Problems with GRUB

[carrotcake1029]

Ok. I have just recently downloaded and installed Slackware 12.2. Since I know a little more (not much) about GRUB than LILO, I decided I would stick with GRUB from my Ubuntu installation.

Forgive me, I have seen many topics regarding adding Slack to GRUB, but I just can't seem to get it right.

The HDD I am using is a SATA connected to a HDD enclosure to be used through USB, so basically an external USB drive. I have this drive partitioned like this:

/dev/sd1 extended
    /dev/sd5    /boot
    /dev/sd6    swap
    /dev/sd7    /home
/dev/sd2    root for ubuntu
/dev/sd3    root for slack

Here is what my menu.lst looked like before Slack

title		Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-9-generic
uuid		9d17e69b-22fe-4e77-b0ed-9a97680c6c94
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.27-9-generic root=UUID=ba90a53e-bc2d-43f7-b6ad-b2228e323aea ro quiet splash 
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.27-9-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-9-generic (recovery mode)
uuid		9d17e69b-22fe-4e77-b0ed-9a97680c6c94
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.27-9-generic root=UUID=ba90a53e-bc2d-43f7-b6ad-b2228e323aea ro  single
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.27-9-generic

title		Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic
uuid		9d17e69b-22fe-4e77-b0ed-9a97680c6c94
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=ba90a53e-bc2d-43f7-b6ad-b2228e323aea ro quiet splash 
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic (recovery mode)
uuid		9d17e69b-22fe-4e77-b0ed-9a97680c6c94
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=ba90a53e-bc2d-43f7-b6ad-b2228e323aea ro  single
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic

title		Ubuntu 8.10, memtest86+
uuid		9d17e69b-22fe-4e77-b0ed-9a97680c6c94
kernel		/memtest86+.bin
quiet

I just am unsure how to add my slack to the list.

In the slack root /boot, I have found the file vmlinuz-generic-2.6.27.7, so I believe this is the kernel to be used. I also have been unable to spot an initrd, but I am unsure of its purpose anyway. Here was what I tried last and it said that it could not mount the partition:

title		Slackware 12.2, vmlinuz-generic-2.6.27.7
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-generic-2.6.27.7 root=/dev/sda1 resume=/dev/sda3

If any of you guys could point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated!

[Freston]

Welcome to the forums!

You will want to use the vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.27.7-smp kernel if you have a dual core or multi processing capability, and if you have a single core this kernel will work too.

You don't need an initrd (initial ram disk) unless you know you need to load modules into the kernel before it boots up the complete system. This for example is the case if your root partition is on a filesystem that is not readable by the kernel.

As for your unbootable question. I don't know the exact error message, so I don't know the exact error, and I am a bit rusty on the grub syntax, but what comes to mind is that you need to copy the kernel (that'll be /boot/vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.27.7-smp on the Slackware partition) to the /boot directory on the partition that houses all your other kernels as well.

But maybe you can find your answer here?

[carrotcake1029]

Thank you for your response.

Ok, so I moved the kernel vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.27.7-smp to /boot and I got the boot to go a little further. I believe it loaded the kernel ok but it didn't mount /root correctly. Here was the error I got.

Cannot open root device sda3 or unknown-block(0,0)
Please append a correct "root=" boot option; here are the available partitions.
0b00 1048575 sr0 driver: sr

And here is what my menu.lst for slack looked like:

title		Slackware 12.2, vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.27.7-smp
root		(hd0,4)
kernel		/vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.27.7-smp root=/dev/sda3 ro

and once again, here is how my partitions are set up:

/dev/sd1 extended
    /dev/sd5    /boot
    /dev/sd6    swap
    /dev/sd7    /home
/dev/sd2    root for ubuntu
/dev/sd3    root for slack

Thanks

[carrotcake1029]

UPDATE!

I have made it successfully boot, but using the kernel from Ubuntu. I suppose I should keep it this way because it is a higher versioned kernel, but if anyone has any additional advice, my ears are open.

[nathanosackini]

Hi carrotcake,
What i can say about the syntax
root (hd0,4)
is that, your root can be found on the fifth partition of your first drive(HDD).
But from your partition, i can see that your slack
is on the third partition.

About your HDD, i don't know if you have another HDD
in your machine so i can't tell
But if this the only HDD then i will advice you to use
(hd0,2) and see if that will work.

[Freston]

Oh!! Good news!!!

Good, ya know, grub is not my thing and although I have vague estimates of how it probably will work I didn't want to saddle you with my experiments So also thanks nathanosackini for your reply (and welcome to the forums!)