Newbie needs HELP!!!

[eddieishavingagoaswell]

Things are easy, only if you know how. I am a PC user for many years, and I know how to install windows (I've done that many times). But that is just about it.

I tried OpenSuse 10.2 last year on my laptop with no problems. It installed fine and worked great except for my usb modem I couldn't get to work. Unfortunelaty, that computer died yesterday at the age of 5.

I decided to change over to OpenSuse or Ubuntu on my home computer, a P4 2,6GHz 1GB RAM with two IDE HDD (160Gb and 120Gb), nvidia fx5500, Asus P4S800, and a wifi modem router to access the internet. But things didn't go as smooth as with my for ever gone laptop.

Both distros installed fine apparently, asking to be rebooted at the end with a count down timer. But when the pc boots I get the following messages:

GRUB LOADING STAGE 1.5 READ ERROR (ubuntu)
GRUB LOADING STAGE 2 READ ERROR (Open Suse)

I've looked around and found many threads about the problem, but it turns out that I'm not too sure about the problem and the procedure to fix it.

If the problem is in the BIOS IDE primary master and slave configuration, how do I know what the correct parameters for my disks are??

How do I use grub to modify stages 1 and 2 ?

If the problem is that GRUB can't find the Stage 2 in Open suse, how can I fix that?? When trying to fix it, I got an error 28(?) when I did this:

GRUB> kernel /boot/vmlinuz.....
GRUB> initrd /boot/initrd.....
ERROR Xx: selected item could not fit in memory

How can I find out the exact names of the partitions, directories and files so I can tell Grub where to look?

Well, as you can see it is pretty obvious I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm tired of reading through forums and not getting anything clear.
Could somebody tell me how to get my system working? Is there anywhere I can learn the basics on how these distros work for an average user (not programmer nor expert)? What am I doing wrong??

Please excuse my ignorance, but there is always a first time, isn't there?
Thank you.

[yancek]

First, you still have the install CD's? If so, put one in the drive and let it load, open a terminal window and run the command 'fdisk -l' (lower case Letter L) as root (sudo in Ubuntu) and post the output here. This will tell partition structure. Which OS are you trying to boot from?

While you are in a terminal as root (sudo in Ubuntu) enter the word grub to get the grub prompt (grub>) and enter these commands consecutively, hitting enter to get results of one command before entering the next:

geometry (hd0)
geometry (hd1)
find /sbin/init
find /boot/vmlinuz
find /boot/grub/stage1
find /boot/grub/stage2

Post the output here. Which OS did you install first? Did you re-boot it successfully before installing the second OS?

[eddieishavingagoaswell]

Thank you very much for your reply. I've been out for a few days, sorry I didn't get to answer until now.

I did exactly what you told me. The fdisk -l gave me this:


Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000487b0

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 262 2104483+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2 * 263 2873 20972857+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 2874 19457 133210980 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x36410d50

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 7153 57456441 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 7154 14593 59761800 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 7154 14593 59761768+ 7 HPFS/NTFS


I did the grub one too, and it kept giving me "disk not found" or "file not found".

As you can see, I have two disks. My initial intention was to have open suse or ubuntu on sda and windows on sdb, and switch using the bios.

Is there a cure to my problem??

[yancek]

You have Ubuntu or Opensuse on sda2 and the other on sda3. If the grub commands I suggested in my last post did not show any results, then grub did not install properly. You can re-install grub from one of your installation CD's but you need to decide which distro to use, Ubuntu or Opensuse. If you choose the distro installed on sda2 you would go to the grub prompt and type:

root (hd0,1)
setup (hd0)
quit

If that doesn't work you may have to re-install. Post back with results.

My initial intention was to have open suse or ubuntu on sda and windows on sdb, and switch using the bios

You can easily setup grub to boot windows on a separate disk.

[eddieishavingagoaswell]

Thank you Yancek. I've too busy at work to carry on with my problem until yesterday. But I won't give up.

I also manually adjusted the BIOS parameters with the info I got from the fdisk -l you suggested before. I downloaded opensuse 11 and tried that, but I still get a grub loading stage2read error.

I don't seem to have an option for reinstalling grub "for dummies" in the install disk. So I've tried doing it through the terminal using an Ubuntu live cd, but all I get is that there is no disk found or something similar. I'm sorry I'm not specific, I'll try to post exactly what I get when I get home.

By the way, could anyone recommend any suggested reading or books on linux for absolute beginners? And about all the commands available in terminal, what they do and how to use them? Internet is ok, but I'm no expert so it's just hard to get anything complete and reliable if you don't really know what to look for.

For further information, the system I'm having trouble with consists os a pentium 4 2,6Ghz, asus p4s800 motherboard, 120 Gb seagate hdd, 160 Gb seagate hdd, Gforce x5500 graphics, trust 5.1 pci audio, cdr-rw drive, dvdr-rw drive. Unfortunately, I do not have a floppy drive for a bootable diskette. Is it possible to make a bootable cd instead of a diskette?

[yancek]

Do you have a 'rescue/recovery' option on the opensuse 11 CD?
Posting exact error messages will help.
The site below has a number of on-lin books on Linux.
68 Linux Related Free E-books | LinuxHaxor.net

As far as Linux commands, just google 'linux commands', you should get a lot of sites.

You also need to decide which OS (opensuse or ubuntu) you are going to use to boot from as you will need to install the stage1 file from that distro into the mbr of the drive you are booting from. The stage1 file points to the rest of the bootloader files which will be in the /boot/grub directory of that distro.

I also manually adjusted the BIOS parameters with the info I got from the fdisk -l you suggested before

Not sure what you mean by the above. I wouldn't change boot order in BIOS until the installations are successful.

Are you able to mount your partitions with the live CD and view the Ubuntu or Opensuse partitions, specifically the /boot/grub directory?

Post specific error information on what you do.

[eddieishavingagoaswell]

Thank you for your patience. I apologise for my non-professional methods.

I am going to try and do my best, and go step by step and start from the beginning.

First, I set the Bios to boot from cd/dvd drive. All the IDE detect settings are set to automatic.

The 160Gb drive is the primary master, the one I intend to install OpenSuse 11. The 120Gb drive has a windos xp installation I'm using at the moment.

I insert the Open Suse 11 DVD in the drive and let it do it's thing.

It asks me where I am, I say Spain, Keyboard layout, language,etc, and I let it create the partitions as it suggests. All goes fine, it finishes installing, it starts for the first time and I can use Open suse 11 for as long as I like, until I decide to turn it off or reboot. Then it comes up with the Grub loading stage2read error.

Then I put the DVD back in and I have varios options, like the automatic repair option, install option, rescue option, ...and a few others.

I will try and be as dumb as possible, and do EXACTLY what I'm told. I do appreciate the help I am getting, I hope it is not too much of an inconvenience to you to guide me through this procedure.

[yancek]

When you installed Opensuse, did you install Grub to the mbr of that drive? This is the 160GB w/only Opensuse on it? The 120GB has xp? You said you are using xp at the moment so you can boot from it. Are you booting xp with Grub or the xp bootloader? I'm wondering which drive you have set first if you can boot xp and not Opensuse? If you did not install Grub to the mbr of its drive you need to do that.

Could you use your install DVD and go to the rescue option, go to a terminal and log on as root and go to the /boot/grub/menu.lst file and post the output. This should help if you are getting a message indicating Grub can't find stage2.

[eddieishavingagoaswell]

The 120 GB HDD is the primary slave and has XP installed on it. The 160GB HD is the primary master. For booting I use the bios to select the 120GB to boot XP. When I installed Open SUSE I had the BIOS set to boot from the CD-DVD drive as first option, and the 160GB as second option. I installed OS11 on the 160GB drive.

When I load the rescue option, when I use:

find /boot/grub/menu.lst
find /boot/grub/stage2

I get "file not found".

[yancek]

Log in as root using the Opensuse 11.0 CD Rescue option, type grub at the prompt to get a grub prompt which looks like this (grub>). Here you will enter the commands to see if you have these files. If you type the following command, you should get results. Do not type 'grub>', that should already be there.

grub> find /boot/grub/menu.lst

If you still have the same partitions with Opensuse and Ubuntu on sda2 and sda3, your output should be: (hd0,1), (hd0,2)

Then enter the following command consecutively at the grub prompt:

find /boot/grub/stage1
find /boot/grub/stage2

The results should be the same as for the 'menu.lst' command above. If they don't provide anything, Grub is not installed correctly. You did install Grub to the master boot record of sda during the Opensuse installation? You must install part of the Grub bootloader to the mbr of its disk or it won't boot!! If you did these command at the grub prompt, you don't have Grub installed if you get no results?