Help a n00b...Grub Error 17?

Not sure what's wrong you could one of this methods that apply to your situation (boot from Windows for example):
http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Alternative_boot_methods

Alternatively you could google for "grub error 17" there are some possible solutions over there...
--
Check out Mepis wiki: www.mepis.org/docs

Chat with me.

To speed things up we need to know if you installed grub to the master boot record and allso what Mepis "sees" your partitions as, ie is the root file system on hda2 hda5 etc. and what version 6.0 6.01 of Mepis you have installed.

Generally this error is caused by an inability of grub to find the / or root partition where the kernel lives. Since you get this error i assume you installed to mbr but for some reason grub cant find the right one. You should know allso that grub counts from zero instead of one. In other words the first partition on the primary drive is seen as hd0,0 meaning first drive first partition. Usually editing the /boot/grub/menu.lst on the installed system will get you going by using the Mepis live cd as root. if that fails you can use the live cd to come back to the forum and copy and paste your /boot/grub/menu.lst here with your drive layout and some one will surely be able to help.

jim

Root is hda3, windows is hda1. I've tried both 6.0 and 6.0-4 beta 3.

Looking at alternatives, GAG looks like a good boot loader, if GRUB doesn't work. Anyway...here's the GRUB menu.lst:
----------
timeout 15
color cyan/blue white/blue
foreground ffffff
background 0639a1

gfxmenu /boot/grub/message

title MEPIS at hda3, newest kernel
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda3 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title MEPIS at hda3, older kernel
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz.old root=/dev/hda3 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title MEPIS at hda3, kernel 2.6.15-27-desktop
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-desktop root=/dev/hda3 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title Windows at hda1
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

title MEMTEST
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
-----------

Thanks,
-PCR

Grub looks fine to me if infact Mepis is on hda3. The only thing i can suggest now in fire up the live cd and check your partitions with cfdisk, and mark hda3 bootable just in case . In the past i have had to do that with primary partitions when grub was cranky.
Cfdisk is a reliable command line part. tool i use often. When you load the live cd hit ctrl>alt>f1 to get to cli sign in as root root and run the command cfdisk to see your parts. and confirm the setup. Navigation is by arrow keys and press enter to accept your choices. I think you will like that little goodie. Let me know how it goes.Another thing you should know if you use cfdisk in future linux swap is number 82 & linux file system is 83 then Mepis will format to your desired type on install.

jim

Something else odd I might mention...From GAG (on a CD) I went to Linux. The GRUB console came up. Trying to see if I could boot from here, I typed in 'kernel /boot/vmlinuz'. I got a "Error 18: Selected cylinder exceeds maximum supported by BIOS.", which is odd because Mepis has been installed on this computer before. (Since then I have replaced the HD and upgraded the BIOS).

I'll try that and post the results.

Thanks,
-PCR

Might be a good idea to check the bios setting & make sure its seeing your drive right. Allso check out these posts
http://www.mepis.org/node/9283 and /node/6495 .
Another thought is backup stuff on hda2-5 parts & redo them as an extended partition then slice them up as you like and reinstall Mepis.

Jim