Re: [Bug-grub] Re: "grub" command works, but GRUB boot loader hangs

[Ben Liblit]

Jason Thomas wrote:
> From the grub shell you should do something like:
> 
> root (hd1)
> setup (hd1,2)

The "grub shell", when run under Linux, works just fine.  I know how
to use the root and setup commands, and I know how to use the geometry
command to figure out which drive is which.  I've installed GRUB
before, on other machines, so I'm not a complete newbie here.

The problem, as stated in my original message, is not with the "grub"
shell command.  The problem is with GRUB when used as a boot loader.
When I boot off of a GRUB floppy, GRUB incorrectly detects my hardware
and hangs on any attempt to use the improperly detected hard drives.
The "root (hd1)" command that you suggest hangs the system outright.
The system also hangs on "geometry (hd0)" or "root (hd0,1)" any other
command which accesses hd0 or hd1 in any nontrivial manner.

While it appears that I could use the "grub" command under Linux to
install GRUB directly on my hard drive, I have no intention of doing
so until I can get a GRUB boot floppy working first.  I'm not about to
overwrite my MBR unless I'm pretty sure it will actually work.

I appreciate the suggestions, Jason.  But the problems I'm having here
are more fundamental then just not being able to navigate the GRUB
shell interface and figure out which drive is which.  GRUB itself,
when used as a boot loader, is mis-detecting my hardware right out of
the gate.  It seems as though something's going wrong down at the BIOS
level, leaving GRUB with bogus information about my hard drives, and
therefore causing GRUB to hang if it ever tries to access them.