Sorry to be off topic - but wow did this response just bring back a ton of memories about dealing with old hardware that I completely forgot about until right now. It reminded me about some of the reasons I do the things I do, which boils down to me not trusting this new fangled hardware and software to get it right.<br>
<br>Thanks for the walk down memory lane.<br><br>brad<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 2:06 PM, Robert Meyer <<a href="mailto:meyer_rm@yahoo.com">meyer_rm@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">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:<br>
<br>Disk /dev/hda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes<br>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes<br><br></div><div class="Ih2E3d"> Device Boot Start
End Blocks Id System<br></div>/dev/hda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux<br>/dev/hda2 14 12161 97578810 8e Linux LV<br><br>The 'df' output of this machine looks like:<br>
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on<br>/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00<br> 187150052 3822516 173667532 3%
/<br>/dev/hda1 101086 11966 83901 13% /boot<br>tmpfs 513476 0 513476 0% /dev/shm<br><br>So, I would try using that methodology to see if it solves the problem...<br>
<br>Sometimes it's good to be a dinosaur...<br><br>Cheers!<br><br>Bob<br><div> </div>--<br>"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."<br>
--Leonardo da Vinci<div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
----- Original
Message ----<br>From: Cyber Source <<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>><br>To: <a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a><br>Sent: Friday, March 7, 2008 1:50:16 PM<br>
Subject: Re: [nflug] GRUB error 18<br><br>
All
the
stanzas
are
the
same
except
the
the
boot
images.
I
would
think <br>then
that
it's
not
a
grub
problem
but
rather
a
problem
with
the <br>images/kernels.<br><br>Steve
Petersen
wrote:<br>>
Thanks
again
for
your
help
-
yes,
when
I
pick
one
of
the
kernels
it
boots.<br>><br>>
uname
-l
output;<br>><br>>
Linux
liza
2.6.17-10-generic
#2
SMP
Tue
Dec
5
22:28:26
UTC
2006<br>>
i686
GNU/Linux <br>><br>><br>>
On
Fri,
Mar
7,
2008
at
10:01
AM,
Cyber
Source <br>>
<<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>>>
wrote:<br>><br>>
Does
anything
in
that
grub
file
boot?<br>><br>>
Steve
Petersen
wrote:<br>>
>
I've
attached
my
/boot/grub/menu.lst
file.
Thanks
again.<br>>
>
Steve<br>>
><br>>
>
On
Thu,
Mar
6,
2008
at
11:36
PM,
Cyber
Source<br>>
>
<<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>>>>
wrote:<br>>
><br>>
>
Show
me
your
/boot/grub/menu.lst
file<br>>
><br>>
>
Steve
Petersen
wrote:<br>>
>
>
Thanks
for
the
help!
I'm
afraid
I
can't
make
much
of
it<br>>
though.<br>>
>
As
I<br>>
>
>
say,
I've
been
using
linux
for
about
10
years,
but
that<br>>
doesn't
mean<br>>
>
>
I've
been
/understanding/
much
of
it.
I
have
only
the<br>>
vaguest
grasp<br>>
>
>
of
UUIDs
and
cylinder
geometry.
I
don't
know
what
the<br>>
"stanzas"
are<br>>
>
>
and
I'm
not
sure
what
you
mean
by
"the
actual
drive
/dev
use"<br>>
>
(unless<br>>
>
>
you
just
mean
/dev/hda,
which
I
believe
it
is,
though<br>>
there
is
a<br>>
>
>
second
hard
drive
I
mount
separately).<br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
Below
I
give
the
"fdisk
-l"
output.
Thanks
again
for
any<br>>
help.<br>>
>
>
Steve<br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
Disk
/dev/hda:
320.0
GB,
320072933376
bytes<br>>
>
>
255
heads,
63
sectors/track,
38913
cylinders<br>>
>
>
Units
=
cylinders
of
16065
*
512
=
8225280
bytes<br>>
>
>
Disk
identifier:
0x0008fac7<br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
Device
Boot
Start
End
Blocks
Id<br>>
System<br>>
>
>
/dev/hda1
*
1
38560
309733168+
83<br>>
Linux<br>>
>
>
/dev/hda2
38561
38913
2835472+
5<br>>
Extended<br>>
>
>
/dev/hda5
38561
38913
2835441
82<br>>
>
Linux
swap<br>>
>
>
/
Solaris<br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
Disk
/dev/hdb:
160.0
GB,
160041885696
bytes<br>>
>
>
255
heads,
63
sectors/track,
19457
cylinders<br>>
>
>
Units
=
cylinders
of
16065
*
512
=
8225280
bytes<br>>
>
>
Disk
identifier:
0x000b8293<br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
Device
Boot
Start
End
Blocks
Id<br>>
System<br>>
>
>
/dev/hdb1
1
19103
153444816
83<br>>
Linux<br>>
>
>
/dev/hdb2
19104
19457
2843505
5<br>>
Extended<br>>
>
>
/dev/hdb5
19104
19457
2843473+
82<br>>
>
Linux
swap<br>>
>
>
/
Solaris<br>>
>
><br>>
>
><br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
On
Thu,
Mar
6,
2008
at
9:40
PM,
Cyber
Source<br>>
>
<<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>>><br>>
>
>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>><br>>
>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:peter@thecybersource.com" target="_blank">peter@thecybersource.com</a>>>>>
wrote:<br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
Whatever
the
bios
is
told
as
a
boot
device,
if
it's
a
hard<br>>
>
drive,
it<br>>
>
>
will
go
to
"first"
partition
on
that
drive
that
has
a<br>>
"boot"<br>>
>
flag<br>>
>
>
(fdisk<br>>
>
>
-l),
it
will
be
the
partition
with
a
"*"
declared.<br>>
>
>
First
off,
I
would
suspect
a
problem
with
the
CHS<br>>
>
>
(cylinder,head,sector)<br>>
>
>
geometry
that
the
drive
has
or
is
being
interpreted
by
the<br>>
>
bios
as,
to<br>>
>
>
the
kernel.<br>>
>
>
Second
off,
I
would
think
it's
how
the
stanzas
are
written<br>>
>
and
the<br>>
>
>
UUID's
(always
a
problem
I've
seen)
are
being
used.<br>>
Try
changing<br>>
>
>
to
the<br>>
>
>
actual
drive
/dev
use.<br>>
>
>
Tell
me
those
things
and
I'll
tell
you
my
reasoning<br>>
later,
if<br>>
>
>
applicable,
sorry
lazy
typer.....<br>>
>
>
Steve
Petersen
wrote:<br>>
>
>
>
Hi
NFLUGgers,<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
I've
been
using
some
form
of
linux
for
about
10<br>>
years,
but
I'm<br>>
>
>
still
a<br>>
>
>
>
newbie
in
many
ways,
and
I
wonder
if
you
can
help<br>>
me.
For<br>>
>
some
time<br>>
>
>
>
now
my
home
desktop
computer
-
which
has
Ubuntu
7.10<br>>
on
it
and<br>>
>
>
nothing<br>>
>
>
>
else
-
won't
boot
any
of
the
more
recent
kernels
the<br>>
>
update-manager<br>>
>
>
>
downloads.
It
gives
me<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
Error
18:
selected
cylinder
exceeds
maximum<br>>
supported<br>>
>
by
BIOS<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
until
I
choose
in
GRUB
an
old
enough
kernel
that<br>>
BIOS
can<br>>
>
reach,<br>>
>
>
>
apparently.
I
don't
know
if
I
have
a
separate
boot<br>>
>
partition;
it's<br>>
>
>
>
however
Ubuntu
set
it
up
default.
(No
separate
boot<br>>
>
partition
shows<br>>
>
>
>
up
on
the
'mount'
command
-
but
would
it?)
I
also<br>>
don't
know<br>>
>
>
what
my<br>>
>
>
>
motherboard
is
-
that's
where
the
BIOS
lives,
right?
As<br>>
>
you
see
I'm<br>>
>
>
>
still
pretty
ignorant
of
some
basic
computing
concepts.<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
Anyway
this
has
been
going
on
for
over
a
year,
probably,<br>>
>
but
the<br>>
>
>
>
kernel's
old
enough
now
that
(without
good
evidence<br>>
either<br>>
>
way)
I'm<br>>
>
>
>
starting
to
worry
it'll
be
sub-optimal
in
noticeable<br>>
ways.<br>>
>
It's<br>>
>
>
>
2.6.17-10-generic,
though
/boot
lists
versions
as<br>>
recent
as<br>>
>
>
>
2.6.22-14-generic.<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
Thanks
in
advance
for
any
help
or
thoughts.<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
Steve<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
--<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
<a href="http://stevepetersen.net" target="_blank">http://stevepetersen.net</a><br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
><br>>
>
<br>>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
>
_______________________________________________<br>>
>
>
>
nflug
mailing
list<br>>
>
>
>
<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>>><br>>
>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>>>><br>>
>
>
>
<a href="http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug" target="_blank">http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug</a><br>>
>
>
><br>>
>
>
_______________________________________________<br>>
>
>
nflug
mailing
list<br>>
>
>
<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>>><br>>
>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>>>><br>>
>
>
<a href="http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug" target="_blank">http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug</a><br>>
>
><br>>
>
><br>>
>
><br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
--<br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
<a href="http://stevepetersen.net" target="_blank">http://stevepetersen.net</a><br>>
>
><br>>
>
<br>>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>>
>
><br>>
>
>
_______________________________________________<br>>
>
>
nflug
mailing
list<br>>
>
>
<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>>><br>>
>
>
<a href="http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug" target="_blank">http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug</a><br>>
>
><br>>
>
_______________________________________________<br>>
>
nflug
mailing
list<br>>
>
<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>><br>>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>>><br>>
>
<a href="http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug" target="_blank">http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug</a><br>>
><br>>
><br>>
><br>>
><br>>
>
--<br>>
><br>>
>
<a href="http://stevepetersen.net" target="_blank">http://stevepetersen.net</a><br>>
><br>>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>>
><br>>
>
_______________________________________________<br>>
>
nflug
mailing
list<br>>
>
<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>><br>>
>
<a href="http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug" target="_blank">http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug</a><br>>
_______________________________________________<br>>
nflug
mailing
list<br>>
<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a>><br>>
<a href="http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug" target="_blank">http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug</a><br>><br>><br>><br>><br>>
-- <br>><br>>
<a href="http://stevepetersen.net" target="_blank">http://stevepetersen.net</a><br>>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>><br>>
_______________________________________________<br>>
nflug
mailing
list<br>>
<a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a><br>>
<a href="http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug" target="_blank">http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug</a><br>>
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mailing
list<br><a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank">nflug@nflug.org</a><br><a href="http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug" target="_blank">http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug</a><br></div><br></div></div>
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