[Bio-Linux] Bio-Linux Security Update

[Stewart Houten]

Hi Sarah and all on Bio-Linux,

It appears the grub menu file has an error in and you seem to be the
second person this has happened to so I am forwarding this reply to
the list.

When you install the new kernel the grub boot stanzas are regenerated
using the default parameters at the head of the grub menu file.  It
seems the default is root device is declared as /dev/hda1, which is
correct if you have a machine with IDE drives (ie. Dell 650) but not
for SATA (Dell 670/490).

If you have a Dell 670/490 then your machine has SATA drives (sda, not
hda) and this will affect you.  If you are unsure whether your machine
has SATA disks run the command 'df' and look for /dev/sdaX.

To fix this issue edit the file (as root/sudo) /boot/grub/menu.lst and
modify the line that begins

# kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ... 

to read "sda1" instead of "hda1".  Then save the file and run

update-grub

Then reboot.

I would recommend doing this before upgrading the kernel if possible
but this case (Sarah) you need to boot the machine before doing any of
the above.  To do this, reboot the machine and at the blue Grub screen
press 'e' to edit the highlighted line, then arrow-down to the line
beginning "kernel /boot/vmlinuz..." and press 'e' again to edit.
Scroll back along the line and edit the "root=/dev/hda1" part to read
"root=/dev/sda1".  Then press Enter to exit and then 'b' to boot the
kernel with new line.

One the machine boots you will still need to edit the grub menu file
as described in the first half of this email.

Apologies to all those that this has affected.

If you have any further queries about this please reply to
helpdesk at nebc.nox.ac.uk.

Regards,
Stewart 
--
Dr Stewart Houten, Bio-Linux Developer
NEBC, CEH, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SR
http://nebc.nox.ac.uk/