Re: create GRUB boot disk (sarge)
On Sat, 13 Nov 2004, Wayne Topa wrote:
> I have also had a problem making either a boot floppy or a boot CD
> with menu.lst. If the grub documentation isn't wron, it is at least,
> confusing.
or incomplete or the assumptions is not obvious for the first time readers
... ( i've read that thing dozens of times over the years )
> _But_, this topic did cause me to go try, again and this time I have a
> working boot floppy _with_ a menu.lst! Most of the procedure is from
> the Grub Manual
good that it works ...
and yes ... grub boot floppy with menu.list is fun/tricky stuff
- tricky when the default grub-install doesnt work
you might need to do a low level format too
fdformat /dev/fd0H1440
> mke2fs /dev/fd0
> mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt
it's better to mount things on /mnt/floppy unless you know nbody
else will be moving things on ya
> grub-install --root-directory=/mnt fd0
> ^ A space
that assumes that all it worked and no more headache ..
and there'd be SOME of the required files in /mnt/floppy/boot/grub
otherwise you have to more explicitly create the grub floppy
manually .. if grub-install fails
cp stage1 stage2 /mnt/floppy/boot/grub/
cp menu.list grub.conf /mnt/floppy/boot/grub
> # Not in the manual
> cp -p /boot/brub/menu.lst /mnt/boot/grub/
> umount /mnt
more stuff to do if grub-install fails
# grub
grub>
grub> device (fd0) /dev/fd0
grub> root (fd0)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, using whole disk
# for /dev/hda1 == /
# grub> root (hd0,0)
# grub> kernel=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27custom root=/dev/hda1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ add kernel options ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
grub> setup (fd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (fd0)"... failed (this is not
fatal)
Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (fd0)"... failed (this is not
fatal)
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (fd0) /boot/grub/stage2 p
/boot/grub/grub.conf 0x8000 (fd0)/boot/grub/menu.lst "... succeeded
Done.
\\\
\\\ NOTE that the manual grub install worked ....
\\\ NOTE that there is options for menu.lst .....
\\\ NOTE that grub.conf should reference the floppy or is it the /dev/hda1
\\\
#
# you can now boot or sync the floppy ( highly recommended )
grub> boot
grub> quit
#
# sync
# reboot
#
> Now I, finally, have a boot floppy that has the same menu that
> /dev/hda has!
good .. congrats
my one quick experiment failed ... donno why ... dont care ..
c ya
alvin
> If anyone had found a way, that works, to do the same to a CD I would
> appreciate hearing how you did it. The Grub manual procedure does
> bring up the menu but it won't boot! The error 'error-6 mismatched or
> corrupt stage1/stage2' is all you get if you select any of the menu
> options. You end up having to boot with the command line.
cdrom booting is done via /isolinux for cdrom vs syslinux for hd ... vs
lilo/grub though one can fiddle to get other loaders to work from cdrom
too
> Another gripe: I can't find, in the Grub Manual, any mention of how
> to add the boot opeion 'vga=' I do have it working but just can't
> find it in the docs!
you define all kernel options when you tell it which kernel grub will
be booting
- see the kernel options above
c ya
alvin
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