grub error after installing gentoo minimal

[Jonathan183]

OK Neon427 ...
First run mount on its own and check no partitions are mounted to /mnt/gentoo

mount

Next mount your root partition to /mnt/gentoo using

mount /dev/hda3 /mnt/gentoo

then use

cd /mnt/gentoo
ls

and check a boot directory exists
Next mount the boot partition to /mnt/gentoo/boot using

mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/gentoo/boot

You should now be able to list the contents of fstab using

cat /mnt/gentoo/etc/fstab

and the contents of the grub menu.lst file using

cat /mnt/gentoo/boot/grub/menu.lst

You can check the kernel name using

ls /mnt/gentoo/boot

If you post the fstab, menu.lst and kernel name then we should be able to help suggest modifications required.

Ed: you should have used the mount commands during the install process - handbook section 4e

[Neon427]

alright that worked here's my fstab, menu.lst and kernel name.

Fstab:

/dev/BOOT /boot ext2 noauto,noatime 1 2
/dev/ROOT / ext3 noatime 0 1
/dev/SWAP none swap sw 0 0
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom auto noauto,ro 0 0
#/dev/Fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto 0 0

Menu.lst:

default 0
timeout 30
title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.23-r9
root (hd0,0)
Kernel /boot/kernel-2.6.23-gentoo-r9 root=/dev/hda3
title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.23-r9 (rescue)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-2.6.23-gentoo-r9 root=/dev/hda3 init=/bin/bb

Kernel name:

kernel-2.6.23-gentoo-r9

Preciate the help

~neon~

P.S. Sorry its hard to read... it doesn't seem to want to line up right...

[Jonathan183]

Neon427 ...

First of all you have the default fstab so you will need to modify this using nano ... if you still have the partitions mounted as before you can edit fstab using

nano /mnt/gentoo/etc/fstab

you should change the root, swap and boot entries to ...

/dev/hda1         /boot        ext2         noauto,noatime 1 2
/dev/hda3         /              ext3         noatime            0 1
/dev/hda2         none         swap       sw                   0 0

I think if you make the changes to fstab, umount the partitions and reboot you should start Linux from your hard disk.

Ed: Let us know how it goes.

[Neon427]

ok good thanks! we got through that, but now,

"*Starting eth0
*configuration not set for eth0 - assuming DHCP
** No DHCP client installed
**ERROR: cannot start netmount as net.eth0 could not start
*starting vixie-cron...
*starting local ...

This is localhost.(none) (Linux i686 2.6.23-gentoo-r9 17:32:42
localhost login:


and i don't know what the login name or password is.
was i supposed to set that somewhere?

[dxqcanada]

It appears that you did not completely follow the Gentoo Installation Handbook.

You should not skip reading anything in the Handbook, unless you are already familiar with Gentoo installations. Too many newbies run into problems with Gentoo because of that.

You did not complete the section in the Gentoo Handbook about setting the root user's password and emerging the dhcpcd client.

[Jonathan183]

Probably not what you want to hear ... but Gentoo works if you follow the handbook to install. You should have set a root user password, so should be able to login as root and then add a user. For the DHCP client bit you need to have followed the section on network setup. If you did not emerge dhcpcd in section 9.e of the manual you will need to boot from the cd again and work through parts of the install process.

I ended up printing out the manual and working through it step by step because I made mistakes a few times.

[Neon427]

Well it isn't what i wanted to hear, but the whole reason i'm doing this is to learn so it doesn't make much difference. Thanks again for the help! And i think i will print out the manual, that way i don't need both my PC's to install it...
Neon

I should be able to just set the password and emerge the DHCP client without redoing the whole thing though? Is that correct?

[dxqcanada]

My first time installing Gentoo, I had to go back from the beginning twice after I could not get my laptop to boot.
I had realized that I did not pay attention to everything the Handbook stated.

Now after installing Gentoo on 6 laptops and 4 desktop units ... I still read everything in the Handbook when doing an install.

If you read the Handbook you will actually learn more about Linux than most people will know ... as most Linux distro's set all this stuff up for you automatically.

Start from the beginning again ... try to read everything and work on understanding what is being stated so you can understand why something might not work as expected.

[Neon427]

Alright lets do it again!
Thanks bro!

[i92guboj]

Well it isn't what i wanted to hear, but the whole reason i'm doing this is to learn so it doesn't make much difference. Thanks again for the help! And i think i will print out the manual, that way i don't need both my PC's to install it...
Neon

I should be able to just set the password and emerge the DHCP client without redoing the whole thing though? Is that correct?

Just boot from your livecd, mount all the partitions and chroot as explained in the handbook, then emerge the dhcp client and set the root password.

And try to stick to the handbook strictly until you are familiar with the installation process. The first time you install Gentoo it can be a bit challenging for a newcomer.

Best of luck with that.