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Thread: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

  1. #1
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    Dec 2008
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    Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    My computer is running Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, and I shrunk the partition to accommodate Karmic Koala. I installed it, and everything went just fine, but when I rebooted it went straight to windows. I tried doing a fresh install with just Ubunutu and again, everything installed just fine but it wouldn't boot. The error message stated something along the lines of "Insert boot device and press Enter to continue." Any help here would be great b/c I'm an avid Ubuntu user. I always keep a Windows dual boot around just in case, but have no intention of switching back.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    Hughenden, Australia
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    5,100
    Distro
    Ubuntu Mate 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    It could be that GRUB wasn't installed in the correct hard disk or you might have a CMOS setting (BIOS) which prevents any programs writing to your first hard disk's MBR.

    You should be able to try again to install GRUB 2 to MBR using your Ubuntu Karmic Koala 'Desktop' Live/Install CD.

    Try booting with your Live CD and then mount your hard disk installed Ubuntu operating system.
    Take a look in /media to see what the name of the mount point is or ls /media,
    Code:
    ls /media
    You should get a nice user-friendly name for the mount point if you set a file system label, otherwise you might get a file system UUID number which can be rather long and cumbersome.
    You can set a file system label by right-clicking on your partition in GParted, for example I simply call mine KARMIC.

    Regardless of whether you set a label for your file system or you're happy to stick with the UUID number, open a terminal and run the following command,
    Code:
    sudo grub-setup -d /media/KARMIC/boot/grub /dev/sda
    Where /media/KARMIC is the mount point for your Ubuntu file system, otherwise it could be some other name or a UUID number. Feel free to replace as appropriate.

    If it complains about not being able to open /boot/grub/device.map, you might need to hold it's hand and specify the path to the device.map file with the -m option, as follows,
    Code:
    sudo grub-setup -d /media/KARMIC/boot/grub -m /media/KARMIC/boot/grub/device.map /dev/sda
    If it still doesn't work try looking in your CMOS and disabling any MBR write-protect feature you may have left enabled, it may also be called something like 'boot sector antivirus' or some other name.
    If your computer has more than one disk you might need to change the '/dev/sda' part of the command to /dev/sdb or something else.
    Ubuntu user since 2004 (Warty Warthog)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Minnesota
    Beans
    13
    Distro
    Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

    Talking Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    Absolutely wonderful, Herman!! Your instructions were clear, and concise, and worked beautifully! I had myself all set to spend the next 2 or 3 hours researching grub2 and trying to figure out what I had to do to fix this issue... but with your post, it took me about 4 minutes (and 3 of it was finding your post!)

    This should really be stickied at the top, there are a lot of other folks out there running into this problem trying to install Karmic, and most of them seem to resort to reinstalling grub to get it working...

    PS I should clarify - I actually used this to fix the grub error 15 I got after installing; I have 4 ubuntu installs over 2 different hard drives and something about my setup seemed to confuse grub2. My problem didn't have anything to do with having a separate Windows install as in the parent post, since I don't even have Windows...
    Last edited by flower71; November 4th, 2009 at 03:06 AM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    Hughenden, Australia
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    Ubuntu Mate 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    Thanks for the nice feedback, I'm happy for you that yours was able to be fixed using the easiest and simplest possible solution.
    Happy Ubuntuing
    Ubuntu user since 2004 (Warty Warthog)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    I wish I could say this also worked for me. I keep getting "grub-setup: error: Cannot open `/media/Karmic/boot/grub/device.map'"

    This is driving me nuts. I can boot just fine from the Live CD, but not after the installation.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    Hughenden, Australia
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    5,100
    Distro
    Ubuntu Mate 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    I wish I could say this also worked for me. I keep getting "grub-setup: error: Cannot open `/media/Karmic/boot/grub/device.map'"
    If it complains about not being able to open /boot/grub/device.map, you might need to hold it's hand and specify the path to the device.map file with the -m option, as follows,
    Code:
    sudo grub-setup -d /media/KARMIC/boot/grub -m /media/KARMIC/boot/grub/device.map /dev/sda
    Ubuntu user since 2004 (Warty Warthog)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    76

    Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    I guess I mistyped it the first time because I ran it again and this is what I got:

    grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition instead of the MBR. This is a BAD idea.
    grub-setup: warn: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and its use is discouraged.
    grub-setup: error: If you really want blocklists, use --force.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    Hughenden, Australia
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    5,100
    Distro
    Ubuntu Mate 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    Oh, you are probably installing GRUB to a partition boot sector then I guess, instead of to a MBR.
    That's okay, just use the -f option then, for --force. GRUB 2 doesn't like being installed to a mere partition boot sector, so it will grumble and complain but it will do it.

    Try this then,
    Code:
    sudo grub-setup -f  -d /media/KARMIC/boot/grub -m /media/KARMIC/boot/grub/device.map /dev/sda
    Ubuntu user since 2004 (Warty Warthog)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Beans
    2
    Distro
    Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

    Talking Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! You saved me the great hassle of spending potentially hours trying to figure out what was wrong with my 9.10 installation.

    Cheers!


    -Dean

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Minnesota
    Beans
    13
    Distro
    Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

    Talking Re: Computer won't boot to 9.10; No Grub Menu

    Just had to write in and thank you again - installed Karmic on another pc and again had problems with Error 15 and grub2. That's three pc
    s now - the one I installed on sda had no problems, but the ones I installed on sdb and sdc needed me to step in and run update-grub from the livecd.

    Sooooo happy for this post!

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