Re: a FAQ that probably isn't that trivial to answer ...

[Udo Rader <udo.rader@bestsolution.at>]

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On Tue, 2007-10-02 at 11:50 +0200, willem wrote:
> Udo Rader wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > for various reasons I decided to give grub2 a try and now I am caught in
> > the "my system doesn't boot" trap.
> >
> > The problem is probably a bit more complex then it seems at first hand,
> > because my system doesn't even start into grub at all but "freezes"
> > somewhere between hard disk detection and starting up grub. Absolutely
> > no message is displayed after the POST is complete.
> >
> > The only chance I can currently somewhat revive my system is by
> > unplugging the hard drive before powering up the system, inserting some
> > kind of boot CD (in my case a debian etch installation CD), plug in the
> > hard drive and then boot into rescue mode.
> >
> > In rescue mode I see the the hard drive itself (and the data on it) is
> > completely OK and so after many hours of trying I am completely lost ...
> >
> > Things were working absolutely OK before I tried to install grub2. Yet
> > now, reinstalling whatever bootloader does not bring my system back into
> > normal booting again. So far I have tried to reinstall grub legacy and
> > even lilo, but all without success.
> >
> > grub-install/update-grub gives this:
> >
> > ------CUT------
> > % grub-install --recheck /dev/sda
> > 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/sda
> > %
> > % update-grub
> > Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
> > Testing for an existing GRUB grub.cfg file ...
> > found: /boot/grub/grub.cfg
> > Searching for splash image ... found: /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
> > Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.22-12-generic
> > Found kernel: /memtest86+.bin
> > Updating /boot/grub/grub.cfg ... done
> > ------CUT------
> >
> > The hints on http://grub.enbug.org/GettingStarted also did not bring me
> > anywhere, so any ideas are greatly appreciated ...
> >
> > If my box hadn't worked without problems before, I would consider a
> > firmware issue, but I can hardly believe that to be the case ...
> >   
> So it wise to save the MBR with dd before trying GRUB 2 .

... hmm, yes, maybe. 

I am not sure the MBR is corrupt, because I can boot the harddisk when I
plug it into another box and I can boot my box with the other boxes
harddrive ...

Looks like the only chance I have is to try to completely wipe the disk
and reinstall it, but I would really like to find the reason for all
this ...

What is actually done after POST is complete (on a technical level)? If
the system freezes with the hard disk connected (and even with "booting
from harddisk" disabled in the BIOS), what could cause this? Can this
even be a GRUB/"bootloader" issue??

-- 
Udo Rader

bestsolution.at EDV Systemhaus GmbH
http://www.bestsolution.at

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