From: Ant on
Hello!

I just did my daily apt-get update and upgrade today, but I ran into a
grub2 upgrade (sorry for the messy menu screen pastes since my old
Windows' SecureCRT v3.4.8 SSH2 terminal doesn't seem to handle the fonts
and layouts nicely):

# apt-get update
Hit http://security.debian.org stable/updates Release.gpg
Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Translation-en_US

Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/contrib Translation-en_US

Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/non-free Translation-en_US

Hit http://security.debian.org testing/updates Release.gpg

Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/main Translation-en_US

Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/contrib Translation-en_US

Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/non-free
Translation-en_US
Hit http://security.debian.org stable/updates Release

Hit http://security.debian.org testing/updates Release

Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Packages/DiffIndex

Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/contrib Packages/DiffIndex

Ign http://security.debian.org stable/updates/non-free
Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/main Packages/DiffIndex

Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/contrib
Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://security.debian.org testing/updates/non-free
Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Packages

Hit http://security.debian.org stable/updates/contrib Packages

Hit http://security.debian.org stable/updates/non-free Packages

Hit http://security.debian.org testing/updates/main Packages

Hit http://security.debian.org testing/updates/contrib Packages

Hit http://security.debian.org testing/updates/non-free Packages

Get:1 http://ftp.debian.org testing Release.gpg [835B]

Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing/main Translation-en_US

Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free Translation-en_US

Get:2 http://www.debian-multimedia.org stable Release.gpg [198B]

Hit http://www.debian-multimedia.org stable/main Translation-en_US

Get:3 http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing Release.gpg [198B]
Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing/contrib Translation-en_US

Get:4 http://ftp.debian.org sid Release.gpg [835B]
Ign http://ftp.debian.org sid/main Translation-en_US

Ign http://ftp.debian.org sid/non-free Translation-en_US
Get:5 http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates Release.gpg [835B]
Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/main
Translation-en_US
Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/non-free
Translation-en_US
Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/contrib Translation-en_US
Hit http://ftp.debian.org stable Release.gpg
Ign http://download.videolan.org sid Release.gpg
Hit http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing/main Translation-en_US
Get:6 http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid Release.gpg [198B]
Get:7 http://www.debian-multimedia.org stable Release [26.5kB]

Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/non-free Translation-en_US
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/contrib Translation-en_US
Get:8 http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates Release.gpg [835B]
Ign http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/main Translation-en_US

Ign http://download.videolan.org sid/main Translation-en_US

Ign http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/non-free Translation-en_US

Ign http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/contrib Translation-en_US
Get:9 http://ftp.debian.org testing Release [89.9kB]
Ign http://download.videolan.org sid Release

Get:10 http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing Release [29.4kB]

Ign http://download.videolan.org sid/main Packages/DiffIndex

Get:11 http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid Release [29.4kB]

Ign http://download.videolan.org sid/main Sources/DiffIndex

Hit http://www.debian-multimedia.org stable/main Packages/DiffIndex

Ign http://download.videolan.org sid/main Packages
Get:12 http://ftp.debian.org sid Release [104kB]
Hit http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing/main Packages/DiffIndex

Ign http://download.videolan.org sid/main Sources

Hit http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid/main Sources/DiffIndex

Ign http://download.videolan.org sid/main Packages
Hit http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid/main Sources
Get:13 http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates Release [60.0kB]
Ign http://download.videolan.org sid/main Sources

Hit http://download.videolan.org sid/main Packages
Hit http://ftp.debian.org stable Release
Get:14 http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates Release [66.6kB]
Hit http://download.videolan.org sid/main Sources

Get:15 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main Packages/DiffIndex [2,038B]

Get:16 http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free Packages/DiffIndex [2,023B]
Hit http://ftp.debian.org testing/contrib Packages/DiffIndex
Get:17 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main Sources/DiffIndex [2,038B]
Get:18 http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free Sources/DiffIndex [2,023B]
Hit http://ftp.debian.org testing/contrib Sources/DiffIndex
Get:19 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main Packages/DiffIndex [2,038B]
Hit http://ftp.debian.org sid/non-free Packages/DiffIndex
Get:20 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main Sources/DiffIndex [2,038B]
Hit http://ftp.debian.org sid/non-free Sources/DiffIndex
Hit http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/main Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/non-free
Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/contrib
Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/main Sources/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/non-free
Sources/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/contrib Sources/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/main Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/non-free Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/contrib Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/main Sources/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/non-free Sources/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable/contrib Sources/DiffIndex
Get:21 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [1,235B]
Hit http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/main Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/non-free Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/contrib Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/main Sources/DiffIndex
Hit http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/non-free Sources/DiffIndex
Hit http://ftp.debian.org proposed-updates/contrib Sources/DiffIndex
Get:22 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [1,235B]
Get:23 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [1,235B]
Get:24 http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[1,454B]
Get:25 http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[1,454B]
Get:26 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [662B]
Get:27 http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[1,245B]
Get:28 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [662B]
Get:29 http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[1,245B]
Get:30 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [13.7kB]
Get:31 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [10.2kB]
Get:32 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [13.7kB]
Hit http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/non-free Packages
Hit http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/contrib Packages
Hit http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/non-free Sources
Hit http://ftp.debian.org testing-proposed-updates/contrib Sources
Hit http://ftp.debian.org stable/main Packages
Get:33 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [10.2kB]
Hit http://ftp.debian.org stable/non-free Packages
Hit http://ftp.debian.org stable/contrib Packages
Hit http://ftp.debian.org stable/main Sources
Hit http://ftp.debian.org stable/non-free Sources
Hit http://ftp.debian.org stable/contrib Sources
Get:34 http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[1,454B]
Get:35 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [662B]
Get:36 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff [31.0kB]
Get:37 http://ftp.debian.org testing/non-free 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[1,245B]
Get:38 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [13.7kB]

Get:39 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[31.0kB]
Get:40 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[18.5kB]
Get:41 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[18.5kB]
Get:42 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-1414.46.pdiff [10.2kB]

Get:43 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-2024.23.pdiff [14.3kB]

Get:44 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[31.0kB]
Get:45 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-2024.23.pdiff [14.3kB]

Get:46 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-2024.23.pdiff [4,814B]

Get:47 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-2024.23.pdiff [4,814B]

Get:48 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff
[18.5kB]
Get:49 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-2024.23.pdiff [14.3kB]

Get:50 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-17-2024.23.pdiff [4,814B]

Get:51 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff [18.2kB]

Get:52 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff [18.2kB]

Get:53 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff [18.2kB]

Get:54 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff [2,801B]

Get:55 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff [2,801B]

Get:56 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0216.10.pdiff [2,801B]

Get:57 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0819.16.pdiff [387B]

Get:58 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0819.16.pdiff [387B]

Get:59 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0819.16.pdiff [387B]

Get:60 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0819.16.pdiff [1,161B]

Get:61 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0819.16.pdiff [1,161B]

Get:62 http://ftp.debian.org sid/main 2010-07-18-0819.16.pdiff [1,161B]

Fetched 542kB in 16s (33.5kB/s)

Reading package lists... Done
# apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
cron dpkg host k3b k3b-data kamera kcalc kcharselect kdebase-bin
kdebase-data kfind
kfloppy kget klipper kmix konqueror konqueror-nsplugins konsole kppp
kruler ksnapshot
ntp
The following packages will be upgraded:
gnome-panel gnome-panel-data grub-common grub-pc libenca0
libpanel-applet2-0
6 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 22 not upgraded.
Need to get 7,122kB of archives.
After this operation, 954kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? n
Abort.
# apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
cron dpkg host k3b k3b-data kamera kcalc kcharselect kdebase-bin
kdebase-data kfind
kfloppy kget klipper kmix konqueror konqueror-nsplugins konsole kppp
kruler ksnapshot
ntp
The following packages will be upgraded:
gnome-panel gnome-panel-data grub-common grub-pc libenca0
libpanel-applet2-0
6 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 22 not upgraded.
Need to get 7,122kB of archives.
After this operation, 954kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?
Get:1 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main libpanel-applet2-0 2.30.2-1 [133kB]
Get:2 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main gnome-panel-data 2.30.2-1 [3,789kB]
Get:3 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main gnome-panel 2.30.2-1 [521kB]
Get:4 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main grub-pc 1.98+20100710-1 [960kB]
Get:5 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main grub-common 1.98+20100710-1
[1,651kB]
Get:6 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main libenca0 1.13-3 [67.6kB]

Fetched 7,122kB in 6s (1,177kB/s)

Reading package fields... Done

Package configuration

┌─────────────────────────────────Configuring
grub-pc───────────────────────────────────┐
│ The grub-pc package is being upgraded. This menu allows you to
select which │
│ devices you'd like grub-install to be automatically run for, if any.



│ It is recommended that you do this in most situations, to prevent
the installed │
│ GRUB from getting out of sync with other components such as grub.cfg
or with newer │
│ Linux images it will have to load.



│ If you're unsure which drive is designated as boot drive by your
BIOS, it is often │
│ a good idea to install GRUB to all of them.

│ [*] /dev/sda (80026 MB, ST380011A)

│ [*] /dev/sda1 (296 MB, /)

│ [ ] /dev/sdb (15020 MB, QUANTUM_FIREBALLP_LM15)
│ │

└─────────────────────────────────────────�
< OK >

I wasn't sure what to select here. I KNOW it is not sdb because that is
my second IDE/ATA HDD as storage. So it leaves off to sda and sda1, but
which one is my boot loader? I went ahead and checked both /dev/sda. Is
this OK to do? I hope I didn't break my boot. I am kind of scared to
reboot! I have more details below to help.


Installation finished. No error reported.
/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition
instead of the MBR. 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..
Installation finished. No error reported.
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found background image: moreblue-orbit-grub.png
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-686
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-686
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-4-686
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-4-686
done
Setting up libenca0 (1.13-3) ...
localepurge: Disk space freed in /usr/share/locale: 7976 KiB
localepurge: Disk space freed in /usr/share/man: 0 KiB
localepurge: Disk space freed in /usr/share/gnome/help: 1120 KiB
localepurge: Disk space freed in /usr/share/omf: 176 KiB
localepurge: Disk space freed in /usr/share/doc/kde/HTML: 0 KiB

Total disk space freed by localepurge: 9272 KiB


"/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition
instead of the MBR. This is a BAD idea.." error sounds bad!! :( Did I
mess up? :(

--

# df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 280003 223113 42434 85% /
tmpfs 1297464 0 1297464 0% /lib/init/rw
udev 1293412 204 1293208 1% /dev
tmpfs 1297464 0 1297464 0% /dev/shm
/dev/sda5 14421344 2898304 10790480 22% /home
/dev/sda6 4807056 2884568 1678304 64% /usr
/dev/sda7 964500 518464 397040 57% /var
/dev/sda8 964500 17644 897860 2% /tmp
/dev/sda9 4807056 206068 4356804 5% /usr/local
/dev/sda11 47383396 32688556 12287904 73% /extra
/dev/sda12 918322 16452 852874 2% /others
/dev/sdb1 14436960 3807116 9896480 28% /storage

Is it OK to put both sda and sda1? If not, then how can I undo this and
which options do I select? I don't even know where sda is mounting to. :(

--

FYI after the grub upgrade and have not rebooted yet:

# cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function load_video {
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8d0bf8c2-1358-4b2f-aa9a-d13ea676c647
if loadfont /share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
set timeout=5
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890
insmod png
if background_image /boot/grub/moreblue-orbit-grub.png ; then
set color_normal=black/black
set color_highlight=magenta/black
else
set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.32-5-686' --class debian
--class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set
fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-5-686 ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-686
root=UUID=fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890 ro quiet nouveau.modeset=0
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-686
}
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.32-5-686 (recovery mode)'
--class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set
fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-5-686 ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-686
root=UUID=fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-686
}
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.32-4-686' --class debian
--class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set
fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-4-686 ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-4-686
root=UUID=fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890 ro quiet nouveau.modeset=0
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-4-686
}
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.32-4-686 (recovery mode)'
--class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set
fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-4-686 ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-4-686
root=UUID=fe4a1af1-1979-49fb-9668-314a24b12890 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-4-686
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply
type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###


Thank you in advance. :)
--
"I do not believe that the Great Society is the ordered, changeless and
sterile battalion of the ants. It is the excitement of becoming--always
becoming, trying, probing, falling, resting and trying again--but always
trying and always gaining. In each generation--with toil and tears--we
have had to earn our heritage again." --Lyndon B. Johnson
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.
From: J G Miller on
On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 05:28:11 -0700, Ant wrote:

> I just did my daily apt-get update and upgrade today, but I ran into a
> grub2 upgrade (sorry for the messy menu screen pastes since my old
> Windows' SecureCRT v3.4.8 SSH2 terminal doesn't seem to handle the fonts
> and layouts nicely)

Windoze Terminal?

Is something preventing you from reading and posting News from your
Debian system?

> Thank you in advance.

Your question was buried somewhere.

Perhaps you could try posting just the question from your Debian system?
From: Ant on
On 7/18/2010 8:34 AM PT, J G Miller typed:

>> I just did my daily apt-get update and upgrade today, but I ran into a
>> grub2 upgrade (sorry for the messy menu screen pastes since my old
>> Windows' SecureCRT v3.4.8 SSH2 terminal doesn't seem to handle the fonts
>> and layouts nicely)
>
> Windoze Terminal?
>
> Is something preventing you from reading and posting News from your
> Debian system?
>
>> Thank you in advance.
>
> Your question was buried somewhere.
>
> Perhaps you could try posting just the question from your Debian system?

What's wrong with SSHing to my Debian box from Windows boxes? I don't
always have to use Linux.
--
"Are you slower than an ant?" --Sai Yuk from The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk
movie (English subtitles)
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.
From: Aragorn on
On Sunday 18 July 2010 14:28 in comp.os.linux.hardware, somebody
identifying as Ant wrote...

> Hello!
>
> I just did my daily apt-get update and upgrade today, but I ran into a
> grub2 upgrade (sorry for the messy menu screen pastes since my old
> Windows' SecureCRT v3.4.8 SSH2 terminal doesn't seem to handle the
> fonts and layouts nicely):

[snip unnecessary neurological overload]

> │ If you're unsure which drive is designated as boot drive by your
> BIOS, it is often │
> │ a good idea to install GRUB to all of them.
> │
> │ [*] /dev/sda (80026 MB, ST380011A)
> │
> │ [*] /dev/sda1 (296 MB, /)

"/dev/sda1" is not a disk drive; it's a partition

> │
> │ [ ] /dev/sdb (15020 MB, QUANTUM_FIREBALLP_LM15)
> │ │
> │
>
> I wasn't sure what to select here. I KNOW it is not sdb because that
> is my second IDE/ATA HDD as storage. So it leaves off to sda and sda1,
> but which one is my boot loader?

Neither is your bootloader. One is the hard disk, the other is a
partition.

> I went ahead and checked both /dev/sda. Is this OK to do?

Technically, yes. But it's not necessary.

> I hope I didn't break my boot. I am kind of scared to reboot! I have
> more details below to help.

It won't break your boot.

> Installation finished. No error reported.
> /usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition
> instead of the MBR. This is a BAD idea..

It is generally advised to install GRUB in the master boot record (MBR)
of the hard disk which is approached by the BIOS as being the first
bootable device.

> /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..

That's an error message you get because you've tried to install GRUB
twice, i.e. in the MBR and in the first primary partition's boot
sector. This kind of set-up is only needed if you're planning on
chainloading. Read the GRUB documentation on that if you're
interested.

> "/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition
> instead of the MBR. This is a BAD idea.." error sounds bad!! :( Did I
> mess up? :(

No, but you are attempting to do something that is totally unnecessary
and will make no difference in the end.

> # df
> Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
> /dev/sda1 280003 223113 42434 85% /
> tmpfs 1297464 0 1297464 0% /lib/init/rw
> udev 1293412 204 1293208 1% /dev
> tmpfs 1297464 0 1297464 0% /dev/shm
> /dev/sda5 14421344 2898304 10790480 22% /home
> /dev/sda6 4807056 2884568 1678304 64% /usr
> /dev/sda7 964500 518464 397040 57% /var
> /dev/sda8 964500 17644 897860 2% /tmp
> /dev/sda9 4807056 206068 4356804 5% /usr/local
> /dev/sda11 47383396 32688556 12287904 73% /extra
> /dev/sda12 918322 16452 852874 2% /others
> /dev/sdb1 14436960 3807116 9896480 28% /storage

The latter three directories/mountpoints are not FHS-compliant. In
other words, you've created unnecessary top-level directories for
things which should normally go under other directories in the
hierarchy.

> Is it OK to put both sda and sda1?

It is advised not to do that unless you know what you're doing, and the
installer told you so but you wouldn't listen. :p

> If not, then how can I undo this and which options do I select? I
> don't even know where sda is mounting to. :(

"/dev/sda" is not mounting to anything. It is a hard disk. Putting
GRUB there means that you are writing the first stage of GRUB - which
only takes a few hundred bytes - to the beginning of the device special
file "/dev/sda", which represents your hard disk. In other words, you
are writing to the MBR of that hard disk.

Please read the documentation before you're attempting to mess with
something you don't understand. That may sound harsh, but it's exactly
what you've been trying to do.

--
*Aragorn*
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157)
From: Ant on
On 7/18/2010 9:37 AM PT, Aragorn typed:

>> I wasn't sure what to select here. I KNOW it is not sdb because that
>> is my second IDE/ATA HDD as storage. So it leaves off to sda and sda1,
>> but which one is my boot loader?
>
> Neither is your bootloader. One is the hard disk, the other is a
> partition.

I assume sda is the physical HDD and sda1 is the partition. I am not
fimiliar with these disk terms.


>> I went ahead and checked both /dev/sda. Is this OK to do?
>
> Technically, yes. But it's not necessary.

I was just following the recommendation from the instructions, but I
wanted to double check with people in case this was not right.


>> I hope I didn't break my boot. I am kind of scared to reboot! I have
>> more details below to help.
>
> It won't break your boot.

Whew!!! Thanks God! :)


>> Installation finished. No error reported.
>> /usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition
>> instead of the MBR. This is a BAD idea..
>
> It is generally advised to install GRUB in the master boot record (MBR)
> of the hard disk which is approached by the BIOS as being the first
> bootable device.
>
>> /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..
>
> That's an error message you get because you've tried to install GRUB
> twice, i.e. in the MBR and in the first primary partition's boot
> sector. This kind of set-up is only needed if you're planning on
> chainloading. Read the GRUB documentation on that if you're
> interested.

Interesting, and sort of confusing. :(


>> "/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition
>> instead of the MBR. This is a BAD idea.." error sounds bad!! :( Did I
>> mess up? :(
>
> No, but you are attempting to do something that is totally unnecessary
> and will make no difference in the end.
>
>> # df
>> Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
>> /dev/sda1 280003 223113 42434 85% /
>> tmpfs 1297464 0 1297464 0% /lib/init/rw
>> udev 1293412 204 1293208 1% /dev
>> tmpfs 1297464 0 1297464 0% /dev/shm
>> /dev/sda5 14421344 2898304 10790480 22% /home
>> /dev/sda6 4807056 2884568 1678304 64% /usr
>> /dev/sda7 964500 518464 397040 57% /var
>> /dev/sda8 964500 17644 897860 2% /tmp
>> /dev/sda9 4807056 206068 4356804 5% /usr/local
>> /dev/sda11 47383396 32688556 12287904 73% /extra
>> /dev/sda12 918322 16452 852874 2% /others
>> /dev/sdb1 14436960 3807116 9896480 28% /storage
>
> The latter three directories/mountpoints are not FHS-compliant. In
> other words, you've created unnecessary top-level directories for
> things which should normally go under other directories in the
> hierarchy.

Oh well, I was a newbie and still learning. One day, I will wipe my HDDs
clean and start from scratch. I have had this Debian since 2005 so
things accumulates. ;)


>> Is it OK to put both sda and sda1?
>
> It is advised not to do that unless you know what you're doing, and the
> installer told you so but you wouldn't listen. :p

Uh, where did it say I had to listen?


>> If not, then how can I undo this and which options do I select? I
>> don't even know where sda is mounting to. :(
>
> "/dev/sda" is not mounting to anything. It is a hard disk. Putting
> GRUB there means that you are writing the first stage of GRUB - which
> only takes a few hundred bytes - to the beginning of the device special
> file "/dev/sda", which represents your hard disk. In other words, you
> are writing to the MBR of that hard disk.
>
> Please read the documentation before you're attempting to mess with
> something you don't understand. That may sound harsh, but it's exactly
> what you've been trying to do.

I did read it briefly, but it was still confusing. :( Thanks though! :)
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