Re: how to install the bootloader

[Andrei Borzenkov]

В Sun, 30 Nov 2014 02:10:08 +0100
Reinhard Kotucha <address@hidden> пишет:

> Hi,
> I'm running Gentoo Linux and used rsync in order to create backups on
> another disk.  The content of the backup disk is exactly the same as
> on my working disk.  And I installed a boot loader on the bachup disk
> so that I can simply swap the disks if necessary.
> 
> Some time ago I noticed that the backup disk didn't boot anymore
> though I didn't change anything.  I tried to install the bootloader
> again.  grub-install didn't complain but the disk didn't boot and
> there was no error message.  Nevertheless, the backup disk was quite
> useful though, I could at least restore files I removed accidentally.
> 
> Now my main disk seems to be broken.  The system still works but I get
> zillions of I/O-errors on /dev/sda3 and /dev/sda4.
> 
> I bought a new disk now because I don't want to modify anything on my
> backup disk.  Now the new disk contains an exact copy of the backup
> disk.
> 
> When I try to boot the new disk, I end up in a grub shell.  This is
> much better than the blinking cursor I've always seen in the past.
> 

If you are as far as booting full grub, you probably just need grub
configuration file.

> The first step seems to work:
> 
>   grub> root (hd0,1)
>   Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
> 
> This is correct.  The first partition /dev/hda1 (hd0,0) is the swap
> partition and /dev/hda2 (hd0,1) contains the operating system as well
> as the /boot/grub directory.
> 
> When I try to install the bootloader
> 
>   grub> setup (hd0)
> 
> I get the error messages
> 
>   Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
>   Checking if "/boot/stage1" exists... no
> 
>   Rerror 15: File not found
> 
> Why? /boot/grub/stage1 definitely exists on (hd0,1).
> 

It could be that fileystem is corrupted; it could be that it is too new
for a grub legacy. Is it ext2, ext3 or ext4? Can grub list content of
directory? Does "search /boot/grub/stage1" work?

> What do I miss?
> 
> Regards,
>   Reinhard
>