Grub errors won't permit installation

[humb]

On my 2nd drive I set aside 36GB to install Mint, accessing it through the BIOS' boot menu when I need it. sdb1 remains as the NTFS partition, sdb2 is /, sdb5 and sdb6 are /home and swap respectively. No matter what I do or where I put the bootloader, I get a grub error on bootup and booting to Mint is impossible. This happens regardless of what partition of sdb I put the bootloader or how I rearrange the partitions. What I don't understand is that I had a similar arrangement with Ubuntu and it worked OK, but not with Mint. I don't remember if Ubuntu even asked me about the bootloader, or if it did, what I put down. I've looked for this problem everywhere and have found no solution and therefore can't install Mint. Any ideas?

[caf4926]

Boot to the live desktop

Post us the result of

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l

You refer to sdb
We have to assume there is a sda HDD?

My guess is sda is the first boot device. You need to set sda here
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Mint% ... loader.jpg

Or switch the boot order, install Mint and set grub to the new sda

[HughT]

hi humb,

.This happens regardless of what partition of sdb I put the bootloader

Note that the boot loader doesn't go on a partition it goes to the master boot record of the drive, eg sda not sda1 etc
regards

[humb]

Boot to the live desktop

Post us the result of

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l

You refer to sdb
We have to assume there is a sda HDD?
My guess is sda is the first boot device. You need to set sda here
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Mint% ... loader.jpg
Or switch the boot order, install Mint and set grub to the new sda

Thanks for your kind response and your offer to help.

I didn't quite understand the jpg file you left me on Dropbox. Be that as it may, what I'm trying to do (and did with Ubuntu) was to leave sda (drive C: in Windows) out of the picture entirely due to the fact that my whole life is on there. To access Mint, what I'd do is simply press F8 for the BIOS' startup menu, and then select sdb (drive D:) as the bootup drive. I prefer it this way because not only will it not involve sda at all, but also because I don't want a situation where I have an OS selection menu staring me in the face every time I boot up. If I want Mint I just press F8. Why this arrangement worked OK with Ubuntu and not on Mint I haven't a clue.

Can you help?

[humb]

hi humb,

.This happens regardless of what partition of sdb I put the bootloader

Note that the boot loader doesn't go on a partition it goes to the master boot record of the drive, eg sda not sda1 etc
regards

Thanks for your help.

Does this mean that the proper way to do this is when I come to the partition menu after clicking "something else", absolutely the first thing to do before partitioning anything is to select sdb for where the bootloader goes? In other words, not sdb1 nor sdb-anything - simply sdb?

I believe it also says on there if you want to re-do the partition table. Is that what you would do?

Thanks,

[caf4926]

If you are selecting sdb as boot device in BIOS to boot Mint
Then write grub to sdb

Redoing the partition table will basically wipe the disk and you then need to re-partition it, so probably not what you want to do.

[caf4926]

If you are selecting sdb as boot device in BIOS to boot Mint
Then write grub to sdb

Redoing the partition table will basically wipe the disk and you then need to re-partition it, so probably not what you want to do.

But I think I am correct in saying, you need to make the drive you are installing Mint to, the first boot device when you install (ie; sda) because otherwise the device map will be wrong.

[YannMint]

Hello

No matter what I do or where I put the bootloader, I get a grub error on bootup and booting to Mint is impossible.

Please run Boot-Repair, click the "Recommended repair" button, write on a paper the URL that will appear. Reboot.
If any problem, indicate the URL.

[austin.texas]

You are right that you should leave sda alone.
caf4926 is correct that you should write grub to sdb, not sdb1

[humb]

I posted a reply concerning this yesterday but it's not on here. I'm thinking I might have done something wrong.

I'd like to thank you all for your help and to let you know your advice was right on target. My mistake was the fact that I didn't install grub on the HDD itself, but rather on one of the partitions. When read the post concerning this, I immediately ran a test and, sure enough, it worked. Many thanks!

It's interesting to know that this trivial detail is undocumented. If it's on some help file somewhere, I didn't find it no matter how hard I looked. Oh well...

Thanks again for your help.

[caf4926]

Good to know you sorted it