After installing 11.4 on external hard disk, no booting from primary disk

[please_try_again]

@kullmann

I just looked into the hardware information by Yast:
there is an sdb, a “multi-card”. This must be the Zalman notebook cooler
(powered by usb; and apparently one can actually use its usb-plug, which
should then be transferred to the laptop). So perhaps the problem is that
that usb-device is “there” (plugged-in) and “not there” (not plugged-in) at
the same time.

Yes it’s something like that. And it it were not the Zalman notebook cooler, it would be some card reader or whatever USB device that the kernel would handle as a block device. I have to find a way to emulate the situation so that I can get rid of them. But the output of **fdisk -l **you posted before was complete? You didn’t remove anything?

[kullmann]

@please_try_again

OK. Open a terminal and type that in bold) :

# **su -l**
# **grub**
grub> **find /boot/grub/stage2**
 (hd0,5)
 (hd1,1) (?)
 
grub> **root (hd0,5)**
 Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
grub> **setup (hd0)**
grub> **quit**

Then type findgrub again (just curious).

The output of the first two commands was as expected; the output of “setup”
unfortunately disappeared. But looked sensible.

Then

linux-vp82:~ # findgrub
Find Grub Version 3.4.2 - Written for openSUSE Forums             
 - reading MBR on disk /dev/sda                       ... --> Grub  found in sda MBR     => sda6   0x83 (openSUSE)
 - searching partition /dev/sda1      (NTFS)          ... --> Windows7/Vista Loader found in /dev/sda1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can add the following entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst :
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: WindowsBootLoader###
title Windows on /dev/sda1
    rootnoverify (hd0,0)
    chainloader +1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 - searching partition /dev/sda2      (NTFS)          ...
 - reading bootsector  /dev/sda3   *  (Extended)      ... --> Grub  found in /dev/sda3   => sda6   0x83 (openSUSE)
 - skipping partition  /dev/sda5      (swap)         
 - reading bootsector  /dev/sda6      (LINUX)         ...
 - reading bootsector  /dev/sda7      (LINUX)         ...
 - reading MBR on disk /dev/sdc                       ...
 - skipping partition  /dev/sdc1      (swap)         
 - reading bootsector  /dev/sdc2      (LINUX)         ...
 - reading bootsector  /dev/sdc3      (LINUX)         ...
Press <enter> to Exit findgrub...

A bit strange that addition of Windows on sda1 is recommended, since it is already
included in the menu.lst on sda. So well …

[kullmann]

@please_try_again

But the output of **fdisk -l **you posted before was complete? You didn’t remove anything?

Absolutely, nothing removed.

[please_try_again]

@kullmann

A bit strange that addition of Windows on sda1 is recommended, since it is already
included in the menu.lst on sda. So well …

No, this is not strange. findgrub doesn’t read nor try to correct the menu. It only reads bootsectors and display information.

Now here’s what you wanted:

@kullmann

linux-vp82:~ # findgrub
Find Grub Version 3.4.2 - Written for openSUSE Forums             
 - reading MBR on disk /dev/sda                       ... --> Grub  found in sda MBR     => sda6   0x83 (openSUSE)

Anything else for you?

BTW, Could you post the output of this command for me:

find /dev/ -name "sd?" -ls

[kullmann]

I now booted and tested (a bit) all three installed operating systems – all working.
And when the external disk is not there, then one can nevertheless boot the other two systems.
Hurra (hurrah)!

Regarding the output of your command, the “sdc” now became an “sdb” (!):
First when the external disk was unplugged from the beginning, and only then booted:

root-0:kullmann> find /dev/ -name "sd?" -ls
    18    0 brw-rw----   1 root     disk              Aug  7 00:07 /dev/sda
root-0:kullmann> find /dev/ -name "sd?" -ls
101287    0 brw-rw----   1 root     disk              Aug  7 00:14 /dev/sdb
    18    0 brw-rw----   1 root     disk              Aug  7 00:07 /dev/sda

And when the external disk is booted from the beginning (before boot), similarly:

root-0:kullmann> find /dev/ -name "sd?" -ls
  1796    0 brw-rw----   1 root     disk              Aug  7 00:16 /dev/sdb
  3077    0 brw-rw----   1 root     disk              Aug  7 00:16 /dev/sda

Now in Yast/Hardware Information there is no sdc anymore (and no “multi-card”).

THANKS!

Oliver

[please_try_again]

You’re welcome.
Do not update the kernel when your USB device is plugged in - and if you happened to change BIOS boot order! I don’t trust the bootloader_entry script too much (the one rewriting the Grub menu after a kernel update).