Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

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milonic
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:19 pm

Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by milonic »

Just about the get my credit card out and buy a copy or 2 of BIBM but I simply cannot get Fedora to boot.

I have Windows 7 and Windows 8 working beautifully but this Fedora non-boot issue has cost me about a day and a half of faff and so I've decided I need help, hence my post.

My problem is exactly the same as this post: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/ucf/vi ... f=2&t=1164 only difference is I'm running Fedora 19.

I can get it to boot up from a CD and have re-installed grub2 countless times, I see file changes in /boot/grub2/ so I'm pretty sure that "grub2-install --force --recheck /dev/sda1" is working - I can also run "grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" and it creates a new file but when I reboot - BIBM still states that the partition is non-bootable and refuses to boot.

fdisk also states that the boot flag on /dev/sda1 is on so everything appears to be fine.

I'm loosing the will to live on this one, Any ideas?
TeraByte Support(TP)
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:22 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by TeraByte Support(TP) »

milonic wrote:
> Just about the get my credit card out and buy a copy or 2 of BIBM but I
> simply cannot get Fedora to boot.
>
> I have Windows 7 and Windows 8 working beautifully but this Fedora non-boot
> issue has cost me about a day and a half of faff and so I've decided I need
> help, hence my post.
>
> My problem is exactly the same as this post:
> http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/ucf/vi ... f=2&t=1164 only
> difference is I'm running Fedora 19.
>
> I can get it to boot up from a CD and have re-installed grub2 countless
> times, I see file changes in /boot/grub2/ so I'm pretty sure that
> "grub2-install --force --recheck /dev/sda1" is working - I can
> also run "grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" and it creates
> a new file but when I reboot - BIBM still states that the partition is
> non-bootable and refuses to boot.
>
> fdisk also states that the boot flag on /dev/sda1 is on so everything
> appears to be fine.
>
> I'm loosing the will to live on this one, Any ideas?

Not sure from reading your post, but have you tried following the procedure outlined in this KB article?
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=280

Basically, you need to NOT install grub during the install (see step 11), and then install it manually after the install but BEFORE rebooting by following the steps starting at step 28.
milonic
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:19 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by milonic »

Yes, I followed that article to the letter. I have done everything step by step, meticulously.

I do install Grub after installing Fedora but it still fails so I boot up Fedora from a CD and try again but still nothing will make BIBM see the partition as bootable.

Is there anything else I can try?
TeraByte Support(TP)
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:22 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by TeraByte Support(TP) »

milonic wrote:
> Yes, I followed that article to the letter. I have done everything step by
> step, meticulously.
>
> I do install Grub after installing Fedora but it still fails so I boot up
> Fedora from a CD and try again but still nothing will make BIBM see the
> partition as bootable.
>
> Is there anything else I can try?

Grub2 has been difficult to deal with at times, especially when installing it to a partition.

What does your partition layout look like as defined in Boot Edit for the Fedora boot item? In other words, what is in each of the 4 primary partition slots on the drive when Fedora is running? Are you limiting primaries in BIBM? Is there more than one drive?

Also, when you say you "boot up Fedora from a CD", do you mean you're running from the actual Fedora install by booting manually with Grub as described in this KB article: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=408
Or are you running from a Live CD?
milonic
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:19 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by milonic »

>> Grub2 has been difficult to deal with at times, especially when installing it to a partition.

In a way, I'm glad to hear that. At least it means I'm not going completely mad :?

I've uploaded an image of my partitions here: http://www.milonic.com/andy/parts.png and my boot menu here: http://www.milonic.com/andy/bootmenu.png

>> Are you limiting primaries in BIBM?

Not as far as I'm aware, how do I tell?

>> Is there more than one drive?

There's only one drive.

>> Also, when you say you "boot up Fedora from a CD"........

When I downloaded the ISO image from the article it fails to load Fedora properly, hangs in the middle of booting. So what I do then is insert the Fedora live CD and then press "c" at the grub menu, this enables me to execute "configfile (hd0,msdos1)/boot/grub2/grub.cfg" to load my Fedora install, so that I can reinstall Grub2.

What do you think? Can you see anything from the images?

Cheers,
Andy
TeraByte Support(TP)
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:22 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by TeraByte Support(TP) »

milonic wrote:
> >> Grub2 has been difficult to deal with at times, especially when installing
> it to a partition.
>
> In a way, I'm glad to hear that. At least it means I'm not going completely mad :?
>
> I've uploaded an image of my partitions here: http://www.milonic.com/andy/parts.png
> and my boot menu here: http://www.milonic.com/andy/bootmenu.png
>
> >> Are you limiting primaries in BIBM?
>
> Not as far as I'm aware, how do I tell?
>
> >> Is there more than one drive?
>
> There's only one drive.
>
> >> Also, when you say you "boot up Fedora from a CD"........
>
> When I downloaded the ISO image from the article it fails to load Fedora properly,
> hangs in the middle of booting. So what I do then is insert the Fedora live CD and
> then press "c" at the grub menu, this enables me to execute
> "configfile (hd0,msdos1)/boot/grub2/grub.cfg" to load my Fedora install, so
> that I can reinstall Grub2.
>
> What do you think? Can you see anything from the images?
>
> Cheers,
> Andy

Off hand, I don't see anything you're doing wrong. The grub 'configfile' command you're using to boot manually into Fedora shows that the Fedora root partition is the first parttiion (msdos1) on hd0, which will be /dev/sda1 in Fedora - which is what you're using when running 'grub2-install'. Since you have 5 primary partitions, you aren't limiting primaries, but that's OK as long as you ensure the correct partitions are loaded by attempting to boot Fedora from the BIBM menu before booting from the Fedora CD (the boot will fail, but it loads the Fedora partitions as defined in Boot Edit).

What I'd like to see though is a screenshot of how your boot menu item for Fedora is configured. To do that, select Boot Edit from the BIBM desktop, and then double click on Fedora. That will show the MBR details screen, which is what I'd like to see.

When running the 'grub2-install' command, do you get the "Installation finished. No error reported" message?

EDIT: Also, what 'grub' packages does 'yum' curently show installed? You can determine that (after booting manually into Fedora), by running the following command: yum list installed | grep grub
milonic
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:19 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by milonic »

>> What I'd like to see though is a screenshot of how your boot menu item for Fedora is configured.

Here's the boot screen: http://www.milonic.com/andy/fedora-boot.png

>> When running the 'grub2-install' command, do you get the "Installation finished. No error reported" message?

I did, in fact I didn't get any other messages. The article stated I'd get some messages about blocks but nothing other than the above.

>> what 'grub' packages does 'yum' curently show installed?

I upgraded grub yesterday thinking it might help, but alas, it did not. It's currently at version 2.00-22.fc19

Cheers,
Andy

ps. thanks for your help on this, it's most appreciated.
TeraByte Support(TP)
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:22 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by TeraByte Support(TP) »

milonic wrote:
> >> What I'd like to see though is a screenshot of how your boot menu item for
> Fedora is configured.
>
> Here's the boot screen: http://www.milonic.com/andy/fedora-boot.png
>
> >> When running the 'grub2-install' command, do you get the "Installation
> finished. No error reported" message?
>
> I did, in fact I didn't get any other messages. The article stated I'd get some
> messages about blocks but nothing other than the above.
>
> >> what 'grub' packages does 'yum' curently show installed?
>
> I upgraded grub yesterday thinking it might help, but alas, it did not. It's
> currently at version 2.00-22.fc19
>
> Cheers,
> Andy
>
> ps. thanks for your help on this, it's most appreciated.

You're welcome - hope it gets straigthened out...

The fact that you don't get the blocklists messages is strange, since I don't think I've ever seen grub2-install not generate them when installing to a partition. What is the file system you are using for the root partition? If not ext4, that could be the issue, especially if using btrfs. If not sure, run the command 'df -T' at the command prompt, and it will show the file system in the "Type" column for the root partition (/)

Another thing I'd try is reinstalling all the grub packages. For some reason if any files are missing, they would get replaced. The command to do that would be (as root): yum reinstall grub2 grub2-tools grubby

Then try running the grub commands again.

Also, looking at your screenshot of MBR details, that is differing from you were saying in earlier posts. The Fedora parttion is called Fedora Boot in MBR details, but was Fedora Root in the Parttiion Work screenshot. Also, Fedora Boot (which I assume is the root partition) is in the 2nd slot in MBR details, which would make it /dev/sda2 in Fedora and msdos2 in Grub - while before you were using /dev/sda1 for the grub2-install commands and msdos1 in Grub. That's probably because you've reinstalled and changed things around since the earlier screenshot, but a little confusing from this end.
milonic
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:19 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by milonic »

It's definitely ext4.

Tried re installing, still the same.

My apologies about changing things. I've just been messing around, re-installing etc. Well spotted :D

Question: Should I not have boot.img and core.img inside /boot/grub2/? - I don't but I think maybe I should :?
TeraByte Support(TP)
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:22 pm

Re: Fedora 19 - Partition Not Bootable

Post by TeraByte Support(TP) »

milonic wrote:
> It's definitely ext4.
>
> Tried re installing, still the same.
>
> My apologies about changing things. I've just been messing around,
> re-installing etc. Well spotted :D
>
> Question: Should I not have boot.img and core.img inside /boot/grub2/? - I
> don't but I think maybe I should :?

They should be there, and are copied there (or created) when you run 'grub2-install'.

Have you tried this variation of the grub2-install command (based on a google search)?
grub2-install --force --no-floppy /dev/sda1 (obviously substitute your actual root partition if it's not /dev/sda1)
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