Booting fails after installation (GRUB error)

[Christoph Bier]

Binary package hint: grub

After a successful installation from the alternate CD of the Feisty final release the system doesn't boot. It fails with "GRUB Loading stage1.5Read Error". Trying to boot from the first hard disk with the install CD fails, too: "Error 25: Disk read Error".

I guess this is due to a mismatch of disk drive names. The hard disk is connected to an ITE8211F ide controller on an Asus P5LD2/C board. But partman-lvm listed it as a SCSI drive (sda). This is similar to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub/+bug/107798 but it's not the same.

As I'm in my office at the moment I have no access to the hard disk I installed Feisty on. Which further information do you need?

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

Thanks for your bug report.

In feisty, grub does not access the drives anymore via hda or sda but via UUID-label.

Please boot up the system with the live CD and check the file /boot/grub/menu.lst if the UUID-labels are used.

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

The UUID-labels are used (I can access the HDD from my Debian installation):

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=fb7e259a-4de7-4810-9041-c981d9946e94 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quiet
savedefault

Now I changed menu.lst from "(hd0) /dev/sda" to "(hd0) /dev/hde" and the stage1.5Read Error disappears. But now Error 25 appears immediately.

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

Error 25 identifies an unrecognized command. Could you attach your menu.lst ? And also please the output of

sudo lshw -C disk

and the output of

sudo fdisk -l

and the contents of /etc/fstab

and the output of

blkid

Thanks

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

IMPORTANT HINT: Actually the HDD named /dev/hdf (Samsung, 80 GB) in the following is /dev/hde within Ubuntu! It's only hdf now because I use the Debian HDD (Maxtor) as master and the Ubuntu HDD (Samsung) as slave to access the Ubuntu (Samsung) HDD.

Ubuntu machine: Samsung = /dev/hde
Debian machine: Samsung = /dev/hdf

Sorry for the confusion!

# lshw -C disk
  *-disk:0
       description: ATA Disk
       product: Maxtor 6E040L0
       vendor: Maxtor
       physical id: 0
       bus info: ide@2.0
       logical name: /dev/hde
       version: NAR61590
       serial: E1GEW7HE
       size: 38GB
       capacity: 38GB
       capabilities: ata dma lba iordy smart security pm apm
       configuration: apm=off mode=udma6 smart=on
  *-disk:1
       description: ATA Disk
       product: SAMSUNG SP0812N
       physical id: 1
       bus info: ide@2.1
       logical name: /dev/hdf
       version: TK100-30
       serial: S00MJ10Y424141
       size: 74GB
       capacity: 74GB
       capabilities: ata dma lba iordy smart security pm
       configuration: mode=udma5 smart=on
  *-cdrom
       description: CD-R/CD-RW writer
       product: LITE-ON LTR-48125S
       physical id: 0
       bus info: ide@0.0
       logical name: /dev/hda
       version: 1S01
       capabilities: packet atapi cdrom removable nonmagnetic dma lba iordy audio cd-r cd-rw
       configuration: mode=udma2

# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hde: 41.1 GB, 41110142976 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4998 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hde1 * 1 122 979933+ 83 Linux
/dev/hde2 123 4998 39166470 5 Extended
/dev/hde5 123 246 995998+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hde6 247 854 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hde7 855 976 979933+ 83 Linux
/dev/hde8 977 1341 2931831 83 Linux
/dev/hde9 1342 1767 3421813+ 83 Linux
/dev/hde10 1768 4998 25952976 83 Linux

Disk /dev/hdf: 80.0 GB, 80060424192 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9733 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdf1 * 1 123 987966 83 Linux
/dev/hdf2 124 5590 43913677+ 5 Extended
/dev/hdf5 124 762 5132736 8e Linux LVM
/dev/hdf6 763 890 1028128+ 8e Linux LVM
/dev/hdf7 891 1784 7181023+ 8e Linux LVM
/dev/hdf8 1785 2422 5124703+ 8e Linux LVM
/dev/hdf9 2423 2550 1028128+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hdf10 2551 5590 24418768+ 8e Linux LVM

# cat ../../etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sda1
UUID=fb7e259a-4de7-4810-9041-c981d9946e94 / ext2 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/mapper/vgubuntu--lotus-lvhome ...

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

Could you please run the command

sudo lshw -C disk

from the ubuntu live-CD that we can see how the ubuntu kernel recognises the disks.

Thanks

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

I attach the output of lshw from the ubuntu-live-cd. I installed the HDD as master again.

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

Any idea what I can do to get this installation boot?

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

The command

root (hd0,0)

means the first drive and the first partition. You can not change this into "root (hd0) /dev/hde" or something like this. You can only change the numbers (i.e. hd1,2 would be the second drive and the third partition on it).

The kernel line as as root either the device or the UUID label. However, there couldn't be a /dev/hde because this is just the drive it would be /dev/hde1 or /dev/sda1.

I am trying to figure out the assignments given from your data. It looks like to me the root line should be hd0,0 and the kernel line /dev/sda1. But I am not sure yet. However, if the UUID is correct, I would leave that in the kernel line. Remember that the partition for the root line needs to be the partion where your /boot directory is, the partition in the kernel line refers to the partions that is mounted as root.

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

I did not change "root (hd0,0)" to "root (hd0) /dev/hde" in menu.lst as I wrote above but in device.map. Without changing this I don't even can access the GRUB menu.

Now I tried every reasonable combination---at least I hope so---of the root and the kernel line but it did not work. I'm at a loss ...

[marin (marinkobi)]

I have a similar problem with a Hitachi Travelstar 40G harddrive taken from a Thinkpad T30. I'm trying to use it with a new VIA CN700 Mini-ITX board. Basically the harddisk works with the the Thinkpad (w/ either Dapper or Feisty) but does not want to work with the VIA giving the same "stage1.5Read" error. After reformatting, fixing the mbr, and trying all other obvious fixes, and after reinstalling linux several times the system still does not boot. The interesting thing is that the disk is recognized both by the BIOS, the livecd and it doesn't contain any bad sectors or other errors. I have no clue what the problem is... also tried the play the BIOS settings without success... Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[marin (marinkobi)]

I figured it out... disabling DMA transfer access in the IDE bus BIOS settings fixed it... no more stage1.5Read errors

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

Doesn't work for me. Now---without changing the BIOS settings---I get "Error 16: Inconsistent filesystem structure" or the boot device isn't found. But the Debian installation still works fine, thus I exclude a hardware defect.

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

Christoph,

I just see that you lshw shows: bus info: ide@2.0. Did you ever try to map hd2 to /dev/hde and put (hd2,0) in the root ?

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

Yes, I did but it results in Error 25. But I just tried to boot with the Debian HDD plugged in (I can choose a boot medium from a "Boot selection popup menu" of my mainboard) and it worked! I don't know why especially because the Debian HDD wasn't plugged in when I installed Ubuntu. But even if it works this is no solution because the Debian HDD will not be plugged in when I use the Ubuntu installation.

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

Does ubuntu detect the drive with a different hardware address depending if the debian drive is plugged in or not?

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

Ubuntu detects its drive as /dev/sdb if the Debian drive is plugged in. But I still wonder why it is detected resp. mounted as a SCSI device. It's an IDE drive---no SCSI, no S-ATA ...

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

The new kernel structures all disks under SATA irrespective if they are or not. It wraps a SATA-emulator around the IDE interface in order to streamline things.

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

Ok. But how can I fix my original problem that I can't boot the Ubuntu disk if the Debian disk isn't plugged in?

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

It's really weird: I can boot from the Ubuntu disk if the Debian disk is plugged in. But then neither my CD-ROM drive nor my DVD drive is usable. No medium is recognized and I have no glue to which device they are connected to. I tried /dev/hda--/dev/hdf and /dev/sda--/dev/sdf---but nothing is found. I can find problems related to the CD-ROM drive (LITE-ON LTR-48125S) in dmesg. I attach the dmesg output. BTW: Both drives work with Debian.

What can I do to have a working Ubuntu installation without the Debian disk plugged in?? Thanks for any help!

[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

I file a new bug for the problems with my optical drives (I really need them!). Thanks so far!

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

Is it ok to close this report?

Thanks

[marin (marinkobi)]

yes thanks

--- Ralph Janke <email address hidden> wrote:

> Is it ok to close this report?
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Booting fails after installation (GRUB error)
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/107951
> You received this bug notification because you are a
> direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

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[Christoph Bier (christoph-bier)]

Before you close it, JFTR: I had a similar problem (GRUB error) with Feisty. The solution was to reinstall the boot manager in the MBR.

[Ralph Janke (txwikinger)]

Thanks Christoph for the solution.

The report will be closed now. Should there be any new information about this issue to warrant it to re-open, please feel free to do so.

Thanks