Perfect Sarge Setup How-To Question

[R0l@ndSm0ke]

Well, I'm really getting frustrated with the php_admin_flag issue and other php issues from ISPConfig, Apache2 and PHP5 on OpenSuSE 10.2. Problem is I have previously attempted to perform the perfect Sarge setup on the same system that I currently have OpenSuSE running on.

At the first reboot of Debian Sarge I get stuck. It seems to be a relation between GRUB and the choice of primary boot drive. I'll try to paint a picture to see if one of you Debian lovers can help me work through it.

Hardware:
IBM Intellistation M Pro (6850-N5U)
2-18GB U160 (partitions: 1.5GB swap sda, /root sda, /usr sdb)
1-120GB EIDE (partitions: 500MB /boot, 20GB /var, 99.5GB /home)
2-XEON 2Ghz 256K cache (no 64 bit support)
512MB RAMBUS 800

When the system reboots (depending on primary boot device specified in BIOS) it either reports no OS or GRUB prints across the screen ad infinitum.

Any ideas on this one? I reported the bug on at Debian, but have not received a response. My report was also an addendum to someone else that encountered an identical problem with Woody.

[falko]

Did you install GRUB to the recommended location (the Debian installer highlights the recommended location - normally it's the MBR).

[R0l@ndSm0ke]

I started off letting it install where ever it wanted to. In most cases, I could put /boot on sda and it would still state it was installing it on hd0. After a couple of attempts I went back to the control menu and tried to tell it where to install and that still produced the same results.

I even tried the LILO install on it and that didn't work at all. I didn't even get a LILO message like the GRUB GRUB GRUB printing I got with GRUB.

[falko]

Hm... Have you tried Ubuntu instead of Debian? It's based on Debian, but usually has newer packages. Maybe the problem will disappear then.

[R0l@ndSm0ke]

I'm testing the Sarge install on a different box.

Is it normal to see

quotaon: Quota format not supported in kernel

during when you use quotaon -avug?

[falko]

Is it normal to see

quotaon: Quota format not supported in kernel

during when you use quotaon -avug?
No. Quota is enabled in the normal Debian kernel. Did you install a custom kernel?

[R0l@ndSm0ke]

I installed Sarge 3.1r4 and performed no customization of the kernel before, during or after.

[falko]

Did you type
linux26 at the boot prompt of the Debian install CD?

[R0l@ndSm0ke]

No, I must have overlooked that part of the how-to. I'll be performing another install on the intended master server tonight and will make sure to pop that in.

[R0l@ndSm0ke]

I installed Debian on the IBM Intellistation again.

Partitioning
IDE hda:
/boot
/var
/home

SCSI sca
/root

SCSI scb
/usr
swap

On the first reboot I get error 17.

So my next attempt, I disconnected the SCSI entirely. Upon first reboot:
GRUB hard disk error.

I've searched out the error 17 issue and it looks like I could boot from GRUB floppy, but I'd rather avoid that if possible.

[falko]

Maybe you should try Ubuntu. It's based on Debian, but has newer drivers.

[R0l@ndSm0ke]

That's what I am working on tonight. Maybe it will go well.

On another note and hopefully to help some folks that have GRUB boot problems, I found a site with a significant amount of information regarding various GRUB boot problems. It mostly relates to the use of Super Grub Disk, but provides a lot of insight into boot problems.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/SuperGrubDiskPage.html#15

[R0l@ndSm0ke]

Well, I gave up on this. For whatever reason, Debian and Ubuntu encounter the same GRUB problems on this system regardless of what HD configuration I use. I got tired of fighting with it and went back to OpenSuSE and will just find a way to make everything work on it.