GRUB

[Senethior459]

I tried updating GRUB to version 2, and bad things happened. I've spent the past two days trying to fix it, using only an iPod Touch with a working internet connection and a 64-bit Intrepid Ibex LiveCD (I use 32-bit Jaunty, and I couldn't get internet working in Intrepid because my wireless drivers are 32-bit, as well, and there was an incompatibility). I ended up erasing two partitions and installing Intrepid onto the one and using the other as my /boot, so I could eventually erase Intrepid without any problems. I'm finally back on Jaunty, however. That was a mess.

[mib]

Uh your confusing me wth

[Senethior459]

You don't use Linux, do you.

GRUB is a bootloader. When installed, it lets me choose what kernel I should boot to, what partition/drive it can be found on, etc. The BIOS can only boot to drives, so you set the disk to boot to GRUB, so you can choose what partition to boot into, or to just let you choose what Linux kernel version you'd like to boot onto. Unfortunately, it got totally borked, which meant I couldn't boot into anything on that drive. Not Windows XP, not Karmic Koala, nor either version of the Linux kernel I have installed under Jaunty Jackalope. It kept deferring to my dying slave drive which apparently still has Windows 98 installed on it.

[mib]

Sorry but i still dont understand a thing... ur confusing me more and more...

[Dekar]

Grub really is a mess, I remember when they changed the way the address drives...
Anyway, your problem could probably have been solved by writing the menu.lst on your own - which isn't much fun though.

[Senethior459]

I wish I could have just edited menu.lst, that would have been easy. GRUB2 uses a file called grub.cfg, however, which is generated using a bunch of other files by the update-grub2 command. Even if I had edited those files, I wouldn't have been able to update grub.cfg, because the Intrepid CD doesn't have GRUB2 installed on it.

[Senethior459]

I was about to say "One would think I'd have learned from the last time," but when I did basically the same thing this time, I was able to fix it quicker.

[Bartimaeus]

lol, welcome back, I guess? XD

[Senethior459]

Yeah, I'm back now...

Basically, I used UNetBootIn to turn a partition into an install CD for Karmic Alpha 6. I was on Alpha 5, so I wanted to update. Sadly, it borked everything up, especially GRUB, and after overwriting that messed up partition with 64-bit Intrepid (so I'd have a working bootloader), I managed to turn my old internal drive into a working boot CD, and I installed Alpha 6 over Alpha 5's non-working partition. Then I had a little fun making the wireless drivers work, updating... But everything's working fine now.

[Dekar]

Why didn't you just use the normal update? You can keep updating till stable and further! - No need to reinstall
But I wouldn't use the unstable versions anyway -.-