I've posted my problem to this list before without getting a solution - also to grub-help and Ubuntu forum(s), no answer - I'm stumped and would really appreciate help.
I have Kubuntu 10.10, a custom 2.6.37.1 kernel, and GRUB2. I was on v1.98 when the problem started, I'm now on 1.99~rc1 which I downloaded and compiled, the upgrade didn't help. My system has three disks - / is on an SSD, and /home is on the other two disks which are in software RAID. Each of the three disks has a Windows 7 partition - the SSD has the Windows C: disk and the other two have partitions for Windows data disks. All this worked fine for some time, and then something (was?) changed, I don't know what. Now, If I boot from a power off state, I get GRUB "Out of Memory" error, and it goes to grub-rescue>, no boot. I can thereafter boot from the Kubuntu install disk, do repair system, do update-grub, and reboot successfully thereafter. But if I power off, I'm back to the GRUB "Out of Memory" error. In repair system mode I've tried zeroing the boot sectors on all three disks, then grub-install to all three disks, then update-grub, same result(s). I've tried changing the bios to boot from one of the /home disks, same result. Results of the boot_info_script.sh are below. The only other thing I've noticed is that linux periodically changes the sdX identifiers when it identifies my three disks - but as indicated by the script output, I'm using UUIDs to identify the disks, not the sdX identifiers. Apart from help in solving the problem, I'd appreciate instructions how further trace/log/diagnose the problem. Thanks, Gus $ cat RESULTS.txt Boot Info Script 0.56 from 8 February 2011 ============================= Boot Info Summary: =============================== => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location on BIOS drive 1 (0x80) and looks for (,msdos1)/boot/grub on this drive. => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks at sector 1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location on BIOS drive 1 (0x80) and uses an embedded config file: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- search.fs_uuid 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 root set prefix=($root)/boot/grub--------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------. => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc and looks at sector 1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location on BIOS drive 1 (0x80) and uses an embedded config file: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- search.fs_uuid 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 root set prefix=($root)/boot/grub--------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------. sda1: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ext4 Boot sector type: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) Boot sector info: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the boot sector of sda1 and looks at sector 71572671 of the same hard drive for core.img, but core.img can not be found at this location. Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10 Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img sda2: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: swap Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: sda3: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7 Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Windows 7 Boot files: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe sdb1: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: linux_raid_member Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: sdb2: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7 Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Boot files: sdc1: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: linux_raid_member Boot sector type: Unknown Boot sector info: sdc2: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7 Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Boot files: md0: ___________________________________________________________________________ File system: ext4 Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: Operating System: Boot files: ============================ Drive/Partition Info: ============================= Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________ Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sda1 63 122,849,054 122,848,992 83 Linux /dev/sda2 122,849,055 143,331,929 20,482,875 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/sda3 * 143,331,930 234,436,544 91,104,615 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS Drive: sdb _____________________________________________________________________ Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sdb1 63 838,882,169 838,882,107 fd Linux raid autodetect /dev/sdb2 838,882,170 976,768,064 137,885,895 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS Drive: sdc _____________________________________________________________________ Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sdc1 63 838,882,169 838,882,107 fd Linux raid autodetect /dev/sdc2 838,882,170 976,768,064 137,885,895 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS "blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________ Device UUID TYPE LABEL /dev/md0 46a79a27-b4a7-484b-bab3-23776b846cfe ext4 /dev/sda1 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 ext4 /dev/sda2 46ecc0c4-ead4-4b8a-a455-5232ff1e2a99 swap /dev/sda3 2C2B442124EDF860 ntfs /dev/sdb1 7da7d435-e3c9-6dd7-a977-e92bf3733aeb linux_raid_member /dev/sdb2 D2BA5A8FBA5A6FC9 ntfs /dev/sdc1 7da7d435-e3c9-6dd7-a977-e92bf3733aeb linux_raid_member /dev/sdc2 4E2A654B2A6530DF ntfs ================================ Mount points: ================================= Device Mount_Point Type Options /dev/md0 /home ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0) /dev/sda1 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0) /dev/sda3 /media/Win7boot fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096) /dev/sdb2 /media/Win7diskE fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096) /dev/sdc2 /media/Win7diskF fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096) =========================== sda1/boot/grub/grub.cfg: =========================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE # # It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates # from /usr/local/etc/grub.d and settings from /usr/local/etc/default/grub # ### BEGIN /usr/local/etc/grub.d/00_header ### if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then load_env fi set default="0" if [ "${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="${chosen}" save_env saved_entry fi } function load_video { insmod vbe insmod vga insmod video_bochs insmod video_cirrus } insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 if loadfont /usr/local/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then set gfxmode=640x480 load_video insmod gfxterm fi terminal_output gfxterm insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale set lang=C insmod gettext set timeout=5 ### END /usr/local/etc/grub.d/00_header ### ### BEGIN /usr/local/etc/grub.d/10_linux ### menuentry 'GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.37.1c' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { load_video set gfxpayload=keep insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.37.1c ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.37.1c root=UUID=7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 ro echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.37.1c } menuentry 'GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.37.1c (recovery mode)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { load_video set gfxpayload=keep insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.37.1c ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.37.1c root=UUID=7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 ro single echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.37.1c } menuentry 'GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.35-27-generic' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { load_video set gfxpayload=keep insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-27-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-27-generic root=UUID=7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 ro echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-27-generic } menuentry 'GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.35-27-generic (recovery mode)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { load_video set gfxpayload=keep insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-27-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-27-generic root=UUID=7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 ro single echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-27-generic } menuentry 'GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.35-25-generic' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { load_video set gfxpayload=keep insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-25-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-25-generic root=UUID=7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 ro echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-25-generic } menuentry 'GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.35-25-generic (recovery mode)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { load_video set gfxpayload=keep insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-25-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-25-generic root=UUID=7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 ro single echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-25-generic } ### END /usr/local/etc/grub.d/10_linux ### ### BEGIN /usr/local/etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ### ### END /usr/local/etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ### ### BEGIN /usr/local/etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sde3)" --class windows --class os { insmod part_msdos insmod ntfs set root='(hd0,msdos3)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2C2B442124EDF860 chainloader +1 } ### END /usr/local/etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### ### BEGIN /usr/local/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 /usr/local/etc/grub.d/40_custom ### ### BEGIN /usr/local/etc/grub.d/41_custom ### if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then source $prefix/custom.cfg; fi ### END /usr/local/etc/grub.d/41_custom ### -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================== sda1/etc/fstab: ================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # /etc/fstab: static file system information. # # Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier # for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name # devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5). # # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass> proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0 # / was on /dev/sda1 during installation UUID=7fd38d40-ed45-4d44-ab14-5cf7dc2020b3 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # swap was on /dev/sda2 during installation UUID=46ecc0c4-ead4-4b8a-a455-5232ff1e2a99 none swap sw 0 0 # Mount /home on /dev/md0 UUID=46a79a27-b4a7-484b-bab3-23776b846cfe /home ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 UUID=2C2B442124EDF860 /media/Win7boot ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 2 UUID=D2BA5A8FBA5A6FC9 /media/Win7diskE ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 2 UUID=4E2A654B2A6530DF /media/Win7diskF ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 2 # 192.168.1.17:/ /mnt nfs4 _netdev,auto 0 2 # /dev/md1 /mnt/LinuxBackup ext3 atime,rw,exec,auto,dev 0 3 # /dev/md2 /mnt/WinBackup ntfs-3g atime,rw,exec,auto,dev 0 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ==================== GiB - GB File Fragment(s) 34.129695415 = 36.646481408 boot/grub/core.img 1 34.210975170 = 36.733754880 boot/grub/grub.cfg 1 6.100455761 = 6.550314496 boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-25-generic 2 4.426833630 = 4.753276416 boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-25-server 2 3.553847790 = 3.815915008 boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-27-generic 2 3.654582500 = 3.924078080 boot/initrd.img-2.6.37.1c 4 34.258113384 = 36.784369152 boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-25-generic 1 34.273276806 = 36.800650752 boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-27-generic 1 34.269229412 = 36.796304896 boot/vmlinuz-2.6.37.1c 1 3.553847790 = 3.815915008 initrd.img 2 4.426833630 = 4.753276416 initrd.img.old 2 34.273276806 = 36.800650752 vmlinuz 1 ======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ======================== Unknown BootLoader on sdc1 00000000 00 00 c0 03 10 00 c0 03 20 00 c0 03 e0 5f 00 20 |........ ...._. | 00000010 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 ec 82 |............. ..| 00000020 01 00 c0 03 11 00 c0 03 20 02 c0 03 f1 07 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000030 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 d9 c8 |............. ..| 00000040 02 00 c0 03 12 00 c0 03 20 04 c0 03 9c 07 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000050 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 3b d8 |............. ;.| 00000060 03 00 c0 03 13 00 c0 03 20 06 c0 03 fd 07 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000070 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 af 9a |............. ..| 00000080 04 00 c0 03 14 00 c0 03 20 08 c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000090 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 b8 95 |............. ..| 000000a0 05 00 c0 03 15 00 c0 03 20 0a c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 000000b0 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 63 35 |............. c5| 000000c0 06 00 c0 03 16 00 c0 03 20 0c c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 000000d0 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 0d 94 |............. ..| 000000e0 07 00 c0 03 17 00 c0 03 20 0e c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 000000f0 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 d6 34 |............. .4| 00000100 08 00 c0 03 18 00 c0 03 20 10 c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000110 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 06 90 |............. ..| 00000120 09 00 c0 03 19 00 c0 03 20 12 c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000130 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 dd 30 |............. .0| 00000140 0a 00 c0 03 1a 00 c0 03 20 14 c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000150 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 b3 91 |............. ..| 00000160 0b 00 c0 03 1b 00 c0 03 20 16 c0 03 ff 07 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000170 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 da 24 |............. .$| 00000180 0c 00 c0 03 1c 00 c0 03 20 18 c0 03 e6 07 00 20 |........ ...... | 00000190 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 09 dd |............. ..| 000001a0 0d 00 c0 03 1d 00 c0 03 20 1a c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 000001b0 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 b7 33 |............. .3| 000001c0 0e 00 c0 03 1e 00 c0 03 20 1c c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 000001d0 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 d9 92 |............. ..| 000001e0 0f 00 c0 03 1f 00 c0 03 20 1e c0 03 00 00 00 20 |........ ...... | 000001f0 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 02 32 |............. .2| 00000200 ========= Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive: ========= sdd sde sdf sdg =============================== StdErr Messages: =============================== unlzma: Decoder error unlzma: Decoder error unlzma: Decoder error mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. mdadm: no devices found for /dev/md1 mdadm: no devices found for /dev/md2 mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored. _______________________________________________ Grub-devel mailing list Grub-devel@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/grub-devel