Advice about grub placement

[leonardevens]

My current Fedora 14 installation lies on /dev/sdb with Windows 7 on /dev/sda. I use the Windows boot loader, set up with Easy BCD to choose which system to boot.

I am upgrading to Fedora 17 by means of a fresh installation, which will preserve certain existing paritions and put the OS in other existing partitions. I have gone over the Quick Installation guide and I think I see how to do that.

But I also believe I have to put grub's first stage in /boot on /dev/sdb. Is that correct?

Also, where in the installation process do I do make that choice? The installation guide is a bit sketchy on the matter, and, in the past I've got that wrong and grub was installed in the mbr of /dev/sda, requiring lots of effort to fix up afterwards.

[nonamedotc]

Yes. you can install fedora GRUB in /boot partition of Fedora. You will get this option in the screen after package selection (using DVD iso). There will be an option to choose where to install GRUB.

[sonoran]

Originally Posted by leonardevens

But I also believe I have to put grub's first stage in /boot on /dev/sdb. Is that correct?

Just to clear things up a bit - the choice here is between installing grub to the mbr of a drive and installing it to a partition. The first would be designated as /dev/sdx, the second as /dev/sdxn where x is the drive letter and n is a partition number.

Grub advises against installing to a partition because of the fragility of the blocklists involved, and doing so from the command line requires the --force option to grub2-install. But it will work, and Fedora accommodates it by being careful not to move things around in /boot.

I installed grub to sda5 and have had no problems with it (sda5 is a single / partition for F17). Booting is handled by grub 0.97 on the mbr.

[scotty38]

Originally Posted by sonoran

I installed grub to sda5 and have had no problems with it (sda5 is a single / partition for F17). Booting is handled by grub 0.97 on the mbr.

Exactly what I've done for ages and never had (much) of a problem.

[ggmam]

I have windows 7 on my hard drive in my computer. I installed Fedora 17 on a portable USB drive and it works fine. Now whenI restart my box I get a grub prompt. where is my wjndows and how do I get to it?

[nonamedotc]

If you installed Fedora to a USB drive, did you explicitly choose to install GRUB on /dev/sdb (assuming your usb is sdb)? If not, it is likely that anaconda happily installed the bootloader in the MBR of your hard drive and so you are getting the grub prompt.

Is this what you did? It is relatively easy to fix if you have your windows installation CD however. Welcome to the forum!

[ggmam]

here's what we got: Device
Hard Drive w/ win 7 /dev/sdb /dev/sdb1
portable USB hard drive /dev/sda /dev/sda1 - this hold fedora & swap
Fedora block on USB /dev/sda /dev/sda1
Swap file /dev/vg_fedora-17/lv_swap

Win 7 is upgrade and there were no disks with the original PC the disks are on a partion on the hard drive
As I stated when I try to boot into windows I get
grub>>>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>

---------- Post added at 04:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:50 PM ----------

Sorry the file looks so bad - my formating got changed when I sent it

---------- Post added at 04:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:51 PM ----------

Oh I fofgot - I tried my Win 7 rescue dick and I get grub prompt

---------- Post added 12th June 2012 at 03:56 AM ---------- Previous post was 11th June 2012 at 04:56 PM ----------

Here is some grub2 info part 1 ->

============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================

=> Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 1 of
the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks
in partition 99 for .
=> Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks at sector 1 of
the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks
in partition 99 for .

sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files: /grub2/grub.cfg

sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:

sda3: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: LVM2_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 7
Boot files: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sdb2: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /bootmgr /boot/bcd

vg_fedora-17-lv_swap': __________________________________________________ _______

File system:
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''

vg_fedora-17-lv_root': __________________________________________________ _______

File system:
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''
mount: unknown filesystem type ''

============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107861504 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773167 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sda1 * 2,048 1,026,047 1,024,000 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 82,944,000 976,769,023 893,825,024 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda3 1,026,048 82,943,999 81,917,952 8e Linux LVM


Drive: sdb __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sdb1 * 63 958,148,729 958,148,667 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sdb2 958,148,730 976,768,064 18,619,335 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS


"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/mapper/vg_fedora--17-lv_root 809a2f67-b529-41b6-a283-97bce9c79d41 ext4
/dev/mapper/vg_fedora--17-lv_swap 8638c36d-c8d4-438a-a4f1-5d76d9d5aea8 swap
/dev/sda1 a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e ext4
/dev/sda2 76E4FD96E4FD5937 ntfs Windows_Image
/dev/sda3 J91vmq-R3Ex-0n71-hT8m-zgG9-OZNc-xni9T6 LVM2_member
/dev/sdb1 D25C5BBB5C5B98D5 ntfs HP
/dev/sdb2 2C88743C8874071C ntfs FACTORY_IMAGE

========================= "ls -R /dev/mapper/" output: =========================

/dev/mapper:
control
vg_fedora--17-lv_root
vg_fedora--17-lv_swap

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/mapper/vg_fedora--17-lv_root / ext4 (rw,relatime,seclabel,data=ordered)
/dev/sda1 /boot ext4 (rw,relatime,seclabel,data=ordered)

[ggmam]

grug2 part 2 ->

============================= sda1/grub2/grub.cfg: =============================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub2-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
}

if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_msdos
insmod lvm
insmod ext2
set root='lvm/vg_fedora--17-lv_root'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint='lvm/vg_fedora--17-lv_root' 809a2f67-b529-41b6-a283-97bce9c79d41
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 809a2f67-b529-41b6-a283-97bce9c79d41
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
set timeout=5
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Fedora (3.4.0-1.fc17.i686.PAE)' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-809a2f67-b529-41b6-a283-97bce9c79d41' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd2,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd2,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci2,msdos1 --hint='hd1,msdos1' a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e
fi
echo 'Loading Fedora (3.4.0-1.fc17.i686.PAE)'
linux /vmlinuz-3.4.0-1.fc17.i686.PAE root=/dev/mapper/vg_fedora--17-lv_root ro rd.md=0 rd.lvm.lv=vg_fedora-17/lv_swap SYSFONT=True rd.lvm.lv=vg_fedora-17/lv_root KEYTABLE=us rd.luks=0 LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd.dm=0 rhgb quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-3.4.0-1.fc17.i686.PAE.img
}
menuentry 'Fedora Linux' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-809a2f67-b529-41b6-a283-97bce9c79d41' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd2,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd2,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci2,msdos1 --hint='hd1,msdos1' a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE ...'
linux /vmlinuz-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE root=/dev/mapper/vg_fedora--17-lv_root ro rd.md=0 rd.lvm.lv=vg_fedora-17/lv_swap SYSFONT=True rd.lvm.lv=vg_fedora-17/lv_root KEYTABLE=us rd.luks=0 LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd.dm=0 rhgb quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE.img
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Fedora Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-809a2f67-b529-41b6-a283-97bce9c79d41' {
menuentry 'Fedora Linux, with Linux 3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE-advanced-809a2f67-b529-41b6-a283-97bce9c79d41' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd2,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd2,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci2,msdos1 --hint='hd1,msdos1' a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE ...'
linux /vmlinuz-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE root=/dev/mapper/vg_fedora--17-lv_root ro rd.md=0 rd.lvm.lv=vg_fedora-17/lv_swap SYSFONT=True rd.lvm.lv=vg_fedora-17/lv_root KEYTABLE=us rd.luks=0 LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd.dm=0 rhgb quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE.img
}
menuentry 'Fedora Linux, with Linux 3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE (recovery mode)' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE-recovery-809a2f67-b529-41b6-a283-97bce9c79d41' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd2,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd2,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci2,msdos1 --hint='hd1,msdos1' a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a0491a84-b7b1-4287-bc0d-9ecca5e8ab0e
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE ...'
linux /vmlinuz-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE root=/dev/mapper/vg_fedora--17-lv_root ro single rd.md=0 rd.lvm.lv=vg_fedora-17/lv_swap SYSFONT=True rd.lvm.lv=vg_fedora-17/lv_root KEYTABLE=us rd.luks=0 LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd.dm=0 rhgb quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE.img
}
}
if [ "x$default" = 'Fedora Linux, with Linux 3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE' ]; then default='Advanced options for Fedora Linux>Fedora Linux, with Linux 3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE'; fi;
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_ppc_terminfo ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_ppc_terminfo ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry 'Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-chain-D25C5BBB5C5B98D5' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 --hint='hd0,msdos1' D25C5BBB5C5B98D5
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root D25C5BBB5C5B98D5
fi
chainloader +1
}
menuentry 'Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda2)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-chain-2C88743C8874071C' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='hd0,msdos2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos2 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos2 --hint='hd0,msdos2' 2C88743C8874071C
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2C88743C8874071C
fi
chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ggmam]

grub.cfg part 3 ->


=================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

GiB - GB File Fragment(s)

0.266127586 = 0.285752320 grub2/grub.cfg 2
0.037903786 = 0.040698880 initramfs-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE.img 5
0.061816216 = 0.066374656 initramfs-3.4.0-1.fc17.i686.PAE.img 3
0.020977020 = 0.022523904 vmlinuz-3.3.4-5.fc17.i686.PAE 1
0.044379234 = 0.047651840 vmlinuz-3.4.0-1.fc17.i686.PAE 1

======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ========================

Unknown BootLoader on vg_fedora-17-lv_swap'


Unknown BootLoader on vg_fedora-17-lv_root'



========= Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive: =========

sdc sdd sde sdf

=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

skip_dev_dir: Couldn't split up device name vg_fedora-17-lv_swap'
Volume group name vg_fedora-17-lv_swap' has invalid characters
Skipping volume group vg_fedora-17-lv_swap'
skip_dev_dir: Couldn't split up device name vg_fedora-17-lv_swap'
Volume group name vg_fedora-17-lv_swap' has invalid characters
Skipping volume group vg_fedora-17-lv_swap'
skip_dev_dir: Couldn't split up device name vg_fedora-17-lv_swap'
Volume group name vg_fedora-17-lv_swap' has invalid characters
Skipping volume group vg_fedora-17-lv_swap'
hexdump: /dev/mapper/vg_fedora-17-lv_swap': No such file or directory
hexdump: stdin: Bad file descriptor
hexdump: /dev/mapper/vg_fedora-17-lv_swap': No such file or directory
hexdump: /dev/mapper/vg_fedora-17-lv_swap': Bad file descriptor
skip_dev_dir: Couldn't split up device name vg_fedora-17-lv_root'
Volume group name vg_fedora-17-lv_root' has invalid characters
Skipping volume group vg_fedora-17-lv_root'
skip_dev_dir: Couldn't split up device name vg_fedora-17-lv_root'
Volume group name vg_fedora-17-lv_root' has invalid characters
Skipping volume group vg_fedora-17-lv_root'
skip_dev_dir: Couldn't split up device name vg_fedora-17-lv_root'
Volume group name vg_fedora-17-lv_root' has invalid characters
Skipping volume group vg_fedora-17-lv_root'
hexdump: /dev/mapper/vg_fedora-17-lv_root': No such file or directory
hexdump: stdin: Bad file descriptor
hexdump: /dev/mapper/vg_fedora-17-lv_root': No such file or directory
hexdump: /dev/mapper/vg_fedora-17-lv_root': Bad file descriptor
mdadm: No arrays found in config file or automatically

---------- Post added at 12:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 AM ----------

Does anybody know what I need ro enter at the grub prompt to bring up windows 7 on my HD??