My GRUB, need suggestions

English Install/Boot/Login
1

I have 3 sata hd installed in my box, physically they are :-
-160gb the whole without partition is win 7 itself
-320gb ntfs as my data and multimedia storage purpose
-80gb where lies my opensuse 11.3

No knowing to me where the GRUB went during the installation, after reading few discussions here the best GRUB should be in the partition where my penguin sit, in my case at 80gb. Below are my read outs to make things more understandable:-

fdisk -l

inux-mor9:/home/yazid # fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sdc: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x55ed2e5f

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 1 38914 312567808 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00077db3

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 262 2103296 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb2 262 2873 20972544 83 Linux
/dev/sdb3 2873 9730 55073792 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19452 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x73c6f49e

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 19452 156247040 7 HPFS/NTFS

Just to summarized to the actual, the size of the hd would be enough to explain what partition belong to which os, please refer to my top paragraph.

boot/grub/menu.lst

Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Wed Nov 3 18:50:42 MYT 2010

THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader

Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader

default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd1,1)/boot/message

###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Desktop – openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.5
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.5-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3808110AS_5LR6B3M5-part2 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3808110AS_5LR6B3M5-part1 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.5-desktop

###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows 1###
title Windows 7
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe – openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.5
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.5-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3808110AS_5LR6B3M5-part2 showopts apm=off noresume edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset x11failsafe vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.5-desktop

There were windows 2 that has been deleted by me. Windows 7 renamed after the windows 1.

boot/grub/device.map

(hd0) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-75B4A0_WD-WMAT21239131
(hd1) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3808110AS_5LR6B3M5
(hd2) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD3200AAKS-75L9A0_WD-WCAV28024927

The hd priority in my BIOS is 160gb where the windows 7 located. In trying to change the boot order 160gb=GRUB ok. 320gb shows GRUB error and 80gb (suse) black screen with cursor blinking. I am thinking to reinstall the GRUB back to hd1, worried about it will borks everything that boots fine, I am looking for ‘how-to’ do that :stuck_out_tongue: I am keeping myself magic part cd to be handy in dealing with these GRUB thingy. Any suggestions very much appreciated.

Thanks.

2

Here is a tutorial on reinstalling Grub:

Re-Install Grub Quickly with Parted Magic

There is a script file on finding Grub, but assumes you do have openSUSE running somewhere:

Looking for Grub and Windows bootloader in all partitions.

Thank You,

3

From what I can tell
SUSE is on sdb and is considered to be the second device in the order, hence in the menu it’s hd1
But no boot flag on any sdb partition

If you want to simplify matters in your head. What you should do or have done, is before installing SUSE, set the SUSE hd to first in BIOS boot order. In that case the menu would show it as hd0. And if it were me I would have on it swap, then extended and inside that root and /home with the boot flag on extended.

However there is nothing wrong with the order you have and grub to the MBR of sda

But I’m not surprised your confused.

4

Many thanks to jdmcdaniel3 and caf4926 for the fast replies,

To be true I am confused :shame:, for previous installation of 11.x normally I will detached any windows hd and just leave 1 hd to install with opensuse, reattached it later than proposed new configuration in boot loader.

I am still reading the discussions as suggested by jdmacdaniel3. Returning here again.

5

If you keep that bios order :

  1. 160gb (hd0 -> sda)
  2. 80gb (hd1 -> sdb)
  3. 320gb (hd2 -> sdc)

leave the file /boot/grub/device.map as it is now and reinstall Grub to sda mbr, it should normally boot.

grub>
root (hd1,1)
setup (hd0)

Also don’t change anything in /boot/grub/menu.lst.

However having Grub stage1 in the MBR of your Windows drive (the first one) and Grub stage2 in a Linux partition on another HD works for sure … but is not necessarely the greatest setup.

6

please_try_again, thanks for the suggestions.