Asus V7-P7H55E - Xubuntu

Hardware info on main page.

The machine runs Linux - Xubuntu x86_64.

new drive: 60 GB OCZ Agility 3 ssd, sliced up like this:

sdc1 -   4 GB - swap
sdc2 - 19 GB - / (root)
sdc3 -   1 MB - bios_grub

old drive: Installed on a external usb drive, detected as /dev/sdc.

sdc1 - 4 GB - swap
sdc2 - 19 GB - / (root)
sdc3 - 1 MB - bios_grub

Work log

2012-08-30: sdc2 - update-manager ran, and brought in 22 updates. Among them Firefox 15.0.

2012-08-30: sdc2 - after copying the external drive to the OCZ ssd (Agility3) and removing it, I tried booting from the OCZ (by pressing F8 on the boot screen and selecting the device). That worked, and I'm now running my Xubuntu install from a ssd, which still is sdc:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:    Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS
Release:    12.04
Codename:    precise
tingo@kg-v7:~$ uname -a
Linux kg-v7 3.2.0-29-generic #46-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 27 17:03:23 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Here is what parted thinks:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ sudo parted -l
Model: ATA STT_FTM64GX25H (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 64.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  31.1GB  31.1GB  primary  freebsd-ufs  boot
 2      31.1GB  64.0GB  32.9GB  primary


Model: ATA SAMSUNG SSD 830 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 128GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 1      17.4kB  82.9kB  65.5kB
 2      82.9kB  32.2GB  32.2GB  freebsd-ufs
 3      32.2GB  36.5GB  4295MB


Model: ATA OCZ-AGILITY3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 60.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt

Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name  Flags
 1      17.4kB  4195MB  4195MB  linux-swap(v1)
 2      4195MB  24.0GB  19.8GB  ext4
 3      24.0GB  24.0GB  1049kB                        bios_grub

good.

2012-08-30: sdc2 - in Xubuntu, the drives are known this way (output from dmesg):

[    1.463608] ata1: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[    1.463943] ata1.00: ATA-8: STT_FTM64GX25H, 2142, max UDMA/133
[    1.463949] ata1.00: 125045424 sectors, multi 1: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[    1.466126] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    1.466451] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      STT_FTM64GX25H   2142 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    1.466678] sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
[    1.466737] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 125045424 512-byte logical blocks: (64.0 GB/59.6 GiB)
[    1.467056] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[    1.467062] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[    1.467219] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[    1.468993]  sda: sda1 sda2
[    1.468995]  sda1: <bsd: sda5 sda6 sda7 sda8 sda9 >
[    1.468997]  sda2: <bsd: sda10 sda11 sda12 sda13 >
[    1.470850] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk

so sda is the Super Talent drive,

[    1.954316] ata2: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[    1.955026] ata2.00: ATA-9: SAMSUNG SSD 830 Series, CXM03B1Q, max UDMA/133
[    1.955033] ata2.00: 250069680 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[    1.955632] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    1.955934] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      SAMSUNG SSD 830  CXM0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    1.956150] sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
[    1.956193] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] 250069680 512-byte logical blocks: (128 GB/119 GiB)
[    1.956569] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[    1.956574] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[    1.956757] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[    1.959662]  sdb: sdb1 sdb2 sdb3
[    1.960076] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk

and sdb is the Samsung 830 series,

[    2.444919] ata3: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[    2.456945] ata3.00: ATA-8: OCZ-AGILITY3, 2.22, max UDMA/133
[    2.456951] ata3.00: 117231408 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[    2.466917] ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    2.467210] scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      OCZ-AGILITY3     2.22 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    2.467391] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[    2.467410] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] 117231408 512-byte logical blocks: (60.0 GB/55.8 GiB)
[    2.467802] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[    2.467805] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[    2.467969] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[    2.470754]  sdc:
[    2.471291] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk

the new OCZ Agility 3 is now sdc,

[    2.845306] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access     HTS54804 0M9AT00          A5EA PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 CCS
[    2.846974] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
[    2.847751] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] 78140160 512-byte logical blocks: (40.0 GB/37.2 GiB)
[    2.848632] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[    2.848638] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 00 38 00 00
[    2.849488] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Asking for cache data failed
[    2.849493] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[    2.852320] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Asking for cache data failed
[    2.852326] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[    2.920168]  sdd: sdd1 sdd2 sdd3
[    2.923089] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Asking for cache data failed
[    2.923094] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[    2.923098] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI disk

finally, the usb-connected external drive is now sdd. Interesting, no complaints from grub during boot. Nice!

2012-08-22: sdc2 - logging to /var/log/messages didn't work, I had to change owner and group first:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ sudo chown syslog:adm /var/log/messages

That was all.

2012-08-19: sdc2 - I want to have my /var/log/messages back, so I uncomment this part of the file /etc/rsyslog.d/50-default.conf:

*.=info;*.=notice;*.=warn;\
        auth,authpriv.none;\
        cron,daemon.none;\
        mail,news.none          -/var/log/messages

and save the file. That is all.

2012-08-18: sdc2 - install openssh-server so I can have remote access to the machine. First, mount a BSD partition so we can copy some keys:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ sudo mount -r -t ufs -o ufstype=ufs2 /dev/sdb2 /mnt
tingo@kg-v7:~$ ls /mnt/etc/ssh/*key*
/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key      /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key      /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_key      /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub  /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub  /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub  /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
tingo@kg-v7:~$ ls /etc/ssh
moduli  ssh_config

Copy keys:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ sudo cp -v /mnt/etc/ssh/*key* /etc/ssh/
`/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key' -> `/etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key'
`/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub' -> `/etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub'
`/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key' -> `/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key'
`/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub' -> `/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub'
`/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_key' -> `/etc/ssh/ssh_host_key'
`/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub' -> `/etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub'
`/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key' -> `/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key'
`/mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub' -> `/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub'

Now install openssh-server:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ apt-cache search openssh-server
openssh-server - secure shell (SSH) server, for secure access from remote machines
tingo@kg-v7:~$ sudo apt-get install openssh-server
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree      
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  ssh-import-id
Suggested packages:
  ssh-askpass rssh molly-guard openssh-blacklist openssh-blacklist-extra monkeysphere
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  openssh-server ssh-import-id
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 345 kB of archives.
After this operation, 881 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main openssh-server amd64 1:5.9p1-5ubuntu1 [339 kB]
Get:2 http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main ssh-import-id all 2.10-0ubuntu1 [6,598 B]
Fetched 345 kB in 0s (883 kB/s)         
Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously unselected package openssh-server.
(Reading database ... 153659 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking openssh-server (from .../openssh-server_1%3a5.9p1-5ubuntu1_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package ssh-import-id.
Unpacking ssh-import-id (from .../ssh-import-id_2.10-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead ...
ureadahead will be reprofiled on next reboot
Processing triggers for ufw ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up openssh-server (1:5.9p1-5ubuntu1) ...
ssh start/running, process 2572
Setting up ssh-import-id (2.10-0ubuntu1) ...

Is it enabled?

tingo@kg-v7:~$ sudo service ssh status
ssh start/running, process 2572
tingo@kg-v7:~$ ps ax | grep 2572
 2572 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd -D
 2656 pts/2    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto 2572

Yes, it is. Alternate ps use:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ ps e -p 2572
  PID TTY      STAT   TIME COMMAND
 2572 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd -D

Nice to know. ssh works locally at least:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ ssh localhost
tingo@localhost's password:
Welcome to Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS (GNU/Linux 3.2.0-29-generic x86_64)

 * Documentation:  https://help.ubuntu.com/

Last login: Sat Aug 18 22:52:32 2012 from localhost

And... it work from other machines too.

2012-08-18: sdc2 - I updated /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf by adding the line:

send dhcp-client-identifier "kg-v7.kg4.no";

Let's reboot and see if it works. Yes, after a reboot I now get the correct ip address:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ ping v7
PING kg-v7.kg4.no (10.1.150.19) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from kg-v7.kg4.no (10.1.150.19): icmp_req=1 ttl=64 time=0.023 ms
64 bytes from kg-v7.kg4.no (10.1.150.19): icmp_req=2 ttl=64 time=0.022 ms
^C
--- kg-v7.kg4.no ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 999ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.022/0.022/0.023/0.004 ms

Nice!

2012-08-18: sdc2 - after a reboot, I ran update-manager again, which brought in new updates and a new kernel, reboot required. dmesg output: normal.

tingo@kg-v7:~$ uname -a
Linux kg-v7 3.2.0-29-generic #46-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 27 17:03:23 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
tingo@kg-v7:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:    Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS
Release:    12.04
Codename:    precise

That's it.

2012-08-18: sdc2 - update-manager and synaptic kept crashing (from /var/log/syslog):

Aug 18 20:02:01 kg-v7 kernel: [   55.255245] apt-check[1822]: segfault at 7fcee2dcc2a0 ip 00007fcec9341b80 sp 00007fff729e7f00 error 4 in libapt-pkg.so.4.12.0[7fcec92b7000+120000]
Aug 18 20:02:48 kg-v7 kernel: [  101.963312] apport-gtk[1926]: segfault at 7f2b3d8562a0 ip 00007f2b2ef7ab80 sp 00007f2b2a2642a0 error 4 in libapt-pkg.so.4.12.0[7f2b2eef0000+120000]

Aug 18 20:30:47 kg-v7 kernel: [ 1775.879496] update-manager[2300]: segfault at 7f87a332d290 ip 00007f3fd17f7b8e sp 00007fff163a8fb0 error 4 in libapt-pkg.so.4.12.0[7f3fd176d000+120000]
Aug 18 20:32:49 kg-v7 kernel: [ 1898.122383] apport-gtk[2350]: segfault at 7f81bac332a0 ip 00007f81a84b9b80 sp 00007f81a4f222a0 error 4 in libapt-pkg.so.4.12.0[7f81a842f000+120000]
Aug 18 20:33:09 kg-v7 kernel: [ 1918.414544] apport-gtk[2377]: segfault at 7f10751fa2a0 ip 00007f105e7c0b80 sp 00007f105adc52a0 error 4 in libapt-pkg.so.4.12.0[7f105e736000+120000]
Aug 18 20:33:35 kg-v7 kernel: [ 1943.425036] synaptic[2391]: segfault at 7f31160b42a0 ip 00007f3106db9b80 sp 00007fffe8d5c890 error 4 in libapt-pkg.so.4.12.0[7f3106d2f000+120000]
Aug 18 20:33:38 kg-v7 kernel: [ 1946.355618] update-apt-xapi[2400]: segfault at 7faa732352a0 ip 00007faa5d26ab80 sp 00007fffe5416eb0 error 4 in libapt-pkg.so.4.12.0[7faa5d1e0000+120000]

so I had to update manually:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Easy enough, let's hope it helps.

2012-08-18: sdc2 - finally, Xubuntu 12.04 installed. dmesg output: normal.

tingo@kg-v7:~/work/1_dmesg$ uname -a
Linux kg-v7 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
tingo@kg-v7:~/work/1_dmesg$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:    Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Release:    12.04
Codename:    precise

More info:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ date;swapon -s;tvlm;df -h;uptime
Sat Aug 18 20:25:54 CEST 2012
Filename                Type        Size    Used    Priority
/dev/sdc1                               partition    4096552    0    -1
tail: cannot open `/var/log/messages' for reading: No such file or directory
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdc2        19G  2.8G   15G  16% /
udev            3.9G  4.0K  3.9G   1% /dev
tmpfs           1.6G  924K  1.6G   1% /run
none            5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
none            3.9G   88K  3.9G   1% /run/shm
 20:25:54 up 24 min,  0 users,  load average: 0.15, 0.26, 0.43

pci info

tingo@kg-v7:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 12)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 12)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 06)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 06)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 06)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev a6)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 06)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
04:02.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7146 (rev 01)
3f:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
3f:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
3f:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
3f:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
3f:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
3f:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)

more pci info (TechnoTrend premium C-2300 card):

tingo@kg-v7:~$ lspci -vv -s 04:02.0
04:02.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7146 (rev 01)
    Subsystem: Technotrend Systemtechnik GmbH Octal/Technotrend DVB-C for iTV
    Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
    Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
    Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 17
    Region 0: Memory at f7fff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
    Kernel modules: dvb-ttpci

Cool!

2012-08-18: another try. I deleted and re-created the partitions with gparted (I didn't touch the bios_grub partition). Then I installed Ubuntu again. This time the partitions ended up like this:

sdc1 - swp
sdc2 - / (root)
sdc3 - bios_grub partition

Details:

tingo@kg-v7:~$ uname -a
Linux kg-v7 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
tingo@kg-v7:~$ swapon -s
Filename                Type        Size    Used    Priority
/dev/sdc1                               partition    4096552    0    -1
tingo@kg-v7:~$ df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdc2        19G  2.7G   15G  16% /
udev            3.9G  4.0K  3.9G   1% /dev
tmpfs           1.6G  924K  1.6G   1% /run
none            5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
none            3.9G   88K  3.9G   1% /run/shm

From /boot/grub/grub.cfg:

menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-23-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
    insmod gzio
    insmod part_gpt
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd2,gpt2)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 66e02681-0e04-4b30-a6f8-e9485de5429e
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic root=UUID=66e02681-0e04-4b30-a6f8-e9485de5429e ro   quiet splash nomodeset $vt
_handoff
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-23-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-23-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod gzio
    insmod part_gpt
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd2,gpt2)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 66e02681-0e04-4b30-a6f8-e9485de5429e
    echo    'Loading Linux 3.2.0-23-generic ...'
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic root=UUID=66e02681-0e04-4b30-a6f8-e9485de5429e ro recovery nomodeset
    echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-23-generic
}

I had to add nomodeset to /etc/default/grub, or the Xorg server would crash all the time:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset"

Still, lots of crashes reported, better update.

2012-08-18: back into the liveCD again, see if I can fix it:

xubuntu@xubuntu:~$ sudo su -
root@xubuntu:~# mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt
root@xubuntu:~# grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sdc
Installation finished. No error reported.

And still I need a grub.cfg file.

root@xubuntu:~# grub-mkconfig -o /mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for / (is /dev mounted?).

Ok, let's try the trick from last time:

root@xubuntu:~# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
root@xubuntu:~# chroot /mnt /bin/bash

and retry grub-mkconfig:

root@xubuntu:/# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
grep: /proc/mounts: No such file or directory
grep: /proc/swaps: No such file or directory
Cannot find list of partitions!  (Try mounting /sys.)
done

Ok, getting closer.

root@xubuntu:/# mount /sys
root@xubuntu:/# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
grep: /proc/mounts: No such file or directory
grep: /proc/swaps: No such file or directory
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
/usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: 17: /usr/lib/os-probes/mounted/90bsd-distro: gawk: not found
Found unknown Linux distribution on /dev/sda1
Found unknown Linux distribution on /dev/sda10
Found unknown Linux distribution on /dev/sda5
Found unknown Linux distribution on /dev/sdb2
Found Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (12.04) on /dev/sdc1
done

Hmm, what does grub.cfg look like? It looks ok. Now, try a boot again.

2012-08-18: Ok, it booted, but dumped me straight into grub:

grub>

Great. After a bit of searching, reading and testing, I figured out that the hard drive in question is called hd0:

grub> set
prints out (among other info)
prefix=(hd0,gpt1)/boot/grub
root=hd0,gpt1

So now I am trying my hand at grub:

grub> linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdc1
grub> initrd /initrd
error: file not found
grub> initrd /initrd.img
error: file not found
grub> boot

which boots, but ends up with Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0) Not good. Why is this so hard, dammit?

2012-08-18: after a good nights sleep (ok, a few hours then), I try again. This time I'll try to fix it manually, like this: first, set up a chroot environment.

root@xubuntu:~# mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt
root@xubuntu:~# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
root@xubuntu:~# chroot /mnt /bin/bash

Ready, now try to install grub again:

root@xubuntu:/# grub-install /dev/sdc
Installation finished. No error reported.

Really? That simple? Let's download the Boot Info Script from SF.net and see what it reports: From RESULTS.txt:

sdc1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
    Boot files:        /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sdc2: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:

sdc3: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       BIOS Boot partition
    Boot sector type:  Grub2's core.img
    Boot sector info:

more info:

Drive: sdc _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdc: 40.0 GB, 40007761920 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4864 cylinders, total 78140160 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sdc1                   1    78,140,159    78,140,159  ee GPT


GUID Partition Table detected.

Partition    Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors System
/dev/sdc1              34    39,062,534    39,062,501 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
/dev/sdc2      39,062,535    46,875,035     7,812,501 Swap partition (Linux)
/dev/sdc3      46,876,672    46,878,719         2,048 BIOS Boot partition

I wonder if the "Data partition" is important? Even more info:

"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL
/dev/sdc1        6823dca2-53ab-4ca0-8fa1-6c4108073d60   ext4      
/dev/sdc2        0ee9b686-5154-4e07-a3d5-326b69814925   swap      

and more:

=============================== sdc1/etc/fstab: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sdc1 during installation
UUID=6823dca2-53ab-4ca0-8fa1-6c4108073d60 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sdc2 during installation
UUID=0ee9b686-5154-4e07-a3d5-326b69814925 none            swap    sw              0       0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sdc1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

               =                boot/grub/core.img                             1
               =                boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic                  1
               =                vmlinuz                                        1

Looks ok so far. Does it boot?

2012-08-18: I used gparted to create a 1 MB partition on /dev/sdc (it became /dev/sdc3) and mark it with the bios_grub flag. I couldn't find out how to install grub manually, so I just redid the installation. Oh well. This time I selected /dev/sdc3 for grub installation.

2012-08-18: sdc: I installed Xubuntu 12.04 on the removable usb drive (sdc) by selecting the third option ("do something else") and selecting drive sdc to install on, and manually creating a 20 GB root partition and a 4 GB swap partition, and specifying that the boot loader should install on sdc. We'll see if it works out. For some reason, the intaller warned about an error in migrating data? I haven't requested any migration. Then I get a dialog box about grub: "unable to install GRUB in /dev/sdc", "Executing grub-install /dev/sdc failed. This is a fatal error.". From /var/log/syslog:

Aug 18 00:19:26 xubuntu grub-installer: info: Installing grub on '/dev/sdc'
Aug 18 00:19:26 xubuntu grub-installer: info: grub-install supports --no-floppy
Aug 18 00:19:26 xubuntu grub-installer: info: Running chroot /target grub-install  --no-floppy --force "/dev/sdc"
Aug 18 00:19:26 xubuntu grub-installer: /usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: unknown filesystem.
Aug 18 00:19:26 xubuntu grub-installer: Auto-detection of a filesystem of /dev/sdc1 failed.
Aug 18 00:19:26 xubuntu grub-installer: Try with --recheck.
Aug 18 00:19:26 xubuntu grub-installer: If the problem persists please report this together with the output of "/usr/sbin/grub-probe --device-map="/boot/grub/device.map" --target=fs -v /boot/grub" to <bug-grub@gnu.org>
Aug 18 00:19:26 xubuntu grub-installer: error: Running 'grub-install  --no-floppy --force "/dev/sdc"' failed.

Now, that is kinda interesting.

2012-08-18: I inserted a hard drive (usb) that I plan to install Xubuntu on. From /var/log/syslog:

Aug 17 23:58:14 xubuntu kernel: [ 1775.042944] usb 1-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci_hcd
Aug 17 23:58:14 xubuntu kernel: [ 1775.138092] scsi7 : usb-storage 1-1.4:1.0
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.133177] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access     HTS54804 0M9AT00          A5EA PQ: 0 ANSI: 2  CCS
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.134660] sd 7:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.137386] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] 78140160 512-byte logical blocks: (40.0 GB/37.2 GiB)
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.138163] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.138169] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 38 00 00
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.138901] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Asking for cache data failed
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.138904] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.141175] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Asking for cache data failed
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.141180] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.207171]  sdc:
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.210479] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Asking for cache data failed
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.210486] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu kernel: [ 1776.210492] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk
Aug 17 23:58:15 xubuntu ata_id[4120]: HDIO_GET_IDENTITY failed for '/dev/sdc': Invalid argument

That is it.

2012-08-18: I booted Xubuntu 12.04 (amd64) from a liveCD (using a usb cd writer). I had to set the option nomodeset from the menu (see this thread), without it I was just getting a black screen with a blinking mouse pointer on.

xubuntu@xubuntu:~$ uname -a
Linux xubuntu 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Interesting tidbits from dmesg output:

[    0.000000] Command line: file=/cdrom/preseed/xubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash --  nomodeset keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=no

[    0.000000] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[    0.000000] WARNING: at /build/buildd/linux-3.2.0/drivers/iommu/dmar.c:492 warn_invalid_dmar+0x8f/0xa0()
[    0.000000] Hardware name: V-P7H55E
[    0.000000] Your BIOS is broken; DMAR reported at address fed91000 returns all ones!
[    0.000000] BIOS vendor: American Megatrends Inc.; Ver: 0504   ; Product Version: X.0x
[    0.000000] Modules linked in:
[    0.000000] Pid: 0, comm: swapper Not tainted 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu
[    0.000000] Call Trace:
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff8106712f>] warn_slowpath_common+0x7f/0xc0
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff810671cf>] warn_slowpath_fmt_taint+0x3f/0x50
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81d111e0>] ? __early_set_fixmap+0x96/0x9d
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff8151b7df>] warn_invalid_dmar+0x8f/0xa0
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81d11649>] ? early_iounmap+0xe4/0x12e
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81d38721>] check_zero_address+0xc8/0xf7
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff816699ac>] ? bad_to_user+0x7f6/0x7f6
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81d38767>] detect_intel_iommu+0x17/0xb8
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81d03b3b>] pci_iommu_alloc+0x44/0x6f
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81d10fa3>] mem_init+0x19/0xec
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81cfba2d>] start_kernel+0x1da/0x3c7
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81cfb388>] x86_64_start_reservations+0x132/0x136
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81cfb140>] ? early_idt_handlers+0x140/0x140
[    0.000000]  [<ffffffff81cfb459>] x86_64_start_kernel+0xcd/0xdc
[    0.000000] ---[ end trace a7919e7f17c0a725 ]---

[    0.506148] Brought up 4 CPUs
[    0.506150] Total of 4 processors activated (24532.19 BogoMIPS).

[    4.076054] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: Intel HD Graphics Chipset
[    4.076125] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: detected gtt size: 2097152K total, 262144K mappable
[    4.076948] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: detected 32768K stolen memory
[    4.077070] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: AGP aperture is 256M @ 0xe0000000

[    4.625151] ata1: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[    4.625468] ata1.00: ATA-8: STT_FTM64GX25H, 2142, max UDMA/133
[    4.625474] ata1.00: 125045424 sectors, multi 1: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[    4.627320] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    4.627578] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      STT_FTM64GX25H   2142 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    4.627844] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 125045424 512-byte logical blocks: (64.0 GB/59.6 GiB)

[    5.111992] usb 2-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci_hcd
[    5.115838] ata2: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[    5.116559] ata2.00: ATA-9: SAMSUNG SSD 830 Series, CXM03B1Q, max UDMA/133
[    5.116566] ata2.00: 250069680 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[    5.117163] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    5.117499] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      SAMSUNG SSD 830  CXM0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    5.117706] sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
[    5.117745] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] 250069680 512-byte logical blocks: (128 GB/119 GiB)

[    6.447597] r8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver 2.3LK-NAPI loaded
[    6.447618] r8169 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
[    6.447650] r8169 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[    6.447703] r8169 0000:02:00.0: irq 41 for MSI/MSI-X
[    6.448135] r8169 0000:02:00.0: eth0: RTL8168d/8111d at 0xffffc90000c2e000, e0:cb:4e:bb:5a:fe, XID 083000c0 IRQ 41
[    6.448138] r8169 0000:02:00.0: eth0: jumbo features [frames: 9200 bytes, tx checksumming: ko]

[   99.746587] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
[  101.602795] saa7146: register extension 'av7110'
[  101.602830] av7110 0000:04:02.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[  101.602878] saa7146: found saa7146 @ mem ffffc90000c60000 (revision 1, irq 17) (0x13c2,0x000a)
[  102.308385] dvb-ttpci: could not load firmware, file not found: dvb-ttpci-01.fw
[  102.308410] dvb-ttpci: usually this should be in /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware or /lib/firmware
[  102.308432] dvb-ttpci: and can be downloaded from http://www.linuxtv.org/download/dvb/firmware/
[  102.308490] av7110 0000:04:02.0: PCI INT A disabled

Interesting, it even detects the TechnoTrend C-2300 card.