Problem with GRUB

That sounds pretty odd (grub repeating over and over). I don't recall seeing that one reported before (but, I don't read all of the posts here).

Is it a newer version of SimplyMEPIS (i.e., the latest 6.5.02)? If not, you may want to try the newer one instead.

Note that you can reinstall GRUB from a Live CD and see if that fixes it. In the newer versions, you'll see a reinstall GRUB feature under the MEPIS System Assistant (look under the icon in the task bar that looks like a monitor with a screwdriver over it).

It's in a different spot (mutilities if memory serves) in older releases. You can probably get to it like this if you're using an older release:

su
mutilities

Sometimes if you do things like mounting a drive during an install, it can mess up GRUB (but, I can't recall hearing those symptoms reported before).

I'd reinstall GRUB and see if that fixes it, making sure you don't try to mount or access any drives in your system before reintalling it from a Live CD.

Also, if you're changing BIOS boot order around, that can mess you up. You want to make sure the drive order for boot up (what drive it looks at for a bootable OS first) is not changing in BIOS from when you install SimplyMEPIS for best results.

As for correcting the MBR problem from a Windows Recovery Console, there are utilities that can reset your Admin password if you've forgotten it.

I used the Trinity Rescue Kit Live CD to do that on a friend's PC a while back. It's got a program called chntpw on it you can use for that purpose:

http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12

You'd need to pay close attention to the keys needed (it's a little strange if memory serves), and make sure you write the changes (it's a separate step). Then, boot into your Windows Live CD and run this from a recovery console:

fixmbr

But, I'd probably try to get GRUB working first.

Jim C.

...to no avail.

I am using the Mepis 6.5.02 liveCD. It was reported that GRUB was successfully installed in the MBR, but when I restarted same thing with the repeating GRUB.

I was able to access the recovery console in W2K and run fixmbr--> restart --> same repeating GRUB message!

jxm, if I understand you correctly, you can run the Live CD just fine (start, run stuff, stop), but when you went to install Mepis onto your system, that's when things went haywire?

If so, can you boot your system with the Live CD, open a konsole, and perform the following command:

cat /etc/fstab   # will show us what partitions exist

swapon -s   # will show us what partitions are used for swap

And post the results of those two commands here? Also, what kind of hard drives are they (IDE, SATA, USB...)

There have not been any mentions of this type of behavior here before, so I initially suspect that the CD is not good, but I'll wait for more info from you.

Jon

The ability to comfortably use a computer is directly proportional to desire to listen, learn, and experiment, and is inversely proportional to the fear, anger, and stubbornness that you show.

I have been able to reinstate the mbr and get win2k up and running again (for whatever use that is). I had to unplug the IDE connector from the back of the 120 Gig HDD in order to have the win2k recovery console work properly.

The LiveCD I am using is the same one used to install Mepis on another Mepis only computer, and that computer seems to be working just fine FWIW.

Both drives are IDE

the cat /etc/fstab shows:

proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
/dev/pts /dev/pts devpts mode=0622 0 0
# Dynamic entries below
/dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 ntfs-3g noauto,users 0 0
/dev/hda2 swap swap sw,pri=1 0 0
/dev/hda3 /mnt/hda3 auto noauto,users,exec 0 0
/dev/hdc1 /mnt/hdc1 vfat,ext3,ext2,reiserfs noauto,users,exec 0 0
/dev/cdrom /media/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,users,exec,ro 0 0
/dev/hdd /media/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,users,exec,ro 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy vfat,ext2 noauto,users,exec,rw 0 0

swapon -s

Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/hda2 partition 530136 2856 1

Thanks,

Jeff

I don't know what the problem with GRUB is but you can boot from Windows, follow this how-to: www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Windows_boot_loader

Hope this helps.
--
Check out MEPIS Wiki: www.mepis.org/docs
Post on MEPISLovers, that's where MEPIS users help each others.

Have you tried unplugging the other drive and see if it installs that way?

Which drive did you install GRUB to? It needs to be installed on the first drive in your system (which is going to be influenced by the boot order you have set for your drives in your BIOS settings).

Since it's showing up as hda, it looks like SimplyMEPIS thinks the 120GB you installed it to is the first drive.

Are you changing around that boot order? What is it set to now?

Most PCs have a CMOS BIOS setup screen you can access at bootup by pressing a function key (they normally have a message on screen stating something like "Press [key to be pressed] to enter Setup", although with some motherboards, no message is seen.

I have seen some quirks with some drives in my Dell (not being recognized by the BIOS, even though Windows and Linux distros usually see them OK).

So, I'd check your BIOS to make sure it sees both them as a first step (you may have one set to disabled, using the wrong parameters, etc.). Usually "Auto" works fine for most IDE drives in my BIOS, and I'd check the boot order screens you'll find to make sure the drive you're installing GRUB to appears before the other hard drive in the boot sequence.

Are the two drives on the same cable, with one jumpered as master and the other jumpered as slave? If they are on different controller ports, they both may need to be set to master.

Does your BIOS recognize both drives OK (again, check the BIOS setup screens in your PC to find out how they are configured).

If everything looks OK, you may want to boot into a Live CD and paste the contents of /boot/grub/menu.lst (it's a text file that contains the menu choices you see at bootup using GRUB, and GRUB uses it to point to the correct place for booting the menu choice you select). It should be on the partition you created for SimplyMEPIS.

Jim C.

I had to unplug the "non-boot" drive, that is the 120 Gi drive that Mepis is installed on in order to reinstate by mbr.

I had the machine setup with windows booting of the 40 G FAT32 drive. This was Secondary Master and the location of the MBR, listed as hdc by mepis.

The 120 Gi HDD, although the Primary Master was not used to boot to windows, just a file storage location.

Both drives were recognized by the BIOS, and have been functioning just fine. So I have re-ordered the cables with the Primary Master being the location of the boot sector, reconfigured the BIOS and booted to Windows. Everything seems fine.

I will now attempt to re-install GRUB, and cross my fingers that having the boot sector on the Primary Master is all that was required.

Any other words of wisdom?

Thanks for all your responses.

Jeff

It was as simple as changing the primary and secondary masters. Apparently GRUB, or the Mepis GRUB installer has some trouble with installing to anything but the primary master mbr. Since my boot record was on the Secondary master GRUB didn't have any OS's to load, or at least I'm assuming that is why it just repeated the word "GRUB" over and over again?

I simply switched the IDE connectors, adjusted the BIOS, booted to windows (to make sure it worked), then used the LiveCD to install grub on the mbr of the primary master. All works very well. Although I cannot see myself using windows anymore for anything but the work related tasks.

Thanks for all of your responses.

Jeff

Let me get this straight Jeff.

1) You have Windows installed on the 40 GB drive, and you are wanting to use the 120 GB drive to run Mepis.
2) The 40 GB drive is the secondary master?

As Jim mentioned above, the MBR must be on the primary master (/dev/hda) in order to work. What surprises me is that Windows is even able to boot at all. Why? Because Windows likes to be on the first partition of the first drive (/dev/hda1). So when you plug the 120 GB drive in, on the primary master, it is wanting to try to boot from it.

You may have something going on in the BIOS that's allowing /dev/hdc1 to try to boot, or it may be that, because you do not have a real boot record on /dev/hdc1, that it CANNOT BOOT (and you get errors).

Here's what I would suggest. Verify that EACH DRIVE ALONE works properly. Plug each drive in, as the primary master, and don't plug any other drive in. Start with Windows (40 GB drive?). Does it work? Good. Then swap it out, and put the 120 GB drive in. Install Mepis is you can. Does it work? Good.

Then and only then, when you know that both drives work, do you try putting both drives in. For that, I would recommend putting the 120 GB drive as secondary master. Then, when you (re)install Mepis, and put grub in the MBR, it will be on the primary master (the 40 GB drive). Linux an Mepis do not mind running from a secondary controller but you will be unable to install it there because of a current restriction in the installation tools. But it can be done. So first confirm the drives like I mentioned above. Then we can talk you through to how to install Mepis on a secondary drive, in the secondary position

Jon

The ability to comfortably use a computer is directly proportional to desire to listen, learn, and experiment, and is inversely proportional to the fear, anger, and stubbornness that you show.

Oh it has been so long since I had to play with boot records.

Yes to try and set the record straight:

1a) I have a Windows installed on a 40 G hard drive (the drive that came with the machine, windows installed) and a 120 G HDD that I added to the system.

1b) It is the 120 G drive that I partitioned to install Mepis on.

2) The 40 G drive was installed as the secondary master (when I added the 120 G drive for some reason I installed as the primary master)

Windows was able to boot with this configuration, as I went to the BIOS and selected the 40 G drive as the boot drive (this is done in the Boot order section as it gave me the option to select a specific drive, not just the "HDD").

It wasn't until I disconnected the 120 G drive from the machine (unplugged the IDE cable) that I was able to rebuild the mbr and get windows booting again. At that time I changed the configuration so that 40 G drive was the primary master (/dev/hda). I rebooted in windows and let if chkdsk both drives, the I rebooted with the LiveCD and had GRUB reinstalled on the mbr of the 40 G drive (now /dev/hda), and everything is working fine. I can boot into either OS with no problem.

The beauty of having difficulties is one learns very much.

Thanks,

Jeff

Hey there Jeff, congratulations!

Yes, it can sometimes drive us a little nuts trying to keep track of the order of the BIOS, hard drive(s), CD drive(s), partitions, boot loaders, wires, please make him stop!...

And after a couple iterations, we finally learn to write down a couple notes on the whole thing (that are promptly lost just prior to the next time that we need the notes)

So glad to hear that you finally got all your hardware playing nice with each other again. Have fun with Mepis!

Jon

The ability to comfortably use a computer is directly proportional to desire to listen, learn, and experiment, and is inversely proportional to the fear, anger, and stubbornness that you show.