Uncertainty with grub-bios, grub-install when installing Arch

Hi guys.
I decided to reeinstall Arch on my T400 laptop since I threw in a new SSD and some 8GB of RAM and given the fact the old install (which btw is running just fine) was on GRUB legacy.
There is one thing I'm not sure of and I hope somebody could clarify on this matter. The GRUB(2) wiki page has three ways of configuring the MBR (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GR … ode_region). It seems that neither the official installation guide, nor in the beginners guide seem to clarify if this step is mandatory during the installation via pacstrap. Maybe even pacstrap deals with this during the installation process? I really don't get it. I watched some Arch install vids on youtube, and nobody seems to pay this step any attention...
Before I forget here comes my partitioning scheme:
gdisk-configured GPD
1 partition --> 2 MiB partition --> no file-system
2 partition --> rest of the disk -->ext4 (discard, noatime, that kinda stuff in /etc/fstab)
So, what is the deal with that three steps described in the GRUB wiki post?
Many thanks in advance
ralle

illusionist wrote:
ralle wrote:
...when you click on the link I added in my original post and scroll up just a few lines, you see this:
Install grub-bios boot files
There are 3 ways to install GRUB(2) boot files in BIOS booting:
#Install_to_440-byte_MBR_boot_code_region (recommended) ,
#Install_to_Partition_or_Partitionless_Disk (not recommended),
#Generate_core.img_alone (safest method, but requires another BIOS bootloader like grub-legacy or syslinux to be installed to chainload /boot/grub/i386-pc/core.img).
This is the part I don't quite understand. Do I need to perform one of these steps when I do a fresh install as I did? Is this step somewhere implicitly performed during the installation (by pacstrap perhaps)?
Hope I was able to clarify...
Thanks
It is little tricky to understand. Install to 440 byte MBR boot code region means that you need the first 2048 sectors to store grub's information. It does not mean you need to make a 2 MB partition . For example if your hard disk have 100000 sectors then you need to make the partitions from 2048th sector[leaving first 2048 sectors(0-2047) alone] which means you have 97952 sectors left. By default when you partition using "fdisk" it automatically leaves the first 2MB and start form 2048th sector.
Edit reason: typo
...well I don't quite know about the last statement. From where I'm standing I understand that post [https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GR … structions] as to create a dedicated partition with a EF02 flag. That leaves you with a minimum of 2 partitions (1 filesystemless + 1 root) plus the 2 MiB gap in the very front of the drive.
I think zero_one's first reply kinda confirms that. But then again, I might be wrong all along...
Cheers
ralle

Similar Messages

Boot Error with grub installed...no debug instructions

* Quick Intro / About *
Hello everybody... im new to linux in general and arch caught my eye since i have an interest in learning programming... i figured arch's documentation was better than that supplied for ubuntu since it's more in depth and has the core utilities needed to get a base system running with in-depth explanations (which i like). trust me when i say, i have read almost all of the arch documentation more than
a few dozen times and have completed this successfully before...
* My Problem *
I installed my copy of Arch with the Core Utilities package and followed the wiki guides to the tee. i've done several test installations with VMware and Virtualbox OSE and decided to do it for real on my Toshiba Laptop Satellite l305d-s5895... all my hardware is currently supported by the majority of the Linux Distro's (i did my homework). I am attempting to do a dual boot with Arch and Windows
the "/etc/rc.conf" file
Localization -> default
Hardware -> default
Network ->
HOSTNAME="myhostname"
the "/etc/hosts" file is automatically adjusted during install
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0)
gateway="dhcp"
ROUTES=(!gateway)
Deamons -> default
filesystem setup
win7 -> hd0,0 sda1 primary
arch -> hd0,1 sda2 primary
swap -> hd0,1 sda5 logical
cdrom -> sbd (device is auto-mounted)
/dev/sda (MBR / Single HDD Device)
After Grub Configuration ...these are my options to select for grub mount point
/dev/sda
/dev/sbd
/dev/sda
/dev/sda1
/dev/sda2
/dev/sda5
/dev/sbd
I always select /dev/sda at the very top of the list...
the "/boot/grub/menu.lst" file
Gen Config ->
timeout 5
default 0
color light-blue/black light-cyan/blue
Boot sections ->
# (0) Arch Linux
title KDM
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=ask
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
# (1) Fallback (default settings)
# (2) Windows
title Windows 7
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
#makeactive #win7 does not require this
chainloader +1
* the Error I recieve *
At boot and during reboot, unless i have a boot medium, this is what i am prompted with...
Intel UNDI, PXE-2.1 (build 082)
Copyright (C) '97 - '00 Intel Corp.
For Realtek RTL8101E/8102E PCI-E Ethernet Controller v1.05 (071227)
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.
No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key
any help would be amazing! i have no idea why at boot the computer searches for a network connection
instead of the GRUB! >.<
i am able to boot however with the Arch Live Disc and access my filesystem for both Arch and Windows 7
and resume normal use!

well, just as an update... i believe it is a software issue... i wiped my whole HDD with gparted and set the partitions with Arch Live Core Install medium and GRUB worked perfectly... i created an NTFS partition as well for Win 7... hopefully the Win Installer wont overwrite GRUB and use its own bootloader. i was re-reading an area of the wiki and found...
- GRUB must be installed on the MBR (first sector of the hard disk), or the first partition of the first storage device to be recognized by most BIOS's.
source: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gr … stallation
hopefully i can just reinstall GRUB if needed with the Live Disc and i can boot win7 and arch like that...
if an suggestions, or comments, please...would be nice.
Last edited by xovertheyearsx (2011-03-11 05:23:05)

[SOLVED][GRUB]Install problem with the new method

Hi,
it is not my first install of Arch Linux but I have a problem with this new kind of installation method, especially with GRUB.
Here is my hard drives configuration :
/dev/sda1 -> SSD 120 GB ntfs (windows)
/dev/sdb1 -> HD 1 TB ext4 (data)
/dev/sdc :
/dev/sdc1 -> ext2 /boot
/dev/sdc2 -> swap
/dev/sdc3 -> ext4 /
/dev/sdc5 -> ext4 /home
During the installation, I installed grub (with grub-install) in /dev/sdc. I assumed it was the correct drive to install it but apparently not, Windows starts automatically and I don't have the grub menu.
Should I install my system again or is there a way to boot on the livecd and install it ?
Should I :
1) mount /dev/sdc3 in /mnt then /dev/sdc1 in /mnt/boot and finally /dev/sdc5 in /mnt/home
2) pacstrap /mnt grub-bios
3) arch-chroot
4) grub-install
Thank you.
Last edited by hiveNzin0 (2012-09-12 06:15:15)

DSpider wrote:
If you set whatever drive "/dev/sdc" is (brand and model) to boot first in the BIOS, all you need to do is install a bootloader on Arch. You don't even need a separate boot partition. It will use the /boot folder on root partition. Then install os-prober (if you don't already have this installed) and re-generate the .cfg.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … bootloader
The problem is that I cannot select another hard drive. The only one available for the boot order is the Samsung 830 series (/dev/sda with Windows).
The other options are the CD drive and removable disk.
I checked that this morning, maybe I was too tired. I will check again this evening.
But if I am right and I cannot select my intel SSD (containing my arch setup) for the boot order, would the solution I described work ? I don't see why not but my knowledge are basic in Linux.
Thank you again for your help.

Grub-install: "cannot find EFI directory" (CSM mode)

Hi,
I'm trying to install grub on the mbr with 'grub-install /dev/sdb', but I get "cannot find EFI directory'. I have an Asus laptop with secure boot disabled and CSM enabled (I *need* CSM because otherwise - I don't know the reason - I can't boot from USB/disk). I have Windows 7 installed (/dev/sdb2) and I know there's a small partition (/dev/sdb1) which was created during Windows 7 installation which contains a 'Boot' directory, a 'bootmgr' file and other stuff. Now, my purpose is to dual boot Windows 7 and Arch while the BIOS is in CSM mode. The problem is that a simple grub-install /dev/sdX does not work as expected (under Gentoo, it simply worked out-of-the-box). By now, I can chroot into my fresh Arch installation (/dev/sdb3). Another thing: possible targets for grub-install are 'i686-pc' and 'x86_64-efi'; when running grub-install the program automatically selects 'x86_64.efi' as target. I don't know if it's correct (I do have an AMD64 laptop, just to clarify). Thanks in advance.

tant0c1b0 wrote:Hi,
I'm trying to install grub on the mbr with 'grub-install /dev/sdb', but I get "cannot find EFI directory'. I have an Asus laptop with secure boot disabled and CSM enabled (I *need* CSM because otherwise - I don't know the reason - I can't boot from USB/disk). I have Windows 7 installed (/dev/sdb2) and I know there's a small partition (/dev/sdb1) which was created during Windows 7 installation which contains a 'Boot' directory, a 'bootmgr' file and other stuff. Now, my purpose is to dual boot Windows 7 and Arch while the BIOS is in CSM mode. The problem is that a simple grub-install /dev/sdX does not work as expected (under Gentoo, it simply worked out-of-the-box). By now, I can chroot into my fresh Arch installation (/dev/sdb3). Another thing: possible targets for grub-install are 'i686-pc' and 'x86_64-efi'; when running grub-install the program automatically selects 'x86_64.efi' as target. I don't know if it's correct (I do have an AMD64 laptop, just to clarify). Thanks in advance.
You are telling the system to act like it is a BIOS system as far as the boot process goes but I don't think you are using a disk with a MBR, master boot record partition table. Is your disk actually GPT? This is a common gotcha when trying to use CSM mode on a UEFI based system since UEFI systems come with GPT disks. I believe this describes Grub installation in your configuration.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GR … structions
To be clear though, I don't think this is a good direction to go. This isn't keeping things simple though that may have been why you chose to do it. I don't have enough information to know but it sounds like your disk expected to be in a UEFI system and was created with a GPT partition scheme. I would use it that way for Arch and for Windows if you choose to have that installed. I think it creates unneeded complexity to create a hybrid UEFI/BIOS configuration. I would always have all disks using the same partition scheme (the reason you can't boot "USB/disk" may be that you need GPT) and all OS's booting UEFI on a UEFI system.

Issue with Grub after install

When selecting Arch in Grub I'm getting the error "You need to load the kernal first". I'm not sure where I've gone wrong. I followed the Beginner's Guide very carefully, I read through the installing Grub section a dozen times and even the section about installing it on the Grub page; I later used Helmuthdu's script to see if that would work since it's automated and would hopefully avoid making the same mistakes I may have made but even that didn't work.
Here's my grub.cfg file, hopefully someone can spot what I can't.
As a sidenote, I installed os-prober before running grub-mkconfig, yet Windows hasn't shown up in Grub. I'm not sure if the two problems are related or not; I'm more worried about not being able to log into Arch at the moment though.
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi
export menuentry_id_option
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi
function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos5'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi
if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
fi
terminal_input console
terminal_output gfxterm
set timeout=5
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux core repo kernel' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-true-ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos5'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467
fi
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux core repo kernel (Fallback initramfs)' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-fallback-ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos5'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467
fi
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
I'm not sure if viewing this will help or not.
sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 640.1 GB, 640133946880 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 77825 cylinders, total 1250261615 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xc80ac80a
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 206848 741279743 370536448 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3 741279744 745474047 2097152 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4 * 745474048 1250261614 252393783+ 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160040803840 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312579695 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xb36eb36e
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 63 312579694 156289816 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdc: 16.0 GB, 16008609792 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1946 cylinders, total 31266816 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x096fcef9
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 32 31266815 15633392 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
Last edited by Axalon (2013-12-19 07:06:38)

hi, Axalon.
Here is the explanation. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2066130
unfortunately, nobody here wants to say WHY.
it's because os-prober tends to read other OSes' grub.cfg. And the UUID=ad4103fa-d940-47ca-8506-301d8071d467 comes from some builder's disk partition.
it's so easy to solve now.

Installing Multiple Operating Systems with grub and Arch Linux

NOTE: Please keep in mind that there are many different ways to achieve this same result using various loop and ramdisk methods, read this with a separate window to jot down your comments and suggestions... this is ongoing for me so any help would be appreciated!
Read the full article at Install Multiple Os without cds
This is my first post and I plan on making this topic an official HOWTO with www.tldp.org.
I have been into the computer security scene since 1990, but I realized that I had very little experience with the various LInux, Unix, and alternative Operating systems out there.
I have a CD-RW drive but being a struggling computer security researcher I had no money for blank cd-recordables. What follows is how I managed to install various operating systems on my computer (1 hard drive) without having to burn to a CD the ISO and then boot from that.
I first partitioned my 120GB harddrive into 10 partitions, the 2nd partition is a small swap and the last partition is extra large because it holds all the ISO images..
I then wrote a small shell script to automatically download (I love wget!) the following.
OpenBSD
IpCOP
Libranet
Arch-Linux
Fire
Local Area Security
Packet Master
Devil-Linux
FreeBSD
Knoppix
Helix
Gentoo
Yoper-Linux
NetBSD
RedHat
Slackware
The script also downloaded Installation manuals and md5 checksums.. (let me know if I should post... its pretty unsophisticated
I installed Slackware (personal favorite) on hda1 using my last blank CD-R, note that I do not have a separate boot partitino. (Should I?). I also installed grub on the MBR. I love grub, if you read through the man pages and all info you can find about grub, you can learn a whole lot. Grub has much more features and capability than lilo, even though lilo comes installed by default with slack.
I organize my kernel situation as follows... In my /boot directory, I mkdir KERNEL, CONFIG, MAP, INITRD and that is a good way for me to keep my kernels and everything organized.. Another good way is a separate dir for each new kernel.
Since Arch-Linux is a solid distro, I'll use that as a first example.
Here is the Arch-Linux section of my shell script
goge Arch-Linux
$w http://puzzle.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/archlinux/arch-0.6.iso
$w http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/archlinux/arch-0.6.md5sum
$w http://www.archlinux.org/docs/en/guide/install/arch-install-guide.html
md55
cat arch-0.6.md5sum
md5sum arch-0.6.iso
md55
The first thing to do is to mount the downloaded ISO image so we can use it as if it were an actual CD.
mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0 cdimage /mnt/cdrom
Where cdimage= the ISO image. EX. /usr/local/src/ISO/Linux/Arch-Linux/arch-0.6.iso
This mounts the iso as /mnt/cdrom.
Next you need to copy /mnt/cdrom to a separate partition for the booting process. So mkfs.ext2 /dev/hda9. ( I prefer reiserfs or even XFS to ext but if you use something other than ext2 you could run into some problems because some of the installation kernels and initrds don't include support for reiserfs and so can't recognize the files. Although you could use mkinitrd to create a new initrd with reiserfs support, that might be pushin it IMO... I use the 9th partition consistently for this. I know there is a "right" way to copy the /mnt/cdrom files so everything stays the way it is supposed too, using tar or cpio, but I'm lazy so I just do cp -rp.
(What is the tar or cpio commands to copy with correct permissions etc??)
So you mount the 9th partition as whatever, say /mnt/hd and then copy the files. Now what?
Now edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst file to include the specific options to boot arch-linux installation.
A good idea is to find the isolinux.cfg file somewhere on the distro cd, this will tell you what to include in the menu.lst.
Here is the section in my menu.lst
title Arch Install
root (hd0,8)
kernel /isolinux/vmlinuz load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 root=/dev/rd/0
initrd=/isolinux/initrd.img
This should be self-explanatory. The root (hd0,8) is pointing to partition 9. So the rest of the commands start from partition 9.
When you experience problems, remember you can always edit the grub boot options by typing 'e' and then edit the section. Also, a good idea is to include several variations in your menu.lst so you can easily try other ways to boot efficiently. And, remember to read up on all the installation guides that come with your distro, specifically, hard-disk installs.
There are special cases, Gentoo, has a semi-new compressed filesystem called squashfs. BTW, this is AWESOME, so check it out. It has to be compiled into the kernel, so some work is in order, but use this recompile to optimize your kernel. You can get the squashfs patch for almost any kernel. I use the latest stable 2.6 kernel. Squashfs is incredible and although I don't think you need it to install from ISO, you do need it to expand the livecd.squashfs filesystem that comes with the cd.
Heres a sample Gentoo section from my menu.lst
title Gentoo Install
root (hd0,8)
kernel /isolinux/gentoo root=/dev/ram0
initrd=/isolinux/gentoo.igz init=/linuxrc acpi=off looptype=squashfs loop=/livecd.squashfs cdroot vga=791 splash=silent
A nother' tip is the shell that is provided if you experience problems, typically busybox or ash. The key tools to get you going from here is mount and chroot. Sometimes you will need to manually create a simulated file system and then chroot into it. For instance, you might have to create boot, etc, bin, directories on the target partition.
I generally install each OS onto the next partition (careful of the logical partition) and add it to my menu.lst after install. A good idea is after installation, copy the kernel and initrd(if there is one) to the slackware(or whatever) boot partition on hda1. I copy kernels to /boot/KERNEL/ and initrd's to /boot/INITRD, then menu.lst is more organized...
You then need to add an updated section to your menu.lst (just comment out the install section for later)
Here is the finished arch-linux section from menu.lst
title Arch Linux 6
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 ro root=/dev/hdc3
This doesn't use my convenient boot/KERNEL/vmlinuz26 as you can tell by setting the root to partition 3.
***NOTE: Make a backup of MBR using dd and save to floppy, also backup the partition table to floppy, using cfdisk or parted. And boot disks (I use 1 with grub, and 1 with slack, and tomsbootdisk) will invariably come in handy. Tomsbootdisk is recommended, and make the grub boot disk when you install grub. install to floppy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The final result after some fun experimenting, is when I boot, I have a cool grub boot screen come up with the option to boot into whatever OS I want, this is handy for multiple reasons. One good thing to do after this is to port scan and vuln scan each OS, after you update of course. Write this stuff down and you will know the weaknesses/strengths of the various OS's.
I can boot a custom Firewall, snort, or multiple honeypots using this procedure, as well as a graphical kde environment with a kernel optimized for graphics and my processor/architecture, or an environment devoted to forensics or even an environment suitable for programming.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P.S. Some of the cooler alternative operating systems are BeOS 5, EOS, ER_OS, V2_OS, and my personal favorite Menuet. Menuet is 100% assembly graphical operating system that fits on a floppy. Its f'in money!
This should be a good enough example to get you started, this kind of thing should be learned and not just copied... Knowing how to do this stuff could prove to be exceptionally useful...

Start by reading all the articles built-in on your Mac - Help > Mac Help, search "printer sharing."
http://desk.stinkpot.org:8080/tricks/index.php/2008/04/how-to-print-to-a-cups-se rver-from-mac-os-x/
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080324224027152&query=share%2Bpri nter
http://members.cox.net/18james/osxprintersharing.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-56940.html

[SOLVED] Dual boot with ubuntu w/o installing GRUB? (YES)

Hi all -
This is my first shot at arch, tho I've installed a few other linux distros.
So far I really appreciate the excellent documentation, especially compared to other linuxes!
But I can't find a good answer to this question:
I already have ubuntu installed and would like to dual-boot with arch. (I also have Win7 but boot it from a separate disk selected via BIOS, and usually leave this disk disconnected anyway, so it's not an issue; grub doesn't know it exists).
Q: Before installing, can I make a new LOGICAL ext4 partition (say /dev/sda7),
- then install arch on that **w/o installing grub** and **without messing with the MBR**,
- then edit ubuntu's existing menu.lst to add arch to the boot options?
Current $ fdisk -l
/dev/sda1 ext4 primary/boot (/ for ubuntu)
/dev/sda2 extended
--/dev/sda6 linux-swap
--/dev/sda5 NTFS (data - mp3s, etc)
unallocated 480GB --> Create new ext4 partition /dev/sda7, (logical or primary? Prefer logical)
Current menu.lst entry that I normally boot:
title Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, kernel 3.2.0-24-generic REGULAR
uuid UUIDforSDA1 (file has actual UUID number...)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-24-generic root=UUID=UUIDforSDA1 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-24-generic
and add something like this to menu.lst:
title Arch Linux
uuid UUIDforSDA7
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda7/ARCH ro (??? - from example in arch docs)
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
or
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=UUIDforSDA7 ro (??? - like the ubuntu entry)
I'd really like to NOT mess up booting ubuntu! (Another option might be install arch to a separate disk with the ubuntu disk disconnected, then copy the whole install over via a USB adapter...I've done worse!)
TIA for any help!
Edit: so I guess there's three questions:
1 - Can I install arch w/o installing grub & MBR messing-wth?
2 - What's the correct syntax for menu.lst to access and boot arch?
3 - Will this work?
Last edited by Flemur (2012-05-25 15:24:18)

Well, it worked and booted up first time - no grub install.
The main hassle was merely creating a new ext4 partitions because "Partition Wizard" boot CD screwed up and I kept getting "Unable to update kernel until reboot" messages until I deleted and rebuilt all the partitions in the extended partition with puppy linux & gparted instead of Partition Wizard.
In case others stumble upon this trhread, here's some info:
The entry in the ubuntu (original) menu.lst was this:
title Arch Linux
uuid af7...etc...9f3c
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=af7...etc.f3c ro
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
I'm even posting this from arch/fluxbox/Firefox, although getting X set up with nvidia (PITA!) apparently required using a different pacman source:
File "mirrorlist" now points to
Server = http://mirror.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
which wasn't in the original file.
Then
$ pacman -Su --> "/etc/mtab exists" --> delete it and something else broke,
so
$ pacman -Su --force --> worked fine (against official advice)
Also: needed to install nvidia-utils and xorg-xinit
Thanks again!

Grub error after install Arch x86_64

i install arch on my second laptop and everything works fine so im install on my main laptop but grub can boot
my main laptop have 2 HDD, first i have windows seven and other partions on second i have arch64
at install no errors are show but when i reboot grub menu show the arch options i choose and
Booting command-list
root (hd1,0)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb1 ro
Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition
Press any key to continue...
the hd1,0 thing is correct is the second HDD, first partition
i only can boot by arch live cd choose boot existing OS edit to hd1,0 and show me the grub menu and all boot option work
so what the problem with that
is not the problem with windows because i dont put windows on grub if i wont boot windows i choose boot first HDD on bios
the previous distro in this machine was sidux and only works on install i just choose install grub on sdb on MBR
on arch i choose install grub on /dev/sdb i think this is the MBR correct?

this i find on archwiki, i have this on grub too, but the problem is the grub/bios wrong names but is 100% now.
on 1 HD is a peace of cake install arch on 2 HDD im install a few times because this error but is easy too, when i read on web arch is hard to install i think that will be a pain in the as* but not really is easy and fast even faster than sidux but on start up have more 100mb of ram than sidux but is not a problem because is faster lol
thanks

[SOLVED] grub-install command failing for UEFI

I downloaded the 8/2013 iso and burned it with dd. I have an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard. I was booted into efi mode on both the ISO and in the chroot (the /sys/firmware/efi directory did exist).
I followed the instructions in the Beginner's Guide, but with a 512 MB EFI partition as sda1, 50 GB root as sda2, the rest of my 256 GB SSD as /home, and a 100 GB space on my HDD as /tmp. Everything was ext4 and the EFI partition was a fat32. The EFI partition was mounted on /boot of the new install, as the beginner's guide stated it should be
Everything worked until I get to the part of installing GRUB. Before installing, I again confirmed that /sys/firmware/efi existed. When booting, on the motherboard boot selection screen, it showed 2 options for my USB, one with the name of my drive and another with [UEFI] in front of the drive name. I selected the UEFI option, so I was booted into UEFI mode, and the USB's bootloader also gave options to boot into a UEFI shell instead of the standard Arch ISO bootloader I get on MBR computers (though I did not try those EFI shell options). I looked into te /sys/firmware/efi/efivars directory and it had 2 items in it
Going back to the chroot's / directory, I did the first command in the guide for installing grub (after installing grub and efibootmgr with pacman).
umount /sys/firmware/efi/efivarsk
This gave the error that the directory was not mounted
modprobe -r efivars and modprobe efivars worked correctly (or at least they didn't output any errors).
When I got to
grub-install --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=arch_grub --recheck
it gave this error:
Fatal: Couldn't open either sysfs or procfs directories for accessing EFI variables.
I searched around on the interwebs and for every other person this problem was occuring because they were booted into BIOS mode instead of UEFI mode, and booting the USB into UEFI mode fixed the problem for them. However, the /sys/firmware/efi directory exists and I made sure to boot into EFI mode in the BIOS.
Are there any other reasons that this could be happening?
Also, is there really any advantage to GPT/EFI booting over GPT/BIOS booting other than a 1-2 second shorter boot time?
Last edited by subraizada3 (2013-08-23 21:10:37)

You burnt it to CD?DVD, right? Not dd? Because that won't create an EFI bootable USB key, for example.
modprobe efivars never gives errors (that I've seen). The question is whether the directories are populated. It isn't enough for /sys/firmware/efi to exist. /sys/firmware/efi/vars/ should be full of a *lot* of stuff. In fact /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/ should have lots of stuff before you umount it.
Did you modprobe before arch-chroot? That's essential if the installed kernel is different from the one on the installer (which is very likely).
I think you are confused. There's no such thing as GPT/MBR booting.
GPT and MBR are 2 ways of partitioning disks. GPT has various advantages explained on the wiki page.
EFI and BIOS are 2 ways of booting.
In my personal opinion, if BIOS booting works for you, I'd stick with BIOS. EFI is buggy - why be a guinea pig if you can help it?
Also in my personal opinion, if you can only use GPT in EFI mode, it is worth the hassle to use EFI to reap the benefits of GPT.
At least, those are the decisions I made. Nothing will convince my laptop to boot BIOS mode with a GPT disk. MBR+BIOS is fine but GPT+BIOS is a non-starter. So I use GPT+EFI. On machines that don't care, I prefer BIOS+GPT.
If you are dual booting Windows, I believe BIOS+GPT may not be an option but I'm not certain of this.
Your kilometres may vary.
By the way, you almost certainly do not want a partition for /tmp unless you are extraordinarily short of RAM and even then...

Grub-install doesn't overwrite MBR

So hi!
I've been hit by quite a peculiar problem a few hours ago and not being able to find a solution to it elsewhere, I came here for help. I had a dual boot of Arch and W7 a long time ago, which had an interesting feature of not letting W7 hibernate (long story short, I connected a GPT partitioned HDD, W7 detected it and started messing around with recovery partitions and whatnots; when I repartitioned it with MBR and installed Arch on it, W7 cried its "boot configuration data store" (?) is missing, started coming back to desktop after hibernation request and I couldn't do anything with utilities pertaining to the issue). Since I wasn't using Arch much at the time on that PC, I had to sacrifice GRUB in order to get myself a properly working Windows installation. Whatever I've done to the disk that time, it worked nicely, until I decided to boot into Arch. Not finding a GRUB there wasn't a surprise, but here's the problem I found after chrooting into it from a live USB:
I followed the standard procedure for restoring GRUB, as follows:
1. mount partitions;
2. arch-chroot into the installation;
3. execute
# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sda
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
(neither of which mentioned any problems)
4. exit, umount -R, reboot,
But, sadly, it didn't boot. It hang before any message came from GRUB, as if there was a corrupted bootsector (normally, it should show a message saying this media is not a bootable device or something along these lines, right?). I booted into the live USB again and checked what file -s /dev/sda had to say, and lo and behold,
/dev/sda: DOS/MBR boot sector
So I'm kind of flabbergasted about the reasons for which grub-install couldn't overwrite the MBR correctly. I'd appreciate any ideas as to whether that's what actually happened and why.
Great thanks for your time,
yakcyll~
Last edited by yakcyll (2014-06-20 16:50:32)

Rexilion wrote:
Highly likely as Grub depends on the disk ordering by the BIOS as to determine what disk get's booted first. Again, highly likely as I'm not entirely sure. For all I know Grub installs a payload at the beginning of the disk (MBR) and then wires it up with fs drivers so it can boot it's second stage data. This would not require a BIOS for helping out as the sata drivers can do this.
However, it does create and handle a device.map file containing the order of disks (or whatever).
Why not enable the disk inside the bios and try again? But could you also confirm that wiping the MBR with dd and reinstalling with Grub did not fix the issue?
So I did enable it there, while having all the other disks out of the case, and tried to grub-install from live USB, but to no avail (still shows up as DOS/MBR boot sector and doesn't boot, but grub-install doesn't report any errors). I tried wiping the first 446 bytes and then reissuing grub-install, but that made no difference either (the disk identifier got zeroed out though) - it still shows up as a dos/mbr boot sector (when I issued file -s /dev/sda in between dd and grub-install, it also presented me with the partition table itself, the information about which is missing otherwise). Next thing to try is probably do a chrooted upgrade of the system from live USB (or just GRUB itself).
EDIT: So hexdump presents the first four bytes of /dev/sda as 0xeb63 0x9000. As far as I know, MBR's signature is 0xAA55, so why isn't it there? There is one occurence of 0xaa55 there, but it's somewhere in the middle and it's not aligned to double word boundary, so I'm not sure if that's relevant. Nevermind, I forgot the MBR signature is supposed to be at the end of the sector.
Last edited by yakcyll (2014-06-22 13:39:04)

Grub-install fails to install core.img to boot partition

I am trying to reinstall Arch onto a Dell Precision T3600 workstation, where it used to work fine, but I am stuck at the booloader step.
Details:
1. I have only one disk, partioned with gpt.
2. I am using Grub with Bios
3. As per installation instructions (preliminary requirements, BIOS systems), I created a 1007KiB boot partition at the beginning of the disk, of type ef02.
The partition (which is umber 5 in my partition table) goes from sector 34 to sector 2047
4. I mounted the root partition to /mnt, arch-chroot'd into it, and ran
# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck --debug /dev/sdx
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
5. I generated the /boot/grub.cfg file with the recommended
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Results:
when I try to boot, grub starts, but it cannot find anything to boot from and drops me into its shell.
Furthermore (this may be unrelated), when I take a look at the dis again (after rebooting from the install disk), I see that the gpt partition table is corrupted. Exact message from gdisk is:
Caution: invalid backup GPT header, but valid main header: regenerating backup header from main header:
Partition table scan:
MBR: protective
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: damaged
Can anyone tell me where I am going wrong? The Installation manual is not very explicit on how to deal with the (very small) boot partition. Is grub-install supposed to create the core.img file even when the partition is not mounted? Or should it be mounted. It certainly cannot contain eveyrthing that goes into /boot (which is over 100Mb).
Thanks for the help

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
Your partition table is corrupted; you could clear it using:
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sd<x> bs=512 count=1; sync
Then use gdisk to recreate your partition table and re-install.
Alternatively, you could ask gdisk to re-create the backup GPT header from the main header: start up the program & press "r" followed by "d".
I had already fixed the partition table exactly as you suggested---sorry for not having been clear. It still does not boot.
Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
Your partition table is corrupted; you could clear it using:
If it still will not boot, post your /boot/grub/grub.cfg along with the output of:
# gdisk -l /dev/sd<x>
lsblk -f
Here they are:
/boot/grub.cfg:
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
set default="${next_entry}"
set next_entry=
save_env next_entry
set boot_once=true
else
set default="0"
fi
if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi
export menuentry_id_option
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi
function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt3'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt3 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt3 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt3 74c69286-1775-44de-90c8-3834585da6b6
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 74c69286-1775-44de-90c8-3834585da6b6
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi
if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
fi
terminal_input console
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
set timeout_style=menu
set timeout=5
# Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
# unavailable.
else
set timeout=5
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
lsblk -f (sda1 is the swap partition, sda5 is the boot partition):
NAME FSTYPE LABEL UUID MOUNTPOINT
sda
sda1
sda3 /
sda4 /home
sda5
sr0
loop0
loop1
arch_root-image /etc/resolv.conf
loop2
arch_root-image /etc/resolv.conf
Finally, here is the partition table from gdisk -l
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: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 8B675D08-1A4A-44D3-ADC3-A7763E331455
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134
Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries
Total free space is 0 sectors (0 bytes)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 67112959 32.0 GiB 8200 Linux swap
3 67112960 276828159 100.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem
4 276828160 1953525134 799.5 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem
5 34 2047 1007.0 KiB EF02 BIOS boot partition

GRUB-install weirdness

When I installed Arch I decided not to install its GRUB in the MBR, leaving that to Mepis, which I have on another partition. Now I've decided to get rid of Mepis; before doing that, I want to install Arch's GRUB in the MBR.
I followed the directions in my Knoppix book for reinstalling GRUB in the MBR. Using a Knoppix disk I mounted my Arch partition (hda6) and tried to run grub-install:
root@1[root]# mount -o dev,rw /mnt/hda6
root@1[root]# chroot /mnt/hda6 grub-install /dev/hda
/dev/hda: Not found or not a block device.
Then on a whim I tried reinstalling Mepis' GRUB (Mepis is hdb1) in the MBR:
root@1[root]# mount -o dev,rw /mnt/hdb1
root@1[root]# chroot /mnt/hdb1 grub-install /dev/hda
Installation finished. No error reported.
This is the contents of the device map /boot/grub/device.map.
Check if this is correct or not. If any of the lines is incorrect,
fix it and re-run the script `grub-install'.
(hd0) /dev/hda
(hd1) /dev/hdb
(hd2) /dev/sda
Why this discrepancy--why the /dev/hda error in the first case but not the second? Is this a GRUB bug or am I missing something? I also tried this with the Mepis CD, with the same results. Thanks.

I tried mount --bind dev/proc but it did not solve the problem. I got an error message stating that /dev/hda was not a valid BIOS drive. When I Googled the error message I found a post on the Mandriva forums from a person with the same problem, who found that it was caused by the lack of (hdx) info in /boot/grub/device.map.
Sure enough, I looked in my Arch device.map and found no hd info. I was wondering if this had something to do with udev--I'm still not very udev-savvy. Other distros I have installed that don't use udev (like the Mepis I partition) had device.map listings with hd mapping. Anyway, I added (hd0) /dev/hda to Arch's device.map and GRUB installed in the MBR like I wanted. Just wondering, though, will this mess with udev?

[solved] grub install fails /boot/grub is not readable

virtualbox install
single partition install (well, I have two partitions, #2 is / and #1 is the BIOS partition as defined in the install docs)
when I get to the stage of installing grub, I use :
grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sda
which fails with
Path '/boot/grub' is not readable by GRUB on boot. Installation is impossible. Aborting"
it is ext4
fstab looks correct. It shows one entry for
/dev/sda1 / ext4
I am not using UUID although when I did the result was the same.
when run with debug, the problem is
/usr/bin/grub-probe -t fs /boot/grub
results in path no readable.
when I run the grub-probe inside the chroot, I get error: unknown filesystem
haven't had this before. This is the first time I've tried a GPT install.
It is virtualbox 4.2.18
I
Last edited by timrichardson (2013-10-15 10:10:50)

Ah, my mistake was an incorrect partition table back when I partitioned the disk. I did not make a partition table for GPT partitions.

[SOLVED] EFI grub Install problems

I know this topic has been beat to death but I cannot for the life of me figure this out.
My Config:
1 Hard Drive -- /dev/sda
/dev/sda2 is EFI Partition.
/dev/sda5 is /mnt/boot during the install
/dev/sda6 is /mnt/ during the install
PC has windows 8.1 installed and booting fine with rEFInd installed. I run through the basic arch installation and mount my /dev/sda2 to /boot/ like in the beginners guide.
I chroot and do the commands below: (from the wiki)
# mount -t efivarfs efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars # ignore if already mounted
# pacman -S grub efibootmgr
# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=arch_grub --recheck
It installs fine, and then I run:
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
It completes as well, and im left with a EFI/arch_grub/something.efi and then a /grub folder with the config in it on my EFI partition.
When I reboot, grub completly takes over and doesnt boot anything. Just stuck at grub2>...
I have to boot off live CD and remove the EFI/arch_grub folder and the other grub folder to be able to boot windows again.
What am I doing wrong here?
Any help is appreciated....
Last edited by skwid (2013-11-19 17:38:01)

teateawhy wrote:You mounted the boot partition on sda5 to /boot, instead of mounting the ESP on sda2 to /boot. The beginner's guide expects you to mount the ESP to /boot.
Ok, I went back and re-done the entire thing and made sure I mounted /dev/sda5 to /boot. That left me with a /boot/EFI folder which my refind and microsoft folders are in.
Ran through the installs and everything went fine. I have a /boot/EFI/arch_grub/grubx64.efi file and a /boot/efi/grub/ folder with the grub.cfg file. No errors.
Rebooted, and same thing. reFINd no longer runs first, grub does. grub is broken because there are no kernel lines or anything.
When I reboot the PC and select the boot menu in the BIOS, I get a UEFI entry for "arch_grub" and I can select it and it boots to the broken grub.
I can select rEFInd and it will run, but not automatically like it used to.
If I remove all the arch_grub and grub folder from my EFI partition, then everything works, but of course, no arch.

[Solved] grub-install hangs

I have an install of ARCH linux on a 2 partitioned hard drive with Ubuntu on a separate partition. Originally the drive contained a 64 bit version of Ubuntu on the first partition. I moved the drive to a different (32 bit) computer and installed 32 bit Ubuntu on the second partition. I then reformatted the first partition and installed 32 bit ARCH running update-grub from Ubuntu which found the new ARCH installation without any difficulty. As this seems to be becoming my main distribution I would like to reinstall grub2 from ARCH. I installed grub2 from the extra repository (1.98-5). When I enter 'sudo grub-install /dev/sda' the command hangs indefinitely. I attempted this in single user mode as well.
I did note the following appearing in /var/log/errors.log and the kernel log:
Aug 18 14:02:46 localhost kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
.. (repeated several times... eventually...)
Aug 18 17:20:54 localhost kernel: Buffer I/O error on device fd0, logical block 0
This seems odd as I don't have a floppy drive connected. Running grub install with the --no-floppy option produced the same result.
EDITED TO ADD: It appears as though the floppy drive related errors are occurring specifically when grub-install is executing. Further they seem to occur when the --no-floppy flag is included. It appears as though the script is stuck repeatedly trying to access the floppy drive despite the flag.
EDITED WITH SOLUTION: I disabled the floppy drive in the system bios (no drive is/was connected) and grub installed without issue. I didn't realize I had the non-existent drive enabled as oddly ubuntu had no problem with installing grub while the ARCH version ignored my explicit instructions to disregard the floppy drive.
Any suggestions most appreciated!
Last edited by scotths (2010-08-19 17:44:11)

I have an install of ARCH linux on a 2 partitioned hard drive with Ubuntu on a separate partition. Originally the drive contained a 64 bit version of Ubuntu on the first partition. I moved the drive to a different (32 bit) computer and installed 32 bit Ubuntu on the second partition. I then reformatted the first partition and installed 32 bit ARCH running update-grub from Ubuntu which found the new ARCH installation without any difficulty. As this seems to be becoming my main distribution I would like to reinstall grub2 from ARCH. I installed grub2 from the extra repository (1.98-5). When I enter 'sudo grub-install /dev/sda' the command hangs indefinitely. I attempted this in single user mode as well.
I did note the following appearing in /var/log/errors.log and the kernel log:
Aug 18 14:02:46 localhost kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
.. (repeated several times... eventually...)
Aug 18 17:20:54 localhost kernel: Buffer I/O error on device fd0, logical block 0
This seems odd as I don't have a floppy drive connected. Running grub install with the --no-floppy option produced the same result.
EDITED TO ADD: It appears as though the floppy drive related errors are occurring specifically when grub-install is executing. Further they seem to occur when the --no-floppy flag is included. It appears as though the script is stuck repeatedly trying to access the floppy drive despite the flag.
EDITED WITH SOLUTION: I disabled the floppy drive in the system bios (no drive is/was connected) and grub installed without issue. I didn't realize I had the non-existent drive enabled as oddly ubuntu had no problem with installing grub while the ARCH version ignored my explicit instructions to disregard the floppy drive.
Any suggestions most appreciated!
Last edited by scotths (2010-08-19 17:44:11)

Uncertainty with grub-bios, grub-install when installing Arch

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