Re: Troubleshooting boot problem

[Randy Decker]

Dan,

I am also a newbie and may not have any useful info but am also trying to 
fathom a possible problem with Grub.  The e-mail from Julian Stecklina Jul 13, 
2010 11:24 AM gave the link:
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/multiboot/multiboot.html.  I pasted 
www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual into my browser and downloaded a pdf file of 
the grub manual to peruse.

Following are some of the commands I issued after studying man command or info 
command to learn what to expect.  I don't understand all the results but 
perhaps you may find some value in the following examples.

Randy

address@hidden:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x137c4121

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1       60801   488384001    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 203.9 GB, 203928109056 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24792 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2756f130

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1       12748   102398278+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2           12749       24792    96743430    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5           12749       24297    92767311   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6           24298       24792     3976056   82  Linux swap / Solaris
address@hidden:~$ 
address@hidden:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos" 
address@hidden:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb2
/dev/sdb2: PTTYPE="dos" 
address@hidden:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb1
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="DRV2_VOL1" UUID="D670FEB970FEA003" TYPE="ntfs" 
USAGE="filesystem" 
address@hidden:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb5
/dev/sdb5: UUID="aa9a097f-1e9c-46af-ad23-73eaea054901" VERSION="1.0" 
TYPE="ext4" USAGE="filesystem" 
address@hidden:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb6
/dev/sdb6: UUID="70b96e2b-0af1-4580-888f-dd9f8bf539be" VERSION="2" TYPE="swap" 
USAGE="other" 
address@hidden:~$ sudo mount dev/sdb /mnt
mount: special device dev/sdb does not exist
address@hidden:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt
mount: /dev/sdb already mounted or /mnt busy
address@hidden:~$ sudo umount /dev/sdb /mnt
umount: /dev/sdb: not mounted
umount: /mnt: not mounted
address@hidden:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt
mount: /dev/sdb already mounted or /mnt busy
address@hidden:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdb5 /mnt
address@hidden:~$ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sdb
Installation finished. No error reported.
*******
reboot
*******
address@hidden:~$ sudo update-grub
[sudo] password for randy: 
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-22-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-21-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-21-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Found Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition on /dev/sda1
Found Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition on /dev/sdb1
done
address@hidden:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb2/ print
Error: Could not stat device /dev/sdb2/ - Not a directory.                
Retry/Cancel? c                                                           
address@hidden:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb/ print
Error: Could not stat device /dev/sdb/ - Not a directory.                 
Retry/Cancel? c                                                           
address@hidden:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb5/ print
Error: Could not stat device /dev/sdb5/ - Not a directory.                
Retry/Cancel? c                                                           
address@hidden:~$ sudo parted /dev/sda/ print
Error: Could not stat device /dev/sda/ - Not a directory.                 
Retry/Cancel? c                                                           
address@hidden:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb1/ print
Error: Could not stat device /dev/sdb1/ - Not a directory.                
Retry/Cancel? c          
*********
Closed Terminal.  Opened New Terminal.  Issued same parted command
*********
address@hidden:~$ 
address@hidden:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb print
[sudo] password for randy: 
Model: ATA Maxtor 6L200P0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 204GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End    Size    Type      File system     Flags
 1      32.3kB  105GB  105GB   primary   ntfs            boot
 2      105GB   204GB  99.1GB  extended
 5      105GB   200GB  95.0GB  logical   ext4
 6      200GB   204GB  4071MB  logical   linux-swap(v1)

address@hidden:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb2 print
Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!  




-----Original Message-----
>From: Dan Buehler <address@hidden>
>Sent: Jul 7, 2010 4:56 PM
>To: address@hidden
>Subject: Troubleshooting boot problem
>
>I am trying to troubleshoot an intermittent boot problem. First, I set
>the defaults to allow me to see all the boot messages.  When it failed
>again I was able to determine that the problem occurred right after the
>grub menu selections go away but before the OS is loaded.  It just
>stopped there with nothing but a flashing cursor.  
>
>Does anyone on the list have a suggestion how to troubleshoot this kind
>of problem?  Is there a way find out what problem grub encountered?  I
>am pretty much a newbie here and will appreciate any help.
>
>I am using ubuntu 10.04 with grub2.
>
>Dan
>
>
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