Start antiX with grub4dos

user4 · posted: 2011-05-26 03:46

hi, i'm a nOOb and here is my PC config: Celeron 1.7/512MB and i've been using SimplyMEPIS for 2 years as dual boot with winxp using grub4dos. (renaming grldr to ntldr & ntldr to ntldrxp as given
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://reboot.pro/2224/"
linktext was:"http://reboot.pro/2224/"
====================================
)

SimplyMEPIS 11 doesn't work on my PC becuz of the low RAM/512/, I guess and decided to move on to antiX. There were no problems in downloading the M-11.686 iso or burning CD and booting liveCD. No problems in installing antiX from there too.

But after installation, cannot boot into antiX and fails saying 'cannot start tty'. can anyone please point out the error in my menu.lst file?

Code: Select all

# SimplyMEPIS/antiX has been installed in 2nd partition of Pri Master HDD (hda2 or hd0,1)
# SimplyMEPIS/antiX /root folder is hda2 & /home folder is hda3 (this home folder might not exist seperate)
# WinXP installed in C: drive - 1st partition of Pri Master HDD (hda1 or hd0,0)
# Uses the utility 'grub4dos' under DOS/Win or Linux
# Default setting number starts at '0'; antiX/MEPIS/KUBUNTU = 0, Win = '1' & MEMTEST = '2'

timeout 8
default 1
color cyan/blue white/blue
foreground ffffff
background 0639a1

gfxmenu /boot/grub/message

title antiX at hda2
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2
initrd /boot/initrd.img
boot

# title MEPIS at hda2
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 nomce autoexec=xconf;telinit~4 
# initrd /boot/initrd.img
# boot

# title KUBUNTU at hda2
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro quiet splash 
# initrd /boot/initrd.img
# boot

title Microsoft Windows XP Pro at hda1
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
find --set-root /ntldrxp
chainloader /ntldrxp

title MEMTEST
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin

Hannes Worst · posted: 2011-05-26 14:22

Which version of AntiX are you using? In the Grub menu.lst at my AntiX-M11 I had to name my partition as sda, instead of hda. And I had to specify the kernel-entry: vmlinuz-2.6.36-1-mepis-smp. That was also the case with the initrd.img.

anticapitalista · posted: 2011-05-26 14:32

Add this to the kernel line to look like:

kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 quiet nouveau.modeset=0 vga=791(optional)

user4 · posted: 2011-05-26 17:50

@ hannes worst > antiX M-11 686 - switched over when mepis 11 couldn't boot
@ anticapitalista > thanx mate, i'll try it 2mrw. here in IND it is late night. maybe it is to be sda instead of hda because i noticed error msg something like 'cannot locate dev /hda' whatever i'll try it 2mrw and get back.
going off to sleep. GN

rokytnji · posted: 2011-05-26 21:33

Yeah, The new kernel 2.6.36 in AntiX 11uses /dev/sd instead of /dev/hd.

Edit: I have posted my AntiX 11 grub4dos menu.lst somewhere on this forum .I am not on that Desktop right now or I'd post it.

Maybe you can find it inn search on forum.

Edit: Found my post

post20292.html?hilit=grub4dos#p20292

user4 · posted: 2011-05-28 06:39

hi,
I put in the kernel line, including the 'vga=791' and antiX dropped into 'option not supported, select another option' - just like Mepis and I selected option 9 and antiX started to boot.

the change to /sda2 instead of /hda2 worked, sort of, ONCE. the antiX booted and displayed the login screen. After I logged in, the screen went blank/black. waited for 5 mins. and when nothing seemed to happen - no HDD whirring also - pressed Ctrl+Alt+F1 and it dropped into the console (shell? / bash?) and started blinking with antixlogin:

On screen I could see that antiX msgs saying 'updating menu.lst at /root/grub/' and such like.

Now antiX is not booting at all - error message saying 'error 15: Cannot find File'

any pointers? thanx

Hannes Worst · posted: 2011-05-28 07:05

As I said, you might have to specify the kernel and the initrd.img. Also you could try to state vga=normal instead of vga=791. If you could mount your partition, maybe with the live-cd, you could try to find out the correct kernel-entries in your /boot/-directory on sda2.

user4 · posted: 2011-05-28 07:38

@ rokytnji - got that menu.lst by search, but thanx for the edit
@ Hannes Worst - thanx, will try specifying kernel and initrd - means i'll have to boot livecd again to find them out __{{emoticon}}__
BTW should I also get the UUID, once i'm on liveCD & if so how to I get them?
should i use the command 'blkid' in terminal?
and from terminal, can i export or copy/paste into say 'menu.lst' file in the windows c: partition?

Hannes Worst · posted: 2011-05-28 10:09

This is how I mount partitions with the live-cd
As root I do:
# mkdir /mnt/AntiX
# mount -t /dev/sda2 /mnt/AntiX

Then with pcmanfm or rox I would search through the boot-directory of /mnt/AntiX for the exact name of vmlinuz and intrd.img. I have no uuid's in my menu.lst, just /dev/sda2 worked for me.

Hannes Worst · posted: 2011-05-28 12:53

Indeed, you can find the uuid's by using blkid in the terminal. I've tried in Antix and it works for me. Or with the command"ls /dev/disk/by-uuid"

rokytnji · posted: 2011-05-28 15:48

not grub4dos. But here is my menu.lst usig blkid UUID= for finding partition and booting on y Amrel Laptop.

Code: Select all

timeout 10
color cyan/blue white/blue
foreground ffffff
background 0639a1
gfxmenu /boot/grub/message
### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=8bdcb4fd-4a43-45e9-be6b-dd455f91e802 ro
# kopt_2_6=root=UUID=8bdcb4fd-4a43-45e9-be6b-dd455f91e802 ro nosplash quiet

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,2)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
##      lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(single-user) single
# altoptions=(init-3) 3

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title        AntiX 8.5 Core i686, kernel 2.6.38-7.dmz.1-liquorix-686
root        (hd0,2)
kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-7.dmz.1-liquorix-686 root=UUID=8bdcb4fd-4a43-45e9-be6b-dd455f91e802 ro nosplash quiet 
initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-7.dmz.1-liquorix-686

title        AntiX 8.5 Core i686, kernel 2.6.38-7.dmz.1-liquorix-686 (init-3)
root        (hd0,2)
kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-7.dmz.1-liquorix-686 root=UUID=8bdcb4fd-4a43-45e9-be6b-dd455f91e802 ro nosplash quiet 3
initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-7.dmz.1-liquorix-686

title        AntiX 8.5 Core i686, kernel memtest86+
root        (hd0,2)
kernel        /boot/memtest86+.bin

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

user4 · posted: 2011-06-02 10:12

hi guys,
thanx for all the help. got the antiX going. in fact, this post on antiX with Iceape. really thanx for everything. Here is what I actually did - formatted the linux partitions - I had earlier installed Mepis 8.5 in 2 parititions. /root in hda2 (5GB) and /home in hda5 (5GB). Combined both the partitions into 10GB partition - formatted as ext3.

[one question where is the partition manager in antiX with ICEWM?]

then booted up with liveCD and installed antix & also noted down the UUID with blkid.
this is the menu.lst using grub4dos ....
OOps, cannot locate the winxp disks.

[two question - how do we get to winxp partitions antiX/Icewm? In Mepis we had 'my computer' thingy]

anyway - did not use uuid; here is the relevant part

title AntiX at hda2
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.36-1-mepis-smp root=/dev/sda2 vga=normal
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.36-1-mepis-smp
boot

thanx once again all u guys

anticapitalista · posted: 2011-06-02 10:35

1. partition manager is in antiX control centre -> Disks -> Partition a drive

2. Use rox as root user for now. Open a terminal, type sux then root password, then rox). Longterm you'll probably need to edit /etc/fstab

user4 · posted: 2011-06-02 10:54

@anticapitalista - thanx mate -
1. fingering around got to the partition manger thro control centre
2. got around the rox window thro control centre too
also tried out thro terminal like u said above
but can't get the devices

/etc/fstab has these entries already

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# Pluggable devices are handled by uDev, they are not in fstab
/dev/sda2 / ext3 defaults,noatime 1 1
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0622 0 0
# Dynamic entries below
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb1 ntfs-3g noauto,users,noexec,uid=1000,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0
/dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 vfat noauto,users,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0
/dev/sda4 /mnt/sda4 ntfs-3g noauto,users,noexec,uid=1000,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0
/dev/sdc1 /mnt/sdc1 ntfs-3g noauto,users,noexec,uid=1000,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0

rokytnji · posted: 2011-06-05 23:53

Change this part to
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb1 ntfs-3g auto,users,noexec,uid=1000,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0
/dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 vfat auto,users,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0
/dev/sda4 /mnt/sda4 ntfs-3g auto,users,noexec,uid=1000,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0
/dev/sdc1 /mnt/sdc1 ntfs-3g auto,users,noexec,uid=1000,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0

Make sure /mnt has folders
sda1
sdb1
sda4
sdc1

If not. Just add new folders as root in rox file manager or as root in thunar.

Mine for reference. (I used UUID instead of /dev/sdx)

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# Pluggable devices are handled by uDev, they are not in fstab
UUID=3fe7d362-f455-43a0-9eb6-d60231f24be2 / ext3 defaults,noatime 1 1
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0622 0 0
# Dynamic entries below
UUID=1A20A02E20A01335 /mnt/hda1 ntfs-3g auto,users,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0
UUID=38d34375-a4c6-4fda-bcc7-736eeb487061 swap swap sw,pri=1 0 0
UUID=93317189-8b9c-440a-9224-0799fa567f9b /mnt/hda6 ext3 auto,users,exec,relatime 0 0
UUID=4B5F-B945 /mnt/hda7 vfat auto,users,gid=users,dmask=002,fmask=113,relatime 0 0
/dev/cdrom /media/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,users,exec,ro 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,users,exec,ro 0 0

I left the old hdx folders and old /dev/hdx entries in /ect/fstab out of laziness. They were there because I had the 2.6.32 mepis smp kernel on this laptop when /etc/fstab was made. That is why my /mnt looks different than yours in /etc/fstab.

Mototrcycle life has been keeping a bit busy. __{{emoticon}}__