LMDE not booting--how to set boot partition? [resolved]

[este.el.paz]

@spandey:

Thanks very much for that, that looks very promising, I'll give it a shot later today or tomorrow, and hopefully that will be the solution. But, couple quick questions, in the rEFIt section:

hope you have done resync partitions in refit. Also make sure to have boot legacy first option.

I have done the resync once or twice; but the "boot legacy option" . . . is that obvious in one of the buttons below the discs? I saw the other day when I had a USB stick in the computer formatted in FAT32 it said "Legacy system" but I'm not trying for Windows, just OSX . . . anyway . . . just wondering.

But, also and maybe a little more critical is:

8. for i in /sys /proc /dev/pts /dev; do sudo umount /mnt$i; done
9. sudo umount /mnt

I do want to type "umount"??? rather than what it might mean --uNmount?? Also with "sudo" . . . will LMDE recognize me as "sudo" automatically or accept the sudo command OR do I need to add myself as we need to in MintPPC, but which escapes me on the procedure????

Otherwise I'll post back if I've found success . . . or hopefully not but any other sordid details of psychological meltdown.

e.e.p.

[spandey]

to UNMOUNT command is umount. LiveDVD will allow 'sudo' commands without password.

[este.el.paz]

@spandey: Well, that was interesting . . . didn't seem to work, but I kept going through the list . . . copied it and sent it to myself by email. I didn't see the first "Warning" about use GPT because it scrolled down to bottom, but I still wouldn't have known what to do . . . but, got into "mint" or mounted mint??? but then it said "BAD idea" but I tried it again, BTW I was in "Terminal" but it wasn't until I was looking for a web browser that I saw "Root Terminal" . . . should I have been in "Root Terminal"??? see below:

mint@mint ~ $ sudo fdisk -l

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.


Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000019bf

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 26 204819+ ee GPT
/dev/sda2 26 26651 213867184 af HFS / HFS+
/dev/sda3 * 26651 29379 21907456 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 29379 30402 8218624 82 Linux swap / Solaris
mint@mint ~ $ sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
mint@mint ~ $ sudo mount -B $i /mnt$i
mount: Not a directory
mint@mint ~ $ sudo chroot /mnt
mint / # update-grub
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found background image: linuxmint.png
Found Debian background: linuxmint.png
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.39-2-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.39-2-amd64
grep: /proc/mounts: No such file or directory
grep: /proc/swaps: No such file or directory
Cannot find list of partitions! (Try mounting /sys.)
done
mint / # grub-install /dev/sda3
/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partitionless disk or to a partition. This is a BAD idea..
/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..
/usr/sbin/grub-setup: error: will not proceed with blocklists.
mint / # grub-iinstall --recheck /dev/sda3
No command 'grub-iinstall' found, did you mean:
Command 'grub-install' from package 'grub-legacy' (main)
grub-iinstall: command not found
mint / # grub-install --recheck /dev/sda3
/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partitionless disk or to a partition. This is a BAD idea..
/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..
/usr/sbin/grub-setup: error: will not proceed with blocklists.
mint / # exit
mint@mint ~ $ sudo umount /mnt$i
mint@mint ~ $ sudo umount /mnt
umount: /mnt: not mounted
mint@mint ~ $ sudo reboot

[spandey]

This is what I gave my friend to install Mint in his MacBook. Alternatively you can have a look at http://computersoftwareisyourfriend.blogspot.in/.

[este.el.paz]

This is what I gave my friend to install Mint in his MacBook. Alternatively you can have a look at http://computersoftwareisyourfriend.blogspot.in/.

@spandey:

When you said, "this is what I gave my friend to install Mint in his MacBook," . . . did you mean those commands to run in Terminal to try to mount sda3, that didn't seem to work for me?? And then, I looked at the link you provided, but it had a number of posts there so I'm not sure which one specifically you might mean . . . was it the one about "Hackintosh"??? I don't know what Hackintosh is . . . but then there seemed to be something about OSX and Ubuntu, but LMDE is not the same as LM ubuntu, right??? so it wasn't clear to me what you were recommending that I read or do in that blog link, sorry to say.

I'd like to get LMDE going if I could since Debian is the base of MintPPC which I've been using for half a year or so. I'm willing to try a few more times, before I cave and just try to install the straight LM based on Ubuntu . . . or straight Debian if that would be any different in terms of the issues getting Linux going on Mac units. Perhaps you are out of fresh ideas, but before you mentioned trying the USB stick installation, would you say that is a better or more thorough installation process?? It looked more complicated than simply burning the iso to CD or DVD . . . but would there be any benefit to re-downloading the iso and re-burning it to CD/DVD and re-trying it, would that change anything or nothing at all???

thanks kindly,

e.e.p.

[spandey]

Putting LiveDVD in usb is very simple. let's not worry about it for now.

The loading of Linux from disk using GRUB2 process is same for both LMDE and Mint main edition.

My friend was able to boot his Mac with Mint without problem. So will have to see why your case is different. Suppose you start all over again, then you may end up in the same place.

There are so many factors here.
1. Native booting Software( Bios/UEFI/EFI etc..)
2. Disk partition type
3. Mac OS version

Before you start all over again we should nail this down first then proceed further. Can you please write these down in next post so that we can proceed in right direction from start.

[este.el.paz]

There are so many factors here.
1. Native booting Software( Bios/UEFI/EFI etc..)
2. Disk partition type
3. Mac OS version

@spandey: Well, whatever is easiest that works might be a good choice, whether it is USB or DVD, but so far the DVD has not provided the option for installing GRUB to the sda3 as is needed. I'm not sure how to answer your first two questions, I ran "native booting software" in spotlight and got no results found . . . are not intel Macs using "EFI"?? and then in this process I have installed rEFIt which is now the boot software?? And #2, "disk partition type"?? I followed the "use Bootcamp to partition the disk" that was posted here earlier in the thread, which was supposed to preserve the touchpad function, so I don't know if that's what you mean, but using that option has now apparently rendered those partitions to not be modifiable, so I don't know if that answers your question or not. Do you mean is it formatted to windows like or HFS+?? for the Linux partition? It is the MS-DOS(FAT) format??? #3 I can answer quite easily -- 10.6.8 SnowLeopard is the OS version.

e.e.p.

[spandey]

Hope you have backup of your Machine in case something goes wrong.

To put LinuxISO in USB:
1. Format your USB in FAT32 format and make the bootable flag on
2. just download Unetbootin from here http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
3. Run Unetbootin, choose diskimage option and point to your iso and usb and it will write all the files
4. Now you have bootable LiveUSB

[este.el.paz]

Hope you have backup of your Machine in case something goes wrong.

To put LinuxISO in USB:
1. Format your USB in FAT32 format and make the bootable flag on
2. just download Unetbootin from here http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
3. Run Unetbootin, choose diskimage option and point to your iso and usb and it will write all the files
4. Now you have bootable LiveUSB

@spandey:

Thanks for the fast reply . . . already tried that, but what I breezed over in the instructions was the "this does not work to boot Mac computers" and sure enough, got the LiveDVD moved to a FAT formatted USB stick and . . . nothing, not recognized; actually it would be and then not be recognized in the rEFIt log in, but when I clicked on it I got either a "GRUB_" with a flashing prompt underscore that did nothing, or just the Linux penguin.

But, seeing the "make the bootable flag on" part is something I might check up on, don't recall if Disc Utility would give me that option, certainly Unetbootin did not give me a whole lot of options in the mac version to do that "make bootable" . . . . I could check that in a few hours. I did reburn the Live DVD, so I may try that again as well.

e.e.p.

[LuvMySubi]

I am having the exact problem with my MacBook Pro. I have been using USB drive to install Linux Mint all along and I cannot get grub installed on the correct partition.

When I am booting from the USB drive I have to hold the option key during boot, and then select the refit entry. When refit loads there will be an option to boot from the USB drive.

Additionally booting from the USB drive seems to only work when the mbr contains only the default entry. After syncing partitions booting from the USB drive results in a "operating system missing" error, and I have to boot into OS X and restore the mbr to is original state to boot from the USB drive again.

[spandey]

OK if USB is not recognised then no wonder GRUB2 can't find proper partition..Then we need to trick GRUB2 to install in proper Partition

1. Do normal install of LMDE but when it comes to Install GRUB2 don't install it anywhere..just leave it blank and finish the installation
2. Once it completes reboot.. during boot, in refit, do again: Disk Partitioning, and synchronise
3. Now again boot from LiveDVD
4. Start installation again and go all the up till partitioning choose advanced for Manual partitioning once inside select 'Goback' from bottom of screen and comeback to mainmenu.
5. Once in mainmenu, press ctrl-alt-F2 [or possibly fn-ctrl-alt-F2] which will give you Terminal
6. Once in terminal

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chroot /target
 aptitude install grub gptsync 
 gptsync
 grub-install /dev/sda3/ 
 update-grub
 shutdown -r now

Note: Here sda3 is your Mint partition

In next boot you should get your Mint..

[LuvMySubi]

I am guessing that "chroot /target" is referring to the location that /dev/sda3 is mounted to.

[este.el.paz]

@spandey: Thanks for that latest instruction, it looked promising, so I tried it out and left the "install GRUB" button unchecked in the installation . . . which thankfully doesn't take too long . . . there were some issues, in the installation the LMDE installer for MAc doesn't have "advanced" button as it seems to be in some of the instructions for Ubuntu based LM. So on the second LiveDVD boot i went up to the "where do you want to install LM?" tab and then back to as far as I could go in the installer which was "timezone"???? and then I did the "fn-ctrl-alt-F2" and that did give me a Terminal window, and I ran your suggestions, but needed to add "sudo" in front of everything . . . and it did retrieve GRUB2 and possibly install it but it could not find where to put it, I followed the last step to "shutdown" and . . . no, it would not boot. I tried to restart in the Live DVD one more time and just went to the Terminal, since XFCE was already installed in sda3 I figured to try your commands in a Terminal window while booted in LiveDVD, tried to run the commands again and managed to copy paste the results into an email and send it to myself. Both times it had a problem with your "sudo chroot /target" command, and then later it had some other problems. It seems like we're getting closer, but not there yet.

mint@mint ~ $ sudo chroot /target
chroot: cannot change root directory to /target: No such file or directory
mint@mint ~ $ sudo aptitude install grub gptsync
The following NEW packages will be installed:
gptsync grub
0 packages upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 9 not upgraded.
Need to get 141 kB of archives. After unpacking 246 kB will be used.
Get:1 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main gptsync amd64 0.14-2 [22.6 kB]
Get:2 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main grub amd64 0.97-65 [118 kB]
Fetched 141 kB in 16s (8,786 B/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously deselected package gptsync.
(Reading database ... 130668 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking gptsync (from .../gptsync_0.14-2_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package grub.
Unpacking grub (from .../grub_0.97-65_amd64.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up gptsync (0.14-2) ...
Setting up grub (0.97-65) ...
mint@mint ~ $ sudo gptsync
gptsync: Missing device name
Usage: gptsync [-q] [-t] <device>
-q quiet mode
-t truncate partitions affected by 2 TiB limitation
mint@mint ~ $ sudo grub-install /dev/sda3/
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /boot/grub (is /dev mounted?).
mint@mint ~ $ sudo update-grub
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for / (is /dev mounted?).
mint@mint ~ $ . . . e.e.p. . . . out until the next time.

[spandey]

When booting next time go past language, go upto Partition Menu( Where you have the option to partition the disk).

Then in terminal type

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sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt

See if it works then we can modify the earlier set ...

[este.el.paz]

When booting next time go past language, go upto Partition Menu( Where you have the option to partition the disk).

Then in terminal type

Code: Select all

sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt

See if it works then we can modify the earlier set ...

@spandey: Thanks for your perseverance and continued help, I was thinking that the "sudo mount" gambit looked familiar but all of this is still not solid in terms of how to troubleshoot using Terminal, etc.

OK, I did the "sudo mount" in the Terminal, and it just returned quickly to the next "mint@mint" prompt line without any comment, protest, or fatherly advice . . . . So not knowing if that was nothing or good or bad, I tried again the previous suggestion and tried "mint@mint ~ $ sudo chroot /target" command and I again got the same response:
"chroot: cannot change root directory to /target: No such file or directory" . . . so I jumped up to the "shutdown now!" command . . . . So, was that good, bad, or just plain ugly???

e.e.p.

[LuvMySubi]

After installing LMDE, syncing the partitions with refit and booting to the CD I followed your instructions, mounted all of the devices and downloaded grub and gptsync. When I ran gptsync it said that the partition was already in sync (refit did this). When I tried to install grub I got the same error that este.el.paz has been getting.

/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partitionless disk or to a partition. This is a BAD idea..
/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..
/usr/sbin/grub-setup: error: will not proceed with blocklists.

I ran update-grup just to see what would happen, and it was displaying the drives that it found and only listed /dev/sda2 which is OS X

Additionally I checked fdisk and the partition type is 83, which is correct for Linux, and when the installer gets to the partitioning screen it lists /dev/sda3 as a Linux Mint partition.


@este.el.paz
You still need to mount the drive following spandeys instructions on the previous page

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 sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys; do sudo mount -B $i /mnt$i; done
sudo chroot /mnt

After doing this you will be able to chroot to the directory, but I found I could not download the packages because DNS lookups were failing. To fix the DNS problem I had to copy the resolv.conf file into the mounted folder.

Before chrooting to the mounted directory run

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cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/etc/

After doing this you should be able to continue.

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aptitude install grub gptsync 
gptsync
grub-install /dev/sda3/ 
update-grub
shutdown -r now

I was still running into issues hopefully you will have better luck.

[este.el.paz]

@Luv:

Thanks for the thoughts, looks simple, very simple . . . out of time for it today, but I'll try it tomorrow in the AM if I get a chance to run through the whole list . . . .

e.e.p.

[HughT]

Have you tried the following from a live CD

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sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt

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sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

note - there's a gap between =/mnt and /dev, and no partition number after sda

re-boot into Mint then

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sudo update-grub

regards

[LuvMySubi]

Thanks Hugh its working.

Although the first time I tried to install GRUB I got an error about a missing BIOS boot partition so I used used gparted to created a small partition and marked it with the bios_grub flag after that grub installed and the computer booted into Mint.

[spandey]

@Luv,
Good to hear you made it work. It didn't work for @e.e.p. Can you please list down the steps so that e.e.p and others can benefit from it?