F11: Problems After Upgrade

[stepher]

I was about to sing the praises of the folks behind development and release of Fedora.

I have been on FC9 and was about to switch to FC10 when I realized FC11 was on its heels. So, I waited. When I went to upgrade to FC11, instructions said FC10 was required to be installed 1st. Not happy, but OK, I'll do it. Of course, I didn't like the idea of upgrading to FC10 only to then move onto FC11 given installations recommendations, some of the comments and my own history with pushing the odds doing upgrades...but, like I said, OK.

I upgraded to FC10 and things went off without a hitch. I also made sure to download all updates to date. Again, a flawless install. I was FEELING GOOD!!

So, now I go to upgrade to FC11. 1250+ files later, FC10 has been upgraded to FC11 and the screen now says to reboot. Nothing about whether or not to leave in the Fedora DVD but I assume it needs to be removed or else I'm destined to circle back around to install or upgrade. I remove the DVD, click Reboot and wait. After such a smooth, effortless process going to FC10, all I now get from the reboot (and subsequent resets) is "GRUB" written across the screen. Arrrrrrghhhhhh (as I state in the topic :)

I attempted to do a re-upgrade with the Fedora 11 DVD thinking I could correct this "GRUB" thing. No luck. Even worse is that trying to do this automatically takes me to a fresh install (no option). Maybe that's because the DVD is FC11 and it sees FC11 on the HDD and the only option would be a fresh install.

I know there is a Repair option on the DVD, but I'm not sure what I can or should do to help solve this bootup/grub issue.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers and regards....Steph

[Jeff72]

I was about to sing the praises of the folks behind development and release of Fedora.

I have been on FC9 and was about to switch to FC10 when I realized FC11 was on its heels. So, I waited. When I went to upgrade to FC11, instructions said FC10 was required to be installed 1st. Not happy, but OK, I'll do it. Of course, I didn't like the idea of upgrading to FC10 only to then move onto FC11 given installations recommendations, some of the comments and my own history with pushing the odds doing upgrades...but, like I said, OK.

I upgraded to FC10 and things went off without a hitch. I also made sure to download all updates to date. Again, a flawless install. I was FEELING GOOD!!

So, now I go to upgrade to FC11. 1250+ files later, FC10 has been upgraded to FC11 and the screen now says to reboot. Nothing about whether or not to leave in the Fedora DVD but I assume it needs to be removed or else I'm destined to circle back around to install or upgrade. I remove the DVD, click Reboot and wait. After such a smooth, effortless process going to FC10, all I now get from the reboot (and subsequent resets) is "GRUB" written across the screen. Arrrrrrghhhhhh (as I state in the topic :)

I attempted to do a re-upgrade with the Fedora 11 DVD thinking I could correct this "GRUB" thing. No luck. Even worse is that trying to do this automatically takes me to a fresh install (no option). Maybe that's because the DVD is FC11 and it sees FC11 on the HDD and the only option would be a fresh install.

I know there is a Repair option on the DVD, but I'm not sure what I can or should do to help solve this bootup/grub issue.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers and regards....Steph

It sounds like your GRUB in MBR does not know where your GRUB stage 2 /boot file system is located.

You will probably have to boot from DVD to rescue mode and reconfigure grub.

This thread may be able to help you out here (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=223747)

You can try to restore GRUB to the MBR.

Restoring Grub to the master boot record (MBR):
-----------------------------------------------
Boot off the DVD install disk and select rescue mode
Let the rescue mount your old file systems to /mnt/sysimage
# run chroot so your system file systems are at root:
chroot /mnt/sysimage
# run grub-install with your boot disk device as the option
/sbin/grub-install /dev/sda
exit (exit chroot)
exit (exit and reboot)

or, use the manual method:
# run chroot so your system file systems are at root:
chroot /mnt/sysimage
# run grub and manually configure with your boot device:
grub
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
(sd0,0)
grub> root(sd0,0)
grub> setup (sd0)
grub> quit

Also, after getting to a root command prompt after booting into rescue mode, run this to see your partition table:
fdisk -l /dev/sda

You want to make sure you /boot partition is set active to be bootable, like this (the * by /dev/sda2 means it is marked bootable):

# fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 640.1 GB, 640135028736 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 77825 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xaf75af75

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 19122 153597433+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 * 19123 19135 102400 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 19135 19390 2048000 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 19391 77825 469379137+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 19391 77825 469379072 83 Linux

[stepher]

Thanks for responding so quickly. I had come across a posting of yours in another thread, but that didn't seem to help. I followed what you suggest below and that got me into FC11. I appreciate the pointers!!

Some interesting quirks, however. I went into Upgrade Software and it said no software updates available/software is up to date.

OK, maybe, but somehow I don't think FC11 is completely bug free, is it?

Also, when I go into Software Sources, the window comes up empty. Is this right? Is there something else I need to do?

The other thing I noticed is that when I go into Add/Remove Software, all I get is No Results found. Doesn't matter whether I do a "find" or pick one of the folders. Same result. Is there a thread on this I should read?

Thanks again for the help. I'm much farther along than I thought I could be (fresh install was not going to make me very happy :)

Cheers...Steph


, It sounds like your GRUB in MBR does not know where your GRUB stage 2 /boot file system is located.

You will probably have to boot from DVD to rescue mode and reconfigure grub.

This thread may be able to help you out here (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=223747)

You can try to restore GRUB to the MBR.

Restoring Grub to the master boot record (MBR):
-----------------------------------------------
Boot off the DVD install disk and select rescue mode
Let the rescue mount your old file systems to /mnt/sysimage
# run chroot so your system file systems are at root:
chroot /mnt/sysimage
# run grub-install with your boot disk device as the option
/sbin/grub-install /dev/sda
exit (exit chroot)
exit (exit and reboot)

or, use the manual method:
# run chroot so your system file systems are at root:
chroot /mnt/sysimage
# run grub and manually configure with your boot device:
grub
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
(sd0,0)
grub> root(sd0,0)
grub> setup (sd0)
grub> quit

Also, after getting to a root command prompt after booting into rescue mode, run this to see your partition table:
fdisk -l /dev/sda

You want to make sure you /boot partition is set active to be bootable, like this (the * by /dev/sda2 means it is marked bootable):

# fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 640.1 GB, 640135028736 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 77825 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xaf75af75

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 19122 153597433+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 * 19123 19135 102400 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 19135 19390 2048000 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 19391 77825 469379137+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 19391 77825 469379072 83 Linux

[Hlingler]

Hello stepher:

The thread title has been edited so that it more closely reflects the question that you have asked: other users will be better informed as to the nature of your question.

How to Ask Questions the Smart Way (http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html)

FedoraForum.org Guidelines (http://www.fedoraforum.org/?view=guide)

V

[stepher]

V,

I appreciate that. Not very often, but sometimes in the moment of frustration, (and in an effort to get someone's attention) I go with a title that I hope will draw interest. I'm usually pretty good about keeping to topic, but this was one of those "Yessssssss!!!.....Ah, s**t!!!" moments for me.

I did some searching and found various suggestions which (I think) have brought me back on track (Updates happening as I write this :)

Cheers...Steph

Hello stepher:

The thread title has been edited so that it more closely reflects the question that you have asked: other users will be better informed as to the nature of your question.

How to Ask Questions the Smart Way (http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html)

FedoraForum.org Guidelines (http://www.fedoraforum.org/?view=guide)

V