[NTLUG:Discuss] Boot Sector problem

[Pervaz Allaudin]

Please allow me top-note here since the lines refered to below are multiple and this I this will be clearer I think.
   
  I did have problems with the 'setup' command mentioned by terry below and it gave device errors.
  'find' and 'setup' both also gave boot device errorss possibly for reasons mentioned by Leroy.
   
  Mandrake has a rescue script but it failed for boot device '/usr/install-bootloader' 
   
  I see the partitions with the partsmon(?) command. I see the /boot dir and stage1 and stage2 files in it although the menu.lst has only linux command - it does not boot linux either. I do not know if Mandrake put it there temporarily in rescue mode.
   
  I had creted a separate 101MB boot partition (hd1) that I got reformatedd in trying to put the new system before it failed.
   
  The CD Rom is the one that is consistently giving the crc error when trying to open ziped or rpm files it seems but knoppix is booting fine.
   
  I will try the the new advice - keeps my fingers crossed. I am considering the rescue CD's.
   
  Thanks
  
Leroy Tennison <leroy_tennison at prodigy.net> wrote:
    Terry wrote:
> On 4/5/06, Terry wrote:
> 
>> On 4/5/06, Terry wrote:
>> 
>>> Use Mandrake's rescue mode, (hopefully on install CD#1), to boot up
>>> your Mandrake system and do it from there.
>>>
>>> 
>> And then:
>> If I'm not mistaken, Mandrake 10.1 used Grub and so...
>> To install the GRUB boot loader on your drive you should use the utility
>> grub-install
  >>
>> 
>
> Information from grub info:
>
> Once started, GRUB will show the command-line interface (*note
> Command-line interface::). First, set the GRUB's "root device"(1)
> (*note Installing GRUB natively-Footnote-1::) to the boot directory,
> like this:
>
> grub> root (hd0,0)
>
> If you are not sure which partition actually holds these files, use
> the command `find' (*note find::), like this:
>
> grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
>
> This will search for the file name `/boot/grub/stage1' and show the
> devices which contain the file.
>
> Once you've set the root device correctly, run the command `setup'
> (*note setup::):
>
> grub> setup (hd0)
>
> This command will install GRUB on the MBR in the first drive.
>
>
>
>
> 
>> (This is assuming the GRUB application is already been installed on
>> your system - and it more than likely has been, as long as you
>> finished the install process to that point and only left off writing
>> the boot loader to the MBR of your hard drive.)
>>
>> 
>>> On 4/5/06, Pervaz Allaudin 
wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I managed to erase my boot record while trying to switch from Fedora 2 to Mandrake 10.1 on my old dual system. On top of that that all the CDs are erroring out due to crc error so I cannot do another reinstall. So both windows 98 and Linux are dead in the water.
>>>>
>>>> I am able to boot with Knoppix and did find the grub-install command; My problem is Knoppix gives a read only error and I am not too sure what my non-knoppix hda1&2 is mapped on.
>>>>
>>>> I tried both - There is /knoppix/dev/had1&2 and a dev/hda1&2 somewhere also if I am not mistaken. had2 was by FD2 /boot and hda1 my windows 98.
>>>>
>>>> So the question is how can I get my boot loader back into my hard drive?
>>>>
>>>> Also should I put it on had1 - the windows system - which I think I had previously?
>>>> The web pages where I checked warned against going into the MBR and went for longer procedure of copying the boot file while into window etc.
>>>>
>>>> Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance
>>>>
>>>> Pervaz
>>>>
>>>>
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>
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> 
I need to point out a possible issue here and will add a couple of other 
possible solutions. First, the find command only finds exact paths so, 
if you happen to have a separate partition mounted at /boot (like I do), 
it won't find /boot/grub/stage1. The reason is that /boot/grub/stage1 
only exists when the partition is mounted, what's on the partition is 
/grub/stage1. 
   
  Prevaz >>>
  I 
   
   
   
  One way to check this is do 'grub geometry (hd0)'. (Be 
careful with this command because extraneous entries appended to it 
could have the undesirable effect of ***setting*** the drive's 
geometry.) Look at the partitions listed to get a clue at to what you 
have. Another (probably better) way is to 'find /etc/fstab' and then 
'cat /etc/fstab' so you will know for sure what you have. In the 
latter case you will replace with (hd,) where and 
are the appropriate values.

On the Knoppix CD you should be able to run or switch to a command 
prompt (Ctrl-Alt-F1 through F6). Type 'mount' and see what it shows is 
mounted. Run 'fdisk' and see what is available.

Another option is to make a grub diskette. If you feel comfortable 
downloading images from the Web I found a reference to some at 
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/comments-feedback-suggestions/5985-grub-diskette-download.html.

Finally, there are other live CD's out there. The two I know about are 
SuSE and "Trinity Rescue Kit". However, if you are getting read errors 
on multiple CDs I'm wondering if you may actually have a (CD) drive 
problem. Got any additional hardware lying around?

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