SLED won't boot after installation

“Error loading operating system”

I have tried doing a repair. Apparently the install partition is not getting labeled as Root. In Expert Tools when I try “Boot Installed Systems”, it reports “No Linux root partition found”. I have tried the automatic repair and everything. Another error reported by the repair tools is “Loading failed for kernel modules”. It tries to repair “missing initrd modules” but fails to repair it. It’s unable to repair bootloader because of “error in partitioning”. I didn’t do anything custom in the install settings so don’t know how it gets all these errors.

The entire installation process looks like it goes flawlessly. It just can’t boot once it’s done. Have tried install a few times.

I’ve installed linux distro’s before but never had this happen.

Intel Atom N450, 1 gig ram, HD is plenty big enough, using 64bit ISO

Thanks

In case this has something to do with my external USB DVD drive, what is the proper way to make an installation USB stick from Suse ISO?

Hi
UEFI or MBR setup?

While openSUSE centric, I use imagewriter whithout problems.

http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Live_USB_stick

Hi thanks for help on USB issue. I just got done doing test install of Windows Vista on same computer from the same external DVD drive. Worked perfectly and Vista booted from HD without problems. So I think that eliminates any issue of the external DVD drive as a culprit. So I no longer see it as worth while to try installing Suse from USB stick.

So I still need some insight as to why Suse will not boot up after install even if the installation process appears to proceed perfectly without errors. The various errors and problems only come up when I attempt the fix tools from the DVD. So again I refer reader to original msg at start of this thread. This is still a mystery.

Thanks for any insight.

Hi
It didn’t install into the mbr of the usb device, rather than the hdd? If you leave the usb device connected did it boot?

What is your hardware setup?

Hi, I was not installing onto USB. I was installing onto HDD from external DVD drive that connects via USB. Again, a test install of WinVista worked fine and booted, but not Suse. Suse appears to install fine but then does not boot. It appears that the boot partition is not being set as “boot” by Suse setup or something.

The system is an Asus laptop, Intel Atom N450, 1 gig ram

Cheers

Hi
Yes I understand your installing onto the internal hdd, my speculation is the mbr (depending on your BIOS boot order), may have picked the external usb device’s mbr to install on, which can be confirmed in the final install summary, and can be overlooked… I’m guessing the original install is over-written with your vista install?

Hi, I can try the Suse install again and then fetch that summary. The Vista install was only a test of the comp/external drive. I’m not sure which summary you refer to though. After install it just says right away that it’s about to reboot (which ultimately doesn’t work). Where do I get this install summary? Also how would I ensure that it the HDD mbr is chosen? Not sure how that mistake could happen.

Cheers

[QUOTE=malcolmlewis;20638]Hi
Yes I understand your installing onto the internal hdd, my speculation is the mbr (depending on your BIOS boot order), may have picked the external usb device’s mbr to install on, which can be confirmed in the final install summary, and can be overlooked… I’m guessing the original install is over-written with your vista install?[/QUOTE]
Thanks for taking the time to make these suggestions. It is working now.

With your point about MBR in mind, I went into the install settings before launching the installation process. Among others I looked at “Boot Loader Location” which was by default set to “Boot from Boot Partition”. I figured that has not worked, so decided to change that to “Boot from Master Boot Record”. There are 5 different choices for this setting (including boot from Extended Partition, Root Partition and Custom Boot Partition).

With that change it booted after install and completed the configuration part of the installation. It appears to fully work now. If all else continues to check out I will pay the annual fee for Suse updates.

I suppose Suse may want to take note of the system type involved here including that the install was done from an external USB DVD drive. The installer selects a nonbootable option by default.

Thanks for taking the time. It appears to work now.