[bugs #10727] Boot fails after adding a new IDE hdd, in IDE/SCSI configuration

[Benedikt Spellmeyer]

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It relates to:
                bugs #10727, project GNU GRUB

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 LATEST MODIFICATIONS of bugs #10727:
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               Posted by: Benedikt Spellmeyer <chimera26>
               Posted on: 2005-01-14 23:47 (Europe/Berlin)
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Follow-up Comment:
I got a similar problem here.



I added a new [unpartitioned] IDE drive to my system, started it up and GRUB
refused to boot, showing error 5 during stage 1.5. Removing the drive also
removed the error.



I am a little unexperienced with hardware related problems under Linux so I
thought the error might be caused by the unpartitioned drive.



So I booted from a CD-ROM (which just works fine) with the new drive
connected and partitioned it to my needs. This changed absolutley nothing.
Same error.

==============================================================================
 OVERVIEW of bugs #10727:
==============================================================================

URL:
  <http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?func=detailitem&item_id=10727>

                 Summary: Boot fails after adding a new IDE hdd, in IDE/SCSI
configuration
                 Project: GNU GRUB
            Submitted by: None
            Submitted on: Tue 10/19/2004 at 11:10
                Category: Booting
                Severity: Major
                Priority: 5 - Normal
              Item Group: Action Request
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
         Originator Name: Teodor Mihai
        Originator Email: address@hidden
             Open/Closed: Open
                 Release: grub-0.94-25.i586.rpm
         Reproducibility: Every Time
         Planned Release: 

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As soon as I put together my PC it had the following drive setup:



SCSI ID 0 /dev/sda

SCSI ID 1 /dev/sdb



Due to some problem (or incompatibility) either with the PC BIOS or the SCSI
BIOS in booting from the SCSI drive 0 (basically I never managed to boot from
SCSI) I had to add an old IDE drive as secondary master, which I used for the
bootloader. Therefore, there's a new disk:



Secondary Master IDE /dev/hdc, 8Gb Maxtor (old disk, BIOS used "Large"
addressing mode by default, when set to "Auto")



I have a dual installation of Linux Suse 9.1 and Windows XP Professional,
both residing on the first SCSI disc /dev/sda.

Windows recognized the setup as being unusual (it was installed on the SCSI
disc, but the boot disc was /dev/hdc) and specifically explained it had to
put the boot loader on /dev/hdc. That was surprisingly smart, given the
manufacturer, and it worked fine.



I installed Linux and GRUB was configured on /dev/hdc, and worked in this
dual boot setup by booting Linux on /dev/sda5 or Windows on /dev/hdc.
Everything worked fine. The GRUB device map was as follows:



hd0 /dev/hdc

hd1 /dev/sda

hd2 /dev/sdb



However, due to storage constraints I had to purchase a new 200Gb disk, and I
shrewdly planned to copy the old IDE disk, sector by sector, on the new one
(using Norton Ghost 9.0) and then remove the old drive, while keeping the new
one as /dev/hdc, and still be able to boot Windows after re-installing GRUB on
the new disk.



The first step was adding the new drive as Secondary Slave, /dev/hdd.

The BIOS recognized it as a 200Gb drive (fortunately the motherboard was made
in 2003, as the BIOS was up-to-date) and defaulted to LBA addressing when set
to "Auto".

I left the old drive, /dev/hdc, in place, planning to boot Windows and copy
the drives.



However, GRUB refused to boot, showing error 5 (Partition table invalid or
corrupt) during stage 1.5.



For some reason GRUB took the new disk as hd1, even if according to its
device map hd1 should have been /dev/sda.

Physically disconnecting /dev/hdd would have the expected result (GRUB booted
fine).



I know it was referring to the new disk since I booted of a Linux rescue
disk, ran fdisk just to put an empty partition table, booted again and GRUB
showed error 15 (File not found) during stage 1.5. Therefore it was obviously
reading /dev/hdd (probably as hd1), instead of using /dev/sda.



I also tried connecting the new disk as Primary Master or Primary Slave. Same
result: GRUB had to read it and declare itself unhappy.



When I understood the issue I reinstalled GRUB using the new device map
containing all 4 disks (/dev/hdc, /dev/hdd, /dev/sda, /dev/sdb), I used the
same boot configuration (using /dev/hdc and /dev/sda) and it booted my
existing Linux and Windows installations without any problems.



=> I think this is a bug; adding a new [unpartitioned] drive, which basically
has no role in the boot process, should not cause the PC to stop booting. <=



Of course, after I copied the drives, removed the old disk, installed GRUB on
the new disk using the same configuration as before (/dev/hdc, /dev/sda,
/dev/sdb) it refused to boot Windows and nothing but a Windows reinstall
(which wiped out GRUB) fixed the problem, but this is another issue.



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Follow-up Comments:


-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri 01/14/2005 at 23:47       By: Benedikt Spellmeyer <chimera26>
I got a similar problem here.



I added a new [unpartitioned] IDE drive to my system, started it up and GRUB
refused to boot, showing error 5 during stage 1.5. Removing the drive also
removed the error.



I am a little unexperienced with hardware related problems under Linux so I
thought the error might be caused by the unpartitioned drive.



So I booted from a CD-ROM (which just works fine) with the new drive
connected and partitioned it to my needs. This changed absolutley nothing.
Same error.





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CC Address                          | Comment
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chimera26                           | 




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