Puppy Linux can't write MBR

[flibberdipper]

I tried to install Grub4Dos so that I could boot Puppy on Apollo, but I got this error deal. I have formatted the drive in GParted and set it to have a boot flag, but all to no avail.

/usr/sbin/grub4dosconfig version 1.9.1Fri Jan 23 23:25:53 EST 2015Writing... /mnt/sda1/menu.lstInstalling grldr ...‘/usr/lib/grub4dos/grldr’ -> ‘/mnt/sda1/grldr’1+0 records in1+0 records out512 bytes (512 B) copied, 0.000234548 s, 2.2 MB/sInstalling bootloader on /dev/sda ...Error: Too few sectors to hold GRLDR.MBR.BOOTLACE writes GRLDR BOOT RECORD to MBR or to the boot area of a file system.Usage:  bootlace.com  [OPTIONS]  DEVICE_OR_FILEOptions: --read-only, --floppy[=N], --boot-prevmbr-first, --boot-prevmbr-last,--no-backup-mbr, --force-backup-mbr, --mbr-enable-floppy, --mbr-disable-floppy,--mbr-enable-osbr, --mbr-disable-osbr, --duce, --time-out=T, --hot-key=K, --preferred-drive=D, --preferred-partition=P, --sectors-per-track=S, --heads=H,--start-sector=B, --total-sectors=C, --install-partition=I, --lba, --chs,--fat12, --fat16, --fat32, --vfat, --ntfs, --ext2, --serial-number=SN,--restore-mbr, --mbr-no-bpb, --chs-no-tuneDEVICE_OR_FILE: Filename of the device or image. For DOS, a BIOS drive number(in hex 0xHH or decimal DDD format)can be used to access the drive.1+0 records in1+0 records out512 bytes (512 B) copied, 0.000230065 s, 2.2 MB/sFailed to install bootlace.com.

[givingtnt]

-has his own forum


-uses ltt instead

[RevoltTrain]

I have a feeling LTT isn't the best forums for Linux, not sure why, but I feel like other forums would be better for you for some reason

[Geekazoid]

@tmcclelland455 that's because it's only a puppy, it's gotta learn these things. JK

[flibberdipper]

-has his own forum

-uses ltt instead

My forum isn't that big, so...

 

I have a feeling LTT isn't the best forums for Linux, not sure why, but I feel like other forums would be better for you for some reason

There are some people here that are good with Linux.

[RevoltTrain]

 

 

There are some people here that are good with Linux.

You may end up getting your answer, and I know that there are some people here that are good with Linux, but it seems to me that you would have better luck elsewhere, once again, not sure why. But yeah. That's how my brain works

[elkenrod]

You are trying to dual boot Puppy and Windows?

[flibberdipper]

You are trying to dual boot Puppy and Windows?

Nope. I'm doing a regular full install.

[Albatross]

I can try to help ya out.

 

Did you install Grub4Dos on a USB stick?

[bradscoolio]

This is a good question because I remember reading about how this works from a book I picked up recently (How Linux Works: What every superuser should know, by: Brian Ward).

According to his explanation of the MBR boot process in section 5.8.1, that in addition to the partition table that describes the partitions on the drive there also the MBR which includes a small area (441 bytes) that the BIOS loads and executes after is POSTs. Now, because this area is so small there is no way it can fit an entire boot-loader on it, it therefore does nothing but execute the additional boot-loader code that resides somewhere else on the disk. This is called a multi-stage boot-loader. Where the rest of the boot-loader code resides is in the space between the MBR and the first partition of the hard-drive.

 

So in your case, I think that the error message "Error: Too few sectors to hold GRLDR.MBR" is indicating that your first partition on the drive starts too close to beginning of the disk.

You may be able to alleviate it by pushing back the beginning of the first partition using a tool such as Gparted. Good luck

[flibberdipper]

I can try to help ya out.

 

Did you install Grub4Dos on a USB stick?

Nope.

 

This is a good question because I remember reading about how this works from a book I picked up recently (How Linux Works: What every superuser should know, by: Brian Ward).

According to his explanation of the MBR boot process in section 5.8.1, that in addition to the partition table that describes the partitions on the drive there also the MBR which includes a small area (441 bytes) that the BIOS loads and executes after is POSTs. Now, because this area is so small there is no way it can fit an entire boot-loader on it, it therefore does nothing but execute the additional boot-loader code that resides somewhere else on the disk. This is called a multi-stage boot-loader. Where the rest of the boot-loader code resides is in the space between the MBR and the first partition of the hard-drive.

 

So in your case, I think that the error message "Error: Too few sectors to hold GRLDR.MBR" is indicating that your first partition on the drive starts too close to beginning of the disk.

You may be able to alleviate it by pushing back the beginning of the first partition using a tool such as Gparted. Good luck

I see. Should I try moving the partition back maybe another megabyte?

 

EDIT: Tried using the older GRUB bootloader and it got farther, but it still failed. Although, I think I've changed my mind and I've decided to try and put NAS4Free on it.

[bradscoolio]

I see. Should I try moving the partition back maybe another megabyte?

It's worth a shot, not sure if 1 megabyte will be enough though, I'm not familiar with the space requirements for grub

[flibberdipper]

It's worth a shot, not sure if 1 megabyte will be enough though, I'm not familiar with the space requirements for grub

Either way, I have found Puppy not to really work out for my usage, and an extra 80GB hard drive would let me do NAS4Free on it, so... That would be nice. It seems to have fairly low system requirements as well.