Installed OK with XP but now wont boot

[mrgee]

Hi..
Bit of a linux newbie.. so apologies.. I have installed ubuntu on a seperate partition from win xp.. Install went smoothly but when I reboot there is no option to load ubuntu..the machine boots straight to XP.. I know this has something to do with the boot loader.. but not sure what I need to do in order to get an option on boot to select the OS..
Any help?
Thanks..

[baldino]

Same problem with me !
just installed ubuntu, and a newbie too

[housam]

boot from ubuntu live cd and go for application >> accessories >> terminal . type in the terminal the following code :
sudo fdisk -l

where -l is a small L ,press enter. and post the results.

[Hans Fastolfe]

I have a similar problem. My PC won't boot at all after installing Ubuntu. I get a "disk read error" message, followed by "Press ctrl+alt+delete" to continue. At first, I could boot into Ubuntu, but not XP. Shortly thereafter, I could not boot into either.

I had tried to install Ubuntu 8 on a Compaq PC as dual boot with the existing XP Home Edition. I used the CD I just received in the mail. I ran Checkdisk and Disk Defragmenter first. The hard drive had plenty of free space, and I assigned 20 GB to Ubuntu. The first installation was not entirely successful; Firefox would not work, and I could not figure out how to reinstall. I can do this in Windows and Max OS X, but I was utterly baffled by Ubuntu (I don't claim to be a computer whiz; I hadn't studied computers since I took COBOL in college--with punch cards!).

So I started over and reinstalled Ubuntu. When the PC rebooted, I saw the expected boot menu, but with twice as many Ubuntu options; they seemed duplicated. Ubuntu booted properly, but not XP. On trying to boot into XP I received the "disk read error" message. After that, Ubuntu would not boot.

The PC recovery tools do not work. When I try to run the Windows System Recovery utility, I receive the same "disk read error" message. I did not try the Destructive Recovery utility, as that would erase the entire hard drive. I wish to avoid that, if possible. Unfortunately, I need Windows on the PC.

I do not think the Ubuntu installation disk is corrupted. I used the same disk the preceding day to successfully install Ubuntu on an XP PC as a dual-boot system. That works properly, both XP and Ubuntu. The Live CD function works properly, as I ran Ubuntu from it on the now-unbootable PC. I seemed to see the files on what should be the Windows partition.

A friend suggested I might have corrupted the Windows boot.ini file on the second Ubuntu installation.

Am I frakked?

[meindian523]

@Hans
Please post an new thread linking to this,because it will get confusing with three people posting their respective sudo fdisk -l and cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

@mrgee
Please post the results of the above commands.Also,no need to apologise for being a newbie.We were(and in my case,am) all newbies once.

[Hans Fastolfe]

[QUOTE=meindian523;5128368]@Hans
Please post an new thread linking to this,because it will get confusing with three people posting their respective sudo fdisk -l and cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

Done. Thanks.

Was the "cat /boot/grub/menu.lst" command meant for me?

[meindian523]

Both the commands were meant for all three of you.Also,please post the link to your new thread in this one to make it easy for future searches to find everything which is related together.

[mrgee]

boot from ubuntu live cd and go for application >> accessories >> terminal . type in the terminal the following code :
sudo fdisk -l

where -l is a small L ,press enter. and post the results.

Hi..
thanks for the reply..
When you say boot from the live cd.. I am not sure what you mean.. If I boot from the live cd, I see a menu with option like install mythbuntu..check cd.. install from hdd.. etc.. I can see no where to load a terminal window.. If I load from the first hdd..this takes me to windows..
Any help..
And thanks again..
Mike..

[housam]

Hi..
thanks for the reply..
When you say boot from the live cd.. I am not sure what you mean.. If I boot from the live cd, I see a menu with option like install mythbuntu..check cd.. install from hdd.. etc.. I can see no where to load a terminal window.. If I load from the first hdd..this takes me to windows..
Any help..
And thanks again..
Mike..

when you boot from the live CD , the first line should be " try ubuntu without any change to your computer " . click on that line , it will install the system to your ram only to allow you to try it. look at the attachment

[razvi]

Try to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst file. You should have something like this: "title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1".
You have to make active the Windows partition.

[mrgee]

when you boot from the live CD , the first line should be " try ubuntu without any change to your computer " . click on that line , it will install the system to your ram only to allow you to try it. look at the attachment

Hi..
OK I can load the live cd..2 things.. how can I get a dual boot menu working.. and when I try to load the mythtv frontend I receive and error..?
Thanks
Mike

[mrgee]

boot from ubuntu live cd and go for application >> accessories >> terminal . type in the terminal the following code :
sudo fdisk -l

where -l is a small L ,press enter. and post the results.

Hi..
OK the results are below
---------------

--------
Thanks
MikeDisk /dev/sda: 300.0 GB, 300069052416 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36481 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0070d568

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 23426 188169313+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 23427 36481 104864287+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 23427 36481 104864256 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 400.0 GB, 400088457216 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 48641 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x1ff21ff1

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 48641 390708801 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdc: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 25841 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x08627da4

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 2292 14742 94129528+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc2 14743 25841 83908409 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sdc3 1 2289 17304808+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdc4 2290 2291 15120 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc5 14743 18851 31064008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdc6 18852 23918 38306488+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc7 23919 25841 14537848+ b W95 FAT32

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdd: 2013 MB, 2013265920 bytes
129 heads, 32 sectors/track, 952 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 4128 * 512 = 2113536 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xc3072e18

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdd1 * 1 953 1966064 6 FAT16
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(960, 128, 32) logical=(952, 71, 32)
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

[meindian523]

Please also post
cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

[mrgee]

Please also post
cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

cat: /boot/grub/menu.lst: No such file or directory

Seems grub is not installed..?

[meindian523]

You are on Live CD,aren't you?me bad](*,)

Ok,run this:
Create a direcory to mount a partition.
mkdir /mnt/abcd
Mount your / partition [which is either /dev/sdc3 or /dev/sdc5]
mount /dev/sdc<> /mnt/abcd
Then change directory to /boot/grub
cd /boot/grub/
Then cat menu.lst
and post it here.

[mrgee]

You are on Live CD,aren't you?me bad](*,)

Ok,run this:
Create a direcory to mount a partition.
mkdir /mnt/abcd
Mount your / partition [which is either /dev/sdc3 or /dev/sdc5]
mount /dev/sdc<> /mnt/abcd
Then change directory to /boot/grub
cd /boot/grub/
Then cat menu.lst
and post it here.

Thanks for your help so far..
I get a permission denied error when trying to make the /mnt/abcd dir..?

[meindian523]

Use sudo for all the above commands.aargh,what am I thinking.](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)

[mrgee]

Use sudo for all the above commands.aargh,what am I thinking.](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)

Hi again..
Am now getting the following response to your suggested commands

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdc3 /mnt/abcd
mount: special device /dev/sdc3 does not exist
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo cd /boot/grub/
sudo: cd: command not found

Thanks
Mike

[meindian523]

That's strange,since fdisk -l clearly shows a partition /dev/sdc3.I'm afraid I can't think of anything to do about that right now.

I've got to leave for college,I will try to think over these errors and get back in the evening.Am sorry couldn't help you out there.

[housam]

Try to reinstall grub using Herman guide (http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p15.htm#Re-install_Grub_with_Live_CD)