Error 17 - what am I missing?

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

I recently installed SUSE on my EeePC, and everything works except I can’t get GRUB to boot from my PC.

I followed the instructions here: OpenSUSE on the EeePC - openSUSE

…and also tried many of the results from searching for “error 17” on this forum and on the web in general. To me, the menu.lst file looks right, but obviously there’s still something wrong.

Here is my df and fdisk info:


linux-bge1:~ # df -h
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda5             3.2G  2.8G  238M  93% /
udev                  248M   72K  248M   1% /dev
/dev/sda3             7.9M  514K  7.4M   7% /windows/C
/dev/sdb1             7.5G  4.2G  3.4G  56% /windows/E
linux-bge1:~ # /sbin/fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 4001 MB, 4001292288 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 486 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x3bf43bf3

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1         484     3887698+   f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3             485         485        8032+   c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda4             486         486        8032+  ef  EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
/dev/sda5              65         484     3373650   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 8011 MB, 8011120640 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 30560 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1       30560     7823344    b  W95 FAT32
linux-bge1:~ #

Here is the device map info:


(hd1)	/dev/sdd
(hd2)	/dev/sda
(hd0)	/dev/sdb

And the menu.lst info:


# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Jun 15 20:58:32 EDT 2008
default 4
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd2,4)/boot/message

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: xen###
title XEN -- openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.5-31
    root (hd2,4)
    kernel /boot/xen-pae.gz 
    module /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-xenpae root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_SILICONMOTION_S53918909638711028627-part5 splash=silent showopts
    module /boot/initrd-2.6.22.5-31-xenpae

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: xen-2.6.22.5-31-xen###
title XEN -- openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.5-31
    root (hd2,4)
    kernel /boot/xen.gz 
    module /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-xen root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_SILICONMOTION_S53918909638711028627-part5 splash=silent showopts
    module /boot/initrd-2.6.22.5-31-xen

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.5-31
    root (hd2,4)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_SILICONMOTION_S53918909638711028627-part5 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.5-31
    root (hd2,4)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_SILICONMOTION_S53918909638711028627-part5 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux-2.6.22.5-31-default###
title openSUSE 10.3
    root (hd2,4)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_SILICONMOTION_S53918909638711028627-part5    splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.5-31-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe-2.6.22.5-31-default###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.3
    root (hd2,4)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_SILICONMOTION_S53918909638711028627-part5 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.5-31-default

To my knowledge (which is pretty limited), the menu.lst file is right because I need to be booting from /dev/sda5, which is my Eee’s internal drive. sdb1 and sda3 reference the USB drive I used to boot into SUSE.

Does anyone know what I’m not seeing?

Thanks

Julianna

#2

have you checked this list for grub errors,

Andy

#3

I have, and it wasn’t much help. From what I can glean, it’s either a problem with the partition GRUB is trying to use for booting or the format of the partition, and both of those look okay to me.

#4

Looks to me the device map is screwed up:
(hd1) /dev/sdd
(hd2) /dev/sda
(hd0) /dev/sdb

I would think it should normally be:
(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdb
(hd2) /dev/sdc
etc

So, the “root (hd2,4)” may not pointing to the right partition

one or the other or both

What does Parted Magic show?

#5

Thank you thank you thank you!

I changed my device map to


(hd2) /dev/sdd
(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdb

and replaced all of the “(hd2,4)” in the menu.lst file with “(hd0,4)” and it boots perfectly.

A note to anyone referencing this, before I made that change, I also reinstalled GRUB using these instructions, which changed my error from 17 to 21.

#6

Just to note, that some installations can map the devices differently. Usually when you get a grub error, you get GRUB in a black and white advanced mode.

Selecting the boot item, press E to edit the grub entry. (Usually there are 2 or 3 lines, which you can edit again by pressing E).

Once your happy with the changes, pressing B will boot with these changes.

The changes are not permanent, but can help you find the right settings for a sucessful boot.

James