On Wed, Jul 10, 2002 at 04:19:31PM +1000, Ian Cumming wrote:
> Hi Kelledin,
>
> I've found this problem too. I tried to install grub onto the root
> partition of a drive, and was not able to boot (with the same error).
thats because you just scribbled the XFS superblock.
> It appears that you cannot install grub onto the root partition without
> corrupting the XFS fs. However, I can install grub into the MBR of the
> drive, and successfully boot from the root partition in this manner.
that is correct. XFS puts its superblock right at block zero of the
partition instead of block 2 like ext2 (which leaves 1024 bytes of
unused space at the start of the partition for things like
bootloaders).
> My knowledge of this problem is very limited, because I could not afford
> to break my system again by investigating it! With this in mind, I can
> only offer an anecdotal intepretation of the problem, howerver I am sure
> that others in this list can offer a far better explanation.
you must install the first stage bootloader in the MBR, you must not
install it on the partition if that partition is XFS, you WILL destroy
the XFS superblock.
this is the same `bug' people kept reporting in lilo until someone
finally patched it (im not sure that patch ever made it upstream) to
check for XFS and refuse to proceed if its detected.
--
Ethan Benson
http://www.alaska.net/~erbenson/
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