Grub.conf not finding kernel

[paradox6996]

So I'm trying to boot Debian of my Gentoo grub.conf which is:

title=Debian Linux
root (hd0,3)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.26-2-amd64 root=/dev/sda4 ro
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.26-2-amd64

Which I think is correct because of:

dpkg --list | grep linux-image
ii  linux-image-2.6.26-2-amd64           2.6.26-21lenny4                      Linux 2.6.26 image on AMD64

and

ls -l
total 16060
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1226063 Mar  9 17:34 System.map-2.6.26-2-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   85663 Mar  9 17:34 config-2.6.26-2-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6666813 May 11 19:46 initrd.img-2.6.26-2-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6666793 May 11 19:46 initrd.img-2.6.26-2-amd64.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1755760 Mar  9 17:34 vmlinuz-2.6.26-2-amd64

I get an error code 15 at boot when I select this partition, and I don't know why. any help would be appreciated.

[glennzo]

So I'm trying to boot Debian of my Gentoo grub.conf which is:

title=Debian Linux
root (hd0,3)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.26-2-amd64 root=/dev/sda4 ro
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.26-2-amd64

Which I think is correct because of:

dpkg --list | grep linux-image
ii  linux-image-2.6.26-2-amd64           2.6.26-21lenny4                      Linux 2.6.26 image on AMD64

and

ls -l
total 16060
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1226063 Mar  9 17:34 System.map-2.6.26-2-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   85663 Mar  9 17:34 config-2.6.26-2-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6666813 May 11 19:46 initrd.img-2.6.26-2-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6666793 May 11 19:46 initrd.img-2.6.26-2-amd64.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1755760 Mar  9 17:34 vmlinuz-2.6.26-2-amd64

I get an error code 15 at boot when I select this partition, and I don't know why. any help would be appreciated.

The boot loader must be looking at the wrong partition when trying to boot Debian. Maybe Debian is installed on /dev/sda4 (hd0,5) or /dev/sda5 (hd0,6) for example.

Error code 15 means that the boot loader can't find one or more files that it needs to boot the system, probably because it's looking in the wrong place.

[paradox6996]

The boot loader must be looking at the wrong partition when trying to boot Debian. Maybe Debian is installed on /dev/sda4 (hd0,5) or /dev/sda5 (hd0,6) for example.

Error code 15 means that the boot loader can't find one or more files that it needs to boot the system, probably because it's looking in the wrong place.

I was going to be an @ss and just completely tell you how fail your post was, but I'll leave it at that. I know what the code means, I just don't know how to fix it because the Debian documentation is pretty fail and undeveloped. If you don't know what your talking about, why post. Don't be a noob and sound like this:

Maybe Debian is installed on /dev/sda4 (hd0,5) or /dev/sda5 (hd0,6) for example.

Sorry, but it's like come on.

[glennzo]

OK my friend. Have a nice day.

[devils casper]

I was going to be an @ss and just completely tell you how fail your post was, but I'll leave it at that. I know what the code means, I just don't know how to fix it because the Debian documentation is pretty fail and undeveloped. If you don't know what your talking about, why post. Don't be a noob and sound like this:

All of us are volunteer here and we are here to help others at our will. If you don't know how to respect others, I would suggest you to look for help at some other place. We are not going to tolerate this kind of attitude and behavior.

FYI, Like Gentoo, Debian's documentation is also one of the best and most comprehensive documentation available for any distro.

There is nothing wrong in glennzo's suggestion. Could you post output of fdisk -l command and contents of /etc/fstab file of Debian?

[paradox6996]

Yes I know about volunteering, I do that across Linux forums daily. To start things off, maybe I was a little harsh. I just figured someone with 359 posts would know better, but ok.

The reason why it is (hd0,3) and not (hd0,5) is because the hard-drive map starts at (hd0,0) meaning that /dev/sda4 would be (hd0,3). Think about it like this:

(hd0,0) /dev/hda1
(hd0,1) /dev/hda2
(hd0,2) /dev/hda3
(hd0,3) /dev/hda4

Say you have a second hard-drive


(hd1,0) /dev/hdb1
(hd1,1) /dev/hdb2
(hd1,2) /dev/hdb3
(hd1,3) /dev/hdb4

And so on... What you are saying with the hard-drive option being /dev/sda4 @ point (hd0,5) is saying that the hard-drive map starts at (hd0,2).

Now for the moderator, someone with 22k posts should know better; but ok... The Debian documentation is no were close to developed as the Gentoo docs. Just reading through Appendix-D in the Debian docs, it will say stuff like for example: You can install this application this way, but there are other install methods in other sections of this handbook, but there is no links to these other methods or even a reference to what sections these methods are in. There are other things wrong with it that I'm not going to get into, as I don't care too. The Gentoo docs are very well written and developed, if there is another way something can be configured or installed; it will provide other links within the handbook on how to do that.

On too... you wanting my fdisk and fstab, why would my fstab matter in this situation as I haven't gotten the kernel to boot. If I booted into a kernel with a failed panic: "I can't find your hard-drive" then fstab would be relevant information. asking for an fdisk ok sure.

fdisk -l
Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
Boot = /dev/sda1   *           1           7       56196   83  Linux 
Swap = /dev/sda2               8         616     4891792+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
Gentoo = /dev/sda3             617        7061    51769462+  83  Linux
Debian = /dev/sda4            7062        9729    21430710   83  Linux

Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
Win7 Boot = /dev/sdb1   *           1          13      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS
Win7 = /dev/sdb2              13        9561    76694528    7  HPFS/NTFS
Ext. = /dev/sdb3            9562       38912   235761907+   f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
My Documents = /dev/sdb5            9562       38912   235761876    7  HPFS/NTFS

So my output is correct, since Debian is at /dev/sda4 then my mount point should be (hd0,3).

So on to fixing the issue, It's been awhile since I've installed grub or Linux, so I was a bit rusty. The way I was trying to get the kernel to boot I would of needed to copy the vmlinuz files over to my /boot directory so my Gentoo grub can boot the files. I decided that this was not the best way to do it, so I installed grub normally in Debian and then chain-load from my Gentoo grub into my Debian grub, and then finally into Debian kernel. Doing it this makes it a bit easier, since I wouldn't have to copy the files over to my /boot directory every time a new release comes out, and Debian grub can update the grub-configuration automatically.

So... I'm sorry for being an @sshole, it was late and I was tired, but that is no excuse to be mean to someone. I'm not trying to be condescending posting all this information, but trying to give insight into information, or give my point of view about the subject. Hopefully you can forgive me!

Thanx for the help, Paradox(>")>

[Jonathan183]

Drive assignments changed between grub legacy and grub2, so some confusion of correct designation can be expected ... fstab contents could indicate hda or sda designation for drive which can vary between distros (I have had hda assignments using a manually configured kernel and sda assignment using genkernel). I think Gentoo still uses grub legacy by default but Debian will offer grub legacy and grub2 at install stage so either could have been used. You may also find if you use /boot/kernel_name rather than /kernel_name that you can boot directly rather than chain loading. Having said that I think chainloading is a better solution for when kernel updates occur ...