11.1 Error installing boot manager

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Greetings all,

I’m not a newbie to Linux, but this is my first time using openSUSE. In the past, I have used Mandrake and Red Hat, when they were still called such in the 6.0 - 9.0 days.

I have made it through most of the installation of openSUSE 11.1 without problems, but I am at the “Finishing Basic Installation” phase and the “Install boot manager” step. I am presented with the following error at this step:

An error occurred during initrd creation.

Kernel image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.7-9-default
Initrd image: /boot/initrd-2.6.27.7-9-default
Root device: /dev/disk/by-id/ata-TOSHIBA_MK6026GAX_Y4HQ8854T-part2 (/dev/sda2) (mounted on / as ext3)

I should note that this is a fresh install with prepartitioned drives that I made using the Knoppix LiveCD. I have a Dell Laptop, so the first partition contains Windows Recovery tools, although Windows is not installed. The following is my partition table

/dev/sda1 Dell Boot Utility
/dev/sda2 Linux native (ext3) [Root Directory]
/dev/sda3 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4 Extended Partition
/dev/sda5 Linux native (ext3)
/dev/sda6 Linux native (ext3)
/dev/sda7 Linux native (ext3) [Home Directory]

sda5 and sda6 are intended for important storage and backup respectively in case there is a need for reinstallation or partition failure as the laptop I’m installing on is getting on in age.

At this point, I can retry boot loader configuration to try and install it, though if I don’t change settings, I get the same error. The boot loader installation tab in boot loader settings is:

Type: Boot Loader: GRUB
Boot Loader Location: Boot from Root Partition

I’m not sure what to do at this point.

I’ve also become aware of problems changing hostname and if possible to clear that up here, I was wondering if someone can help me figure out how to choose a custom hostname cleanly in the system using mostly front end methods as I’m aware it is possible to using back end modification of /etc/HOSTNAME but I would prefer if there were a front end method so I don’t mistakenly cause any problems as I’m just getting back into Linux.

Thanks for the help.

2

For the error about “initrd creation,” I suggest running the “mkinitrd” command.

Also, make sure the contents of /boot agrees with your /boot/grub/menu.lst or /etc/lilo.conf.

3

Thank you for your response.

At this point, should I just skip the error and let install complete and return to the “Rescue System” option to input this command then?

And to clarify the part about /boot agreeing with /boot/grub/menu.lst What am I looking for? I can see the menu.lst at this point in the install process and from my understanding of it, it looks straightforward.

It has the default at openSUSE 11.1 with the right location of root and what look to be appropriate options for my partition set up, and contains the failsafe boot with what appear to be the right options. What would I need to do to ensure that /boot agrees with /boot/grub/menu.lst?

4

if “sda5 and sda6 are intended for important storage and backup”

They shouldn’t be on the same physical device !

Cheers,

Paul.