GRUB- error: no such partition grub rescue>

[Quackers]

It seems that sda5 (your linux installation) has a bad superblock. I suspect this is due to a fault with the partition re-sizing. (It's usually best to shrink a Vista/Windows 7 partition with Windows own disk management program - if it will allow it).
At present no system boots, is that correct?
Where is the work you want to save - Windows or Ubuntu?

[ebf.beltran]

Its in ubuntu

currently I can manage to access the windows part from the liveCD

but the Linux partition won't mount.

[Quackers]

Have a look at this link. It could be an option.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

[raargh]

Hi All;

Man. I just hosed my daughter's computer, and I have no time to struggle with this right now - studying for CCNA test on Friday.

I tried to install Ubuntu 10.10 on a 16G usb stick, so that she would have a complete environment she could carry around. I told the 10.10 installer from the Live CD to put everything on the USB, never dreaming it would also put GRUB on the on the hard disk! Now I have the dreaded GRUB rescue> prompt. It won't boot from the XP CD. When I try to install 10.10 to the hard disk it fails, complaining about problems with the partitions being too small.

I'm about ready to give up and restore the system from a GHOST image backup from last month, but she will loose a bunch of iTunes files.

I have a lot of ******* experience and some Ubuntu experience. Right now the only thing that will boot on her computer is the 10.10 live CD.

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

Steve

[drs305]

raargh,

Welcome to the Ubuntu forums.

From an Ubuntu Live CD you should be able to get Windows back with the following if you just need to restore the MBR (assumes Windows is on sda):

sudo apt-get install lilo
sudo lilo -M /dev/sda mbr

Don't worry if lilo complains about not being fully installed...

[raargh]

WoW!

Thanks for quick response, drs!

In between my 1st post and your reply, I was able to run the LiveCD and do some manual partitioning. Earlier partition attempts had tried to carve out about 8 GB from the 160GB sda that holds NTFS, but then the 10.10 installer crashed. I booted the LiveCD again and used the advanced/manual partition to create a / with about 2048 meg and a swap with about 2048 meg. That got GRUB working and I was able to boot to Windows XP SP3 from the GRUB menu, chkdsk ran and Windows seems OK. GRUB thinks it is on /dev/sd2.

But, Ubuntu 10.10 will not run - strange package errors.

Oddly now the XP CD will boot. But, when I press R to run fixboot and fixmbr, the XP setup complains it can't find any hard disks installed!

So, do you think I should still try to install lilo? Consider the following:

My goal now is to either:
1.] Get back to a Windows-only partition and MBR, the way it was before my retardation broke things. (I really just want to continue with the USB install to the 16GB stick, and have Ubuntu 10.10 fully self-contained on the stick so that Jewell can put it in random computers and have Ubuntu on the stick, without it coming up in the "try me" or "install me" mode - just the regular old Ubuntu desktop)
or
2.] Fix the Ubuntu partition so that I can get to the GRUB GUI configurator and set GRUB to default to boot Windows.

Thanks again!

Steve

[drs305]

No, I wouldn't run the lilo commands just yet since you now have a bootable Windows.

From your first post, I would suspect the most important thing for you is to have your daughter's Windows system working. If it is, leave lilo alone (although it should work anyway).

We can tidy up Grub and fix up other problems, but the best thing to do right now is to run the http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net.

Post the results here, between 'code' tags which you generate by pressing the menubar's # icon.

This script will tell us a lot about your boot files and what needs to be accomplished next.

I'll be logging off shortly but there are plenty of experienced people here who can help you out.

[raargh]

Ok, here is the RESULTS.txt: I really appreciate the quick response!

Can I trouble you to comment on my original goal of producing the self-contained Ubuntu on a stick? Is it as simple as installing it to the stick, but making sure that GRUB also lands on the stick, and not on sda? Again, my goal is to have it be bootable on random computers, and to not have it come up in the annoying "chose try me or install me" mode.

TIA,

Steve

                Boot Info Script 0.55    dated February 15th, 2010                    

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

 => Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in 
    partition #5 for (,msdos5)/boot/grub.

sda1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  Dell Utility: Fat16
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  Windows 95
    Boot files/dirs:   /IO.SYS /MSDOS.SYS /COMMAND.COM

sda2: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows XP
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files/dirs:   /BOOT.INI /NTLDR /NTDETECT.COM

sda3: _________________________________________________________________________

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

sda4: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  Unknown
    Boot sector info:  

sda5: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 10.10
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19452 cylinders, total 312500000 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sda1                  63       128,519       128,457  de Dell Utility
/dev/sda2    *        128,520   299,915,890   299,787,371   7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3         305,154,675   309,868,136     4,713,462  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4         299,917,310   305,154,047     5,236,738   5 Extended
/dev/sda5         299,917,312   305,154,047     5,236,736  83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL                         

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs                                 
/dev/sda1        07D4-0B14                              vfat       DellUtility                   
/dev/sda2        96144E28144E0C25                       ntfs                                     
/dev/sda3        2b07cc2f-4350-48ee-84cf-9fb079f34ab4   swap                                     
/dev/sda4: PTTYPE="dos" 
/dev/sda5        41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f   ext4                                     
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos" 

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev  output: ===========================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

aufs             /                        aufs       (rw)
/dev/sr0         /cdrom                   iso9660    (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)


================================ sda2/BOOT.INI: ================================

[boot loader] 
timeout=30 
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS 
[operating systems] 
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect 

=========================== sda5/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
  insmod vbe
  insmod vga
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f ro   quiet splash
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f
    echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f ro single 
    echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f
    linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f
    linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Professional (on /dev/sda2)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ntfs
    set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 96144e28144e0c25
    drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
    chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

=============================== sda5/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' 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/sda5 during installation
UUID=41dc4b2e-add8-493b-abe6-809791f6030f /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
/dev/sda3       none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0

=================== sda5: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


 155.3GB: boot/grub/core.img
 155.5GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
 156.0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
 155.4GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
 156.0GB: initrd.img
 155.4GB: vmlinuz
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader  on sda4

00000000  2f bf 0b 9f 81 44 e3 2c  71 c7 57 cf be 58 03 6c  |/....D.,q.W..X.l|
00000010  c8 0d e2 f5 41 65 fe e9  1f db 08 ae 01 33 86 60  |....Ae.......3.`|
00000020  dd f3 6f a4 21 15 c9 a5  b8 1e 47 3a cd 19 bf fc  |..o.!.....G:....|
00000030  eb a8 9a ea d8 db c0 42  0c 18 87 65 fa a2 f7 e8  |.......B...e....|
00000040  4e 1f 98 2e c2 d3 7c b6  b7 4a 46 bd 05 14 31 af  |N.....|..JF...1.|
00000050  a4 4c 01 32 03 32 b1 e7  dc c4 15 91 95 aa 29 ce  |.L.2.2........).|
00000060  ba 5e e0 bd 01 a4 d4 13  33 a5 5a f4 01 a0 19 e4  |.^......3.Z.....|
00000070  fd 90 8f df b6 55 98 03  54 70 1b 23 1e bf fd d8  |.....U..Tp.#....|
00000080  02 81 80 29 28 4e b3 c8  75 ac 83 6b ff ba 00 35  |...)(N..u..k...5|
00000090  00 d4 34 0a 30 60 67 db  ed 86 a5 96 e3 ab 89 a0  |..4.0`g.........|
000000a0  27 21 96 02 60 c2 69 45  fd f7 e8 2d 98 f3 3c 40  |'!..`.iE...-..<@|
000000b0  42 19 92 43 2c 4d 00 74  4c 70 c2 19 33 9c 94 3e  |B..C,M.tLp..3..>|
000000c0  15 f5 88 c6 ce 47 9b f7  bf 44 00 66 03 1e 08 9f  |.....G...D.f....|
000000d0  65 80 79 65 01 d0 06 24  3c 43 2b 96 1a 5f 43 b7  |e.ye...$<C+.._C.|
000000e0  df a9 bd d7 18 65 cf 02  89 21 13 3e 49 68 1b f1  |.....e...!.>Ih..|
000000f0  ca 72 2e 93 61 c1 53 7f  7e 08 07 69 f9 25 60 32  |.r..a.S.~..i.%`2|
00000100  4a dc 7a 59 c8 36 47 41  61 81 3f 27 75 1f 9b dd  |J.zY.6GAa.?'u...|
00000110  a0 0d 40 c0 69 08 98 1a  5e ec 63 0b 0f bb 04 d0  |..@.i...^.c.....|
00000120  1d 60 0c 40 32 26 80 e8  0a 16 90 ce f9 28 49 df  |.`.@2&.......(I.|
00000130  31 8a e7 5d 19 74 91 af  cd 86 80 c4 06 00 30 cc  |1..].t........0.|
00000140  59 34 a4 0e 46 ef c2 b5  e9 48 60 1a a4 87 ba 03  |Y4..F....H`.....|
00000150  1f 23 85 f6 be a0 42 00  54 01 78 0e 80 ae 25 a3  |.#....B.T.x...%.|
00000160  86 ee 7a 46 ba 85 bf 7b  e4 00 20 01 d7 2b 65 2f  |..zF...{.. ..+e/|
00000170  19 f3 dc 63 11 91 ff ef  ed 86 ad b6 55 da 03 01  |...c........U...|
00000180  bc 66 ef f0 bb 86 5a 76  51 b5 45 13 38 ef 82 ac  |.f....ZvQ.E.8...|
00000190  69 26 64 e1 76 a8 2f 63  dd 42 eb e5 3e ed 77 93  |i&d.v./c.B..>.w.|
000001a0  51 92 99 90 51 3a a5 28  fb c9 b7 b4 d7 2b 5e 4b  |Q...Q:.(.....+^K|
000001b0  b4 02 10 28 58 0e ca 25  64 8c c6 fb 93 bf 00 fe  |...(X..%d.......|
000001c0  ff ff 83 fe ff ff 02 00  00 00 00 e8 4f 00 00 00  |............O...|
000001d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa  |..............U.|
00000200

[raargh]

Hi

Sorry for hijacking this thread.

Been over a week with no reply. I really need to get rid of all partition modifications made to the disk by Ubuntu and have only a Windows XP system. I'm thinking of using Symantec gdisk32 /MBR, but would really like some feedback from the grub gurus first ... I've already decided to restore from image backup. Windows is damaged to the point where the XP recovery cd does not see any physical hard disks. Ghost 11.x from SS 2.51 does see various partitions.


Thanks,

Steve

[drs305]

If you restore your Windows partitioning scheme you may still have Grub installed in the MBR. Did your backup include a backup of the MBR which you can use to restore it?

If not, it isn't a big deal. You can restore the Windows bootloader using the Windows install or repair disk.

Here is a guide on restoring the Windows bootloader:
How to restore the Ubuntu/XP/Vista/7 bootloader

If your Windows install is restored intact and you just need the bootloader to point to Windows, you can do that from the Ubuntu LiveCD. Enable the 'universe' repository (System, Admin, Synaptic > Settings > Repositories). Then install and run lilo. Don't worry about lilo complaining about not being completely installed.

Assuming your Windows is on sda:

sudo apt-get install lilo
sudo lilo -M /dev/sda mbr