Need to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst after install to boot

There's a way to use the existing grub when you boot, to change the otpions so that it will boot from hd0,2, etc with this guide. The changes are temporary, however once you're in, you can then go into /boot/grub/menu.lst and be able to change them permanently :)
http://grumpymole.blogspot.com/2007/05/ubuntu-how-to-edit-grub-boot-parameters.html

Hope this helps :)

Justin

Thanks Justin. So I am trying to boot it correctly, but must have some parameter wrong.

Here is my grub menu edit item as it opens for edit:

root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash
intrd /boot/intrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quit
savedefault

I edit the root line to "root (hd0,2)

and edit the kernal line to have "root=dev/hda3"

When I hit "b" to boot I get:

Starting up...
Loading, please wait ...

Then the graphic Ubuntu screen appears with the status bar, but it freezes right at the beginning of the status indicator.

Then I have to shut off the power to reboot and everything is the same.

Is there some parameter wrong here? It seems to find the kernal and start to boot. Why then the freeze?

Gary

After you had made the changes to the line, did you hit enter before hitting b? That way you ensure that it would accept the changes. If it still doesnt, you can always try below to use the recovery mode kernel and see if that gets you in.

I would suggest hitting ESC when grub starts, hit e to start the editing and try the same edits that you did, though with the Recovery Mode kernel, which should be on that list. Hit E once again to start the editing, change the parameters you needed and make sure you hit enter so it accepts the changes and then hit b to boot into it.

Regards,
Justin

Thanks Justin.

I tried with recovery mode and it began booting. As it identified and loaded drivers, it stopped after detecting my mouse USB drivers.

Then after a long pause, it said "Done." and gave the following error message:

          Check root= bootarg cat /proc/cmd/line
          or missing modules, devices: cat /proc/modules ls /dev
  ALERT! /dev/hda3 does not exist. Dropping to shell!

Why would it say that /dev/hda3 does not exist?

Gary

I have a feeling that you'll have to go by UUID for your root= line. Are you able to get a look at your /etc/fstab file that is on your linux intallation? If you can copy and paste that, it would be perfect. I can show you with an example though quickly if that makes it easier:

# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/hda1
UUID=b7e34129-5824-4292-b56f-3afc8051e2da / xfs defaults 0 1
# /dev/hda3
UUID=176245fd-d6e8-4069-a3d7-11fd92751aa1 /home xfs defaults 0 2
# /dev/hda4
UUID=a4f7b16e-8a3f-4a6e-a0c1-0493707d537a /data xfs defaults 0 2
# /dev/hda2
UUID=c5a0c8ee-6cb2-4c79-9597-66c4f2467b54 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0

My / partition is /dev/hda1 though it goes by the UUID number, so I would use

root=UUID=b7e34129-5824-4292-b56f-3afc8051e2da

It makes it a little more complicated, though it seemed to be what worked for another person who had a similar issue as I was scouring some notes on changing grub issues :)

Hopefully this can help out more than the last few posts.
Regards,
Justin

Justin,

I tried to find the file you mention, but did not see it. I'm installing Ubuntu 7.04. I booted up into the Live CD and opened the text editor to view that file, but could not find fstab in the etc directory. It's not there, or its hidden from me.

Gary

Justin,

Think I found the UUID by looking in device manager. I'll try it with the UUID now.

Gary

Justin,

Nope. The UUID did not help either.

At this point, I think I will try installing UBUNTU to a clean drive and see how it gets set up. If I can get it working, then I'll try adding the WinXP partition from my cloned drive.

Thanks for your help Justin.

Gary

Sorry I could do much Gary, it might actually work easier that way though, depending on things.

Regards,
Justin