Loader problem

[kosonenv 0]

I updated Red Hat 9.0 to Fedora Core 1 and select the choice to

update from LILO to GRUB. Unfortunately I forgot that RH 9 booted

from floppy and files in FC boot don't fit into a floppy. Now in the boot machine seems to want to use LILO, because first in black screen comes only text "LI" and then it hangs. In /boot/grub directory therere is only two files, "grub.conf" which seems to be corrupted and "splash.xpm.gz" and I think there should be many more.

 

My machine has SCSI HW RAID 5 and Fedora finds the previous installation as /dev/ida/c0d0p1.

 

So how should I configure GRUB or shall I have to do fresh installation

over the whole thing...?

[outstream 0]

well i am not sure if i have the exact solution to your problem. this happened to me once, when i installed my windows after linux, the windows boot loader installed on MBR over grub and my linux wouldnt run...i use red hat 9..so there was option to go to rescue mode, through installation cd and re-install grub only over MBR again. may be you should have a look on fedora`s documentation or google around a little and try to find if there is a way to go into rescue mode through installation disk(s) of fedora. once there, u can re-install fresh copy of grub on MBR, and hopefully that`ll solve the problem.

[danleff 0]

The LI stop on boot is Lilo trying to boot, but it hangs because it does not like the geometry of the boot drive, or how it is set up.

 

When you switched to Grub during the upgrade, did you attempt to install grub on the master boot record, or to the floppy?

 

If you tried to use the same floppy that had lilo on it, this is most likely the problem.

 

Also, the way that Fedora identifies the raid drives may have changed, so that the designation that it gives your raid setup is different. I've seen this happen when changes are made in the drive designations when a distro is updated and changes are made in identifying the drives. Raid arrays are also problematic and sometimes a bear to set up correctly.

 

What happens if you try to boot without the floppy in the floppy drive? I'm going to guess that either you tried to install grub on the same floppy that lilo was on and you are trying to boot from this floppy.

 

I'll have to look at my Fedora install and see what is in the grub directory.

 

When changing bootloaders, I always use the same bootloader, or if I want to try grub, for instance, I install it to the floppy first to see if it works. A fresh floppy, not the same one that has a previous bootloader installed on it.

 

It looks like both bootloaders are trashed though, but let's see what your response is first before we move on.

[kosonenv 0]

In update Fedora recommended to convert the loader and it did not

ask about MBR, so it seems that it had tried to use floppy even though

files dont fit in it.

 

I tried also update again, but FC did not change any bootloader

options, it notified that because kernel image did not change there

is no need to change the bootloader. That did not help even I chose the MBR or first partition (/dev/ida/c0d0p1) or else partitions.

 

The main point is (I think) that old RH fiteed on bootdisk and FC

did not. I should have changed to boot from MBR before update

but i forgot.

 

Also, I have another machine with fresh installation of FC 1 but will the grub.conf options and files be the same? I am afraid that not.

[danleff 0]

This is why I don't like upgrades. You can run into issues like this.

 

Again, grub will fit on a floppy, as it only installs what it needs to read the boot partition and the grub.conf or menu file. Most of gruns files should be on the hard disk in the /boot/grub directory.

 

What I was trying to get at, is that you are getting a Lilo boot message, I assume booting from the floppy. This is the LI hang message that you are getting.

 

The issue, I believe is that you have corrupted lilo files on the floppy which are still trying to boot.

 

Let's see if we can recover grub. If you use a floppy for grub, use a fresh formatted floppy, otherwise, install to the MBR, as you mentioned. I'll look at mine.

 

Most likely, if recovery is possible, it will be from the rescue feature on the Fedora install disk.

[kosonenv 0]

Hi, I've been off work on a flu vith some kind of virus (not to worry, I use F-Secure AV ) so couldn't been on the net for a while. x)

 

FC1 did not make a bootdisk, it just formed that "your kernel selection does not fit into a floppy" (or somethin like that) and presumably tried to

install grub on MBR or /dev/ida/s0d0p1 or unexsisting floppy.

 

The RH9.0 bootdisk is no use at all, but yes: I can boor to rescue mode with FC1. How to I proced to get the GRUB working? I don't believe

tha other machines FC1 installations I have will help because the hardware is very different... ;(

[Dapper Dan 0]

I tried upgrading from RH9 to Fedora, from the Fedora disks and ran into a host of problems afterward. I then decided to do a completely new Fedora install after saving my files, and everything now works almost perfectly, and at much faster speeds.

[danleff 0]

Yes, a new install is probably the best option, and the raid partitions will get properly configured.This way you can configure grub to boot from the floppy or the MBR and have a pristine system.

 

But, if you want to tinker with the current install;

 

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialRecoveryAndBootDisk.html