[gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

I just installed gentoo on my new SSD (intel 480GB drive SSDSC2BF-480H501)

I mostly was installing everything over ssh (easier) and using grub2 but upon rebooting I get:

"No bootable device - Insert boot disk and press any key"

I boot strap to my system:

# swapon /dev/sda3
# mount -t ext4 /dev/sda4 /mnt/gentoo
# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/gentoo/boot
# cd /mnt/gentoo
# mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc
# mount --rbind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev 
# chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
# env-update
# source /etc/profile

If boot strap and try to start ssh I and get a warning (and can not login)

"You attempting to run an openrc service on a system which openrc did not boot
..."
I can ssh to the system before I boot I bootstrap

My partition:
fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 447.1 GiB, 480103981056 bytes, 937703088 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 37C37937-6310-4B04-93A6-05CD7792EF16

Device           Start          End   Size Type
/dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
/dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
/dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem

sda2 - boot
sda4 - root
 
-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/04/14 18:17, Joseph wrote:
>I just installed gentoo on my new SSD (intel 480GB drive SSDSC2BF-480H501)
>
>I mostly was installing everything over ssh (easier) and using grub2 but upon rebooting I get:
>
>"No bootable device - Insert boot disk and press any key"
>
>I boot strap to my system:
>
># swapon /dev/sda3
># mount -t ext4 /dev/sda4 /mnt/gentoo
># mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/gentoo/boot
># cd /mnt/gentoo
># mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc
># mount --rbind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev
># chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
># env-update
># source /etc/profile
>
>If boot strap and try to start ssh I and get a warning (and can not login)
>
>"You attempting to run an openrc service on a system which openrc did not boot
>..."
>I can ssh to the system before I boot I bootstrap
>
>My partition:
>fdisk -l /dev/sda
>
>Disk /dev/sda: 447.1 GiB, 480103981056 bytes, 937703088 sectors
>Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
>Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
>I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
>Disklabel type: gpt
>Disk identifier: 37C37937-6310-4B04-93A6-05CD7792EF16
>
>Device           Start          End   Size Type
>/dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
>/dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
>/dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
>/dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem
>
>sda2 - boot
>sda4 - root

When I installed grub2 I got no errors:
grub2-install /dev/sda
Installation finished. No error reported.

but looking at grub2 configuration, it is looking for kernel on sda4 (shouldn't it be sda2?).

linux   /vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo root=/dev/sda4 ro single


### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
   set default="${next_entry}"
   set next_entry=
   save_env next_entry
   set boot_once=true
else
   set default="0"
fi

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
  menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
  menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

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 load_video {
  if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
  else
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod ieee1275_fb
    insmod vbe
    insmod vga
    insmod video_bochs
    insmod video_cirrus
  fi
}

if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
   font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt4'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt4 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt4 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt4  00e8b950-21c6-4558-918f-855042b42d36
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 00e8b950-21c6-4558-918f-855042b42d36
fi
    font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
  set lang=en_US
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if sleep --interruptible 0 ; then
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Gentoo GNU/Linux' --class gentoo --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-00e8b950-21c6-4558-918f-855042b42d36' {
	load_video
	insmod gzio
	insmod part_gpt
	insmod ext2
	set root='hd0,gpt2'
	if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
	  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  4fac7293-6a58-43a4-857b-6e3095a8e50d
	else
	  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 4fac7293-6a58-43a4-857b-6e3095a8e50d
	fi
	echo	'Loading Linux 3.14.14-gentoo ...'
	linux	/vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo root=/dev/sda4 ro  
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Gentoo GNU/Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-00e8b950-21c6-4558-918f-855042b42d36' {
	menuentry 'Gentoo GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.14.14-gentoo' --class gentoo --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 
'gnulinux-3.14.14-gentoo-advanced-00e8b950-21c6-4558-918f-855042b42d36' {
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		set root='hd0,gpt2'
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  4fac7293-6a58-43a4-857b-6e3095a8e50d
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 4fac7293-6a58-43a4-857b-6e3095a8e50d
		fi
		echo	'Loading Linux 3.14.14-gentoo ...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo root=/dev/sda4 ro  
	}
	menuentry 'Gentoo GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.14.14-gentoo (recovery mode)' --class gentoo --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 
'gnulinux-3.14.14-gentoo-recovery-00e8b950-21c6-4558-918f-855042b42d36' {
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		set root='hd0,gpt2'
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  4fac7293-6a58-43a4-857b-6e3095a8e50d
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 4fac7293-6a58-43a4-857b-6e3095a8e50d
		fi
		echo	'Loading Linux 3.14.14-gentoo ...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo root=/dev/sda4 ro single 
	}
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### 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 ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
  source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###


-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Daniel Frey]

On 09/04/2014 05:36 PM, Joseph wrote:
> When I installed grub2 I got no errors:
> grub2-install /dev/sda
> Installation finished. No error reported.
> 

If you are trying to boot in EFI mode, you aren't installing it
correctly. That installed to the MBR in legacy mode.


Instructions are here: http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2

You need to mount /boot, and mount the EFI boot partition before
installing grub2 using `grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi`.

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/04/14 19:41, Daniel Frey wrote:
>On 09/04/2014 05:36 PM, Joseph wrote:
>> When I installed grub2 I got no errors:
>> grub2-install /dev/sda
>> Installation finished. No error reported.
>>
>
>If you are trying to boot in EFI mode, you aren't installing it
>correctly. That installed to the MBR in legacy mode.
>
>
>Instructions are here: http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2
>
>You need to mount /boot, and mount the EFI boot partition before
>installing grub2 using `grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi`.

I'm still lost with this grab2, very confusing.  Gentoo official documentation did not mention any of this :-/

Official documentation did ask to create /dev/sda1 2M BIOS boot partition but there was no instruction how to mount it or format it.
I was under impression Grub2 will do all of this.
I booted with CD-minimal and there is no "mkdosfs" command.

Do I need to format the /dev/sda1?

If I do:
mkfs -t vfat -F 32 -n efi-boot /dev/sda1
mkfs.vfat: No such file or directory

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Daniel Frey]

On 09/04/2014 08:14 PM, Joseph wrote:
> I'm still lost with this grab2, very confusing.  Gentoo official
> documentation did not mention any of this :-/
> 
> Official documentation did ask to create /dev/sda1 2M BIOS boot
> partition but there was no instruction how to mount it or format it.
> I was under impression Grub2 will do all of this.
> I booted with CD-minimal and there is no "mkdosfs" command.
> 
> Do I need to format the /dev/sda1?
> 
> If I do:
> mkfs -t vfat -F 32 -n efi-boot /dev/sda1
> mkfs.vfat: No such file or directory
> 

The easiest method would be to chroot into your installation. From
there, you can format the EFI partition, then mount it.

If you don't have mkfs.vfat in your chroot, I think the package that has
it is dosfstools.

So basically:

1. chroot into your install (makes sure /boot is mounted before
chroot'ing in)
2. format the EFI partition, install dosfstools if required
3. mount the EFI partition to /boot/efi
4. grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi

The grub.cfg you showed before looked correct to me, the Gentoo
GNU/Linux entry was trying to boot off of root='hd0,gpt2' which is correct.

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Daniel Frey]

On 09/04/2014 08:14 PM, Joseph wrote:
> On 09/04/14 19:41, Daniel Frey wrote:
>> On 09/04/2014 05:36 PM, Joseph wrote:
>>> When I installed grub2 I got no errors:
>>> grub2-install /dev/sda
>>> Installation finished. No error reported.
>>>
>>
>> If you are trying to boot in EFI mode, you aren't installing it
>> correctly. That installed to the MBR in legacy mode.
>>
>>
>> Instructions are here: http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2
>>
>> You need to mount /boot, and mount the EFI boot partition before
>> installing grub2 using `grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi`.
> 
> I'm still lost with this grab2, very confusing.  Gentoo official
> documentation did not mention any of this :-/
> 
> Official documentation did ask to create /dev/sda1 2M BIOS boot
> partition but there was no instruction how to mount it or format it.
> I was under impression Grub2 will do all of this.
> I booted with CD-minimal and there is no "mkdosfs" command.
> 
> Do I need to format the /dev/sda1?
> 
> If I do:
> mkfs -t vfat -F 32 -n efi-boot /dev/sda1
> mkfs.vfat: No such file or directory
> 

I forgot to mention in my last post that you absolutely must boot from
an EFI-enabled kernel, the gentoo ISOs do not do this. I used the Mint
17 ISO to do this, when you go to boot options it should list it as EFI
bootable.

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/04/14 20:44, Daniel Frey wrote:
>On 09/04/2014 08:14 PM, Joseph wrote:
>> On 09/04/14 19:41, Daniel Frey wrote:
>>> On 09/04/2014 05:36 PM, Joseph wrote:
>>>> When I installed grub2 I got no errors:
>>>> grub2-install /dev/sda
>>>> Installation finished. No error reported.
>>>>
>>>
>>> If you are trying to boot in EFI mode, you aren't installing it
>>> correctly. That installed to the MBR in legacy mode.
>>>
>>>
>>> Instructions are here: http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2
>>>
>>> You need to mount /boot, and mount the EFI boot partition before
>>> installing grub2 using `grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi`.
>>
>> I'm still lost with this grab2, very confusing.  Gentoo official
>> documentation did not mention any of this :-/
>>
>> Official documentation did ask to create /dev/sda1 2M BIOS boot
>> partition but there was no instruction how to mount it or format it.
>> I was under impression Grub2 will do all of this.
>> I booted with CD-minimal and there is no "mkdosfs" command.
>>
>> Do I need to format the /dev/sda1?
>>
>> If I do:
>> mkfs -t vfat -F 32 -n efi-boot /dev/sda1
>> mkfs.vfat: No such file or directory
>>
>
>I forgot to mention in my last post that you absolutely must boot from
>an EFI-enabled kernel, the gentoo ISOs do not do this. I used the Mint
>17 ISO to do this, when you go to boot options it should list it as EFI
>bootable.

Thank you for explanation.
I have a question with regards to that EFI.  Does it refer to this /dev/sda1 2M BIOS boot partition?
So this partition needs to be formatted to DOS file system and mounted in /boot/efi directory? 

Gentoo Documentation is very outdated and confusing when it comes to this new GRUB2.
Sometimes I want to scrap this crap and go back to standard legacy GRUB.

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Sid S]

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I believe what you've said is correct... because I'm pretty sure I read it
in the documentation.


On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 11:08 PM, Joseph <syscon780@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 09/04/14 20:44, Daniel Frey wrote:
>
>> On 09/04/2014 08:14 PM, Joseph wrote:
>>
>>> On 09/04/14 19:41, Daniel Frey wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 09/04/2014 05:36 PM, Joseph wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> When I installed grub2 I got no errors:
>>>>> grub2-install /dev/sda
>>>>> Installation finished. No error reported.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> If you are trying to boot in EFI mode, you aren't installing it
>>>> correctly. That installed to the MBR in legacy mode.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Instructions are here: http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2
>>>>
>>>> You need to mount /boot, and mount the EFI boot partition before
>>>> installing grub2 using `grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi`.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I'm still lost with this grab2, very confusing.  Gentoo official
>>> documentation did not mention any of this :-/
>>>
>>> Official documentation did ask to create /dev/sda1 2M BIOS boot
>>> partition but there was no instruction how to mount it or format it.
>>> I was under impression Grub2 will do all of this.
>>> I booted with CD-minimal and there is no "mkdosfs" command.
>>>
>>> Do I need to format the /dev/sda1?
>>>
>>> If I do:
>>> mkfs -t vfat -F 32 -n efi-boot /dev/sda1
>>> mkfs.vfat: No such file or directory
>>>
>>>
>> I forgot to mention in my last post that you absolutely must boot from
>> an EFI-enabled kernel, the gentoo ISOs do not do this. I used the Mint
>> 17 ISO to do this, when you go to boot options it should list it as EFI
>> bootable.
>>
>
> Thank you for explanation.
> I have a question with regards to that EFI.  Does it refer to this
> /dev/sda1 2M BIOS boot partition?
> So this partition needs to be formatted to DOS file system and mounted in
> /boot/efi directory?
> Gentoo Documentation is very outdated and confusing when it comes to this
> new GRUB2.
> Sometimes I want to scrap this crap and go back to standard legacy GRUB.
>
> --
> Joseph
>
>

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Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/04/14 19:41, Daniel Frey wrote:
>On 09/04/2014 05:36 PM, Joseph wrote:
>> When I installed grub2 I got no errors:
>> grub2-install /dev/sda
>> Installation finished. No error reported.
>>
>
>If you are trying to boot in EFI mode, you aren't installing it
>correctly. That installed to the MBR in legacy mode.
>
>
>Instructions are here: http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2
>
>You need to mount /boot, and mount the EFI boot partition before
>installing grub2 using `grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi`.

How do I mount EFI boot partition?  
Is it the /dev/sda1 2M

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Thu, 4 Sep 2014 21:46:14 -0600, Joseph wrote:

> >You need to mount /boot, and mount the EFI boot partition before
> >installing grub2 using `grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi`.  
> 
> How do I mount EFI boot partition?  
> Is it the /dev/sda1 2M

That's the BIOS compatibility partition. There appears to be some
confusion here, does your hardware use EFI or is it traditional BIOS. The
approaches are very different and all of the advice in this thread s for
EFI but your previous posts made no mention of it.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is 100%.

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Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 09:04, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>On Thu, 4 Sep 2014 21:46:14 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>
>> >You need to mount /boot, and mount the EFI boot partition before
>> >installing grub2 using `grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi`.
>>
>> How do I mount EFI boot partition?
>> Is it the /dev/sda1 2M
>
>That's the BIOS compatibility partition. There appears to be some
>confusion here, does your hardware use EFI or is it traditional BIOS. The
>approaches are very different and all of the advice in this thread s for
>EFI but your previous posts made no mention of it.
>
>
>-- 
>Neil Bothwick
>
>Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is 100%.

My BIOS if from 1998 I think so it is not EFI. 
I don't think I'm suppose to be doing this EFI.

"...UEFI (~EFI) is a firmware interface that is widespread on recent computers, especially those more recent than 2010. It is intended to replace the traditional 
BIOS firmware interface that is prevalent on earlier machines. "

So think I should scrap the partition sda1 and sda2 and combine them into one partition and install grub (not grub2).

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 06:37:00 -0600, Joseph wrote:

> My BIOS if from 1998 I think so it is not EFI. 
> I don't think I'm suppose to be doing this EFI.
> 
> "...UEFI (~EFI) is a firmware interface that is widespread on recent
> computers, especially those more recent than 2010. It is intended to
> replace the traditional BIOS firmware interface that is prevalent on
> earlier machines. "
> 
> So think I should scrap the partition sda1 and sda2 and combine them
> into one partition and install grub (not grub2).

You need the BIOS boot partition, as described in the other thread, if
you are using a GPT partition table (and you should). I've no idea
whether legacy GRUB will handle this, but there's no point in starting
with dead software. Keep the BIOS boot partition and use GRUB2 but ignore
any advice referring to EFI.

EFI works completely differently, it does not need the BIOS boot
partition, but it does need /boot to be formatted with a FAT filesystem.

Most importantly, take a breath and step back. You seem to be diving it,
trying various options, without really gaining an understanding of what
you need to do before you start.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

War does not determine who is right -- only who is left.

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Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 13:44, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 06:37:00 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>
>> My BIOS if from 1998 I think so it is not EFI.
>> I don't think I'm suppose to be doing this EFI.
>>
>> "...UEFI (~EFI) is a firmware interface that is widespread on recent
>> computers, especially those more recent than 2010. It is intended to
>> replace the traditional BIOS firmware interface that is prevalent on
>> earlier machines. "
>>
>> So think I should scrap the partition sda1 and sda2 and combine them
>> into one partition and install grub (not grub2).
>
>You need the BIOS boot partition, as described in the other thread, if
>you are using a GPT partition table (and you should). I've no idea
>whether legacy GRUB will handle this, but there's no point in starting
>with dead software. Keep the BIOS boot partition and use GRUB2 but ignore
>any advice referring to EFI.

[snip]
I made a typo my Bios is from around 2008 so it can not be EFI.
So I need a "BIOS boot partition" which in my case is "/dev/sda1" but I don't need the /dev/sda2 - this is my 128M boot partition.
My layout:

Device           Start          End   Size Type
/dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
/dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
/dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem

Can I combine sda1 and sda2?  I mean delete both and create bigger sda1 make it a BIOS boot partition and format it as ext2; install grub2 on it.

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 07:06:27 -0600, Joseph wrote:

> I made a typo my Bios is from around 2008 so it can not be EFI.
> So I need a "BIOS boot partition" which in my case is "/dev/sda1" but I
> don't need the /dev/sda2 - this is my 128M boot partition. My layout:
> 
> Device           Start          End   Size Type
> /dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
> /dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
> /dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
> /dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem
> 
> Can I combine sda1 and sda2?  I mean delete both and create bigger sda1
> make it a BIOS boot partition and format it as ext2; install grub2 on
> it.

No you can't, read the previous posts. The BIOS boot partition is not the
same as /boot, it is a special partition needed for MBR compatibility and
nothing to do with the OS files. The partition layout you have is
suitable, don't mess with it except possibly to create a separate /home.
sda1 and 2 are fine as they are, don't break them.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Computer apathy error: don't bother striking any key.

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Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 14:11, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 07:06:27 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>
>> I made a typo my Bios is from around 2008 so it can not be EFI.
>> So I need a "BIOS boot partition" which in my case is "/dev/sda1" but I
>> don't need the /dev/sda2 - this is my 128M boot partition. My layout:
>>
>> Device           Start          End   Size Type
>> /dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
>> /dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
>> /dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
>> /dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem
>>
>> Can I combine sda1 and sda2?  I mean delete both and create bigger sda1
>> make it a BIOS boot partition and format it as ext2; install grub2 on
>> it.
>
>No you can't, read the previous posts. The BIOS boot partition is not the
>same as /boot, it is a special partition needed for MBR compatibility and
>nothing to do with the OS files. The partition layout you have is
>suitable, don't mess with it except possibly to create a separate /home.
>sda1 and 2 are fine as they are, don't break them.

So, why isn't it booting?
sda2 is mounted on /boot there is the content:

ls -al /boot/
total 8671
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root    1024 Sep  4 14:29 .
drwxr-xr-x 21 root root    4096 Sep  4 16:51 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   94478 Sep  4 11:41 config-3.14.14-gentoo
drwxr-xr-x  6 root root    1024 Sep  4 18:56 grub
-rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Aug 27 19:26 .keep
drwx------  2 root root   12288 Sep  4 09:06 lost+found
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3037035 Sep  4 11:41 System.map-3.14.14-gentoo
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 5689632 Sep  4 11:41 vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo

kernel is there, grub is installed.  Where did I made a mistake?

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Rich Freeman]

On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 9:38 AM, Joseph <syscon780@gmail.com> wrote:
> ls -al /boot/
> total 8671
> drwxr-xr-x  4 root root    1024 Sep  4 14:29 .
> drwxr-xr-x 21 root root    4096 Sep  4 16:51 ..
> -rw-r--r--  1 root root   94478 Sep  4 11:41 config-3.14.14-gentoo
> drwxr-xr-x  6 root root    1024 Sep  4 18:56 grub
> -rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Aug 27 19:26 .keep
> drwx------  2 root root   12288 Sep  4 09:06 lost+found
> -rw-r--r--  1 root root 3037035 Sep  4 11:41 System.map-3.14.14-gentoo
> -rw-r--r--  1 root root 5689632 Sep  4 11:41 vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo
>
> kernel is there, grub is installed.  Where did I made a mistake?

Are you SURE grub is installed?  Also, what version of grub are you
using, and have you confirmed that it is compatible with GPT?

Sticking some files in /boot/grub is only the first step in installing
grub.  It needs to be present in your boot sector and all the files it
needs need to be in the right places, including its stage2 bootloader
or whatever they call it these days.

--
Rich

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 10:25, Rich Freeman wrote:
>On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 9:38 AM, Joseph <syscon780@gmail.com> wrote:
>> ls -al /boot/
>> total 8671
>> drwxr-xr-x  4 root root    1024 Sep  4 14:29 .
>> drwxr-xr-x 21 root root    4096 Sep  4 16:51 ..
>> -rw-r--r--  1 root root   94478 Sep  4 11:41 config-3.14.14-gentoo
>> drwxr-xr-x  6 root root    1024 Sep  4 18:56 grub
>> -rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Aug 27 19:26 .keep
>> drwx------  2 root root   12288 Sep  4 09:06 lost+found
>> -rw-r--r--  1 root root 3037035 Sep  4 11:41 System.map-3.14.14-gentoo
>> -rw-r--r--  1 root root 5689632 Sep  4 11:41 vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo
>>
>> kernel is there, grub is installed.  Where did I made a mistake?
>
>Are you SURE grub is installed?  Also, what version of grub are you
>using, and have you confirmed that it is compatible with GPT?
>
>Sticking some files in /boot/grub is only the first step in installing
>grub.  It needs to be present in your boot sector and all the files it
>needs need to be in the right places, including its stage2 bootloader
>or whatever they call it these days.
>
>--
>Rich

The sda has a gpt partition and I installed grub2 according to Gentoo handbook, everything went without errors but it will not boot.

I'm still reading the instructions you posted in the link:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/partitioning#Choosing_between_GPT_and_MBR

Gentoo instructions is getting old and obsolete, hardly explain anything.  I've installed Gentoo many time and always booted first time after installation.

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 10:25, Rich Freeman wrote:
>On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 9:38 AM, Joseph <syscon780@gmail.com> wrote:
>> ls -al /boot/
>> total 8671
>> drwxr-xr-x  4 root root    1024 Sep  4 14:29 .
>> drwxr-xr-x 21 root root    4096 Sep  4 16:51 ..
>> -rw-r--r--  1 root root   94478 Sep  4 11:41 config-3.14.14-gentoo
>> drwxr-xr-x  6 root root    1024 Sep  4 18:56 grub
>> -rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Aug 27 19:26 .keep
>> drwx------  2 root root   12288 Sep  4 09:06 lost+found
>> -rw-r--r--  1 root root 3037035 Sep  4 11:41 System.map-3.14.14-gentoo
>> -rw-r--r--  1 root root 5689632 Sep  4 11:41 vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo
>>
>> kernel is there, grub is installed.  Where did I made a mistake?
>
>Are you SURE grub is installed?  Also, what version of grub are you
>using, and have you confirmed that it is compatible with GPT?
>
>Sticking some files in /boot/grub is only the first step in installing
>grub.  It needs to be present in your boot sector and all the files it
>needs need to be in the right places, including its stage2 bootloader
>or whatever they call it these days.

What information grub2 is writing to sda1 "BIOS boot partition" ? and how do I verify it?
Grub2 installed files on sda2 "/boot" partition but it seems to me it did nothing to sda1 as my BIOS does not see anything on it so it can not find the /boot or 
kernel.

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 14:11, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 07:06:27 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>
>> I made a typo my Bios is from around 2008 so it can not be EFI.
>> So I need a "BIOS boot partition" which in my case is "/dev/sda1" but I
>> don't need the /dev/sda2 - this is my 128M boot partition. My layout:
>>
>> Device           Start          End   Size Type
>> /dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
>> /dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
>> /dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
>> /dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem
>>
>> Can I combine sda1 and sda2?  I mean delete both and create bigger sda1
>> make it a BIOS boot partition and format it as ext2; install grub2 on
>> it.
>
>No you can't, read the previous posts. The BIOS boot partition is not the
>same as /boot, it is a special partition needed for MBR compatibility and
>nothing to do with the OS files. The partition layout you have is
>suitable, don't mess with it except possibly to create a separate /home.
>sda1 and 2 are fine as they are, don't break them.

According to:
http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2#BIOS.2FMBR_or_BIOS.2FGPT

"BIOS/MBR or BIOS/GPT

Installing in this mode is straight forward as it's just like the legacy GRUB with new GRUB2 additions. If you have a GPT partition table, you will need a small BIOS 
boot partition. 1 MiB may be enough but 2-4 MiB will definitely work. It will hold stage 2 of the bootloader and you don't need to format the partition with a 
filesystem - grub2-install will overwrite it anyway. You can mark a partition with the command line tool "parted" by typing (change 1 to the number of the partition 
you want to mark as a BIOS Boot partition!): "

I don't need to format sda1, grub2-install should take care of it.  So what am I doing wrong?
I've installed many Gentoo systems in the past (it was long time ago), everything went smooth but not this time.

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Neil Bothwick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 597 bytes --]

On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 08:02:08 -0600, Joseph wrote:

> I don't need to format sda1, grub2-install should take care of it.  So
> what am I doing wrong?

Did you run grub2-install from within the chroot? I've had problems with
this in the past, no error messages but GRUB is not installed correctly.
Instead, mount your root and boot partitions at /mnt/gent
and /mnt/gentoo/boot and run grub2-install from the live system

grub2-install --root-directory=/mnt/gentoo --boot-directory=/mnt/gentoo/boot /dev/sda


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Conclusion: the place where you got tired of thinking.

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Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 20:26, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 08:02:08 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>
>> I don't need to format sda1, grub2-install should take care of it.  So
>> what am I doing wrong?
>
>Did you run grub2-install from within the chroot? I've had problems with
>this in the past, no error messages but GRUB is not installed correctly.
>Instead, mount your root and boot partitions at /mnt/gent
>and /mnt/gentoo/boot and run grub2-install from the live system
>
>grub2-install --root-directory=/mnt/gentoo --boot-directory=/mnt/gentoo/boot /dev/sda

This will install grub in /mnt/gentoo/boot and will be gone after I reboot.

I was able to boot the system with systemrescue CD the kernel on the HD.  The problem I have is my BIOS does not recognize GPT partition 

I think I'll have to format entire drive in MBR and start from scratch.
How to format disk in MBR, current "fdisk" defaults to GPT.

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Neil Bothwick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1465 bytes --]

On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 13:54:07 -0600, Joseph wrote:

> >> I don't need to format sda1, grub2-install should take care of it.
> >> So what am I doing wrong?  
> >
> >Did you run grub2-install from within the chroot? I've had problems
> >with this in the past, no error messages but GRUB is not installed
> >correctly. Instead, mount your root and boot partitions at /mnt/gent
> >and /mnt/gentoo/boot and run grub2-install from the live system
> >
> >grub2-install --root-directory=/mnt/gentoo
> >--boot-directory=/mnt/gentoo/boot /dev/sda  
> 
> This will install grub in /mnt/gentoo/boot and will be gone after I
> reboot.

GRUB is already installed there, when you emerged it. grub-install sets
up the bootstrapping, but it needs to know where the files are, and they
are in /mnt/gentoo. I've done it this way several times and it always
worked, your way has not worked. You decide which is preferable.

> I was able to boot the system with systemrescue CD the kernel on the
> HD.  The problem I have is my BIOS does not recognize GPT partition 

On what factual evidence do you base that statement?

> I think I'll have to format entire drive in MBR and start from scratch.
> How to format disk in MBR, current "fdisk" defaults to GPT.

fdisk doesn't default to anything AFAIR, it creates whatever type of
partition table you tell it to, depending on whether you press g or o.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Home is where you hang your @.

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Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 22:06, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 13:54:07 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>
>> >> I don't need to format sda1, grub2-install should take care of it.
>> >> So what am I doing wrong?
>> >
>> >Did you run grub2-install from within the chroot? I've had problems
>> >with this in the past, no error messages but GRUB is not installed
>> >correctly. Instead, mount your root and boot partitions at /mnt/gent
>> >and /mnt/gentoo/boot and run grub2-install from the live system
>> >
>> >grub2-install --root-directory=/mnt/gentoo
>> >--boot-directory=/mnt/gentoo/boot /dev/sda
>>
>> This will install grub in /mnt/gentoo/boot and will be gone after I
>> reboot.
>
>GRUB is already installed there, when you emerged it. grub-install sets
>up the bootstrapping, but it needs to know where the files are, and they
>are in /mnt/gentoo. I've done it this way several times and it always
>worked, your way has not worked. You decide which is preferable.
>
>> I was able to boot the system with systemrescue CD the kernel on the
>> HD.  The problem I have is my BIOS does not recognize GPT partition
>
>On what factual evidence do you base that statement?
>
>> I think I'll have to format entire drive in MBR and start from scratch.
>> How to format disk in MBR, current "fdisk" defaults to GPT.
>
>fdisk doesn't default to anything AFAIR, it creates whatever type of
>partition table you tell it to, depending on whether you press g or o.

I did you suggested:

# grub2-install --root-directory=/mnt/gentoo --boot-directory=/mnt/gentoo/boot /dev/sda
Installation finished. No error reported.

# grub2-mkconfig -o /mnt/gentoo/boot/grub/grub.cfg
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo
done

ls -al /mnt/gentoo/boot/
total 8636
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root    4096 Sep  5 15:58 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root    4096 Sep  5 13:44 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   94478 Sep  5 15:58 config-3.14.14-gentoo
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root    4096 Sep  5 15:57 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3037035 Sep  5 15:58 System.map-3.14.14-gentoo
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5689632 Sep  5 15:58 vmlinuz-3.14.14-gentoo

reboot the system and it still doesn't boot.

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Bill Kenworthy]

On 06/09/14 06:07, Joseph wrote:
> On 09/05/14 22:06, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>> On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 13:54:07 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>>
>>> >> I don't need to format sda1, grub2-install should take care of it.
>>> >> So what am I doing wrong?
>>> >

Something I have not seen so far is do you have a device.map file?

(Make sure that you have /boot mounted.)

olympus ~ # cat /boot/grub/device.map
(hd0)   /dev/sda
(hd1)   /dev/sdb
(hd2)   /dev/hdc
(hd3)   /dev/sdd
olympus ~ #

I have two ssd's (hd3/sdd boot and system in the one above) and couldn't
get the mapping right until this was set correctly as grub always got it
wrong when left to itself but only with the SSD's, normal HDD's were fine.

BillK

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Neil Bothwick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 297 bytes --]

On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 16:07:38 -0600, Joseph wrote:

> reboot the system and it still doesn't boot.

You've been asked before but I don't recall seeing the answer. If it
doesn't boot, what does happen? What messages do you see?


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Top Oxymorons Number 34: Silent scream

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Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 14:11, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 07:06:27 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>
>> I made a typo my Bios is from around 2008 so it can not be EFI.
>> So I need a "BIOS boot partition" which in my case is "/dev/sda1" but I
>> don't need the /dev/sda2 - this is my 128M boot partition. My layout:
>>
>> Device           Start          End   Size Type
>> /dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
>> /dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
>> /dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
>> /dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem
>>
>> Can I combine sda1 and sda2?  I mean delete both and create bigger sda1
>> make it a BIOS boot partition and format it as ext2; install grub2 on
>> it.
>
>No you can't, read the previous posts. The BIOS boot partition is not the
>same as /boot, it is a special partition needed for MBR compatibility and
>nothing to do with the OS files. The partition layout you have is
>suitable, don't mess with it except possibly to create a separate /home.
>sda1 and 2 are fine as they are, don't break them.

It seems to me my BIOS can not read GPT partition so what are my alternatives?
I think I will have to format the SSD in MBR 

How to use fidsk to partition HD in MBR; by default fdisk is going to GPT.

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[J. Roeleveld]

On 5 September 2014 19:55:49 CEST, Joseph <syscon780@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 09/05/14 14:11, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>>On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 07:06:27 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>>
>>> I made a typo my Bios is from around 2008 so it can not be EFI.
>>> So I need a "BIOS boot partition" which in my case is "/dev/sda1"
>but I
>>> don't need the /dev/sda2 - this is my 128M boot partition. My
>layout:
>>>
>>> Device           Start          End   Size Type
>>> /dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
>>> /dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
>>> /dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
>>> /dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem
>>>
>>> Can I combine sda1 and sda2?  I mean delete both and create bigger
>sda1
>>> make it a BIOS boot partition and format it as ext2; install grub2
>on
>>> it.
>>
>>No you can't, read the previous posts. The BIOS boot partition is not
>the
>>same as /boot, it is a special partition needed for MBR compatibility
>and
>>nothing to do with the OS files. The partition layout you have is
>>suitable, don't mess with it except possibly to create a separate
>/home.
>>sda1 and 2 are fine as they are, don't break them.
>
>It seems to me my BIOS can not read GPT partition so what are my
>alternatives?
>I think I will have to format the SSD in MBR 
>
>How to use fidsk to partition HD in MBR; by default fdisk is going to
>GPT.

fdisk can only do MBR partitioning.
gdisk does GPT partitioning and can add MBR compatibility. 

With a disk of less them 2TB I wouldn't bother with GPT if you don't have an EFI mainboard. Do yourself a favour and partition the SSD as if it were a spinning disk.

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Joseph]

On 09/05/14 20:20, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>On 5 September 2014 19:55:49 CEST, Joseph <syscon780@gmail.com> wrote:
>>On 09/05/14 14:11, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>>>On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 07:06:27 -0600, Joseph wrote:
>>>
>>>> I made a typo my Bios is from around 2008 so it can not be EFI.
>>>> So I need a "BIOS boot partition" which in my case is "/dev/sda1"
>>but I
>>>> don't need the /dev/sda2 - this is my 128M boot partition. My
>>layout:
>>>>
>>>> Device           Start          End   Size Type
>>>> /dev/sda1         2048         6143     2M BIOS boot partition
>>>> /dev/sda2         6144       268287   128M Linux filesystem
>>>> /dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
>>>> /dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem
>>>>
>>>> Can I combine sda1 and sda2?  I mean delete both and create bigger
>>sda1
>>>> make it a BIOS boot partition and format it as ext2; install grub2
>>on
>>>> it.
>>>
>>>No you can't, read the previous posts. The BIOS boot partition is not
>>the
>>>same as /boot, it is a special partition needed for MBR compatibility
>>and
>>>nothing to do with the OS files. The partition layout you have is
>>>suitable, don't mess with it except possibly to create a separate
>>/home.
>>>sda1 and 2 are fine as they are, don't break them.
>>
>>It seems to me my BIOS can not read GPT partition so what are my
>>alternatives?
>>I think I will have to format the SSD in MBR
>>
>>How to use fidsk to partition HD in MBR; by default fdisk is going to
>>GPT.
>
>fdisk can only do MBR partitioning.
>gdisk does GPT partitioning and can add MBR compatibility.
>
>With a disk of less them 2TB I wouldn't bother with GPT if you don't have an EFI mainboard. Do yourself a favour and partition the SSD as if it were a spinning disk.

I'm trying to rescue my installation but it doesn't work.
I deleted sda1 and sda2 and converted them to sda1 Microsoft basic data 
Installed legacy grub on it but it doesn't work.

Do I need to make sda1 bootable "*" 

fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 447.1 GiB, 480103981056 bytes, 937703088 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 37C37937-6310-4B04-93A6-05CD7792EF16

Device           Start          End   Size Type
/dev/sda1         2048       268287   130M Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda3       268288      4462591     2G Linux swap
/dev/sda4      4462592    937703054   445G Linux filesystem

-- 
Joseph

Re: [gentoo-user] installed Gentoo on SSD - no bootable device

[Neil Bothwick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 350 bytes --]

On Fri, 5 Sep 2014 11:55:49 -0600, Joseph wrote:

> It seems to me my BIOS can not read GPT partition so what are my
> alternatives? I think I will have to format the SSD in MBR 

BIOS doesn't read partitions. It loads a few bytes of bootloader code,
then the bootloader takes over.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Beware! The end is... <aaarrgh!>

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