Re: [gentoo-user] grub hell

[Mick]

On Sunday 11 November 2007, maxim wexler wrote:
> Hi group,
>
> Previously I had a problem with hard drive that turned
> out was a faulty IDE controller, not the drive, not
> the cable.
>
> Now I can't use /dev/hdb but /dev/hdc is OK. So my set
> up is /dev/hda(WinXP) and /dev/hdc(gentoo), ie, WinXP
> is on the first IDE as master and gentoo is on the sec
> IDE also as master. hdd is the CDROM(sec IDE,slave),
> to complete the setup.
>
> So far I've tried every possible permutation of root,
> rootnoverify and map. I've tried installing the boot
> loader on /dev/hda and /dev/hdc. On hda nothing
> works(error 21). On hdc the boot menu appears and I
> can boot gentoo but not WinXP
>
> Error messages: "selected disk does not exist", "not
> found or not a block device", "could not find device
> for boot". Sorry, I can't recall the exact context for
> these messages but this will give a flavor hopefully.
>
> I've tried changing the boot order in the BIOS.
>
> I can get gentoo to boot if I tell grub it's on
> (hd0,0)(?!?!) but WinXP won't boot unless I remove the
> HD w/gentoo on it and bypass grub altogether.

My guess is that you have incompatible jumper settings on the back of the 
drives.  Check these and make sure that they reflect what the BIOS sees.  
Also, check your /boot/grub/device.map for consistency.  Then use tab 
completion from the grub prompt to find devices and bootable partitions.

> fdisk can see both drives OK. Both drives appear in
> dmesg w/o errors. Both drives appear in the POST
> screen -- first drive as '0', second drive as '1'
>
> I've scoured the web for an answer and now must turn
> to the authorities on this list as a last resort.

If the above doesn't get you booting please post your grub.conf, along with 
fdisk -l.
-- 
Regards,
Mick