I don't know how it internaly works.
here is the faq.txt:
Code: Select all
1 Q. I get "kernel panic,VFS unable to mount root fs on 07:07.
A. This is not related to the bootloader. You must complete the setup procedure. Boot to CD and type install or pick setup in the bootloader menu.
2. Q. I get to the word "GRUB_" flashing underscore cannot type.
A. The first thing you should try is to run c:\boot\install.bat manually from a command prompt. This will enable you to see any errors that may occur you can also redirect the output to a file with this as well.
3. Q. I get something about block list failed when running install.bat from a command prompt.
A. 3.1. Are you using a dynamic disk? This will not work you will have to boot from the CD and that may not work either but that is a different issue.
3.2. Are you using any disk compression or encryption? This also will not work get rid of it and reinstall. You probably will not be able to use Topologilinux at all with this.
3.3. Check to see if c:\boot\stage1 and c:\boot\stage2 exist. try replacing them from the installation media.
3.4. Do you have any hidden partitions or is /boot not on the first partition of the first drive. To fix this you must edit c:\boot\install.bat.
what you need to edit in install.bat is the line
grubinstall -d (hd0,0) -1 c:/boot/stage1 -2 c:/boot/stage2 -m c:/boot/menu.lst
the part you are interested in is the -d (hd0,0) this is grub notation that represents your partition. (hd0,0) is the first partition of the first ide drive, (hd0,1) is the second partition of the first drive, (hd2,4) is the first logical drive on an extended partition on the 3rd drive. More on this notation can be found at http://www.gnu.org/manual/grub/html_node/Naming-convention.html#Naming%20convention
This still requires some guesswork the best way of determining the correct partition is with a grub bootdisk. Here is how to make one
in windows at a command prompt. with a blank floppy in a:
c:\> c:\boot\grubinstall -b -1 C:\boot\stage1 -2 C:\boot\stage2
in Linux you can copy the stage1 and stage2 files to a folder and as root
dd if=stage1 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 count=1
dd if=stage2 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 seek=1
This will not work with all versions of the bootloader If it freezes at the word "GRUB_" then you must try another version. The stage1 and stage2 files must be freshly compiled versions (or fresh from CD or .gz or .zip file that have not been modified with grubinstall.exe or by installing them natively
When you boot to a Grub floppy you will get a grub prompt.
you can type
find /boot/stage2
this will return the location of your files in grub notation put this in install.bat
4. Q. I get a grub prompt grub> _ (flashing underscore can type) instead of a menu.
A. Make sure c:\boot\menu.lst exists open it with notepad to make sure it is a valid file. If it is missing or corrupted replace it from the CD. If you have converted your drive from fat32 to ntfs the problem is most likely due to the GRUB NTFS driver not being able to read the converted file system. there is currently no fix for this.
5. Q. I have windows 9x, Me, can I use the bootloader.
A. The bootloader setup is designed to work with NTLDR. NTLDR is only available in NT, 2000, XP. There is currently a way to do this see 98bootloader HowTo. Or use the loadlin method.
Code: Select all
INSTALL:
--------
you need to compile these files under CYGWIN
get GRUB, for example in the directory /usr/local/src/grub-0.93
install these files in grub-0.93/ntfsboot
run "make" in the ntfsboot directory
Usage:
------
1) get a compiled stage1 and stage2 image and put these in C:\boot
for example compiled on a linux machine
2) add the following line to the file C:\boot.ini
C:\boot\stage1="GRUB"
you may need to do
ATTRIB -R -H -S C:\boot.ini
to make the file visible and writable and
ATTRIB +R +H +S C:\boot.ini
to revert the attributes of the file
3) run grubinstall
This will update the embedded blocklists in the files stage1 and stage2
You should rerun this utility after moving/changing the files stage1
or stage2 and after running tools like defragmentation
grubinstall [-d device] [-1 stage1] [-2 stage2] [-m menu] [-l] [-a]
grubinstall [-s] [-1 stage1] [-2 stage2] [-m menu] [-l] [-a]
grubinstall [-b] [-1 stage1] [-2 stage2]
grubinstall [-i file] [-1 stage1] [-2 stage2]
-d C: : partition where the files are
-d (hd0,0) : partition where the files are
-1 C:\boot\stage1 : boot sector
-2 C:\boot\stage2 : secondary boot loader
-m /boot/menu.lst : grub boot menu
-l : force LBA mode
-b : make boot floppy
-i boot.img : make boot disk image
-s : scan partitions
-a : alternate grub partition name for menu
device can be a disk or GRUB partition identifier
stage1 and stage2 must be paths to win32 file names
The defaults are such that if you put the files in C:\boot
you can simply go for "grubinstall"
4) uninstall
just delete the C:\boot directory, and remove the entry from C:\boot.ini
as described in 1). No registry entries were used by using the tool.
But then I just got aware of how often such a tool was asked for, and how often people messed up their system by trying out files they found randomly in the web.
So my installer (and your manual instructions) will allow to say after some feedback and testing: "this is a version working ok for 99% of all users, so there is small risk of damaging your sytem. However you might be one of the unlucky 1%, so for that case, DO BACKUP before."
The installer currently seems to have reached this quality, for your manual install some more feedbackmight be needed (or compare the amount of downloads with negative feedback, as people are lazy giving feedback if it just does what it was supposed to do).
Mark