Boot/GRUB problem (error 2)

Booting, installing, newbie
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mrbball151
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri 02 Jan 2009, 05:15

Boot/GRUB problem (error 2)

#1 Post by mrbball151 »

Hello everyone. As the title says, I'm having a problem with booting Puppy.

I'm a complete newb with Linux, but I've been trying to install Puppy for a couple hours, but I can't get it to work.

I have a Dell Dimension 3000 PC, and after windows crapped out on me, decided to try Linux for the first time. I successfully installed Ubuntu, but it was running slow, so after reading another Linux board, decided to try Puppy. It seemed to install fine (I downloaded it and then burned it onto a cd, and then used Puppy installer after booting from that CD), but I couldn't get past the first boot screen. I then tried Super Grub Disk to fix the issue, but now I get a "error 2". How do I fix this?

I was following these instructions: http://www.puppylinux.org/manuals/puppy ... stallation

The only time I differed from those instructions were the part where it said to install on the /dev/hda2 file. I did not have that option, and only had /dev/sda1 available to choose from. I'm guessing it's because I don't have windows installed on that computer. The instructions talked about creating partitions, but I didn't do that. I didn't have windows installed, only Ubuntu, and I wanted Puppy to be the only thing installed, so I skipped that part and just installed on the available option (sda1) It seemed to install fine, but then I came to this part:

"What remains to be done is to configure the GRUB boot loader so that Puppy Linux can be booted. This is how to do it:"

I was following along with all of that, but instead of having a "/dev/hda2" file, as I said, I had a "/dev/sda1" file. I followed the instructions just using sda1 instead of hda2, and all the screens matched up with his instructions, but when I got to the last screen to make the edits, the screens no longer matched up in the contents of the menu.lst file.

The instruction is to "Comment out", i.e. put a number sign (#) before each of the following lines: ", but I did not have the lines that he has outlined in the diagram (e.g. the one with the windows in it). I figured since I do not have windows installed anywhere on the hard drive, that must be the reason, and so, I removed the CD, and I just restarted the computer as the instructions said, but then all I got was the following screen on the startup:

[Minimial BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB lists possible command competions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible completions of a device/filename.]

grub>

That's when I downloaded and burned SGD, and tried to boot that to fix this issue. After I tried that, I no longer get the above screen, but now I get the "error 2" screen.

No idea what to do.

Any help will be much appreciated.

bugman

#2 Post by bugman »

i am not good with grub, but if anyone is going to be able to help you, they'll need to see what you have in the file

it's at--

/boot/grub/menu.lst

it's a text file, open it, copy it, paste it here

[experts soon come]

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rcrsn51
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#3 Post by rcrsn51 »

When you installed Ubuntu, it would have reformatted the drive as ext2 or ext3. Unfortunately, the recent releases of some Linux's contain formatting tools that are not compatible with Puppy's version of GRUB. Here is how to check:

Boot off the Puppy Live CD using the "puppy pfix=ram" option. Go to a console and type this command:

Code: Select all

tune2fs -l /dev/sda1   (with a lower case ell)
Identify the value of "Inode Size". If it's 256, you have the problem.

The easiest solution is to run Gparted from the System menu and reformat the partition. Right-click on the partition and select Format To. Use the same filesystem it already has.

[Edit] The versions of Gparted in newer Puppies may also make 256 byte inodes. In that case, you should use the following manual command:

Code: Select all

mkfs.ext3 -I 128 /dev/sda1  (with an upper case i)
[Edit] In some newer versions, this command may use a lower case i instead.

Run the tune2fs command again to verify that the Inode size is now 128.

This procedure will erase the partition, so you will have to reinstall Puppy and GRUB.
Last edited by rcrsn51 on Wed 27 Jan 2010, 21:10, edited 5 times in total.

mrbball151
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri 02 Jan 2009, 05:15

#4 Post by mrbball151 »

Thanks!

Yeah, it was 256, I went ahead and put in that manual command (couldn't figure out how to reformat using Gparted), reinstalled Puppy, and after, tried without the CD in the system, and it worked!

But, I still have a couple issues.

1. Although it boots without error, it's still not really a true autoboot. I get a screen that displays the following:

"Linux (on /dev/sda1)
Install GRUB to floppy disk (on /dev/fd0)
Install GRUB to Linux partition (on /dev/sda1)
-For help press 'c', then type: 'help'
-For usage example, type" 'cat /boot/grub/usage.txt'"

I chose Linux (on /dev/sda1) the first time I tried to boot without the CD, and it worked, it took me to Puppy with no errors.

I then rebooted and chose "Install GRUB to Linux partition (on /dev/sda1), and that "succeeded", brought me back to this screen, and I just chose the first option again.

Will I always need to select this first option to get onto Puppy, or is there someway I can have a true autoboot where Puppy loads up without me having to do anything?

2. On the instructions for full install, it says an edit needs to be made to the menu.lst file, and gives details on how to get to that file. Well, on the first step, "Start "Menu | Filesystem | Pmount mount/unmount drives" and click on the button "MOUNT" next to "/dev/hda2". , I have an issue. I do not have the option to click on the mount button next to sda1, it's greyed out! Is this a problem? Possibly the source of the issue?

I ran the tune2fs command again, and the inode value is still 128, I don't know if that's related or not, but just thought I would make a note of that.

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rcrsn51
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#5 Post by rcrsn51 »

To make Puppy autoboot, you need to find your GRUB menu.lst file. It will be in the folder /boot/grub of your Puppy partition.

When you run Pmount, sda1 is greyed out because it is already mounted. Just click on the little cabinet icon beside it.

Open the menu.lst file in a text editor.

Look for a "timeout" line. If you have one, it may be commented out with a #.

What you want instead are these two lines at the start of the file :

Code: Select all

timeout 0
default 0
This will immediately launch the first menu option.

Glad to hear that you solved the Inode problem. I suspect that this will become a recurring issue as more people jump from the big-boy distros to Puppy.

mrbball151
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri 02 Jan 2009, 05:15

#6 Post by mrbball151 »

Awesome, it worked! Thank you so much for your help!

I just have a minor question now.

I tried to download Mozilla (since that's the browser I'm most used to), but after the download, the download opened up many files in a zip manager. I'm used to just getting a .exe file after download and opening that, didn't know what to look for in all those files in this situation.

Also, with regards to internet browsing, I don't how to describe it, but it seems like the display is a bit off. By that I mean the sharpness isn't that good. Everything shows up, but it doesn't seem as well rounded/sharp/smooth as I'm used to. It might be the different fonts being used, I'm not sure. But is there a way I can change the display settings/options so it resembles more of what I'm used to with Windows? Right now, browsing websites, things just seem a little blurry.

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rcrsn51
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#7 Post by rcrsn51 »

By Mozilla, do you mean Firefox? The Puppy version of a Windows installer is a .pet file. There are .pets around for Firefox, but it sounds like you downloaded the Firefox .tar.bz2 file directly from Mozilla. Here is the simplest thing to do.

1. Copy the file to your /root folder.

2. Click on it to extract the contents.

3. Go into the new Firefox folder and drag the file named "firefox" onto your desktop.

Once you have that working, we can talk about improving the fonts that FF uses.

mrbball151
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Joined: Fri 02 Jan 2009, 05:15

#8 Post by mrbball151 »

Woops, yeah, I did mean Firefox.

Alright, I followed what you said, and have Firefox up and running.

As of right now, font seems REALLY small.

Also, some of the text appears to be "rough". For example, the title of this thread is in bigger letters above this "post a reply" box, and it most certainly does not look smooth.

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rcrsn51
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#9 Post by rcrsn51 »

Go into Edit > Preferences > Content
Change the Default Font to DejaVu Sans and a larger size like 16
Click the Advanced Button
Change the other Fonts to DejaVu Sans
Uncheck the "Allow Pages ..." box

You will probably find that the text on the menu bar is too small. That's also fixable.

mrbball151
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri 02 Jan 2009, 05:15

#10 Post by mrbball151 »

Ah, cool. That's much better.

Yeah, the text for the menu bar is still really small, as is the text in other various parts of the page (e.g. the address bar, font for the text in the actual tab(s), and typing text in google).

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rcrsn51
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#11 Post by rcrsn51 »

Next, you need to find your Firefox profile. It's in the hidden folder /root/.mozilla/firefox/xxx.default
Open the chrome folder.
Inside, you need to create a file named userChrome.css
Paste the following lines into it.

Code: Select all

*{
   font-size: 3.5mm !important;
   font-family:DejaVu Sans !important;
  }
Save and restart FF.

mrbball151
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri 02 Jan 2009, 05:15

#12 Post by mrbball151 »

That did the trick!

The only problem I am seeing is on the google page and possibly some things on this board.

On the google page, the two buttons (Google search and I'm feeling lucky), show up really small, with likewise smaller font. And when I type text in the search bar, that still is really small.

On this board, the text I'm typing right now is bigger than the Google search text, but still could maybe be a little bigger, and the button text (e.g. the "browse" button under add an attachment), is comparably small to the Google buttons.

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rcrsn51
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#13 Post by rcrsn51 »

From the FF menu bar, select View > Text Size > Increase

Have you figured out how to put an actual FF icon on your desktop shortcut?

mrbball151
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#14 Post by mrbball151 »

I don't seem to have the text size option under view.

When I click view, these are the options:

Toolbar
Statusbar
Sidebar

stop
reload

zoom
page style
character encoding
page screen
full screen

No, I don't know how to put the actual firefox icon on my desktop, I just have the one that I dragged onto my desktop from earlier.

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rcrsn51
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#15 Post by rcrsn51 »

Try Zoom. Is the actual button on the Google page small or just its label?

Here's how to change the icon:
Open the folder /root/firefox/icons
Locate the file mozicon50.xpm

Leave this window open and go to your desktop.
Right-click on your FF shortcut.
Select "Set Icon".
Drag the FF icon file over into this box.

mrbball151
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Joined: Fri 02 Jan 2009, 05:15

#16 Post by mrbball151 »

I changed the firefox icon. :)

I tried to zoom, but the issue with that is while the button and text appear larger, the rest of the text looks even rougher around the edges (e.g. on the Google page, the Google logo looks messed up as I zoom). In general, I think it seems like an issue of crispness, even with the fonts being good for the most part apart from some buttons and what not.

I'm not sure if it's just the button that's small, or if it's the text, or both. I do know that whatever I type in the search is really small and clumped together.

If it would help, I can try and post a screenshot. I'm used to hitting printscreen button, going into paint, pasting, saving, and uploading on a image hosting website. Not sure how to do it in Puppy though.

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rcrsn51
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#17 Post by rcrsn51 »

Go to Edit > Preferences > Content > Fonts and Colours > Advanced

There is an item for Minimum Font Size. Set it to something like 14.

mrbball151
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#18 Post by mrbball151 »

Looks like that worked. :)

I just feel like something is off. I turned on my laptop to compare and try to figure out what the difference is. The best I can come up with is an issue of clarity/sharpness to everything in firefox. The font size and everything is pretty much resolved at this point, and so that's not the issue. It just seems that maybe it's the quality/crispness of the font/text that is lacking, especially in comparison to what I'm used to seeing.

It's kind of hard to describe, and maybe this is simply how it should be, but I feel a change in resolution or something could be helpful (I vaguely remember having to pick something for the monitor settings during or after the install, I just picked whatever the default option was).

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rcrsn51
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#19 Post by rcrsn51 »

I have always been partial to 800x600. Under the Setup menu, you will find the wizards for changing resolution.

mrallaire
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Missing Operating System

#20 Post by mrallaire »

Hello,

I struggled for days to get Puppy Linux installed on my hard drive. It turned I too had an Inode Size of 256.

rcrsn51's solution solved my problem, but only after re-running the Grub Bootloader Config program and making the necessary changes to the menu.lst file.

The reason is that GRUB is in 2 parts (stages). Stage 1 is copied to your MBR which gets deleted when you repartition a drive. Stage 2 is what you see on your hard drive, typically in /boot/grub.

Just an additional note incase someone else get's stuck like I did.

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