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johnmcmains
2 Posts
0
5789
March 27th, 2006 15:00
GRUB Hangs - RHEL
I have a Dell Optiplex GX270 running Windows XP. First HD formatted NTFS.
I added a second drive to use for Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES4. During the install I set the Linux install to go to /dev/hdb1 and GRUB to be on /dev/hda MASTER BOOT RECORD. The Linux installation appeared to go just fine. However, on the first start-up it got to a blank screen and said GRUB with a blinking cursor after it and then hangs. Subsequent reboots get me to the same screen.
Thanks in advance,
john
johnmcmains
2 Posts
448
0
Posted March 29th, 2006 19:00
Good rant indeed. You are correct. Putting a "Dell bought" hard drive in an re-installing fixed it.
jm
SteveNTx
10 Posts
448
0
Posted March 29th, 2006 15:00
Lemme guess- Error 21, right? My problem turned out to be that the BIOS does not recognize the second hard drive during startup (funny that Winblows does after booting). My Dim 4550 did not have the option in BIOS to turn the hard drive on- it was set "off" with no option for "on" or "auto". I would have needed to partition hda and install Linux on hda2. I did not feel that adventurous, so I am running Linux on a separate (Gateway) 'puter, and the Dim is now a lowly dedicated Home Theater box for the bigscreen TV. It could have been so much more...
I won't be buying another "upgradable" Dell. They are made only to work with specific hardware- sold by Dell of course- and upgrades can be a very frustrating experience. This is the first turnkey system I have ever bought and I have been sufficiently burned by Dell that I will never do it again. Bad hardware, bad customer service (outsourced to India!)- they they have convinced their millions of novice customers to purchase new ones every couple years and not bother with upgrades.
Sorry for the rant.