This problem was first reported in bug# 1484. The bug was closed with no resolution because the maintainer says he doesn't know how to fix it. I'm reopening this bug in the hope that things are different now. Bug# 1484 was afterall reported in 2002. Here's my story. I did a stage 1 installation of Gentoo from the 2004.3-r1 Universal LiveCD. After emerging and installing grub (0.94-r1) according to the Gentoo Handbook, I rebooted. My screen filled with "GRUB GRUB GRUB" instead of the Grub menu list. I then installed Fedora Core 3 on the same computer and voila!, Fedora Core 3's grub booted just fine, and I could choose and select my options from the grub menu list. Fedora Core 3 uses grub version 0.95. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Reboot 2. 3. Actual Results: Grub displays a screen full of "GRUB GRUB GRUB GRUB". Expected Results: Display Grub menu list so I can boot linux. Gentoo Base System version 1.4.16 Portage 2.0.51-r3 (default-linux/x86/2004.3, gcc-3.3.4, glibc-2.3.4.20040808-r1, 2.6.9-gentoo-r9 i686) ================================================================= System uname: 2.6.9-gentoo-r9 i686 AMD Duron(tm) Processor Autoconf: sys-devel/autoconf-2.59-r5 Automake: sys-devel/automake-1.8.5-r1 Binutils: sys-devel/binutils-2.15.90.0.1.1-r3 Headers: sys-kernel/linux-headers-2.4.21-r1 Libtools: sys-devel/libtool-1.5.2-r7 ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86" AUTOCLEAN="yes" CFLAGS="-O3 -march=pentium3 -fomit-frame-pointer -ftracer -pipe" CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu" COMPILER="" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3.3/env /usr/kde/3.3/share/config /usr/kde/3.3/shutdown /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/lib/mozilla/defaults/pref /usr/share/config /var/qmail/control" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/terminfo /etc/env.d" CXXFLAGS="-O3 -march=pentium3 -fomit-frame-pointer -ftracer -pipe" DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="autoaddcvs autoconfig ccache distlocks sandbox sfperms" GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://mirror.averse.net/pub/gentoo/ ftp://mirror.averse.net/pub/gentoo http://www.zentek-international.com/mirrors/gentoo/ ftp://ftp.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/GENTOO" MAKEOPTS="-j2" PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/usr/portage" PORTDIR_OVERLAY="" SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage" USE="x86 acl berkdb bitmap-fonts crypt cups foomaticdb fortran gdbm gif gpm ipv6 jpeg libwww ncurses nls pam pdflib perl png python readline spell ssl svga tcpd xml2 zlib"
Here are some additional info: Computer Brand: Hewlett Packard Model: Netserver E200 Bios: Award Medallion Bios Ver. 6.0 1. To reiterate, I installed Fedora Core 3 on a second hard disk and the grub (ver 0.95) from Fedora Core 3 booted with no problems on the HP Netserver. 2. I transferred the first hard disk that contained my Gentoo Linux with grub version 0.94-r1 to a different computer (AMD Duron) and grub booted just fine on the AMD Duron. 3. Thinking my HP Netserver needs grub 0.95, I hooked up a third hard disk onto the HP, reinstalled Gentoo onto the third hardisk, emerged grub-0.95.20040823 and rebooted. I still get "GRUB GRUB GRUB". Anybody has any ideas why Fedora Core 3's grub 0.95 can work but Gentoo's grub 0.95 and 0.94, can't? I am at a loss as to how to proceed next, other than to use Fedora Core 3, of course.
Here are more stuff that I've tried: 1. grub --device-map=/boot/grub/device.map 2. disabled floppy drive in BIOS 3. commented floppy drive in /boot/grub/device.map 4. here is what my /boot/grub/device.map file look like: # (fd0) /dev/fd0 (hd0) /dev/hda Still "GRUB GRUB GRUB GRUB" during boot!
Solved! 1. Press DEL to enter AwardBIOS setup utility. 2. In AwardBIOS setup utility main menu, change Primary Master from "Auto" to "User Type HDD". 3. Under "User Type HDD", change translation method to "LBA". Choosing "Manual" translation method also seems to work. 4. Exit saving changes. It's just strange that Fedora Core 3 grub can boot without messing with the LBA setting in my BIOS.
