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Re: /ect/grub/message.Elyssa.file not found

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:35 pm
by kansasnoob
I wish I could help, but I'm simply clueless :?

/etc/grub/message................. indicates something about boot, but you seem to be able to boot.

I simply don't understand.

Could you provide more detailed info?

Re: /ect/grub/message.Elyssa.file not found

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:12 pm
by herman

Code: Select all

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-legacy-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not change this entry to 'saved' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default         0

[color=#FF0000][b]gfxmenu=/etc/grub/message.elyssa[/b][/color]

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout         10

# Pretty colours
color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret
The /etc/grub/message.elyssa or the /etc/grub/message.mint are the image files that give you the pretty picture in the background of your GRUB Menu in Mint.
Probably if that file can't be found it will stop the boot loader from completing it's list of commands and booting your system.

You should first try booting your live CD and opening Gnome Partition Editor, right-click on your Mint partition and click 'check'.
Then click 'Apply', and then 'Apply' once again to confirm, and wait a few minutes (depending on the size of your partition), for the file system check to be completed. That might solve your problem and will at least do some good for your file system.

If that doesn't work, you may need to boot from GRUB's Command Line Interface instead of from your GRUB Main Menu, (as that relies on your menu.lst file which contains the problematic command).
Otherwise, you could mount your Mint file system in the Live CD and open your /media/disc/boot/grub/menu.lst file and comment out the line which is causing the problem for the time being until you find out why your gfxboot image file is missing.

By the way, another thing I should mention is, it's /etc/grub/, and not /ect/grub, if you have manually edited your /boot/grub/menu.lst file and made a mistake like that then that could be what your problem is right there!

Regards, Herman :)

EDIT: I just ran an experiment to test this by temporarily renaming my /etc/grub/message.elyssa file and removing the original copy. When I rebooted I was shown the same error message, but then I was given a colored GRUB Menu and Mint booted up okay. My system seems to be behaving itself and working normally. I am now wondering if the original poster's problem is the real problem or only a symptom of some deeper underlying problem? Maybe a file system check will fix it.

Re: /ect/grub/message.Elyssa.file not found

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:57 pm
by herman
should i do an insall use all the space or...
Yes, I always recommend just installing in two partitions, that's how I do it myself all the time. We only need one partition for a / (root) file system and a very small one for a swap area. A swap area is like a page file, but in it's own partition. A suggested size for a swap area would be about twice the size of your RAM in case you decide to 'hibernate' your computer rather than shut it down when not in use.
The advantage of having one single / partition for all of your directories is that directories can expand and contract freely as needed, whereas partitions can not be resized easily or quickly.The practice of dividing Linux operating systems into one partition for each directory probably dates back to the old days before the ext2 file system was invented. The minix file system would only support partition (volume) size of 1 GB for v1 and v2, and up to 4 GB for v3. That what the ext (short for 'extended') file systems were invented for. If you're running a server it might still be useful to make separate partitions for security reasons. For a home user it's not a very good idea to set limits on yourself.
If you go dividing up your installation into too many partitions, you are only fencing yourself in, and making traps for yourself, and making things complicated for no good reason. It doesn't protect your data, because you still need to make regular data backups anyway, in case your whole hard disk fails. (They can fail suddenly, just like an ordinary household light bulb or fuse can blow, some part of the hard disk's firmware can just go 'zzzst!' without any warning at all, so you still need backups on some other media).

Re: /ect/grub/message.Elyssa.file not found

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:04 pm
by herman
:D Well, I'm not here to upset anyone, I'm only trying to be helpful. If you have already installed that way then it's best to leave it that way now.
It's very surprising that Mint is so high up in the list of popular distros in DistroWatch if you need to be a geek to install it.
Whatever the admin says is usually the law, and we have to respect the admins.