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Re: Weird partition arrangements and broken GRUB



On 7/26/07, Hamza Saglam <hamzasaglam@googlemail.com> wrote:
Hi KC,

Thanks for your suggestions. I have removed the boot flag from sda1
(while keeping it on sda5) and changed the Windows 'root' to (hd0,4),
but unfortunately I still get the dreaded 'Filesystem type unknown,
partition type 0x7' message.
I have read somewhere else that Windows could only boot from a primary
partition, I don't know if that is the issue here but do you think it
might be related?

Yes, in mine, XP is in primary partition. But after reviewing your table, I guess you have a bad partition table (I do not see sda4 anywhere). Here is some suggestions:

1. Try replacing root with rootnoverify in XP partition. So it will read:

   title        Microsoft Windows XP
   rootnoverify        (hd0,4)
   savedefault
   makeactive
   chainloader    +1


2. If the above does not work, then you may have bad master boot record. Try to fix it with Windows XP Installation CD, when booting with the CD, choose Recovery Mode to go to Console, and try fixboot and fixmbr. Those commands will try to reset your boot record of XP partition.

Good luck :)

KC.

Someone, through another channel, suggested me to use /dev/sda1's
bootloader to boot into Windows XP, but seeing that /dev/sda1 contains
a crippled WinPE recovery application, I don't think it will really
work.


Suggestions would be much appreciated,

Thanks.

On 7/27/07, Nguyen, Cuong K. <cuongkieunguyen@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> On 7/26/07, Hamza Saglam < hamzasaglam@googlemail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > After reading dozens of GRUB tutorials for a good few hours and not
> > getting anywhere, I've decided to post on this mailing list regarding
> > my problem. If it has been covered before please pardon me, I really
> > can't see it :(
> >
> > Now before I start, I'd like to point out that we are both debian
> > users both due to the nature of our work, we have to have a windows
> > installation on our machines. Sad but true :(
> >
> > A friend of mine brought in his laptop after he said he couldn't get
> > 'windows booting', and when I had a look at the partition table using
> > gparted, I was presented with the following monstrosity:
> >
> > screenshot:
> > http://***image.***bayimg.***com/oaeikaabk.jpg
> > (please get rid of the 9 stars, the mailing list wouldn't accept my
> > message without these)
> >
> >
> > (for the text based readers), it looks a bit like:
> > /dev/sda1    fat32    (boot)
> > /dev/sda2    extended    (lba)
> >     /dev/sda5    ntfs    (boot)
> >     /dev/sda6    linux-swap
> > /dev/sda3    ext3
> >
> > The first fat32 partition is the recovery files that came with the
> > laptop, the rest is a bit of mess really :)
> >
> > Relevant bits from /boot/grub/menu.lst:
> >
> >     title        Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-4-686
> >     root        (hd0,2)
> >     kernel        /boot/vmlinuz- 2.6.18-4-686
> root=/dev/sda3 ro
> >     initrd        /boot/initrd.img- 2.6.18-4-686
> >     savedefault
> >
> >     title        Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-4-686 (single-user mode)
> >     root        (hd0,2)
> >     kernel        /boot/vmlinuz- 2.6.18-4-686
> root=/dev/sda3 ro single
> >     initrd        /boot/initrd.img- 2.6.18-4-686
> >     savedefault
> >
> >     title        Microsoft Windows XP
> >     root        (hd0,3)
> >     savedefault
> >     makeactive
> >     chainloader    +1
> >
> >     title           Acer eRecovery Management
> >       root            (hd0,0)
> >     savedefault
> >     makeactive
> >     chainloader     +1
> >
> >
> > I've tried all the possible combinations for the root directive of the
> > Windows section, but it doesn't want to load windows.
> >
> > Is there any way I can address the ntfs partition within that extended
> > partition, or do I need to modify the structure. (I'd very much prefer
> > not changing the structure, even though it is quite messy)
> >
> >
> > I am stuck so any help would be much appreciated.
> >
> > Many thanks.
> > Hamza
> >
> >
> > --
> > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to
> debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
> > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact
> listmaster@lists.debian.org
> >
> >
>
> If you look at my partition table, you may call it "messier" or "weirder":
>
> Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
>
>    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
> /dev/sda1               1         784     6297448+  12  Compaq diagnostics
> /dev/sda2   *         785        3356    20659590    7  HPFS/NTFS
> /dev/sda3            4507       12161    61488787+   f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
> /dev/sda4            3357        4506     9237375    7  HPFS/NTFS
> /dev/sda5            4507        7064    20547103+  83  Linux
> /dev/sda6            7065        7203     1116486   82  Linux swap / Solaris
> /dev/sda7           11974       12161     1510078+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
> /dev/sda8            7204        9635    19535008+  83  Linux
> /dev/sda9            9636       11973    18779953+  83  Linux
>
> Partition table entries are not in disk order
>
> And here is the menu.lst
>
>  ## ## End Default Options ##
>
> title        Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic
> root        (hd0,7)
> kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=/dev/sda8 ro quiet splash
> initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-16-generic
> quiet
> savedefault
>
> title        Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic (recovery mode)
> root        (hd0,7)
> kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=/dev/sda8 ro single
> initrd        /boot/initrd.img- 2.6.20-16-generic
>
> title        Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
> root        (hd0,7)
> kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic
> root=UUID=3ce886e2-7b3d-4803-ba0e-19a605fb1153 ro quiet
> splash break=top
> initrd        /boot/initrd.img- 2.6.20-15-generic
> quiet
> savedefault
>
> title        Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic (recovery mode)
> root        (hd0,7)
> kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic
> root=UUID=3ce886e2-7b3d-4803-ba0e-19a605fb1153 ro single
> initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
>
> title        Ubuntu, memtest86+
> root        (hd0,7)
> kernel        /boot/memtest86+.bin
> quiet
>
> ### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
>
> # This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
> # ones.
> title        Other operating systems:
> root
>
>
> # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
> # on /dev/hda1
> title        Windows NT/2000/XP Recovery
> root        (hd0,0)
> savedefault
> makeactive
> chainloader    +1
>
>
> # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
> # on /dev/hda2
> title        Microsoft Windows XP Professional
> root        (hd0,1)
> savedefault
> makeactive
> chainloader    +1
>
>
> # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
> # linux installation on /dev/hda5.
> title        Mandriva 2007 (on /dev/hda5)
>  root        (hd0,4)
> kernel        /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda5  resume=/dev/hda6 splash=silent
> initrd        /boot/initrd.img
> savedefault
> boot
>
>
> # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
> # linux installation on /dev/hda5.
> title        Mandriva 2007 (recovery mode) (on /dev/hda5)
> root        (hd0,4)
> kernel        /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda5  resume=/dev/hda6
> initrd        /boot/initrd.img
> savedefault
> boot
>
>
> # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
> # linux installation on /dev/hda5.
> title        failsafe (on /dev/hda5)
> root        (hd0,4)
> kernel        /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda5  failsafe resume=/dev/hda6
> initrd        /boot/initrd.img
> savedefault
> boot
>
> Very similar to your case: I have one Recovery partition (sda1), one Windows
> XP Pro, one Ubuntu box, and one Mandriva box. Everything works just fine: by
> selecting on the boot menu, I can boot into any OS I want.
>
> As about your case, here is my suggestion for menu.lst (not sure it will
> work, but worth giving a try)
>
>     title        Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-4-686
>     root        (hd0,2)
>     kernel        /boot/vmlinuz- 2.6.18-4-686 root=/dev/sda3 ro
>     initrd        /boot/initrd.img- 2.6.18-4-686
>     savedefault
>
>     title        Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-4-686 (single-user mode)
>     root        (hd0,2)
>     kernel        /boot/vmlinuz- 2.6.18-4-686 root=/dev/sda3 ro single
>     initrd        /boot/initrd.img- 2.6.18-4-686
>     savedefault
>
>     title        Microsoft Windows XP
>     root        (hd0,4)
>     savedefault
>     makeactive
>     chainloader    +1
>
>     title           Acer eRecovery Management
>       root            (hd0,0)
>     savedefault
>     makeactive
>     chainloader     +1
>
> The only change here is for XP partition: root (hd0,4) not (hd0,3) because
> your ntfs partition is sda5. Also, you may need just one partition to be
> bootable like me (you have two bootable).
>
> Hope that this can help,
>
> KC.
>


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