GRUB Error 15

[arist]

I've been running Kubuntu 7.04 for over a year. I just installed a new motherboard: everything else is the same. The grub menu comes up at boot, but no matter what I choose, I get the "Error 15: file not found" message. I can use the SystemRescue Live CD to boot and mount all my drives. grub> geometry tells me that the partition that has the /boot directory is (hd1,0), which is what is listed in menu.lst. device.map also shows the boot drive as hd1. hd0 is an IDE drive, hd1 and hd2 are SATA.

The first entry in menu.lst is
title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-17-generic
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-17-generic root=UUID=[correct UUID for this drive] ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-17-generic
savedefault
Those vmlinuz and initrd files are in the /boot directory. The contents of /boot/grub are
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 197 Feb 4 2007 default
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 30 Feb 4 2007 device.map
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7540 Feb 4 2007 e2fs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7396 Feb 4 2007 fat_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 16 Feb 4 2007 installed-version
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8128 Feb 4 2007 jfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6133 Aug 26 22:38 menu.lst
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6804 Feb 4 2007 minix_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9108 Feb 4 2007 reiserfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 Feb 4 2007 stage1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 106228 Feb 4 2007 stage2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8764 Feb 4 2007 xfs_stage1_5


Any idea what file grub can't find?

[dibl]

Re: GRUB Error 15

Any idea what file grub can't find?

Yeah, that would be the vmlinuz kernel image file.

When the boot menu comes up, and before the ten seconds run out, press "e" to edit, then arrow down to the line with the hd number in it, and try changing the drive to one of the other numbers, like hd(0,0) or hd(2,0). Grub sometimes counts in a weird an unexpected manner. Then press "Return" and then "b" to boot it. Once you figure out which one makes it happy, you can edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and make the change permanently.

[Qqmike]

Re: GRUB Error 15

I would agree with dibl, and he's got a neat idea -- experiment! You only have 3 drives hd0, hd1, hd2. Or,
At the grub menu, pressing the "c" key gives a grub> prompt, and you can try
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
and see where your Kubuntu is (hdx,0), x = ?



Sounds like you might know this stuff, but, editing the boot menu, Reply #1 here:
How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0
--- HOW To: Change the Default Operating System (Also: Changing the timeout, boot menu, and other tips) Reply #1

[Snowhog]

Re: GRUB Error 15

"I just installed a new motherboard: everything else is the same."

Everything else isn't the same. When you switch out a mobo, you also get a new BIOS. You should boot and enter the BIOS setup and see whats what with HD settings.

[arist]

Re: GRUB Error 15 [Solved]

Yes, it occurred to me to experiment right after I posted. I've watched the BIOS splash screen roll by so many times today, one time I thought I saw it giving the SATA drives ID numbers ending in 0 and 1, even though it registered the IDE drive first. So I changed the main entry in the grub menu to (hd0,0), and it worked. Up to a point. It hangs at the end of the boot process, before starting X. I can login but can't startx, even after running envy.

It occurs to me that maybe a new motherboard necessitates a fresh install. I guess it's finally time to part from Feisty and move up to Hardy, even though I know some things will break.

[Qqmike]

Re: GRUB Error 15

Good. Thx to dibl. Now it's a graphics issue, which dibl also wrote a how-to about
X
dibl: Topic: How to get started with no GUI
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3085112.0
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg: bigpond
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p7.html

... and about which, it sounds like you already know something ...