Where is the repair facility in the openSUSE 11.3 DVD?

swerdna · August 24, 2010, 9:41pm

Hi

I can’t find the repair facility when running the openSUSE 11.3 install DVD. In earlier editions it was on the Installation Mode screen, three options:
• New Installation
• Update
• Other Options

Under Other Options there used to be a repair function. I can’t find the repair facility in 11.3. Is it now located somewhere else, or has it been removed?

caf4926 · August 24, 2010, 9:56pm

It’s not there any more John.

caf4926 · August 24, 2010, 9:59pm

There are some threads on this. I can’t recall if there is any work around for this.
I have never actually used the repair since so long ago I can’t recall.

lOtz1009 · August 24, 2010, 10:03pm

[opensuse-factory] Any hero for yast2-repair?](http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-factory/2010-05/msg00407.html)
there’s some background on that issue

swerdna · August 24, 2010, 10:16pm

Link by lOtz1009 says it all.

AAAArrrrrggghhh… I now must redo my bootloader tutorials, they used that facility.

Thanks

swerdna · August 24, 2010, 10:18pm

This next question is a bit off topic but -------> Apart from the super grub disk, is there a Linux os on a cd where there’s a GUI to boot an installed linux system on the hdd?

lOtz1009 · August 24, 2010, 10:26pm

Hmm, most live-CDs have a GRUB menu pointing to HDD?

caf4926 · August 24, 2010, 10:39pm

This seems to have a number of tools

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

hendersj · August 24, 2010, 10:57pm

On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:36:05 +0000, swerdna wrote:

> This next question is a bit off topic but -------> Apart from the super
> grub disk, is there a Linux os on a cd where there’s a GUI to boot an
> installed linux system on the hdd?

I thought the LiveCDs had the option to boot from the hard drive, don’t
they?

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

martin_helm · August 24, 2010, 11:08pm

lOtz1009 wrote:

>
> Hmm, most live-CDs have a GRUB menu pointing to HDD?
>
I remember there was an option to boot an operating system from the harddisk
(must be at least one of the 10.x versions when I used it if not older)
which was able to start the OS even if grub was destroyed, I don’t think the
standard live cd’s can do that. They will start whatever claims to be the
standard operating system on the harddisk and nothing else I think.

user · August 25, 2010, 3:54am

On 2010-08-24 22:57, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:36:05 +0000, swerdna wrote:
>
>> This next question is a bit off topic but -------> Apart from the super
>> grub disk, is there a Linux os on a cd where there’s a GUI to boot an
>> installed linux system on the hdd?
>
> I thought the LiveCDs had the option to boot from the hard drive, don’t
> they?

Yes and no.

What they do is to boot the existing MBR in the HD, which will result in running your grub as if you
had booted from the DVD. Notice that this means that if your booting setup in the HD is broken
(broken grub, for instance), it will not boot.

The intention of this entry in the dvd is that, if you leave and forget the dvd in the drive, it
will boot your HD by default, not the install system. Thus, you can initiate the install sequence,
and leave, knowing that when the installation system finishes it will boot the recently installed
system, unattended - if nothing breaks

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” GM (Elessar))

user · August 25, 2010, 3:54am

On 2010-08-24 23:08, Martin Helm wrote:
> lOtz1009 wrote:
>
>>
>> Hmm, most live-CDs have a GRUB menu pointing to HDD?
>>
> I remember there was an option to boot an operating system from the harddisk
> (must be at least one of the 10.x versions when I used it if not older)
> which was able to start the OS even if grub was destroyed, I don’t think the
> standard live cd’s can do that. They will start whatever claims to be the
> standard operating system on the harddisk and nothing else I think.

Yes and no… This facility has also been removed, I think about a year or more ago. It booted the
installed system using the kernel in the DVD, not the kernel in the HD, but with all the scripts and
things from the HD. It is similar to booting the current rescue system (text) and chrooting the HD -
manually.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” GM (Elessar))

martin_helm · August 25, 2010, 12:49pm

Carlos E. R. wrote:

>
> Yes and no… This facility has also been removed, I think about a year or
> more ago. It booted the installed system using the kernel in the DVD, not
> the kernel in the HD, but with all the scripts and things from the HD. It
> is similar to booting the current rescue system (text) and chrooting the
> HD - manually.
>
This is not really the option I had in mind. I thought it was possible to
really start a system on the disk by telling it the partition, which bootet
fully into it as if it were correctly entered into grub with the kernel from
the hard disk and I could directly make a new grub menu in yast - but my
memory may be wrong and it was really as you describe it (I used this
exactly one time when I by accident installed a windows 2000 after the suse
install - probably this was not even opensuse but suse at that time). But
that’s too long ago to remeber exactly where this was or how it was accessed
or if my memory is completely wrong here.
chroot is of course possible, but for someone who screws up the system by
installing windows and not very experienced probably a showblocker.
I see a hint to look at
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
which I will look up. I usually use knoppix (I do not need it often, it is a
very rare case) but it is not really specialized for repairs.
I want to be able to hand out some easy repair disk to people I cannot visit
directly and are not very linux experienced.
But this is a bit off topic - I just stumbled over this discussion here and
it contains interesting information.
(Removal of repair option I recognized some time ago)

coverockets · August 26, 2010, 5:06pm

try puppy linux. uses syslinux to boot, squash file and full gui os. slim and mean.

martin_helm · August 26, 2010, 5:40pm

coverockets wrote:

>
> try puppy linux. uses syslinux to boot, squash file and full gui os.
> slim and mean.
>
Thanks I will check that this evening.

martin_helm · August 26, 2010, 6:44pm

I tested the ultimatbootcd a little bit and my impression is that it is very
good for repair and diagnostic tasks. I need to do some further tests in
virtual machines where I destroy the systems intentionally and try to repair
them.
It seems also possible with it to repair a windows boot loader.