Di you wipe out the last sector, as @arvidjaar suggested? It seems that in the meantime, a lot of people have added comments in the bug report, one of them also suggesting to zero fill the last sector:
I think I should try that a little later as I am afraid I may lose all my files. Can you tell me how to reinstall Suse’s GRUB2. I know its useless to do it as many people said but I still want to try that out once.
[RIGHT]
Thanx…
[/RIGHT]
You already know how to reinstall Grub2. Can you post the output of this command? It’s not going to write anything to disk, just print out the last sector in hex:
# dd if=/dev/sda skip=312581807 count=1 bs=512 2>/dev/null | od
Can I reinstall grub2 using this?:
/usr/sbin/grub2-install
I got this output when I ran the command without #:
0000000 051120 053111 042510 042101 000000 160052 001000 006000
0000020 146401 047636 004447 151745 000000 000000 000000 000400
0000040 000000 000000 000000 177407 000000 000000 000000 040007
0000060 030464 032470 031060 063063 030055 032141 026461 030461
0000100 031145 034055 032141 026467 030060 030462 032470 031466
0000120 030546 030462 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000140 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000160 061061 033467 060544 030062 061455 030467 026467 030461
0000200 030144 060455 061065 026545 030060 030141 034543 062061
0000220 033542 061463 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000240 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000260 030464 032470 031060 062463 030055 032141 026461 030461
0000300 031145 034055 032141 026467 030060 030462 032470 031466
0000320 030546 030462 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000340 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000360 051523 042055 030147 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000400 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000420 001000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000440 000000 000077 000000 011000 113241 000161 000000 011000
0000460 113241 000260 000000 000000 004000 000000 000000 000000
0000500 000000 000002 000000 000000 003400 000375 000000 000001
0000520 000000 000001 000000 000000 002400 000311 000000 000000
0000540 000000 067340 164041 000050 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000560 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
[RIGHT]
Thanx again…
[/RIGHT]
It was already answered more than once.
I got this output when I ran the command without #:
0000000 051120 053111 042510 042101 000000 160052 001000 006000
Yes, this is LDM signature. Are you willing to test grub2 patch that makes LDM check less aggressive?
P.S. YaST2 does it right. If it sees LDM it refuses to modify partition table, and if you insist to create new layout, it wipes out both copies of LDM signatures.
Please do me a favour. Tell me, will this code:
/usr/sbin/grub2-install
reinstall GRUB2 for me?
[RIGHT]With Thanx…
[/RIGHT]
No, it won’t.
I have got some more information about my HDD. Its a 160 GB disk but 10 GB has been cut off as they were damaged (its a recycled disk). So, about 150 GB of usable space is left on it.
And, I beg all of you, please tell me how to reinstall GRUB2. May be that the answer was given more than once but they are very indirect.
[RIGHT]
Thanx…
[/RIGHT]
Hi,
“grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg” should do it.
See :openSUSE 12.2: Chapter 10. The Boot Loader GRUB2
However a pretty unusual disclaimer for me :
You have been told several times above what to do, from people who are much more knowledgeable than I am… You ignore their advice at your own risk. I don’t know what this command will do to your specific system. Use it at your own risk and peril !!!
HTH
Lenwolf
And, I beg all of you, please tell me how to reinstall GRUB2. May be that the answer was given more than once but they are very indirect.
It has been said numerous times on this thread already, but I will add my voice to it as well, you will not successfully reinstall GRUB2 until you have addressed the issue of the signatures remaining from the previous windows dynamic disk setup!!!
I understand that you are nervous about using the dd command suggested earlier, but you might want to at least reply to this question asked by arvidjaar at post #25
Are you willing to test grub2 patch that makes LDM check less aggressive?
In any case, if you wish to see your problem solved you will need to make use of some of the excellent advice that has been offered on this thread.
Are you willing to test grub2 patch that makes LDM check less aggressive?
Its not that I do not respect what the most knowledgeable subscribers to this thread say. The truth is that I never understood what the above lines meant. I am very sorry if I have offended someone in any way. After all, all of you are trying to help me.
If you give me instructions how to do it, I will surely try to follow.
[RIGHT]Thanx…[/RIGHT]
Another idea, can I try deleting Ubuntu’s GRUB and the reinstalling Suse’s GRUB?
This would stop you from being able to boot at all until you fixed the problem you now have before reinstalling openSUSE’s boot loader, so,no, not the way to go…
And it will not fix the problem.
It does not change the fact that the openSUSE version of the boot loader sees and reacts to the leftover remnants of the previous windows partition setup.
@americast, nobody feels offended because you don’t understand something which is not obvious to everyone anyway. So I’ll try to summarize.
You had Windows before, and you said that you completely formatted your hdd and deleted all your partitions. Is was not sufficient (in your case). There are information at the beginning and at the end of the disk, in the first and last track, outside of any partition. Removing or reformating partitions won’t get rid of the LDM signature, and this is what bothers Grub2 version 2.00 - as in openSUSE - but not Grub2 version 1.99, that you have under Ubuntu 12.04 (but you would have the same problem with Ubuntu 12.10). In other words: it is a new bug in Grub2.
Reinstalling a buggy program won’t make it work better. The program will work once the bug is fixed, and that’s what @arvidjaar is trying to do. That’s why he asked you if you would test a ‘patched’ (meaning ‘modified’) version of Grub he made available in his repo. You would help us help you.
Otherwise, the other possibilities you have are either zero filling the last sector using this command (as root):
su -l
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda count=1 bs=512 seek=**312581807**
You should only apply this command ont the hard disk you showed us in post #14 of this thread
Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total **312581808** sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x6e21e828
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 2048 4208639 2103296 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2 * 4208640 35663871 15727616 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 46153728 62926847 8386560 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 62928894 312580095 124825601 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 62928896 104874609 20972857 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 104878080 251678719 73400320 83 Linux
It means you’re going to skip 312581807 sektors (312581808 - 1) and replace this garbage you have on the last sector:
0000000 051120 053111 042510 042101 000000 160052 001000 006000
0000020 146401 047636 004447 151745 000000 000000 000000 000400
0000040 000000 000000 000000 177407 000000 000000 000000 040007
0000060 030464 032470 031060 063063 030055 032141 026461 030461
0000100 031145 034055 032141 026467 030060 030462 032470 031466
0000120 030546 030462 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000140 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000160 061061 033467 060544 030062 061455 030467 026467 030461
0000200 030144 060455 061065 026545 030060 030141 034543 062061
0000220 033542 061463 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000240 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000260 030464 032470 031060 062463 030055 032141 026461 030461
0000300 031145 034055 032141 026467 030060 030462 032470 031466
0000320 030546 030462 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000340 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000360 051523 042055 030147 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000400 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000420 001000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000440 000000 000077 000000 011000 113241 000161 000000 011000
0000460 113241 000260 000000 000000 004000 000000 000000 000000
0000500 000000 000002 000000 000000 003400 000375 000000 000001
0000520 000000 000001 000000 000000 002400 000311 000000 000000
0000540 000000 067340 164041 000050 000000 000000 000000 000000
0000560 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
with 000000.
And @arvidjaar mentioned another possibility, which would be using “create partition setup” with Yast2 (while reinstalling openSUSE). I assume that he has tested it before.
Ubuntu’s Grub is not the cause of the problem, and this version is not affected by the bug anyway. If you remove the only functionning boot loader that you have now, you won’t be able to boot anything. By the way, you can have as many boot loaders installed as you have boot sectors available (partitions + MBR), but if they are all Grub2 v 2.00, none is going to help until you remove the LDM signature from your hdd (or use a patched version of Grub2 where this bug has been fixed).
It is too late in this case. It has to be done when LDM is active and it is no more. Now YaST2 just sees standard MBR.
Thank you very much for explaining to me and now everything seems almost clear. I am ready to try out the modified GRUB made by @arvidjaar. If that fails, I will try out filling the last sectors of the disk.
[RIGHT]
Thanx to you all from the core of my heart…
[/RIGHT]
But tell me: If GRUB2 is not getting installed due to the stale signatures of Windows, how did it get installed properly while installing Suse 12.2?
[When I had first installed Suse12.2, GRUB2 installed without any problems.]
I think grub2 refuses to install only when you try to install on full disk MBR (e.g. /dev/sda). By default openSUSE 12.2 will install bootloader in partition, not on MBR.
I am still waiting for any comment from grub2 maintainer whether relaxing LDM signature check is acceptable. I can understand the reason behind current behavior.
I am extremely sorry to not tell you why I want GRUB2.
The problem is, after I have installed Ubuntu, GRUB 1.99 has the following problems:
a) I get a list to choose my OS where Suse is listed 5 times.
b) The startup designs and animations have disappeared and only CUI mode startup shows up
My guests have problems with this as they think something has gone wrong and they simply cold boot my PC again.