grub problem: sda fedora, sbd windows --> can't boot windows

hdc · #1 23rd January 2009, 11:25 PM

Hi everyone.

I'm sorry to bother you with another "grub issue", but I've been reading and I've been trying without success.

It's really simple. I've bought another drive for my laptop, because I need to run a couple of programs in windows, but I can't load it.

This is my fdisk output:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xdde53aaa

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1          64      514048+  83  Linux
/dev/sda2              65        2104    16386300   83  Linux
/dev/sda3            2105        2626     4192965   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4            2627       19457   135195007+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5            2627       19457   135194976   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x086cd8c4

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1       10276    82541938+   7  HPFS/NTFS

And this is my grub file.

Code:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE:  You have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
#          root (hd0,0)
#          kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/sda2
#          initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title fedora 
	root (hd0,0) 
	kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.27.9-159.fc10.x86_64 ro root=UUID=fa764891-1e3e-4167-a0e4-fc4979b49436 rhgb quiet vga=792 
	initrd /initrd-2.6.27.9-159.fc10.x86_64.img 
title Fedora (2.6.27.5-117.fc10.x86_64) 
	root (hd0,0) 
	kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.27.5-117.fc10.x86_64 ro root=UUID=fa764891-1e3e-4167-a0e4-fc4979b49436 rhgb quiet vga=792 
	initrd /initrd-2.6.27.5-117.fc10.x86_64.img
title windows 
	map (hd0)(hd1) 
	map (hd1)(hd0) 
	rootnoverify (hd1,0) 	
	chainloader +1

It'll be really great for me If anyone could give me a hand on this.
See you around, hdc

***glennzo*** · #2 24th January 2009, 01:35 AM

Since you did the drive mapping wouldn't you need to change to rootnoverify (hd0,0) ??

stoat · #3 24th January 2009, 02:13 AM

Hello everybody,

To me, the Windows section of the grub.conf look okay except for one thing. You don't have a space between the close and open parentheses of the drives in the map command lines. This...

Code:

title windows 
	map (hd0)(hd1) 
	map (hd1)(hd0) 
	rootnoverify (hd1,0) 	
	chainloader +1

...should look like this...

Code:

title windows 
	map (hd0) (hd1) 
	map (hd1) (hd0) 
	rootnoverify (hd1,0) 	
	chainloader +1

It's hard to see, but it matters. You aren't the first person to do that.

hdc · #4 24th January 2009, 03:06 AM

Thank you very much for your quick answers, but I still can't boot windows.

After glennzo's suggestion, this is what I've got:

Code:

Error 11: Unrecognized device string

After stoat's input:

Code:

BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

stoat · #5 24th January 2009, 03:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdc

After stoat's input:

Code:

BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

Okay, but that's a Vista NTFS partition boot sector error message. GRUB did it's part of the job and launched the boot sector code of /dev/sdb1. That is all the chainloader command does. After that, it's up to the boot sector code of the partition to find the system's boot loader files and continue on. There's more to this story that needs to be explained, and you've got more work to do. And not GRUB work, either. BOOTMGR work.

How or in what situation was Vista installed on that drive? I mean, was it in this same computer but with the drive boot order reversed? And did Vista boot okay then? And then you changed to boot drive order back so GRUB would boot from BIOS? Or maybe you unplugged the Linux drive while you installed Vista? Those are the classic ways a Windows system ends up on a non-first drive in grub.conf and needs the map command to boot. Or was the drive in another computer, and then moved to this computer? See, Vista's boot loader files are not always in the Vista partition. They can be in an unexpected partition depending on the situation when its installed. But they will always be found in an active Windows-compatible partition on the drive that boots from directly from BIOS at the moment Vista is installed. And that partition does not have to be the Vista partition itself. I think all of that matters here. But whatever happened, one thing is for certain: the Vista boot loader files are not in /dev/sdb1, and there is no other partition visible in your fdisk report that could have them.

hdc · #6 24th January 2009, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoat

How or in what situation was Vista installed on that drive? I mean, was it in this same computer but with the drive boot order reversed? And did Vista boot okay then? And then you changed to boot drive order back so GRUB would boot from BIOS? Or maybe you unplugged the Linux drive while you installed Vista?

This is what I did:
Backup the old drive, wipe out everything, put the new drive into the laptop.
Install Vista on the new drive. Vista boot okay.
Install then fedora on the old drive. Fedora boots okay. Vista don't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoat

There's more to this story that needs to be explained, and you've got more work to do. And not GRUB work, either. BOOTMGR work.

Because the new drive it's like "plugged" into the laptop (through a serial hard drive bay adapter), I really prefer Vista there, and leave fedora "on" the laptop. I don't mind to install everything again, if I must to, but I don't know how. I mean, I know it's easier to install vista on the old drive, and fedora on the new one, but that's not what I like.

Again stoat, thank you very much for your time.

stoat · #7 24th January 2009, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdc

Install Vista on the new drive. Vista boot okay.
Install then fedora on the old drive. Fedora boots okay. Vista don't.

Okay. If all that happened with the drives in the configuration that they in are now, then there may have been a partition on the 160 GB drive that at one time contained the Vista boot loader files. It may have been there already, or the Vista installer may have created it. But if the 160 GB was first in the BIOS boot order at the time Vista was installed on the 250 GB drive, then Vista's boot loader files would have been placed in the active partition of the 160 GB drive. It's the MS way of booting. Since forever. Maybe that partition became a casualty of the installation of Fedora which is there now.

There is a way to sort of confirm or else debunk that theory of what happened. In Fedora, mount the Vista partition...

Code:

su
mkdir /mnt/vista
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/vista

Now start your file browser and look at the Vista partition (/mnt/vista). In the root of that partition, you would normally see a file named "bootmgr.exe" and a directory named "Boot". And in that directory named "Boot" you would normally see a file named "BCD". Those are the critical components of the Vista boot loader. If all of those are present in /dev/sdb1, then my "guessed at" explanation above is wrong. However, if they are not there, then your Vista cannot boot in that condition regardless of the explanation for how it got that way. You can probably manually repair that somehow. But I don't own or use Vista, and therefore have no direct knowledge or experience reconstructing a Vista boot loader from scratch. I did see several Internet articles about it tonight. So help should be easy to find if nobody here offers it. Otherwise, a Vista re-install could be in your future.

P.S.: If you eventually do re-install Vista, that may bust your GRUB boot loader depending on how it's done. If that happens, just re-install GRUB with your Fedora DVD. That procedure is heavily documented here, but help is also available if you need it.

hdc · #8 24th January 2009, 10:28 PM

Stoat:

First of all, thank you for your kindness. You'll probably heard this before, but the type of answers you're bringing are very refreshing.

Now, after mounting the vista partition, there were no "BCD" files under any directory. I've search in all of them, and I've found nothing. I think your guess was right, and installing f10 in my 160 GB drive *after* vista, might step over the boot files. I did a web research for howto's, but my skills weren't enough to repair those files manually. And, without success, I've been trying since last night to reinstall vista. You know, because to work properly, that OS needs to think that he's the one and only.

So after a new full install, now I have my old 160 GB drive with vista and f10 (in that order), both running nicely.

Thank you again for everything.
I'm going to the pub now, while yum is updating, to have a nice cold beer in the name of every member in this great forum.
See you around, hdc.