I broke it! How can I fix it?

[Leon Goldstein]

Rick Bowers wrote:

> I just bought a new computer and have already broken it.
>
> The computer is an Acer Aspire and had Windows Vista installed.
> When it shipped, it had 3 partitions: a hidden system restore 
> partition (sda1), C: (sda2) (1/2 the remaining space, with Windows 
> Vista), D: (sda3)(1/2 the remaining space, USER).
>
> I booted a live linux disk and re-sized and re-partitioned the D: 
> partition to two partitions; 64GB (D:) and 80GB (empty).
> At this point, the computer still functioned normally.
>
> Then I made the empty partition an extended partition (sda4) and 
> created sda5 (76GB, "/") and sda6 (4GB, "swap")
>
> Next, I loaded an OpenSuSE CD and installed it to sda5.  When the 
> install process asked me where to install the boot loader, I told it 
> /dev/sda5.
> Why?? Because my choices were MBR, root disk , or boot disk (sda5). I 
> did not want to put GRUB on the MBR because I wasn't sure what that 
> entailed. I did not want to destroy the hidden recovery partition, so 
> I chose my boot disk, sda5.
>
> Well, not the computer will not boot at all. A reboot simply displays 
> "Verifying DMI Pool Data ..........." then hangs. Forever.
>
> I'm technical, but don't (obviously) understand the boot process. I 
> can boot a live CD and, hopefully, recover. But I need help.
>
> Should I replace the MBR? Is it safe to put GRUB in the MBR? Will that 
> still let me boot to the recovery partition?
> What are the steps to recover from my stupidity? I don't understand 
> GRUB at all so will need somewhat detailed procedures.
>
> TIA!
>
> ~Rick

I reported earlier an anomaly after using SuSE 10.1's partition 
shrinker.  In this case Windows XP refused to start, and needed to 
undergo the repair procedure.  It appears that diddling with an extended 
partition using other than  MS fdisk messes with windows' equilibrium.

How does your system "boot" the first partition (restore)?  Does the 
BIOS set the boot sequence, or do you need to use a recovery CD?  If it 
is bootable, then GRUB should be able to chainload it.

As far as the question of safety goes, I have used GRUB since its first 
appearance in Caldera eDesk 2.4.  When I have had problems, all it takes 
is to boot into the Linux with its recovery floppy or CD, then run 
/sbin/grub-install /dev/hdXY (the XY representing the appropriate drive 
and partition.)  This is reliable because the critical boot paramaters 
are stored in /boot/grub rather than in the MBR.

-- 
Leon A. Goldstein

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