tried lots, can't boot into fedora core 1

**hockeykid** · 05-01-2004

Hello all,

I recently was having a problem with my system where it would just go to the grub prompt. Well, thanks to these forums, I got it working and I booted into XP.

.

Now, it boots straight into XP, I get no grub prompt and no grub screen allowing me to choose which OS to boot in to.

I have tried several different ways of getting into Linux, none of them have been successful. I have tried:

1. Using the boot disk created during installation. When I try to boot from this disk, I get a kernel panic, an "init" problem or something along those lines. So, that doesn't work.

2. I tried popping in the installation cd and doing linux rescue, that did absoutely nothing.

3. I also tried (from the installation cd), the option which "upgrades" your currently installed version of linux without deleting anything, and that also was unsuccessful. I got an error, this time about the swap file, something was wrong with it.

4. Also tried the way suggested on these forums in the HowTo section. I downloaded rawrite.exe and grub.img, put them on a floppy, booted from the floppy, typed in grub> find boot/grub/stage1 which returned an error, saying that the file could not be found. So, that way did not work. Does that mean Grub is off my system completely?

I really don't know what else to try. I'm new at this, so I may be doing something wrong, or missing something completely obvious but I'm really not sure.

Does anyone know how I can boot back into linux so I can try to re-install grub?

I'd appreciate any replies. Thanks in advance.

**ooop** · 05-01-2004

I dont use GRUB, but instead LILO, so I can't be specific.
What I can say is this....if you can "Live boot" with your linux install cd, that is, run a working linux operating system from the cd, all you need to do is plug it in, start Linux from the cd, and then mount your linux-harddrive and start messing around with your grub.conf.

If the cd you are using is NOT a live cd, I'd recommend getting such a cd, like Knoppix, or even the Gentoo Live cd. What is nice about using live cd:s is that you can almost always boot into a linux environment, and from there set up / fix an environment on your harddrive.

I know I haven't been specific, but I hope this has been some help at least.

Good Luck

/ooop

**sarumont** · 05-02-2004

As ooop said, I would suggest getting a LiveCD (Gentoo or Knoppix). From there you can mount your filesystems and fix problems.

What steps did you take to get XP booting? These might help us figure out what went wrong...

**hockeykid** · 05-02-2004

to get xp booting it was a simple fix.

from the grub boot prompt i typed:

Code:

rootnoverify &#40;hd0,0&#41;
makeactive
chainloader +1
boot

**Nerderello** · 05-02-2004

have you read the GRUB Howto in the tutorial section of this forums.

It deals with a lot of the sort of problems that you are bumping into.
have fun

Nerderello

**hockeykid** · 05-02-2004

I have read it, and I tried all the suggestions it gave, and some it didn't, but every time I have recieved a different error. I think I outlined most of them in my first post.

If I boot from a live version of Linux (knoppix for example) I could re-install grub from that version and it would work with my Fedora Core and Windows XP dual boot that is currently on my hard drive?

**Opnosforatou** · 05-03-2004

When you use the bootdisk created during install, does it auto boot into linux or does it show a bootloader ?

Is the error message something like:
>Freeing unused kernel memory: 136k freed
>Kernel panic: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.
when using the bootdisk ?

**hockeykid** · 05-03-2004

that's exactly the error message i'm getting. can it be fixed?

**ducu13** · 05-03-2004

i hate to say, but i have almost the same problem!I hope you don`t mind if i post my problem here...
I "upgraded" my windows 2000 to windows XP.I had to set my active partition to the fat32 one(with XP) and i installed succesfuly windowsXP.Then i set back my active partition the one with linux(hda2) but the grub didn`t show.After i have read almost all about the grub problem on some forums, including this one, i made some "progress".I tried to upgrade my boot loader from my fedora cd but with no succes then again i booted from my fedora cd, typed "linux rescue", then "grub", then

Code:

root &#40;hd0,1&#41;
setup &#40;hd0&#41;

then i booted again, but the grub didn`t appear again...until, those 10 seconds until grub choose your default OS, appeared an error which said like this(my default is XP):

Code:

Error 13&#58; invaild or unsupported executable format

"press any key to continu" and then appeared the grub menu but in black&white and very fuzzy.I selected then to boot linux but the result was something like this:

Code:

root &#40;hd0,0&#41;
filesystem type is fat, partition type 0xb
kernel /boot/vmlinuz.........nptl ro root -LABEL-/ rhgb
Error....

I have to mention that my linux is on (hd0,1) after grub=dev/hda2 after linux.
Now i can boot windows back only if i give this command in a dos promp:

Code:

fdisk /mbr

I really don`t know what to do anymore.I don`t have a LiveCD so i need another solution, if you have.

**Opnosforatou** · 05-04-2004

Originally Posted by hockeykid

that's exactly the error message i'm getting. can it be fixed?

This is usualy the case if your *.img file for you kernel is bye bye..
Bootup you system using the fedora core install disk using the rescue option.
Chroot to the linux boot partition.
(Check man chroot, on how to use it.)
Example: If /dev/hda4 is you linux partition then use chroot /dev/hda4 /
change to /boot
Move the old .img file to *.img.OLD
and type: mkinitrd -v -f initrd-KERNEL-VERSION.img KERNEL-VERSION
Replace KERNEL-VERSION with the correct kernel version that is installed.
This will create a new img file.
When all done...
Check you grub.conf in the etc dir...
Use VI to edit the grub.conf and quit it using :wq to write the new grub.conf to your MBR.
Reboot and it should work now.

What to do if you grub is totaly bye bye... :

Bootup your fedora in rescue mode if you only have the install cd, else use your boot floppy.
(when installing using rescue, be sure to chroot the linux partition that is mounted as /.
For this example we have one harddisk and multiple partitions where the 4th one is originaly mounted as /
startup grub with grub
type root (hd0,4)
/boot/grub/stage1
setup (hd0)
type quit and reboot
The menu will appear again.
If you want to make some changes to the boot menu, you must edit the file: /boot/grub/menu.lst

Howto create a grub bootfloppy

Copy and past the following script into a new file called: writegrubflop.sh

Code:

#!/bin/sh
#
# This script formats the floppy and writes the current grub.conf found in the /etc to floppy.
#
mkfs.ext3 /dev/fd0
mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy
cd /mnt/floppy
mkdir boot
cd boot
mkdir grub
cd /boot/grub
cp stage1 /mnt/floppy/boot/grub
cp stage2 /mnt/floppy/boot/grub
cp menu.lst /mnt/floppy/boot/grub
cp /etc/grub.conf /mnt/floppy/boot/grub
umount /dev/fd0
grub --batch --device-map=/dev/null <<EOF
device &#40;fd0&#41; /dev/fd0
root &#40;fd0&#41;
setup &#40;fd0&#41;
quit
EOF

Save and quit your text editor.
Insert a blank floppy and run the script with sh writegrubflop.sh
or make it executable and run it.

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tried lots, can't boot into fedora core 1

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