grub2 to /boot in Arch, and finally format ubuntu completely. Follow the Archwiki GRUB2 page. It explains everything.

Problems with partitioning and install Grub. Fresh install

All,
First post here. I appreciate any help you can offer.
I am having some problems when installing Arch Linux.
I am installing Arch on a brand new (3 days old) Toshiba SatelliteC655D-S5300 Laptop.
Hot sheet can be found at http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content … -S5300.pdf.
I was initially installing from 2011.08.19 x86_64 Core CD but someone suggested using the latest version.
Now I am installing from 2011.11.13 x86_64 CD burned at 4x (the slowest my burner can go).
I am able to complete all steps up to installing GRUB, but it fails to install.
During partitioning I receive a few errors and I believe this is contributing to the issue.
At first I tried automatic partitioning with 100mb boot, 1024mb swap, 10,000mb / and the rest of 320g for /home. Each partition is ext3 except /boot which is ext2.
During the automatic partitioning an error briefly occured: /usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-blockdevices-filesystems.sh: line 355: !((partition_flag)): command not found.
After speaking with a friend they suggested manually partitioning and using UUIDs instead.
1) So far I have removed all partitions, rebooted.
2) Partitioned using cFdisk. Bootable 100mb parition, 1024mb swap, 15,000mb primary (/), 3000mb logical (/var), and the rest 300949mb logical (/home).
3) Once I write the changes and quit I reboot.
4)I go back into the installer and complete steps 1-3.
5) Go to step 4 and and then manually configure block devices, file systems, or mount points.
6) I choose the option for uuid and hit ok.
At this point 3 error messages appear at the bottom:
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'part,' : not a valid identifier
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'type,' : not a valid identifier
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'label,' : not a valid identifier
(Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/OHRKo.jpg)
7) Next it prompts me to add the mount points for each partition set.
8) Select the partition, the mount point, it asks me for label and any additional opts for mkfs.ext3.
9) I leave the label and opts field blank. After selecting ok to the opts field I get the same 3 errors as above:
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'part,' : not a valid identifier
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'type,' : not a valid identifier
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-ui-interactive.sh: line 602: local: 'label,' : not a valid identifier
(Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/QqkSP.jpg)
I am able to successfully set a mount point and format each partition. But I receive the same set of 3 errors occur for each partition.
10) Once I complete the formatting I proceed to step 8, install bootloader.
It says Generating Grub device map.. This could take a while. Please be patient.
I receivieve the following error on this screen: /usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-blockdevices-filesystems.sh: line 355: !((partition_flag)): command not found.
(Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/B5j4K.jpg)
11) After the error displays it goes to the next screen, before installing grub you must review config file. etc.
12) I hit ok and then :q the config file. Is there a critical change in the config file that I'm missing?
13) After closing the file I select which the boot device where the GRUB bootloader will be installed. My only option is /dev/sda. I hit ok
Then I get the following 2 errors:
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-blockdevices-filesystems.sh: line 355: !((partition_flag)): command not found
/usr/lib/aif/core/libs/lib-blockdevices-filesystems.sh: line 355: !((partition_flag)): command not found
(Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/ol840.jpg)
13) Error installing GRUB. See /dev/tty7 for output. Ok
14) GRUB was NOT successfully installed. Ok
I checked out TTY7.
It shows the installer issuing the following commands in GRUB.
1) device (hd0,) /dev/sda
Error 12: Invalid device requested
2) root (hd0,0)
Filesystem type is extf2, partition type 0x83
3) setup (hd0,)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0,0)"... failed (this is not fatal)
Running "embed /grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0,0)"... failed (this is not fatal)
Running "install /grub/stage1 (hd0,0) /grub/stage2 p /grub/menu.lst "... succeeded
Done.
4) quit
I have tried rebooting from here and using the Arch CD to boot into the existing OS but it does not work.
I tried grub-install /dev/sda
I get Probing devices to check BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
/dev/mapper../dm-0 does not have any corresponding BIOS drive.
I have tried going into grub and issuing the same commands the install script did.
Same errors.
I'm afraid I don't have network access at the moment so I can't get a successful /arc/report-issues to run.
I hope I've included enough information to start the troubleshooting.
Let me know if I've missed anything!
Thanks in advance,
-Jason
Last edited by username17 (2011-11-17 22:37:56)

username17 wrote:I get Probing devices to check BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
/dev/mapper../dm-0 does not have any corresponding BIOS drive.
Your drive does not have an MBR to install grub to as it is a GPT disk - which is also not supported under the old GRUB.
You need to create a small partition at the very beginning of the drive (8MB is plenty) and set the "bios_grub" flag. ie the "BIOS drive" your error refers to.
You will then need to install the grub2-bios package following the chroot instructions on the grub2 wiki page here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB2#Installation
** Please note that I found the chroot mounts to be outdated - replace "/tmp/install" with "/mnt" **
Your alternative solution is to boot a gparted liveCD and prepare your disk as MBR - this will (most likely) destroy all existing data on the disk.

[SOLVED]Unable to install grub "couldn't find /mnt/boot/grub/menu.lst"

Ok so I was trying to install windows after I had arch installed, used an ubuntu cd to use gparted to create a partition, tried to go to the windows installation but it would endlessly send me back to restart the installation even after succesfully writting all files...
So now I decided to not install it, went back into ubuntu/gparted, deleted the partition and rejoined the space with my main arch partition and then selected the "boot" flag to boot...
Cannot boot, grub its still on /boot/ but the MBR its obviously tempered with by windows ( which coincidentally couldn't even find itself after writing mbr to its liking....*sigh* ).
So I try to use my arch install cd to reinstall grub but i get this:
"couldn't find /mnt/boot/grub/menu.lst is grub installed?"
I tried to use the select packages thing to make sure the cd is mounted and mounts fine but it keeps getting me that error message. I managed to boot to my system just fine with arch root=/dev/sda1 but obviosly the kernell does not has my nvidia module which means I can't get into x which means i am using links and since my grub is not loaded i can't even get framebuffer so this is rather inconvenient.
Im sure im missing a very simple and stupid thing but im so annoyed my brain must be saying "ok im done somebody else figure it out". I still have a backup copy of my grub menu.lst I made before. Do I just delete /bood/grub/ and try again? Am I missing something on the install procedure to be able to rewrite grub? Can I just do it from the command line or with pacman? Any help appreciate it thanks.
Last edited by Misanthrope (2008-06-01 17:22:32)

If you can get into your arch and cli then you should just be able to reinstall grub with
install-grub /dev/sda
or reinstall grub with
pacman -S grub
if the package is messed up or missing.

Dual booting win 7 and arch: cannot install grub to partition

I have read the arch wiki page on dual booting and several other sources on line, but I am still struggling to get this to work.
I am trying to dual boot arch and windows 7 on my lenovo ideapad s205. the machine comes with windows 7 pre-installed.
I shrank the win 7 partition and added an extended partition with 3 logical partions for /boot, swap, and /.
I am able to install and run arch by installing grub to the mbr. when I do this, though, I cannot boot windows. (the windows section of grub menu.lst is uncommented and points toward hda0,0. I have tried hda 0,1 as well).
I have also tried to use the windows boot loader to load arch, as described in the arch wiki page on dual booting. The problem here is that, taking this approach, I should install grub to my /boot partition, but when I try to do this, the installer only allows me to install grub to sda or sdb (the usb stick).
I have read that grub should be able to boot linux from a logical partition. Is this so?
Is there something wrong with the arch installer that it is not giving me the option of installing to a partition rather than the mbr, or is this a problem with my partition scheme, or something else?
I am tempted to remove lenovo's recovery system, but on the other hand, I have already needed to use it several times while monkeying around with installing arch.
Thanks for any help.
UPDATE:
I now have the laptop dual-booting win 7 and arch. My solution ( adapted from here: http://helms-deep.cable.nu/~rwh/blog/?p=177) was to:
1. installed arch on the partitions I had created for it, but skipped the "install bootloader" stage.
2. in win 7, I downloaded and installed EasyBCD and made an entry for arch in it. I checked the option to "Use EasyBCD's copy of GRUB"
3. When I restarted, I got a grub error because the entry in grub's menu.lst was pointing at the wrong partitions for the kernel and root.
4. So I went back into the arch live disk, mounted the boot partition and edited menu.lst.
Now when I start the laptop, the windows boot loader starts and I can choose between win 7 and arch. when I select arch, grub4dos starts and gives me the option to start arch. this is not particularly elegant (nor is it fast), so I think this solution is less than ideal, but it does work.
I'd be interestd in any thoughts about what went wrong and what a better solution would be.
thanks.
Last edited by ratchet (2011-10-10 19:09:16)

ratchet wrote:II am able to install and run arch by installing grub to the mbr. when I do this, though, I cannot boot windows. (the windows section of grub menu.lst is uncommented and points toward hda0,0. I have tried hda 0,1 as well).
Is this a typo in your post or how it was in menu.lst? Surely it should be hd0,0 and not hda0,0? The entry I have in my menu.lst is as follows:
# (2) Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
What was yours?
Last edited by JHeaton (2011-10-10 20:18:22)

[SOLVED] Chromebook: help partitioning /dev/sda7 to install GRUB

My goal is to dual boot Arch and Chrome OS on an Acer C720. I repartitioned the drive using the Chrubuntu script. Following the Wiki, I created the file system for Arch on /dev/sda7.
The next step in the Wiki reads
Following the instructions for installing GRUB on GPT, use gdisk to create a 1007kb partition and set the type to EF02.
I don't understand what to do. Do I really make another partition on sda? I've read that if you change the partitioning, it will not boot into Chrome OS.
Can someone please help me understand how to create the 1007kb partition for GRUB? Thanks!!
Last edited by Watney (2015-05-10 00:32:05)

There aren't details of what you've done, think of what we can comment here.
What says
# parted -l /dev/sdX ### could be /dev/sda
Or even better what's your actual partitioning scheme and how the partitions are laid out.
The note is clear (for me) and the link in it will show more details. The real point is to have the Post-MBR gap where GRUB will use to write its files.
If you don't have that Post-MBR gap then you need to shrink the first partition from the beginning to leave that Mb gap.

[PARTIALLY SOLVED] Arch on MacBook4: can't install GRUB

I've been running Arch on my MacBook4 (4 years old now) for quite some time in dualboot mode and have already set up GRUB sucessfully several times. I therefore feel kinda bad that I have to open a new thread this time, but after wasting the whole morning on Google, I don't see another solution.
What has happened is that I had to resize my Linux partitions because there was no space left on my system partition. I have the following partitions:
sda1 - fat32 EFI partition
sda2 - hfs+ Mac partition
sda3 - ext4 Arch system partition
sda4 - ext4 Arch home partition
As mentioned, when I first organized my Arch partitions this way, I could successfully set up GRUB, but it was GRUB1 which I had to set up via grub shell. Now, as it looks to me, GRUB1 is not available anymore but only GRUB2 which doesn't use the grub shell anymore. I've not been able to install GRUB2 the last time (that's why I ended up using GRUB1) and I'm still not able to install it this time!
When I start the MacBook and choose the Linux partition in rEFIt, I get to a black screen displaying GRUB_ and doing nothing more (because I don't have GRUB set up). That's how far I am right now.
Now can anyone help me with setting up GRUB(2)? Thanks in advance for any help!
Last edited by cryptkeeper (2012-09-05 06:13:14)

I've succeeded in working around the problem of installing GRUB2 after I found out that grub-legary is nothing else but GRUB1. So all I had to do to get back a running system was:
- removing the GRUB2 installation
- installing grub-legacy
- copying my old menu.lst to /boot/grub/
- grub shell: root (hd0,2); setup (hd0); quit
Now it works like a charm again.
Still I only consider this thread half solved because I still don't know how to install GRUB2 on my system. It's not of vital interest to me anymore (I don't care too much why, that is, due to which boot loader, my system boots, as long as it boots), but a solution would nonetheless be nice since this thread is opened anyway.
So: How can GRUB2 be installed on a MacBook dualboot system with rEFIt such as mine?

Where to install grub

Please forgive this simple question but in my search for an answer in wikis and other places, I cannot find a straightforward answer (and part of my worry is related to problems installing in this post, where it seems like when the kernel was updated it did so in the wrong place).
I have the following setup on my Toshiba Portege R500:
sda1 Windows XP
sda2 Windows/Toshiba rescue partition
sda3 share vfat partition
sda4 extended partition:
sda5 boot
sda6 swap
sda7 /
When I initially installed arch, I installed it in "/dev/sda", which is what it seemed to me most of the advice said to do (and it was the default as well). After I did pacman -Syu and copied over the new pacman.conf I rebooted but it seems to be booting a 2.6.25 kernel and the system is set up for 2.6.26. I'm giving up and reinstalling.
So, my question is:
Should I install grub on "/dev/sda" or "/dev/sda5", and if I can do it on either, what is the advantage of one over the other?

OK, that's settled. In menu.lst, then, should I have:
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda5 ro
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Installing Grub and grub-legacy side by side

Hello, I have Grub installed already in my arch machine. I need to install grub-legacy. Is there any way to install grub-legacy and both grub at a time? it's not needed that grub-legacy is active.
I don't want grub-legacy active. I just want it to installed in my machine, If it's installed as another name no problem. Why i needed to install is for cross compilation. I am cross compiling for another Embedded system.

arungupta2008 wrote:Can we download grub-legacy src files and then install it manually? by changing the names of bin. As ubuntu have done?
In Arch you should be using PKGBUILDs to compile and install packages. You need to edit https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/gr/g … y/PKGBUILD and apart from moving the files, you have to remove
conflicts=('grub')
too.

Can't install grub

hi..
i'm installing arch linux.. but when i want to install grub appears this message
Error 22: No such partition
i've try to use grub :
find /boot/grub/stage1
(hd0,5)
root (hd0,5)
setup (hd0)
but after appears:
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embeb /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)" ... 16 sectors are embedded. succeeded
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hdo)1+16 p (hd0,5)/boot/grub/stage2 /boot/grub/menu.lst" ... failed
Error 22: No such partition
Ok.. this is it... someone can help me with this?

ok.. i had install again and appears that the problem was that the disk has some free space between partition..
i have no idea if this is the motive for the impossibility tha i had to install grub...
thanks any way...
i i'm sorry for my english... is very bad

Unable to install grub to usb hdd

Hello everybody. For 3 whole days I have been searching and trying to make this work but I am unable so, as my last resort, maybe someon here can give me a hand. I am trying to install arch to and old 30G ipod classic in order to use it as a portable USB bootable hard drive. I have followed all the instructions for a default installationa dn read the "Install Arch to USB" wiki. I have installed grub to the hdd with:
grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck --debug /dev/sdc
Where sdc is my ipod drive. Everything seems fine during the installation. ***I have also tried many alternatives of the above command (using --allow-floppy, --no-floppy, --root-directory) without success. All the installation is fine but I am unable to boot it. When I boot up, I select USB in my bios settings, to boot the usb and after a few seconds, I get a black screen with
GRUB _
and a blinking cursor.
I have also tried installing syslinux but it's the same result (except I do not get the "GRUB" message, just a black screen and a blinking cursor". I any one has done this before or has any idea on how to make this work it would be immensely appreciated.
Thank you

DSpider wrote:
iPod? Huh?? Then you should probably specify this in the title.
Maybe the BIOS isn't set to boot from your equivalent of "Removable Dev." first, "CD-ROM" second and "Internal Storage" third, after which you need to adjust the boot priority order.
Blank screen with blinking cursor means that you either installed to a partition instead of the whole drive (i.e. to "/dev/sdc1" instead of the MBR), or you didn't generate a grub.cfg.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … Guide#GRUB
And don't forget to add the "usb" hook:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … nvironment
Here you need to set the right hooks if the root is on a USB drive, if you use RAID, LVM, or if /usr is on a separate partition.
Edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf as needed and re-generate the initramfs image with:
# mkinitcpio -p linux
Another thing you should worry about, is that the drive is probably not that fast. It was designed for music and such (e.g. power saving by placing the files in cache, etc). It could drain the battery in mere minutes.
I have already done all the things you mentioned. My bios boots the usb device as asked, I am sure of that. Grub was installed on the MBR not the partition. I have a grub.cfg file (generated automatically). I also already added usb to me hooks along with encrypt and lvm2 for my encrypted partition and regenerated the kernel image with mkinitcpio.
I have good experience installing arch. I already installed my laptop arch with the same setup, a boot partition and a second partition, luks encrypted with two logical volumes, root and home and everything works perfectly.
I have quickly read somewhere (can't remember where), that some bioses, when specified to boot from usb, do not look at the usb device's mbr. Is that true?
PS: thanks for answering guys, it would really help me to resolve this problem. If i do, I want to install linux on other usb hard drives, not only the ipod.
Also, multumesc domnul "DSpider" pentru raspuns.
Last edited by freed_hum (2012-11-06 15:59:44)

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