1 Q. I get "kernel panic,VFS unable to mount root fs on 07:07.

A. This is not related to the bootloader. You must complete the setup procedure. Boot to CD and type install or pick setup in the bootloader menu.

2. Q. I get to the word "GRUB_" flashing underscore cannot type.

A. The first thing you should try is to run c:\boot\install.bat manually from a command prompt. This will enable you to see any errors that may occur you can also redirect the output to a file with this as well.

3. Q. I get something about block list failed when running install.bat from a command prompt.

A. 3.1. Are you using a dynamic disk? This will not work you will have to boot from the CD and that may not work either but that is a different issue.

   3.2. Are you using any disk compression or encryption? This also will not work get rid of it and reinstall. You probably will not be able to use Topologilinux at all with this.

   3.3. Check to see if c:\boot\stage1 and c:\boot\stage2 exist. try replacing them from the installation media.

   3.4. Do you have any hidden partitions or is /boot not on the first partition of the first drive. To fix this you must edit c:\boot\install.bat.

what you need to edit in install.bat is the line

grubinstall -d (hd0,0) -1 c:/boot/stage1 -2 c:/boot/stage2 -m c:/boot/menu.lst

the part you are interested in is the -d (hd0,0) this is grub notation that represents your partition. (hd0,0) is the first partition of the first ide drive, (hd0,1) is the second partition of the first drive, (hd2,4) is the first logical drive on an extended partition on the 3rd drive. More on this notation can be found at http://www.gnu.org/manual/grub/html_node/Naming-convention.html#Naming%20convention

This still requires some guesswork the best way of determining the correct partition is with a grub bootdisk. Here is how to make one

in windows at a command prompt. with a blank floppy in a:
c:\> c:\boot\grubinstall -b -1 C:\boot\stage1 -2 C:\boot\stage2

in Linux you can copy the stage1 and stage2 files to a folder and as root

dd if=stage1 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 count=1
dd if=stage2 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 seek=1

This will not work with all versions of the bootloader If it freezes at the word "GRUB_" then you must try another version. The stage1 and stage2 files must be freshly compiled versions (or fresh from CD or .gz or .zip file that have not been modified with grubinstall.exe or by installing them natively

When you boot to a Grub floppy you will get a grub prompt.
you can type
find /boot/stage2
this will return the location of your files in grub notation put this in install.bat


4. Q. I get a grub prompt grub> _ (flashing underscore can type) instead of a menu.

A. Make sure c:\boot\menu.lst exists open it with notepad to make sure it is a valid file. If it is missing or corrupted replace it from the CD. If you have converted your drive from fat32 to ntfs the problem is most likely due to the GRUB NTFS driver not being able to read the converted file system. there is currently no fix for this.


5. Q. I have windows 9x, Me, can I use the bootloader.

A. The bootloader setup is designed to work with NTLDR. NTLDR is only available in NT, 2000, XP. There is currently a way to do this see 98bootloader HowTo. Or use the loadlin method.

