GRUB-2 Bootloader fails to load for lack of floppy drive. Ubuntu 10.4 & Windows XP
- by kammer
2010.07.21 while trying to install Ubuntu 10.4
Hello all,
I've been trying to install Ubuntu 10.04 on my Dell workstation and am unable to get the Grub-2 bootloader to load properly. It seems to be failing for lack of a floppy drive on the system resulting in an error message that reads :
error: fd0 cannot get C/H/S values.
I've gone through the Grub-2 page at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2 to no avail and other sources having similar problems have likewise turned up no solutions. I would certainly appreciate any insight, here's the background:
A while back I was trying to install a different version of Linux and had the same problems, then had to set the project aside for a bit. I don't think this has anything to do with Linux or Ubuntu per se, but rather Grub.
The system is an old (4-5 years) Dell workstation that has one drive (128 GB) set up for Windows XP and a second new drive (500GB) which I installed for Linux. There is a DVD/CD drive and the system contains no floppy drive at all. In one attempt to get this working I tried modifying the BIOS to indicate there was a floppy drive - this created a failure earlier in the chain with the BIOS failing to load properly, not unexpected, just a shot in the dark at that point.
At the moment I am considering just running out to buy and install a cheap floppy drive to see if that helps. I'll never use the thing though so I'd rather find a solution that doesn't require me to spend money on useless hardware.
In any case, here's the /boot/grub/grub.cfg contents:
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/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 recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fbebde47-f488-41b0-9480-337802ecb988
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fbebde47-f488-41b0-9480-337802ecb988
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
insmod play
play 480 440 1
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fbebde47-f488-41b0-9480-337802ecb988
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=fbebde47-f488-41b0-9480-337802ecb988 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fbebde47-f488-41b0-9480-337802ecb988
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=fbebde47-f488-41b0-9480-337802ecb988 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fbebde47-f488-41b0-9480-337802ecb988
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fbebde47-f488-41b0-9480-337802ecb988
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6ef0d4b4f0d4842d
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1
}
### 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 ###
Thoughts anyone?
Thanks in advance.
