[nflug] GRUB error 18

Robert Meyer meyer_rm at yahoo.com
Fri Mar 7 16:23:24 EST 2008


Great page that explains what's going on with error 18: http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/GRUB
 
--
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
   --Leonardo da Vinci

----- Original Message ----
From: Steve Petersen <business at stevepetersen.net>
To: nflug at nflug.org
Sent: Friday, March 7, 2008 3:44:45 PM
Subject: Re: [nflug] GRUB error 18

Thanks again, everyone!

Yeah, as you can see from my first email, it's been my guess too that the BIOS just can't "reach" far enough for the later kernels, which were probably installed by update-manager on physically further cylinders.  Since I had to install linux back in the days when this was important (and back then I was dual-booting too), I had vague memories that BIOSes are pretty myopic.

The motherboard (that's where the BIOS lives, right?) is actually from Jan 2006 - at least, that's when I bought it "new" - I think it's a Phoenix something, I forget how you find that out.  Anyway would making a boot partition help, if the BIOS can only look so far?  Oh wait - maybe because as it stands now a new kernel could be written /way/ out there but still under the "boot" directory as far as the fs is concerned?  Hmn.  I think I see.

Ideally I wouldn't re-install from scratch, or play with re-partitioning.  Maybe that would be best, though I dread backing up all my mp3s somehow (especially since linux is /still/ rotten about external hard drives, in my experience).

I was hoping there was some way to chain things (so something within BIOS range says "go boot this kernel over there"), or maybe update the BIOS, or maybe re-order what's where on the physical drive (scary).  If I mv the images out of the /boot directory, then back but in newest-first order, would that put the newer kernels in a more accessible place on /dev/hda1?  That's the kind of thing I don't get.

Thanks again,
Steve

On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 3:01 PM, Robert Meyer <meyer_rm at yahoo.com> wrote:
Not true.  Just by dumb luck, the kernel that boots is below cylinder 1024.  The kernels that don't boot are above that.  It's a truly bizarre situation and I've had it happen, before.  It's usually a whack yourself in the forehead moment when you figure it out.

Cheers!

Bob
 
--
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
   --Leonardo da Vinci


----- Original Message ----
From: Cyber Source <peter at thecybersource.com>
To: nflug at nflug.org


Sent: Friday, March 7, 2008 2:20:08 PM
Subject: Re: [nflug] GRUB error 18

I was thinking about this too but if one of the stanza's boots, then I 
would think the others should, thus ruling out this a a potential problem.

Robert Meyer wrote:
> Maybe I'll chime in, here...  There are a lot of really old machines 
> out there with terminally limited BIOS.  These machines cannot address 
> anything beyond cylinder 1023 on bootup.  The standard solution to the 
> problem is to create a /boot partition at the very beginning of the 
> drive that is just big enough for the kernel, the initrd file and grub 
> configs, etc.  Frequently, there will be enough extra space for 
> multiple copies.  Here is the partition map on a machine that I work 
> with that does this:
>
> Disk /dev/hda: 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/hda1   *           1          13      104391   83  Linux
> /dev/hda2              14       12161    97578810   8e  Linux LV
>
> The 'df' output of this machine looks like:
> Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
> /dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00
>                      187150052   3822516 173667532   3% /
> /dev/hda1               101086     11966     83901  13% /boot
> tmpfs                   513476         0    513476   0% /dev/shm
>
> So, I would try using that methodology to see if it solves the problem...
>
> Sometimes it's good to be a dinosaur...
>
> Cheers!
>
> Bob
>  
> --
> "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth 
> with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you 
> will always long to return."
> --Leonardo da Vinci
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Cyber Source <peter at thecybersource.com>
> To: nflug at nflug.org
> Sent: Friday, March 7, 2008 1:50:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [nflug] GRUB error 18
>
> All the stanzas are the same except the the boot images. I would think
> then that it's not a grub problem but rather a problem with the
> images/kernels.
>
> Steve Petersen wrote:
> > Thanks again for your help - yes, when I pick one of the kernels it 
> boots.
> >
> > uname -l output;
> >
> >    Linux liza 2.6.17-10-generic #2 SMP Tue Dec 5 22:28:26 UTC 2006
> >    i686 GNU/Linux
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 10:01 AM, Cyber Source
> > <peter at thecybersource.com <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com> 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>>> 
> wrote:
> >
> >    Does anything in that grub file boot?
> >
> >    Steve Petersen wrote:
> >    > I've attached my /boot/grub/menu.lst file.  Thanks again.
> >    > Steve
> >    >
> >    > On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 11:36 PM, Cyber Source
> >    > <peter at thecybersource.com <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com> 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>>
> >    <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>
> >    <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>>>> wrote:
> >    >
> >    >    Show me your /boot/grub/menu.lst file
> >    >
> >    >    Steve Petersen wrote:
> >    >    > Thanks for the help!  I'm afraid I can't make much of it
> >    though.
> >    >      As I
> >    >    > say, I've been using linux for about 10 years, but that
> >    doesn't mean
> >    >    > I've been /understanding/ much of it.  I have only the
> >    vaguest grasp
> >    >    > of UUIDs and cylinder geometry.  I don't know what the
> >    "stanzas" are
> >    >    > and I'm not sure what you mean by "the actual drive /dev use"
> >    >    (unless
> >    >    > you just mean /dev/hda, which I believe it is, though
> >    there is a
> >    >    > second hard drive I mount separately).
> >    >    >
> >    >    > Below I give the "fdisk -l" output.  Thanks again for any
> >    help.
> >    >    > Steve
> >    >    >
> >    >    >    Disk /dev/hda: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes
> >    >    >    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
> >    >    >    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
> >    >    >    Disk identifier: 0x0008fac7
> >    >    >
> >    >    >        Device Boot      Start        End      Blocks  Id
> >      System
> >    >    >    /dev/hda1  *          1      38560  309733168+  83
> >      Linux
> >    >    >    /dev/hda2          38561      38913    2835472+  5
> >      Extended
> >    >    >    /dev/hda5          38561      38913    2835441  82
> >    >      Linux swap
> >    >    >    / Solaris
> >    >    >
> >    >    >    Disk /dev/hdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
> >    >    >    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
> >    >    >    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
> >    >    >    Disk identifier: 0x000b8293
> >    >    >
> >    >    >        Device Boot      Start        End      Blocks  Id
> >      System
> >    >    >    /dev/hdb1              1      19103  153444816  83
> >      Linux
> >    >    >    /dev/hdb2          19104      19457    2843505    5
> >      Extended
> >    >    >    /dev/hdb5          19104      19457    2843473+  82
> >    >      Linux swap
> >    >    >    / Solaris
> >    >    >
> >    >    >
> >    >    >
> >    >    > On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 9:40 PM, Cyber Source
> >    >    <peter at thecybersource.com <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com> 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>>
> >    <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>>>
> >    >    > <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>
> >    <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>>
> >    >    <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>
> >    <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com 
> <mailto:peter at thecybersource.com>>>>> wrote:
> >    >    >
> >    >    >    Whatever the bios is told as a boot device, if it's a hard
> >    >    drive, it
> >    >    >    will go to "first" partition on that drive that has a
> >    "boot"
> >    >    flag
> >    >    >    (fdisk
> >    >    >    -l), it will be the partition with a "*" declared.
> >    >    >    First off, I would suspect a problem with the CHS
> >    >    >    (cylinder,head,sector)
> >    >    >    geometry that the drive has or is being interpreted by the
> >    >    bios as, to
> >    >    >    the kernel.
> >    >    >    Second off, I would think it's how the stanzas are written
> >    >    and the
> >    >    >    UUID's (always a problem I've seen) are being used.
> >    Try changing
> >    >    >    to the
> >    >    >    actual drive /dev use.
> >    >    >    Tell me those things and I'll tell you my reasoning
> >    later, if
> >    >    >    applicable, sorry lazy typer.....
> >    >    >    Steve Petersen wrote:
> >    >    >    > Hi NFLUGgers,
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    > I've been using some form of linux for about 10
> >    years, but I'm
> >    >    >    still a
> >    >    >    > newbie in many ways, and I wonder if you can help
> >    me.  For
> >    >    some time
> >    >    >    > now my home desktop computer - which has Ubuntu 7.10
> >    on it and
> >    >    >    nothing
> >    >    >    > else - won't boot any of the more recent kernels the
> >    >    update-manager
> >    >    >    > downloads.  It gives me
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    >    Error 18:  selected cylinder exceeds maximum
> >    supported
> >    >    by BIOS
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    > until I choose in GRUB an old enough kernel that
> >    BIOS can
> >    >    reach,
> >    >    >    > apparently.  I don't know if I have a separate boot
> >    >    partition; it's
> >    >    >    > however Ubuntu set it up default.  (No separate boot
> >    >    partition shows
> >    >    >    > up on the 'mount' command - but would it?)  I also
> >    don't know
> >    >    >    what my
> >    >    >    > motherboard is - that's where the BIOS lives, right?  As
> >    >    you see I'm
> >    >    >    > still pretty ignorant of some basic computing concepts.
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    > Anyway this has been going on for over a year, probably,
> >    >    but the
> >    >    >    > kernel's old enough now that (without good evidence
> >    either
> >    >    way) I'm
> >    >    >    > starting to worry it'll be sub-optimal in noticeable
> >    ways.
> >    >      It's
> >    >    >    > 2.6.17-10-generic, though /boot lists versions as
> >    recent as
> >    >    >    > 2.6.22-14-generic.
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    > Thanks in advance for any help or thoughts.
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    > Steve
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    > --
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >    > http://stevepetersen.net
> >    >    >    >
> >    >    >
> >    >   
> >    
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> >    >    >
> >    >    > --
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> >    >    > http://stevepetersen.net
> >    >    >
> >    >   
> >    
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