[Odyssey]

Now working on a second computer which already has Ubuntu 6.06 installed. Have partitioned and formatted a second (larger) hard drive with partitions:

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 1 1217 9775521 83 Linux
/dev/hdb2 1218 1340 987997+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hdb3 1341 18362 136729215 83 Linux
/dev/hdb4 18363 19929 12586927+ 83 Linux

1 is boot, 3 is for /home, and 4 will be changed to fat32. 6.06 is installed

and have booted the original drive which has the following partition structure:

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 3570 28675993+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 3571 4711 9165082+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 4712 4998 2305327+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

The NTFS partition is corrupted, so this drive needs repartitioning and reinstalling.

After the reboot, I first tried to use the File Browser with the idea that I would simply copy the home directory from hda2 to hdb3, repart/reinstall hda with a structure more like hdb, copy /home back to the hda /home partition. However when I click on any partition, the Browser gives the message

Unable to mount the selected volume

with details as:

error: device /dev/hda[2-3] (or hdb[1-4])* is not removable
error: could not execute pmount

*(the "hda[2-3] (or hdb[1-4])" is my way of indicating that this is true for both drives and all linux partitions, although it will show the filesystem and home directories in hda2)

Here is fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda2 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hda3 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0

This newbie has suddenly jumped in over his head. I imagine that I need to figure out how to mount the hdb drive, but why is it giving the same message for hda?

Or am I not seeing a larger problem? Any guidance will be appreciated.

[saikee]

In order to assist we need to know the following

(1) Which Linux you are able to boot? as you have 2, one in hda and one in hdb. You show us the fstab and complaining a mounting problem with partitions in hda. That implies you are running a Linux in hda. If it runs then hda2 must have been mounted or else you Linux won't boot. If you boot Linux from hdb then why show us the fstab of the Linux in hda? Linux in hdb has its own fstab for mounting only hdb partitions. Your post suggests none of the partitions can be mounted.

(2) output of "fdisk-l" as you have now. As we do not know if hda1 has been deleted or not or if additional partitions created since then, as you mentioned a reboot. You started thread with a reference to a second computer and what is the connection? Is hda in one computer and hdb in another?

(3) Your problem in mounting is associated with the difficulties experienced by the filing manager. Can you mount the partitions manually yourself? Show us the /mnt directory of the boot up Linux.

[Odyssey]

Since my last post, I have gotten answers to most of the issues raised, which included recognition on my part that I had not correctly identified hda1 as a fat32 partition, so that went away. Next was learning that one does not mount an entire drive, only partitions.

I took the new drive to the office to replace the current drive of one of the computers there. I say replace though it is more like a "weaning off of the old drive onto the new one".

I replaced the old drive (Ubuntu 5.04)with the new one as the master (as far as the cable connectors go), but it wouldn't boot, so I just installed 6.10 again which only took a few minutes, and that went perfectly. However. unfortunately I did so without plugging the old drive in again (on the slave connector), so now when I want to choose which drive I want to boot from, the computer just automatically boots from the drive that has the "master" cable connector (both drives set to cable select and both are on the same cable).

I would like grub to give me a choice between the two. Why does my computer not see both at boot? I suspect that grub will somehow need to be reinstalled-is this possible without a total reinstall?

[saikee]

Yes all the things you want can be done but you need to get your hands dirty.

You can boot a Linux originally installed in a master (hda) but subsequently moved to a slave (hdb).

You can have Grub to boot either system for you.


Both will not happen automatically.


Your first priority is to readjust the partition referenece of the Linux installed in hda but now resides in hdb. If this is an Ubuntu then you need to edit

(1) /boot/grub/menu.lst
(2) /etc/fstab

After editing the above you can then edit the Linux in the master disk hda's boot loader to boot the second Linux. Again if it has Grub it will be editing its /boot/grub/menu.lst but this time it is the one in hda.

Take a look at the last link of my signature on how to mount the second Linux with the boot-up first one. You need root privileges to edit the system files and this can either by obtained by "su" at the terminal followed by the password or prefix every command with "sudo".

Like I said previously you need to post the output of "fdisk -l" for others to advise you on the correct steps.

You don't need to re-install any system but need to change the partition reference of the two above-mentioned system files. A re-install can get you out of the difficulty at the expense that you don't learn anything from it.

[Odyssey]

You don't need to re-install any system but need to change the partition reference of the two above-mentioned system files. A re-install can get you out of the difficulty at the expense that you don't learn anything from it.

Good counsel. Will try the edit and see what happens and will post results. Thanks.

I have already learned that all devices to be installed by grub (i.e., listed as a choice during bootup) need to be in place at the time of Ubuntu installation. Somehow I had expected that during the normal boot process that Ubuntu would look for other hdd's, but that is apparently not the case.

[saikee]

When you see the Grub screen offering you the booting choices pressing "c" key can drop you into a Grub prompt. You can then ask Grub to report to you all the partitions of 1st disk (hd0) and the 2nd disk (hd1) it sees by

geometry (hd0)
geometry (hd1)

You can also ask Grub which partition has a boot configuration file menu.lst by

find /boot/grub/menu.lst

If Grub reports (hd0,1) that means one is found in the 2nd partition of the 1st disk and you can fire it up by

configfile (hd0,1)/boot/grub/menu.lst

Any time you wish to go back from the Grub prompt to the first original screeen you can do so by

root (hd0)
chainloader +1
boot

[Odyssey]

Saikee, that was a very interesting exercise. Here is what I got:

to the geometry commands:

drive 0x80: ....more...(prob not relevant)
Partition number: 2 Filesystem type is fat, partition type 0xc
Partition number: 4 Filesystem type is fat, partition type 0xb
Partition number: 5 Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83

to the find command:

Selected disk does not exist

to the config command:
(hd0,5) [not surprising, given the results of the geometry command]

One thing that caught my eye was the fs type for part. 4. This must be a logical partition and should it be fat, given that part 5 is ext2fs, and would not ext3 be a better choice for the linux partition (or is ext2fs the way ext3 is represented)?

Anyway the second drive is not being recognized, so I now need to get under the hood while booted up in the older drive. I'm at it!

[saikee]

Linux reserves hda1, hda2, hda3 and hda4 as the primary partitions and first logical partition always starts at the 5th position.

Partition Type 0xb is Fat32.

You last post confirms Grub didn't get your 2nd hard disk. Since Grub uses the information handed down by the Bios then Bios also didn't detect the 2nd disk.

[Odyssey]

That throws me. Why would bios not see the second drive?

[saikee]

If you have it configured wrong then the Bios will reject it.

Say you have both disks jumpered as master or plugged the cable the wrong way round or the power supply plug didn't fully pushed in.

It is time to check the electrical connections.

[Odyssey]

The old hdd is on the master connector of ide1, with nothing on the slave connector

The new hdd is on the master connector of ide2, and there is a dvdrw on the slave connector

Both hdd's are set to cable select

The cable connectors have the little raised bit in the middle that fits into a "slot" on the drive, so it would take some real effort to plug it in upside down.

I had already double checked the power connectors of all (and the one for the old hdd obviously worked as the computer booted from it), but I will triple check the new hdd when I get to the office)

[saikee]

I take it you know connecting the end plug of the cable to an IDE device automatically makes it the master and the device plugged to the middle plug becomes a slave when both devices are set to "cable select".

[Odyssey]

I have attempted to be very careful to differentiate between master cable connectors and slave cable connectors. Hope I haven't caused any confusion. As I understand it, this is the way that "cable select" works, i.e., that the built in controls detect whether it is the end (master) connector or the interior (slave).

I was not aware that this only works if both devices are set to cable select. I would have assumed that if one was set to cable select, it would normally determine which connector it was attached to, while the other could be set to either master or slave, and assuming it was on the appropriate connector, that both devices would work correctly.

The electrical is squarely in place on the second (new) hdd, so I am baffled as to why grub isn't picking it up.

[Odyssey]

Further to the above, I am thinking that if grub takes a handoff of hardware info from bios during the boot process, that probably only applies to situations where the "install" has already occured with the hardware in place (or text files appropriately modified). In other words, grub will know when something that it is looking for is not fed to it by the bios, but can't assimilate new hardware info from bios. In this case the new drive having been installed as hda, is not passing info that grub can use. Does this sound reasonable?

Getting under the hood:

here is output from fdisk -l in the old hdd (Ubuntu 5.04):

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 1028 3067 16386300 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3 * 8 1027 8193150 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda5 2048 3067 8193118+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda6 1028 2047 8193087 83 Linux

here is (operational) output from sudo dmesg | grep hd* on old hdd (U 5.04):

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.10-6-386
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10-6-386 root=/dev/hda6 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.10-6-386
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.10-6-386 (recovery mode)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10-6-386 root=/dev/hda6 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.10-6-386
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.10-5-386
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10-5-386 root=/dev/hda6 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.10-5-386
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.10-5-386 (recovery mode)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10-5-386 root=/dev/hda6 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.10-5-386
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel memtest86+
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
savedefault
boot

Note that items 1 & 2 above refer to:

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.10-6-386

and the only difference between those two and the next two are

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.10-5-386

What is the significance of the 2.5.10-6-386 and 2.5.10-5-386?

Now need to shutdown, remove old hdd, then reboot with new hdd to get like info for new drive. Will post this shortly.

[Odyssey]

Apologies. Just realized that the second quote above is not from
sudo dmesg | grep hd* , but rather text from menu.lst

Will post again with the dmesg info for old drive shortly.

Here is info from new drive:

Disk /dev/hda: 163.9 GB, 163928604672 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19929 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 1 1217 9775521 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 1218 1340 987997+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda3 1341 18362 136729215 83 Linux
/dev/hda4 18363 19929 12586927+ 83 Linux

and from sudo dmesg | grep hd* : (sorry that it is so lengthy, but unsure what I could cut out without compromising essential info)

[17179569.184000] BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
[17179569.184000] DMA zone: 4096 pages, LIFO batch:0
[17179569.184000] Normal zone: 126960 pages, LIFO batch:31
[17179569.184000] ACPI: LAPIC_NMI (acpi_id[0x00] high edge lint[0x1])
[17179569.184000] ACPI: INT_SRC_OVR (bus 0 bus_irq 9 global_irq 9 high level)
[17179569.184000] ACPI: INT_SRC_OVR (bus 0 bus_irq 14 global_irq 14 high edge)
[17179569.184000] ACPI: INT_SRC_OVR (bus 0 bus_irq 15 global_irq 15 high edge)
[17179569.184000] Kernel command line: root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash
[17179569.184000] PID hash table entries: 2048 (order: 11, 8192 bytes)
[17179569.184000] Using pmtmr for high-res timesource
[17179570.252000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes)
[17179570.252000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
[17179570.268000] Memory: 510056k/524224k available (1910k kernel code, 13596k reserved, 1069k data, 308k init, 0k highmem)
[17179570.268000] Checking if this processor honours the WP bit even in supervisor mode... Ok.
[17179570.348000] Mount-cache hash table entries: 512
[17179570.348000] CPU: L1 I Cache: 64K (64 bytes/line), D cache 64K (64 bytes/line)
[17179570.348000] CPU: L2 Cache: 512K (64 bytes/line)
[17179570.348000] Checking 'hlt' instruction... OK.
[17179570.364000] SMP alternatives: switching to UP code
[17179570.364000] checking if image is initramfs... it is
[17179571.044000] CPU0: AMD Athlon(tm) stepping 00
[17179571.188000] Brought up 1 CPUs
[17179571.220000] PCI: Probing PCI hardware (bus 00)
[17179571.372000] PCI: If a device doesn't work, try "pci=routeirq". If it helps, post a report
[17179571.420000] pnp: 00:00: ioport range 0x4080-0x40ff has been reserved
[17179571.420000] pnp: 00:00: ioport range 0x4400-0x447f has been reserved
[17179571.420000] pnp: 00:00: ioport range 0x4200-0x427f has been reserved
[17179571.420000] pnp: 00:00: ioport range 0x4280-0x42ff has been reserved
[17179571.420000] pnp: 00:01: ioport range 0x5000-0x503f has been reserved
[17179571.420000] pnp: 00:01: ioport range 0x5100-0x513f has been reserved
[17179571.460000] IP route cache hash table entries: 4096 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
[17179571.460000] TCP established hash table entries: 16384 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
[17179571.460000] TCP bind hash table entries: 8192 (order: 4, 65536 bytes)
[17179571.460000] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 16384 bind 8192)
[17179571.460000] Dquot-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order 0, 4096 bytes)
[17179571.460000] Initializing Cryptographic API
[17179571.460000] io scheduler noop registered
[17179571.460000] io scheduler anticipatory registered
[17179571.460000] io scheduler deadline registered
[17179571.460000] io scheduler cfq registered (default)
[17179571.844000] Serial: 8250/16550 driver $Revision: 1.90 $ 4 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
[17179571.848000] Uniform Multi-Platform E-IDE driver Revision: 7.00alpha2
[17179571.848000] ide: Assuming 33MHz system bus speed for PIO modes; override with idebus=xx
[17179571.852000] Using IPI No-Shortcut mode
[17179573.488000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:0b.0[A] -> Link [APSI] -> GSI 22 (level, high) -> IRQ 177
[17179573.896000] NFORCE2-U400R: chipset revision 163
[17179573.896000] ide0: BM-DMA at 0xf000-0xf007, BIOS settings: hdaMA, hdbMA
[17179573.896000] ide1: BM-DMA at 0xf008-0xf00f, BIOS settings: hdcMA, hddMA
[17179574.184000] hda: Maxtor 6Y160P0, ATA DISK drive
[17179575.876000] hdd: _NEC DVD_RW ND-3550A, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive
[17179575.944000] hda: max request size: 512KiB
[17179575.952000] hda: 320173056 sectors (163928 MB) w/7936KiB Cache, CHS=19929/255/63, UDMA(133)
[17179575.952000] hda: cache flushes supported
[17179575.952000] hda: hda1 hda2 hda3 hda4
[17179575.984000] hdd: ATAPI 48X DVD-ROM DVD-R CD-R/RW drive, 2048kB Cache, UDMA(33)
[17179576.380000] usbcore: registered new driver hub
[17179576.380000] ohci_hcd: 2005 April 22 USB 1.1 'Open' Host Controller (OHCI) Driver (PCI)
[17179576.380000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.0[A] -> Link [APCF] -> GSI 21 (level, high) -> IRQ 185
[17179576.380000] ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: OHCI Host Controller
[17179576.380000] ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[17179576.420000] ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: irq 185, io mem 0xec103000
[17179576.476000] usb usb1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[17179576.476000] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[17179576.476000] hub 1-0:1.0: 4 ports detected
[17179576.580000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.1[b] -> Link [APCG] -> GSI 20 (level, high) -> IRQ 193
[17179576.580000] ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: OHCI Host Controller
[17179576.580000] ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
[17179576.608000] ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: irq 193, io mem 0xec104000
[17179576.664000] usb usb2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[17179576.664000] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[17179576.664000] hub 2-0:1.0: 4 ports detected
[17179576.768000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.2[C] -> Link [APCL] -> GSI 21 (level, high) -> IRQ 185
[17179576.768000] ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.2: EHCI Host Controller
[17179576.768000] ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.2: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
[17179576.768000] ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.2: debug port 1
[17179576.768000] PCI: cache line size of 64 is not supported by device 0000:00:02.2
[17179576.768000] ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.2: irq 185, io mem 0xec105000
[17179576.768000] ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.2: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00, driver 10 Dec 2004
[17179576.768000] usb usb3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[17179576.768000] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
[17179576.768000] hub 3-0:1.0: 8 ports detected
[17179576.920000] EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.
[17179577.324000] usb 3-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
[17179577.868000] usb 3-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
[17179578.412000] usb 3-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
[17179578.932000] usb 3-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
[17179579.524000] ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: wakeup
[17179579.908000] usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 3
[17179580.132000] usb 1-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[17179584.944000] pci_hotplug: PCI Hot Plug PCI Core version: 0.5
[17179584.948000] shpchp: Standard Hot Plug PCI Controller Driver version: 0.4
[17179585.564000] agpgart: Detected NVIDIA nForce2 chipset
[17179586.320000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:06.0[A] -> Link [APCJ] -> GSI 20 (level, high) -> IRQ 193
[17179586.528000] 8139too Fast Ethernet driver 0.9.27
[17179586.640000] eth0: RealTek RTL8139 at 0xe08a6000, 00:50:70:d6:7c:1c, IRQ 201
[17179586.640000] eth0: Identified 8139 chip type 'RTL-8101'
[17179586.660000] 8139cp: 10/100 PCI Ethernet driver v1.2 (Mar 22, 2004)
[17179586.932000] eth0: link up, 100Mbps, full-duplex, lpa 0x45E1
[17179587.220000] ts: Compaq touchscreen protocol output
[17179587.712000] EXT3 FS on hda1, internal journal
[17179588.768000] EXT3 FS on hda3, internal journal
[17179588.768000] EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.
[17179599.328000] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
[17179603.828000] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.8
[17179603.828000] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[17179603.828000] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[17179603.852000] Bluetooth: L2CAP ver 2.8
[17179603.852000] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[17179603.880000] Bluetooth: RFCOMM socket layer initialized
[17179603.880000] Bluetooth: RFCOMM TTY layer initialized
[17179603.880000] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.7

and finally, from menu.lst:

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.17-10-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-10-generic root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.17-10-generic
quiet
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.17-10-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-10-generic root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.17-10-generic
boot

title Ubuntu, memtest86+
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet
boot

I take it I should change (hd0,0) to (hd1,0) in all instances above? (Not doing this yet, just looking for reassurance/guidance)

OK, now back to old drive