Fedora Boot Problem

[babu paul]

Can anyone please give details for the below query
I have purchased one new HP Laptop dv6 pavillion and installed Fedora 12 along with Windows 7
Now the Windows is not booting..
Before installing fedora it was working fine..

System Configuration : 320 Hard disk, 2.13 GHz, Nvidia Geforce Graphic, Ram 3 GB

while giving fdisk -l command in Fedora windows is showing below System as SFS...
What does this mean... Kindly request anybodys help..

[glennzo]

Hello babu paul. Welcome to Fedora Forum. I've moved your post, as you can plainly see, to it's own thread. Please read the Posting Rules.

As for the boot issue, can you post, from a terminal, the output of the following commands please? They require root password.

su -c 'fdisk -l'
su -c 'cat /boot/grub/grub/conf'

You should be able to use copy and paste for the commands if you wish.

I'd bet the bootloader is trying to boot Windows from the wrong partition.

[babu paul]

Thank you...for your prompt reply .....

[root @ local host ~] # fdisk -l (shows the following)

Disk /dev/sda :320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
units = Cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier : 0x9e18f0cd

Device boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda 1 1 13 103392+ 42 SFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary

/dev/sda2 13 5483 43936768 42 SFS
/dev/sda3 * 5483 11857 51200000 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 11858 38913 217327320 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 11858 12750 7168000 Linux Swap/Solaris
/dev/sda6 12750 13387 5119999+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 13387 13515 1023999 83 Linux



[root @localhost ~] gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf (shows the following)

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
# Note you do not have return grub after making changes to this file
# Notice : You donot have a /boot partition. This means that all kernel and initrd
paths are relative to l. eg.
# root (hd0,2)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz - version ro root = /dev/sda3
# initrd /boot/initrd - [generic-] version.img
# boot = /dev/sda
default = 1
timeout = 15
splash image = (hd0,2) /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hidden menu
title fedora (2.6.31.5-12.7 .fc12.x86_64)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz - 2.6.31.5 -127.fc12 x86_64 ro
root = UUID =8e3d4cd7-67af-49db-8258-1455 elc7bf5b nomodeget LANG =en_US.UTF-8
SYSFONT = latarcyrheb - sun 16 KEYBOARD TYPE = PC KEYTABLE = US rhgn quiet
initrd /boot/initranfs - 2.6.31.5 -127.fc12. x86_64.img

Title Other
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
Chainloader +1

[root @ localhost ~] # df -h (shows the following)

Filesystem Size Used Avail use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 49 G 3.7 G 42 G 9% /
tmpfs 1.5 G 580 K 1.5 G 1% /dev/shm
/dev/sda6 4.9 G 145 M 4.5 G 4% home
/dev/sda7 985 M 1.4 M 933 M 1% tmp

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM CDT ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 PM CDT ----------

Also I wish to mention that while giving the option Other in the Splash Screen while
booting fedora only a blank screen is showing with cursor blinking....

your guidance/support will be highly appreciated

[glennzo]

Unfortunately, given the output of fdisk, my guidance and support may well fall far short of your expectations. To be honest, I have no idea what to do with that SFS filesystem. Normally, Windows partitions would be NTFS and I would probably tell you to edit grub to point to a different partition and see if Windows boots. Let's hope that there are members here who have some experience with SFS filesystems and how to handle them. Until then, I'd suggest Google for information on the filesystem type and how to, if possible, boot from it with grub, assuming that this is where Windows resides.

[babu paul]

Dear Fedora Forum Members,
I have the following issue with dual booting Fedora 12 & windows 7
How to solve with the following inorder to dual boot Fedora 12 with Windows 7

[root @ local host ~] # fdisk -l (shows the following)

Disk /dev/sda :320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
units = Cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier : 0x9e18f0cd

Device boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda 1 1 13 103392+ 42 SFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary

/dev/sda2 13 5483 43936768 42 SFS
/dev/sda3 * 5483 11857 51200000 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 11858 38913 217327320 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 11858 12750 7168000 Linux Swap/Solaris
/dev/sda6 12750 13387 5119999+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 13387 13515 1023999 83 Linux



[root @localhost ~] gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf (shows the following)

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
# Note you do not have return grub after making changes to this file
# Notice : You donot have a /boot partition. This means that all kernel and initrd
paths are relative to l. eg.
# root (hd0,2)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz - version ro root = /dev/sda3
# initrd /boot/initrd - [generic-] version.img
# boot = /dev/sda
default = 1
timeout = 15
splash image = (hd0,2) /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hidden menu
title fedora (2.6.31.5-12.7 .fc12.x86_64)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz - 2.6.31.5 -127.fc12 x86_64 ro
root = UUID =8e3d4cd7-67af-49db-8258-1455 elc7bf5b nomodeget LANG =en_US.UTF-8
SYSFONT = latarcyrheb - sun 16 KEYBOARD TYPE = PC KEYTABLE = US rhgn quiet
initrd /boot/initranfs - 2.6.31.5 -127.fc12. x86_64.img

Title Other
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
Chainloader +1

[root @ localhost ~] # df -h (shows the following)

Filesystem Size Used Avail use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 49 G 3.7 G 42 G 9% /
tmpfs 1.5 G 580 K 1.5 G 1% /dev/shm
/dev/sda6 4.9 G 145 M 4.5 G 4% home
/dev/sda7 985 M 1.4 M 933 M 1% tmp

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM CDT ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 PM CDT ----------

Also I wish to mention that while giving the option Other in the Splash Screen while
booting fedora only a blank screen is showing with cursor blinking....

your guidance/support will be highly appreciated

[Rouge8]

From what I've found, SFS refers to a windows partition type, but the actual file system is still NTFS.

It looks like you have two SFS partitions, and that grub is trying to boot from the second.

I'd try having grub boot from the first, so I'd edit this section of /boot/grub/grub.conf:

Title Other
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
Chainloader +1

to say:

Title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
Chainloader +1

I can't make any promises, but this could work.

[babu paul]

nope....

While giving the Code:
Title Windows
root noverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

SHOWS ERROR 13 : Invalid or unsupported executable Format.

Press any key to continue....

Brings back to boot menu..

Any other option can you suggest to Change the SFS System to NTFS File system..
if so please give information............

Thanks.............

[Rouge8]

Let's try changing the section to:

Title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
Chainloader +1

and if that doesn't work, try booting from the second partition again:

Title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
makeactive
Chainloader +1

[babu paul]

Tried above all methods............Nope...
any idea to convert sfs file system to NTFS from FEDORA.........

---------- Post added at 12:03 PM CDT ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 PM CDT ----------

While booting Windows it shows not an executable program...a better
option may be to convert SFS file system to NTFS....if possible...
if you have any comments pls. give the details....

[Rouge8]

While booting Windows it shows not an executable program...a better
option may be to convert SFS file system to NTFS....if possible...
if you have any comments pls. give the details....

As far as I could tell, SFS is NTFS. The only way I can think of to convert is to reformat, which would lose everything.

I noticed that I accidentally capitalized the 'c' in chainloader. Those lines should read:
chainloader +1
and not
Chainloader +1

it's worth a shot, I don't know if grub is case sensitive. If that doesn't work, I'm pretty much at a loss.

[hmmsjan]

Dear Babu Paul,

From a HP 6730 laptop with Fedora 13
After installation of Fedora, W7 did not boot, and
I had to modify something in the rescue mode, but I do not remember what...



Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x51c4833a

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 39 307200 7 HPFS/NTFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2 39 22986 184320000 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 28349 30401 16490722+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 22987 28348 43070265 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 * 22987 23012 204800 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 23013 23260 1992028+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 23261 28348 40869328+ 83 Linux

From : /boot/grub/grub.conf:

title Windows 7
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1


Windows 7 definitively boots from the little /dev/sda1 partition, so hd0,0

Good luck!

[babu paul]

not yet successful in loading windows 7 with above formalities
anybody has got any suggestion for the above QUERY......
thanks.......& regards
babu paul

[hmmsjan]

Dear Babu Paul,

The only suggestions I can give:

mkdir /mnt/p1 /mnt/p2
mount -o ro /dev/sda1 /mnt/p1
mount -o ro /dev/sda2 /mnt/p2

and check whether the filesystems on those partitions are valid,
readable and contain the Windows files.
(and you can save your data)

If yes, I see as only possibility to do it the other way around
and try to rescue Windows and loose Fedora, which might not that easy since
HP does not distribute OS DVD's where you can
start "fdisk /mbr" from.
Afterwards, you can start the Fedora rescue environment and re-install grub,
hoping that the story does not start from the beginning

Good luck!

[tommytt]

Originally Posted by hmmsjan

Dear Babu Paul,

The only suggestions I can give:

mkdir /mnt/p1 /mnt/p2
mount -o ro /dev/sda1 /mnt/p1
mount -o ro /dev/sda2 /mnt/p2

and check whether the filesystems on those partitions are valid,
readable and contain the Windows files.
(and you can save your data)

If yes, I see as only possibility to do it the other way around
and try to rescue Windows and loose Fedora, which might not that easy since
HP does not distribute OS DVD's where you can
start "fdisk /mbr" from.
Afterwards, you can start the Fedora rescue environment and re-install grub,
hoping that the story does not start from the beginning

Good luck!

Hi Babu Paul;

When you have the two windows partitions mounted as above, searcg each for the files "NTLDR" or "BOOTMGR". Those are the boot loaders used by Windows. It would probably be in /mnt/p1, it's default location.

You didn't say where you got the system from but if it was in the US, the law here requires and windows installer to provide 1 set of installation media. They tend to get around that by having a "hidden" partition with an installable version but must supply the media if your hard drive goes bad or gets overwritten.

Did you backup ALL the partitions on the hard disk? (STRONG HINT - ALWAYS DO THAT BEFORE ANY MODIFICATION) - saves a lot of headaches down the road.

Another thing you could try is to boot from a rescue CD, such as on PartedMagic (free from http://partedmagic.com/. It will allow you to mount, edit, search, and save partitions.

In the future, please give as much information about your system, appropriate software, what steps you have taken toward resolving the problem, and any error messages leading up to the problem. (Not fault finding with you, just my standard speech).

Good luck, Tom

[babu paul]

Dear Janssen,


mkdir /mnt/p1 /mnt/p2

I was able to mount the above portion of what you suggested

mount -o ro /dev/sda1 /mnt/p1 - I couldn't mount this part.... If there is any space here while mounting please give the same in your reply......

mount -o ro /dev/sda2 /mnt/p2....This is ok ... I mounted the same.

and check whether the filesystems on those partitions are valid,...How to see the filesystems are ok for the partitions.... after mounting
I have just given fdisk -l to show the partition ....it still shows the System as SFS....

Device boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda 1 1 13 103392+ 42 SFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary

/dev/sda2 13 5483 43936768 42 SFS
/dev/sda3 * 5483 11857 51200000 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 11858 38913 217327320 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 11858 12750 7168000 Linux Swap/Solaris
/dev/sda6 12750 13387 5119999+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 13387 13515 1023999 83 Linux

How to see the Window Files as given below....

readable and contain the Windows files.
(and you can save your data)

And I'm ready to loose FEDORA INSTALLATION (FEDORA 12 CONSTANTINE INSTALLED VERSION)
which i have the Installation Disk...So Please explain what the below part has bee given by you...

thanks...& Regards
babu

If yes, I see as only possibility to do it the other way around
and try to rescue Windows and loose Fedora, which might not that easy since
HP does not distribute OS DVD's where you can
start "fdisk /mbr" from.
Afterwards, you can start the Fedora rescue environment and re-install grub,
hoping that the story does not start from the beginning

---------- Post added at 08:08 PM CDT ---------- Previous post was at 07:07 PM CDT ----------

Dear Mr...Thomas Taylor

I just want to give in brief about the details below...

System Purchased from : KUWAIT
Model : Hp pavillion dv6 notebook
harddisk : 320 GB
Nvidia Geforce Graphic, Ram 3 GB
Wireless : 802.11 a/b/g/n WLAN & BLUETOOTH

following details are given for your further information while using diskpartition command
within FEDORA. System is INSTALLED WITH FEDORA 12 (CONSTANTINE) VERSION


root @ local host ~] # fdisk -l (shows the following)

Disk /dev/sda :320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
units = Cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier : 0x9e18f0cd

Device boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda 1 1 13 103392+ 42 SFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary

/dev/sda2 13 5483 43936768 42 SFS
/dev/sda3 * 5483 11857 51200000 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 11858 38913 217327320 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 11858 12750 7168000 Linux Swap/Solaris
/dev/sda6 12750 13387 5119999+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 13387 13515 1023999 83 Linux


[root @localhost ~] gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf (shows the following)

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
# Note you do not have return grub after making changes to this file
# Notice : You donot have a /boot partition. This means that all kernel and initrd
paths are relative to l. eg.
# root (hd0,2)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz - version ro root = /dev/sda3
# initrd /boot/initrd - [generic-] version.img
# boot = /dev/sda
default = 1
timeout = 15
splash image = (hd0,2) /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hidden menu
title fedora (2.6.31.5-12.7 .fc12.x86_64)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz - 2.6.31.5 -127.fc12 x86_64 ro
root = UUID =8e3d4cd7-67af-49db-8258-1455 elc7bf5b nomodeget LANG =en_US.UTF-8
SYSFONT = latarcyrheb - sun 16 KEYBOARD TYPE = PC KEYTABLE = US rhgn quiet
initrd /boot/initranfs - 2.6.31.5 -127.fc12. x86_64.img

Title Other
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
Chainloader +1

[root @ localhost ~] # df -h (shows the following)

Filesystem Size Used Avail use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 49 G 3.7 G 42 G 9% /
tmpfs 1.5 G 580 K 1.5 G 1% /dev/shm
/dev/sda6 4.9 G 145 M 4.5 G 4% home
/dev/sda7 985 M 1.4 M 933 M 1% tmp

Can you give any Suggestion with the given details above

ALSO PLS. EXPLAIN ANYTHING CAN BE DONE WITH THE BOOTLOADER AS EXPLAINED BELOW
FOR WINDOWS

thanks & regards
babu


When you have the two windows partitions mounted as above, searcg each for the files "NTLDR" or "BOOTMGR". Those are the boot loaders used by Windows. It would probably be in /mnt/p1, it's default location.

You didn't say where you got the system from but if it was in the US, the law here requires and windows installer to provide 1 set of installation media. They tend to get around that by having a "hidden" partition with an installable version but must supply the media if your hard drive goes bad or gets overwritten.

Did you backup ALL the partitions on the hard disk? (STRONG HINT - ALWAYS DO THAT BEFORE ANY MODIFICATION) - saves a lot of headaches down the road.

Another thing you could try is to boot from a rescue CD, such as on PartedMagic (free from http://partedmagic.com/. It will allow you to mount, edit, search, and save partitions.

In the future, please give as much information about your system, appropriate software, what steps you have taken toward resolving the problem, and any error messages leading up to the problem. (Not fault finding with you, just my standard speech)

---------- Post added at 08:10 PM CDT ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 PM CDT ----------

Dear Mr...Thomas Taylor

I just want to give in brief about the details below...

System Purchased from : KUWAIT
Model : Hp pavillion dv6 notebook
harddisk : 320 GB
Nvidia Geforce Graphic, Ram 3 GB
Wireless : 802.11 a/b/g/n WLAN & BLUETOOTH

following details are given for your further information while using diskpartition command
within FEDORA. System is INSTALLED WITH FEDORA 12 (CONSTANTINE) VERSION


root @ local host ~] # fdisk -l (shows the following)

Disk /dev/sda :320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
units = Cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier : 0x9e18f0cd

Device boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda 1 1 13 103392+ 42 SFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary

/dev/sda2 13 5483 43936768 42 SFS
/dev/sda3 * 5483 11857 51200000 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 11858 38913 217327320 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 11858 12750 7168000 Linux Swap/Solaris
/dev/sda6 12750 13387 5119999+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 13387 13515 1023999 83 Linux


[root @localhost ~] gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf (shows the following)

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
# Note you do not have return grub after making changes to this file
# Notice : You donot have a /boot partition. This means that all kernel and initrd
paths are relative to l. eg.
# root (hd0,2)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz - version ro root = /dev/sda3
# initrd /boot/initrd - [generic-] version.img
# boot = /dev/sda
default = 1
timeout = 15
splash image = (hd0,2) /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hidden menu
title fedora (2.6.31.5-12.7 .fc12.x86_64)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz - 2.6.31.5 -127.fc12 x86_64 ro
root = UUID =8e3d4cd7-67af-49db-8258-1455 elc7bf5b nomodeget LANG =en_US.UTF-8
SYSFONT = latarcyrheb - sun 16 KEYBOARD TYPE = PC KEYTABLE = US rhgn quiet
initrd /boot/initranfs - 2.6.31.5 -127.fc12. x86_64.img

Title Other
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
Chainloader +1

[root @ localhost ~] # df -h (shows the following)

Filesystem Size Used Avail use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 49 G 3.7 G 42 G 9% /
tmpfs 1.5 G 580 K 1.5 G 1% /dev/shm
/dev/sda6 4.9 G 145 M 4.5 G 4% home
/dev/sda7 985 M 1.4 M 933 M 1% tmp

Can you give any Suggestion with the given details above

ALSO PLS. EXPLAIN ANYTHING CAN BE DONE WITH THE BOOTLOADER AS EXPLAINED BELOW
FOR WINDOWS

thanks & regards
babu


When you have the two windows partitions mounted as above, searcg each for the files "NTLDR" or "BOOTMGR". Those are the boot loaders used by Windows. It would probably be in /mnt/p1, it's default location.

You didn't say where you got the system from but if it was in the US, the law here requires and windows installer to provide 1 set of installation media. They tend to get around that by having a "hidden" partition with an installable version but must supply the media if your hard drive goes bad or gets overwritten.

Did you backup ALL the partitions on the hard disk? (STRONG HINT - ALWAYS DO THAT BEFORE ANY MODIFICATION) - saves a lot of headaches down the road.

Another thing you could try is to boot from a rescue CD, such as on PartedMagic (free from http://partedmagic.com/. It will allow you to mount, edit, search, and save partitions.

In the future, please give as much information about your system, appropriate software, what steps you have taken toward resolving the problem, and any error messages leading up to the problem. (Not fault finding with you, just my standard speech)