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From: Aragorn on 18 Jul 2010 12:53
On Sunday 18 July 2010 18:45 in comp.os.linux.hardware, somebody
identifying as Ant wrote...

> On 7/18/2010 9:37 AM PT, Aragorn typed:
>
>>> I wasn't sure what to select here. I KNOW it is not sdb because that
>>> is my second IDE/ATA HDD as storage. So it leaves off to sda and
>>> sda1, but which one is my boot loader?
>>
>> Neither is your bootloader. One is the hard disk, the other is a
>> partition.
>
> I assume sda is the physical HDD and sda1 is the partition. I am not
> fimiliar with these disk terms.

You would be if you were using GNU/Linux a little more... <eg>

>>> I went ahead and checked both /dev/sda. Is this OK to do?
>>
>> Technically, yes. But it's not necessary.
>
> I was just following the recommendation from the instructions, but I
> wanted to double check with people in case this was not right.

No, you did not. The recommendation was to put it on each hard disk's
MBR. You put it only on the MBR for "/dev/sda" *and* in the boot
sector of your root partition, "/dev/sda1".

>>> I hope I didn't break my boot. I am kind of scared to reboot! I have
>>> more details below to help.
>>
>> It won't break your boot.
>
> Whew!!! Thanks God! :)

I'm not a deity, but I appreciate the compliment. :p

>>> /usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can
>>> only
>>> be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists
>>> are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
>>
>> That's an error message you get because you've tried to install GRUB
>> twice, i.e. in the MBR and in the first primary partition's boot
>> sector. This kind of set-up is only needed if you're planning on
>> chainloading. Read the GRUB documentation on that if you're
>> interested.
>
> Interesting, and sort of confusing. :(

Chainloading can be handy if you want to have multiple distributions
installed on the same machine, with each distribution having its own
specific copy of GRUB. The GRUB in the master boot record can then
point to each distribution's own GRUB, if need be.

>>> Is it OK to put both sda and sda1?
>>
>> It is advised not to do that unless you know what you're doing, and
>> the installer told you so but you wouldn't listen. :p
>
> Uh, where did it say I had to listen?

It did tell you that it was a bad idea to install GRUB in a partition.

>>> If not, then how can I undo this and which options do I select? I
>>> don't even know where sda is mounting to. :(
>>
>> "/dev/sda" is not mounting to anything. It is a hard disk. Putting
>> GRUB there means that you are writing the first stage of GRUB - which
>> only takes a few hundred bytes - to the beginning of the device
>> special file "/dev/sda", which represents your hard disk. In other
>> words, you are writing to the MBR of that hard disk.
>>
>> Please read the documentation before you're attempting to mess with
>> something you don't understand. That may sound harsh, but it's
>> exactly what you've been trying to do.
>
> I did read it briefly, but it was still confusing. :( Thanks though!
> :)

Knowing the difference between "/dev/sda" and "/dev/sda1" is not exactly
rocket science though, and especially not for someone who is actively
using GNU/Linux. Which in your case, given that you're posting from
Windows, doesn't seem to be the case... :-/

--
*Aragorn*
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157)
From: Ant on 18 Jul 2010 13:03
On 7/18/2010 9:53 AM PT, Aragorn typed:

>>>> I wasn't sure what to select here. I KNOW it is not sdb because that
>>>> is my second IDE/ATA HDD as storage. So it leaves off to sda and
>>>> sda1, but which one is my boot loader?
>>>
>>> Neither is your bootloader. One is the hard disk, the other is a
>>> partition.
>>
>> I assume sda is the physical HDD and sda1 is the partition. I am not
>> fimiliar with these disk terms.
>
> You would be if you were using GNU/Linux a little more...<eg>

I use it almost daily, but not physically on its box. I do a lot of
SSHing from work, local network, and other places. :) I hated Windows'
remote desktop. I don't need GUI!


>>>> I went ahead and checked both /dev/sda. Is this OK to do?
>>>
>>> Technically, yes. But it's not necessary.
>>
>> I was just following the recommendation from the instructions, but I
>> wanted to double check with people in case this was not right.
>
> No, you did not. The recommendation was to put it on each hard disk's
> MBR. You put it only on the MBR for "/dev/sda" *and* in the boot
> sector of your root partition, "/dev/sda1".

Oh, see. It's confusing!


>>>> I hope I didn't break my boot. I am kind of scared to reboot! I have
>>>> more details below to help.
>>>
>>> It won't break your boot.
>>
>> Whew!!! Thanks God! :)
>
> I'm not a deity, but I appreciate the compliment. :p

:D


>>>> /usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can
>>>> only
>>>> be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists
>>>> are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
>>>
>>> That's an error message you get because you've tried to install GRUB
>>> twice, i.e. in the MBR and in the first primary partition's boot
>>> sector. This kind of set-up is only needed if you're planning on
>>> chainloading. Read the GRUB documentation on that if you're
>>> interested.
>>
>> Interesting, and sort of confusing. :(
>
> Chainloading can be handy if you want to have multiple distributions
> installed on the same machine, with each distribution having its own
> specific copy of GRUB. The GRUB in the master boot record can then
> point to each distribution's own GRUB, if need be.

Ah, I won't bother with that. I prefer to keep things simple. I used to
do dual boot, but it got complex and confusing when OS fight each other
or when I have hardware problems. I decided to just keep one OS
dedicated on each machine. If I have to, then I will use virtual OS'
like VMware Workstations and VirtualBox.



>>>> Is it OK to put both sda and sda1?
>>>
>>> It is advised not to do that unless you know what you're doing, and
>>> the installer told you so but you wouldn't listen. :p
>>
>> Uh, where did it say I had to listen?
>
> It did tell you that it was a bad idea to install GRUB in a partition.

Are you referring to the error after it made the changes.


>>>> If not, then how can I undo this and which options do I select? I
>>>> don't even know where sda is mounting to. :(
>>>
>>> "/dev/sda" is not mounting to anything. It is a hard disk. Putting
>>> GRUB there means that you are writing the first stage of GRUB - which
>>> only takes a few hundred bytes - to the beginning of the device
>>> special file "/dev/sda", which represents your hard disk. In other
>>> words, you are writing to the MBR of that hard disk.
>>>
>>> Please read the documentation before you're attempting to mess with
>>> something you don't understand. That may sound harsh, but it's
>>> exactly what you've been trying to do.
>>
>> I did read it briefly, but it was still confusing. :( Thanks though!
>> :)
>
> Knowing the difference between "/dev/sda" and "/dev/sda1" is not exactly
> rocket science though, and especially not for someone who is actively
> using GNU/Linux. Which in your case, given that you're posting from
> Windows, doesn't seem to be the case... :-/

:( I also use Mac OS X too.
--
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.
From: mechanic on 19 Jul 2010 05:55
On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:37:17 +0200, Aragorn wrote:

>> /usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only
>> be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists
>> are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
>
> That's an error message you get because you've tried to install GRUB
> twice, i.e. in the MBR and in the first primary partition's boot
> sector. This kind of set-up is only needed if you're planning on
> chainloading. Read the GRUB documentation on that if you're
> interested.

I get that message too, and I don't have Grub installed twice. I
also get:
/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: This msdos-style partition label has no
post-MBR gap; embedding won't be possible!.

Maybe I should have elected to take the package maintainers
default/grub file rather than continue with the current one?

And what are blocklists, and what is Embedding in this context?

(f-u set)
--
mechanic
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