Red Hat 9 Install Problem


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Ok, so ive been running Win XP as my main system and needed to install redhat so i could program some stuff with gcc. Heres my pc setup:

P4 2.8 GHZ, Radeon 9500 pro, 2 dvd drives, a floppy disk drive that wont work for some reason, a usb floppy drive that i cant boot off of, 2 hard disks (one for os's and one for other crap), MSI Neo2-LS Mobo

I installed redhat to a partition after my windows xp partition. Install was successful (with grub boot manager installed with default options). Upon reboot, just windows xp booted, no boot manager showed up (i later realized that i didnt specify the correct settings for grub). I went into partition magic and set my Linux partition as the active partition. On reboot it says "No Operating System Found" or something to that extent.

I reinstall with different options for grub, not installing the bootloader to the beginning of the linux partition. Now it displays "GRUB" in text and you cant type anything.

I decide that i can reinstall windows later (without realizing i lost my cd) and reinstall red hat overwriting the hard drive completely. Now the "No operating system found" message pops up.

Playing with settings, i get either the grub or the no os message now. I dont think i know how to get the grub one there at this moment. So no os right now if i boot.

Whatever i do, i still cant get anything to boot off that hard disk. I tried to make a boot diskette, and no luck. It wont boot off of the usb floppy drive for some reason. Other os's boot, like konnopix, and looking at the linux partition, it looks fine from that.

I just wanna get an os running. Any ideas?

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Oh, yah. Ive installed red hat on that machine before (before i bought xp) and it worked fine.

Also, i have no cd burner available right now, so its tough to burn something else.

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Can you boot up your knoppix and do a /sbin/fdisk -l as root? I'm curious what your hda looks like.

Also, at GRUB> try typing root and see what it tells you about your drive.

As you do this, I am going to look up some info and play around at the GRUB level to see how we can load the kernel and boot up. I have had to do this once before about 2 years ago, but I'll do my best to help you out!

Mark

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Ok, on my Mandy laptop, I can do this to get it to boot from the GRUB> prompt:

I type in root, and it responds with (hd0,0), which is where I know my Linux is installed, so it is OK.

I type kernel /boot/vmlinuz, and GRUB responds with image information, including size, so it is OK with this on my system. If your kernel is not there, you get a message like Error 15: File not found.

This is not quite enough information to type boot yet, as it will start booting, but not have a root directory to use, so will kernel panic here.

Once you find your kernel (vmlinuz), you will need to properly enter the command as: kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 and it should succeed (if your root is located where you specified.

I cannot guarrantee that your system is setup with partitions in the same structure as mine is, but this should give you a place to start from.

BTW, I only mentioned the kernel command as two different structures (one with root, and one without) as a 'less-typing' way to hunt for your kernel. There is no need to do that as two steps, if you put the correct root in your command the first time.

Let me know how this goes!

Mark

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the fdisk -l stuff

Disk /dev/hdc: 163.9 GB, 163928604672 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19929 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/hdc2 * 2 19929 160071660 f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)

/dev/hdc5 2 5100 40957686 7 HPFS/NTFS

/dev/hdc6 10201 11475 10241406 7 HPFS/NTFS

/dev/hdc7 11476 19929 67906723+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/hdd: 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/hdd1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux

/dev/hdd2 14 4744 38001757+ 83 Linux

/dev/hdd3 4745 4998 2040255 82 Linux swap

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Odd configuration...

You have both hard drives on your secondary IDE? I see WIndows on your master drive on your secondary IDE (hdc), and Linux on your slave drive on the same IDE (hdd).

What is on your first IDE (hda & hdb)? CD-ROM? This is backwards from "normal", but not sure if this is the problem. Has anyone been working inside the computer?

As for the GRUB thing, when you boot up, it should start off normal, then say:

GRUB Loading stage2, followed quickly by something like:

GRUB version 0.93 (xxxK lower / xxxxK upper memory)

(boot options here)

if operating normally, that is.

Your case seems to be odd. Perhaps your GRUB is fouled? Do you see any of the GRUB items I posted?

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Other os's boot, like konnopix, and looking at the linux partition, it looks fine from that.

I just wanna get an os running. Any ideas?

Um, maybe you have a specific reason for installing RH but I would recommend you install Knoppix to the hard disk. Once it's installed on the HD then you have a Debian SID installation. Even if you Knoppix disk is old you won't have any trouble using APT-GET to upgrade your system to the latest stuff.

I hate to sound like a broken record with everyone but this guy already has the Knoppix CD. He's halfway there.

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