GRUB Problem in RHEL AS Update 2

[UVA]

Hi

my linux server is not booting it is in grub> prompt, but when i try to reinsatll the grup from the rescue mode, it says the sysimgae is not found. i am explain the steps what i did.

1. boot form rhel 1 cd
2. linux rescue
3. given the keyboard and language settings
4. network interface settings.
5. continue option for the sysimage
( after loading of drivers the system says that "you dont have any linux partition, press enter to get prompt".)
6. chroot /mnt/sysimage
( now the system says no such file or dirctory found)

pls some one help me, what i wants to do further. any additional things are there...

thanks in advance.

[Jeeshan]

it may be /mnt/sysimage or any other name.

please ll to your mounted directory.

[UVA]

there are only two directorys in the /mnt they are source and runtime, i tried to mount over there but it was not possible.

[Jeeshan]

Exactly which OS you are using?

Update 2 doesn't mean anything.

As i guess your system doesn't recognize the chroot command

run again like this

#/sbin/chroot /mnt/sysimage

Please find out first.

[UVA]

Hi,

I am using RHEL AS 4 Update 2.

i tried the command /sbin/chroot /mt/sysimage

but it says there is no such directory...

the chroot command is working...

[skt_skt]

i would recommend to use at least update4 unless there is a specific reason to restict to update2

make sure you have dir "/mt/sysimage" to mount ..

i am not sure if sysimage is part of the iso image. In that case the image on the CD could be a problem.

did u try the same cd on another server(if there is another server to test)?

[Justin_99]

Once in rescue mode you might run a fdisk -l to see what partitions you see, if any.

[Jeeshan]

if you didn't find /mnt/sysimage

The bootloader couldn't find your hard disk boot loader.

You need to reinstall the OS again.

[UVA]

Hi Ashan,

is there is any possible way to recover otherthan the os reinstallation...

[Matti_Kurkela]

As the rescue disk says "you dont have any linux partition...", it may be your partition table has been corrupted.

/proc/partitions will show a list of all disk partitions detected by the Linux kernel.
Does it see your system disk at all?

If your system disk is visible, then at least the hardware detection and the disk controller are working. Use "fdisk -l /dev/" to get an idea of what your partition table looks like. If your partition table is corrupted, it will say so.

Example: if your system disk is /dev/hda:

# fdisk -l /dev/hda

Disk /dev/hda: 20.4 GB, 20491075584 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2646 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 2286 17282159+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 2287 2586 2268000 5 Extended
/dev/hda5 2287 2586 2267968+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

SCSI disks are /dev/sd*, and some hardware RAID controllers use different schemes, like /dev/cciss/c0t0 or something like that.

If your partition table has been corrupted, a tool such as "gpart" can read the entire disk and look for the partition borders. It can then write a new partition table based on what it finds.

If gpart is not available in the RHEL CD's rescue mode, get some Linux _Live CD_ distribution that is designed for recovery tasks (Knoppix is great for this).
Boot with it, and you'll get a greater set of recovery tools and a more comfortable work environment.

After fixing the partition table, you can find out whether the data inside the partition(s) is still OK.

MK

[UVA]

thx Matti


i will try the same...

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

bash may be missing on the boot disk.

Further if the server was running this problem was most likey caused by a storage issue on the boot disks.

That issue would have to be addressed before being able to fix anything else.

Boot the system into bios for storage and check the status.

SEP