VGA boot error

[Tsquad]

Hello, i just got finished installing debian with no gui. To get it to install, i had to 'install vga=771' at the boot: paramater (help option). The installer would not start otherwise. Now that it is installed, it worked fine for a bit. But it seems, that 2 out of every 5 reboots, I get the following error message right after I select my install on the grub menu. Below is exactly what the error message says.



vga=771 is deprecated. Use set gfxpayload=800x600x8,800x600 before linux command instead.
error: couldnt read file.
Loading initial ramdisk ...
error: you need to load the kernel first.
Failed to boot both default and fallback entries.

Press any key to continue . . .


This would not be a serious issue if i were not trying to run a headless server as after I 'press any key to continue' it reloads grub and boots with success every time. But im just trying to avoid having to plug in a monitor/keyboard to get past this if for some reason i have to reboot it.

The PC's specs are as follows:
Gateway desktop
P4 2.0
512mb ram
320Gb HD, no raid or special HD config

Running Debian squeeze CLI.

I would really appreciate any help on this, it has me stumped, along with no answers in the debian IRC server. The only google link I found that remotely has to do with it is here: GRUB 2, graphical boot tips to set the desired VGA console mode. - iNTBlog

[jayd512]

I took a look at the page you linked. have you found the config file that it's talking about?
Using an editor (vi, gedit,etc...), open the file /etc/default/grub.
Here's mine on a Ubuntu machine:

$ cat /etc/default/grub 
# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

The line you need to un-comment is marked in red. Also, you'll need to edit the line to match the output of your error:

vga=771 is deprecated. Use set gfxpayload=800x600x8,800x600 before linux command instead.

After you make your changes, run update-grub, or sudo update-grub. Reboot, and you should be good to go.

[jayd512]

I missed a good piece of information there...
It seems that after all of that, you'll need to edit the header file in your /etc/grub.d directory as well.

You have to find the file or script responsible to change the content of your grub.cfg configuration file and append the appropriate line, after the gfxmode sentence, gfxpayload=keep to keep the same resolution of the GRUB 2 menu for the console (wider resolutions result in smaller console fonts). In my case i had to edit the script 00_header stored into the /etc/grub.d directory.

... Welcome to GRUB2

[Tsquad]

Ok, I did see that, but I was hoping it wasnt that involved haha. Ohh well, the more errors, the more I learn I guess. Thanks for clearing that up.

[jayd512]

Just out of curiosity here... have you tried booting without any of these options?
I know you mentioned that they were needed for the installation, but what about now?

[Tsquad]

I have not, but I also thought that when I issued the "install vga=771" command at the boot: prompt that it was only for the install process itself, and that it didnt save the setting on install. I thought that that was my issue, it wasnt saved. How would I go about booting without the options?

[jayd512]

When booting your machine, and you get to the GRUB screen, you should have a chance to hit 'e'.
That will bring up a screen that lets you add/remove boot parameters. But it's only for that boot-up. Meaning that, if it works, you'll need to make it permanent. If it don't work... no big deal, as nothing was changed.
So, reboot. hit 'e' during the GRUB screen. use your keyboard to move to the vga=771, and back space over it.
Then, and I forget here but it's on the screen, I think it's ctrl-x to boot up.

This might not even work, but it sounded easier than anything else I can think of.

[Tsquad]

Well, I did what that guide said. Had to add the set gfxpayload=keep to my 00_header file and the whole bit. updated grub, then rebooted and it all worked fine. But my problem now is that like i said before, it only happens 2/5 times, some times less. So its hard to get the error to show when I need it to, unless its actually fixed. I wont know if its actually fixed until I reboot like, 50 times and it doesn't happen. I did experience some odd freezing while trying to edit those files though. The courser stopped flashing and the whole server was unresponsive to any key strokes. I had to hard restart it twice while trying to edit those files, I hope this has fixed that as well.

Either way, the changes have been made, so lets hope its all fixed. Once again, thanks for all your help jayd, you always seem to have the answer to my questions

PS: Head over to Applications and check out my SFTP problem if your bored