2

I'm new to Linux, am using CentOS 6.3, and am attempting to install CentOS 5.8 ISO to a pen drive following instructions from here.

My pen drive is /dev/sda and partition 1 is vfat. It's mounted on /mnt/usb. Here's what happens when I try to use grub-install:

[root@localhost ~]# grub-install –root-directory=/mnt/usb /dev/sda

More than one install_devices?
Usage: grub-install [OPTION] install_device
Install GRUB on your drive.

-h, --help
       print this message and exit

-v, --version
       print the version information and exit

--root-directory=DIR
       install GRUB images under the directory DIR instead of the root directory

--grub-shell=FILE
       use FILE as the grub shell

--no-floppy
       do not probe any floppy drive

--force-lba
       force GRUB to use LBA mode even for a buggy BIOS

--recheck
       probe a device map even if it already exists
       This flag is unreliable and its use is strongly discouraged.

 INSTALL_DEVICE can be a GRUB device name or a system device filename.

 grub-install copies GRUB images into the DIR/boot directory specfied by --root-directory, and uses the grub shell to install grub into the boot sector.

I don't understand the error message in this context, What am I doing wrong?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

The problem is that you are copying the commands directly from the webpage and this results in your pasting an em dash (—) instead of two consecutive minus signs (--) which is what you need to use. All long (--foo-bar) options in *nix are given with two consecutive minus signs. So, try this:

grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/usb /dev/sda

Note the difference between –boot-directory and --boot-directory.

Improve this answer
10
  • Got the same error message. The grub I have is version 0.97. How do I install grub2 if this version is not grub2?
    – Nate Lockwood
    Jan 30, 2013 at 19:42
  • I chose Centos because I need to install an Advanced Silicon frame grabber and their driver, which I need to install, needs to be installed under SUSE or Redhat and kernel 2.6. The instructions from the vendor broke under Centos 6.3 and I was advised by someone who maintains several Centos machines to fall back to Centos 5.8. I had used Ubuntu bucause of its ease of installation.
    – Nate Lockwood
    Jan 30, 2013 at 19:53
  • Personally, @Nate, I would recommend SUSE (or, even better, openSUSE). It will make your life easier. Anyway, have a look at my updated answer, I figured out what was going on.
    – terdon
    Jan 30, 2013 at 20:21
  • There should have been a double dash for the option. It may have run correctly and gave me this: This is the contents of the device map /mnt/usb/boot/grub/device.map. Check if this is correct or not. If any of the lines is incorrect, fix it and re-run the script `grub-install'. (fd0) /dev/fd0 (hd0) /dev/sda (pen-drive) (hd1) /dev/sdb (internal SDD boot} (hd2) /dev/sdc
    – Nate Lockwood
    Jan 30, 2013 at 20:27
  • Thanks, our comments are crossing in cyberspace. I need the source code to install the driver and I understood that for SUSE the code must be purchased on a CD and the instructions are in German. If that's not true I'll try it! I'm distro agnostic (or ignorent).
    – Nate Lockwood
    Jan 30, 2013 at 20:34

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .