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Tutorials Repair Linux Boot Failures in GRUB 2 Rescue Mode

This document provides instructions for repairing GRUB 2 boot failures using the rescue mode. When GRUB fails to boot, it will display one of three error messages - grub>, grub rescue>, or just GRUB. The GRUB 2 rescue shell allows users to run commands to fix boot issues and load the normal boot process. Common commands include set, ls, linux, initrd, and boot. After fixing the issue, users should update GRUB and reinstall it to prevent future failures. If rescue commands don't work, boot repair tools can be used to permanently repair boot problems.

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Ravi Varadarajan
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210 views4 pages

Tutorials Repair Linux Boot Failures in GRUB 2 Rescue Mode

This document provides instructions for repairing GRUB 2 boot failures using the rescue mode. When GRUB fails to boot, it will display one of three error messages - grub>, grub rescue>, or just GRUB. The GRUB 2 rescue shell allows users to run commands to fix boot issues and load the normal boot process. Common commands include set, ls, linux, initrd, and boot. After fixing the issue, users should update GRUB and reinstall it to prevent future failures. If rescue commands don't work, boot repair tools can be used to permanently repair boot problems.

Uploaded by

Ravi Varadarajan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tutorials Repair Linux boot failures in GRUB 2 rescue mode >

Repair Linux boot failures in GRUB 2


rescue mode
On this page
1. How it looks?
2. Basic commands available.
3. The Rescue Shell.
4. After Booting the system.
As GRUB 2's ability to fix boot problems has greatly improved over the original GRUB
bootloader. This article provides you with information on available options for repairing
GRUB 2 boot issues and specific instructions on how to use the GRUB 2 terminal. The
instructions are written for GRUB 2.

How it looks?
There are basically three error messages or screens when GRUB fails to boot.
grub>: This is the screen mode you see when GRUB has found everything except the
configurationn file. This file probably will be grub.conf.
grub rescue>: This is the mode when GRUB 2 is unable to find the GRUB folder or its
contents are missing/corrupted. The GRUB 2 folder contains the menu, modules and stored
environmental data.
GRUB: Just "GRUB" nothing else indicates GRUB 2 failed to find even the most basic
information needed to boot the system.
These are the basic errors that may occur during booting. Although there are a few more
errors that can be seen on the screen like frozen splash screen, Busybox or Initramfs: GRUB
2 began....
But each of the GRUB 2 failure modes can be corrected either from GRUB 2 terminal or the
Live boot CD or DVD of the distro, there are also 3rd party rescue tools available out there.

Basic commands available.

These are the commands that can be used when you enter the GRUB 2 terminl mode by
pressing "c".
boot (Initiate the boot, also F10 or CTRL-x)
cat (view the contents of config or txt files; cat (hd0,1)/boot/grub/grub.cfg)
configfile (Load a GRUB 2 configuration file such as grub.cfg; configfile
(hd0,5)/boot/grub/grub.cfg.)
initrd (Loads the initrd.img, necessary for booting; initrd (hd0,5)/initrd.img.)
insmod (Loads a module; insmod (hd0,5)/boot/grub/normal.mod, or insmod normal.)
linux (Loads the kernel; insmod /vmlinuz root=(hd0,5) ro.)
loop (Mount a file as a device; loopback loop (hd0,2)/iso/my.iso.)
ls (lists the contents of a partition/folder; ls, ls /boot/grub, ls (hd0,5)/, ls (hd0,5)/boot.)
lsmod (List loaded modules.)
normal (Activate the normal module, if loaded.)
search (Search for a device. Type help search for the available options.)
set (Review current settings, or set XXX to set a variable such as colors, prefix, root.)
vbeinfo (Display GRUB 2 available resolutions.)

The Rescue Shell.


If you get a rescue shell, this usually means that GRUB failed to load the "normal" module
for some reason. It may be possible to work around this temporarily: for instance, if the
reason for the failure is that "prefix" is wrong (perhaps it refers to the wrong device, or
perhaps the path to "/boot/grub" was not correctly made relative to the device), then you can
correct this and enter normal mode manually: Inspect the current prefix (and other preset
variables):
set
You will probably have an output more or less like this:

Your output may differ but you get the information required. Find out which devices are
available:
ls

Set to the correct value, which might be something like this:


set prefix=(hd0,1)/grub
(this has to be done according to your own drive name)
set root=(hd0,1)
(this has to be performed according to your own drive name.)
insmod normal
normal
The above commands will get you out of the rescue mode to the normal terminal mode. In the
terminal mode you have more commands with increased functionality.
After the above commands you can go ahead and start the rest of the settings.
insmod linux
* linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdXY ro
(if this doesn't work try this)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-14-generic root=/dev/sda1 ro
(optional)
initrd /initrd.img
(Selects the initrd image.)

boot

After Booting the system.


Update the GRUB config file.
sudo update-grub
Reinstallation of Grub on the device:
sudo grub-install /dev/sdX
This should be it for the rescue part and your system should be good and running. If not you
can save all your trouble by using Boot Repair. This is the tool used to repair your complete
boot menu. It can be downloaded directly and used as a Live Boot CD or DVD. Here is the
download link.

Comments
From: [email protected]
after windows install it went to grub emergency, nothing worked, with the LS or Set
commands, i thought my partitions were screwed.
Then i ran the following as a last resort from the howtogeek page and it worked
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install
-y boot-repair boot-repair
then open boot-repair and repair disk
Tutorials Repair Linux boot failures in GRUB 2 rescue mode >
For a permanent fix run the following after you successfully boot:
# update-grub
# grub-install /dev/sdX

where /dev/sdX is your boot drive

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