Environment
Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES 2) Linux
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
Situation
The server fails to boot with either of the following errors:
"Invalid partition table"
"Operating System not found"
Boot Installed System works properly and rescue mode can chroot the installed system successfully. The output of the parted command on a SLES10 SP4 server shows the following:
# parted -s /dev/sda print
Disk geometry for /dev/sda: 0kB - 16GB
Disk label type: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32kB 1579MB 1579MB primary linux-swap type=82
2 1579MB 16GB 15GB primary reiserfs type=83
"Invalid partition table"
"Operating System not found"
Boot Installed System works properly and rescue mode can chroot the installed system successfully. The output of the parted command on a SLES10 SP4 server shows the following:
# parted -s /dev/sda print
Disk geometry for /dev/sda: 0kB - 16GB
Disk label type: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32kB 1579MB 1579MB primary linux-swap type=82
2 1579MB 16GB 15GB primary reiserfs type=83
Resolution
No disk has the boot flag set. The BIOS relies on a boot flag being set to successfully boot the operating system. Set the boot flag on the correct disk partition using fdisk or parted commands.
# parted -s DEVICE set NUMBER FLAG STATE, where DEVICE is the path to the device being changed, NUMBER is the partition number, FLAG is "boot", and STATE is "on".
To set the boot flag in the example above, do the following:
# parted -s /dev/sda set 2 boot on
# parted -s /dev/sda print
Disk geometry for /dev/sda: 0kB - 16GB
Disk label type: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32kB 1579MB 1579MB primary linux-swap type=82
2 1579MB 16GB 15GB primary reiserfs boot, type=83
^^^^^
Reboot the server.
# parted -s DEVICE set NUMBER FLAG STATE, where DEVICE is the path to the device being changed, NUMBER is the partition number, FLAG is "boot", and STATE is "on".
To set the boot flag in the example above, do the following:
# parted -s /dev/sda set 2 boot on
# parted -s /dev/sda print
Disk geometry for /dev/sda: 0kB - 16GB
Disk label type: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32kB 1579MB 1579MB primary linux-swap type=82
2 1579MB 16GB 15GB primary reiserfs boot, type=83
^^^^^
Reboot the server.