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Thread: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

  1. #101
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Beans
    4

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    drs305,

    Thanks for the welcome and for your time. I completely understand if you do not respond to this until after your vacation. I am not running windows alongside this installation. I have verified that sda1 is my Ubuntu partition with the fdisk command, as well as attempted the e2fsck fix with no luck.

    ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

    Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x0009bc07

    Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    /dev/sda1 * 1 9328 74920960 83 Linux
    /dev/sda2 9328 9730 3227649 5 Extended
    /dev/sda5 9328 9730 3227648 82 Linux swap / Solaris
    ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo e2fsck -f -y -v /dev/sda1
    e2fsck 1.41.11 (14-Mar-2010)
    e2fsck: Device or resource busy while trying to open /dev/sda1
    Filesystem mounted or opened exclusively by another program?


    Currently I am waiting for the boot info to complete.

    ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script055.sh
    Identifying MBRs...
    Computing Partition Table of /dev/sda...
    Searching sda1 for information...


    It's been at it for 25 minutes now. I'll give it an hour before I come back and check it.

    *Its now been about 2 hours and no change in Terminal...
    Last edited by Cdocks; March 5th, 2011 at 01:23 AM.

  2. #102
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Beans
    51
    Distro
    Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    Thanks very much once again drs305 for your comprehensive reply, particularly nice of you when you're on holiday! And certainly no need to make any apologies!
    Most of the stuff you wrote went straight over my head on first reading, so it's now down to me to do some research as to what MBR etc means.......but I think it highly likely I'll be asking for more help shortly!
    Thanks again.

  3. #103
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Beans
    4

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    drs305,

    Thanks again for all of the support! After reading some previous post I decided to try parted magic. I was able to mount and access my drive with parted magic. Once I saw the drive mounted and was accessible I decided to try booting to it one more time before I attempt any fixes through parted magic. Low and behold it boots and asks to check my disk for errors(which some where found and fixed apparently). I have since backed up all my documents and files.

    I have booted to a cd and ran the the e2fsck code you had mentioned earlier, and received no busy message. I also ran the boot info script to see if there is any lingering issues.
    Code:
                    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 #1 for /boot/grub.
    
    sda1: _________________________________________________________________________
    
        File system:       ext4
        Boot sector type:  -
        Boot sector info:  
        Operating System:  Ubuntu 10.04.2 LTS
        Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img
    
    sda2: _________________________________________________________________________
    
        File system:       Extended Partition
        Boot sector type:  -
        Boot sector info:  
    
    sda5: _________________________________________________________________________
    
        File system:       swap
        Boot sector type:  -
        Boot sector info:  
    
    =========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================
    
    Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________
    
    Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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    *          2,048   149,843,967   149,841,920  83 Linux
    /dev/sda2         149,846,014   156,301,311     6,455,298   5 Extended
    /dev/sda5         149,846,016   156,301,311     6,455,296  82 Linux swap / Solaris
    
    
    blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________
    
    Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL                         
    
    /dev/loop0                                              squashfs                                 
    /dev/sda1        75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c   ext4                                     
    /dev/sda2: PTTYPE="dos" 
    /dev/sda5        dcddbc2f-7400-4ffa-ba50-6a59fa4c9b02   swap                                     
    /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)
    
    
    =========================== sda1/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================
    
    #
    # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
    #
    # It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/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
      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 ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
    }
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
    if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
      set gfxmode=640x480
      insmod gfxterm
      insmod vbe
      if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
        # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
        # understand terminal_output
        terminal gfxterm
      fi
    fi
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
    set locale_dir=($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 2.6.32-28-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-28-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro   quiet splash
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-28-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-28-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-28-generic ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-28-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-28-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-27-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-27-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro   quiet splash
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-27-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-27-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-27-generic ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-27-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-27-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-26-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-26-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro   quiet splash
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-26-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-26-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-26-generic ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-26-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-26-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-25-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-25-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro   quiet splash
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-25-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-25-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-25-generic ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-25-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-25-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-24-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro   quiet splash
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-24-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-24-generic ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-23-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro   quiet splash
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-23-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-23-generic ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-22-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro   quiet splash
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-22-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-22-generic ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-22-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro   quiet splash
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
    }
    menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
    }
    ### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
    
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
    menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin
    }
    menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,1)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c
        linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
    }
    ### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
    
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
    if [ ${timeout} != -1 ]; then
      if keystatus; then
        if keystatus --shift; then
          set timeout=-1
        else
          set timeout=0
        fi
      else
        if sleep --interruptible 3 ; then
          set timeout=0
        fi
      fi
    fi
    ### 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 ###
    
    =============================== sda1/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/sda1 during installation
    UUID=75fc7b82-e884-4d0d-80ac-48bac539236c /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
    # swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
    UUID=dcddbc2f-7400-4ffa-ba50-6a59fa4c9b02 none            swap    sw              0       0
    /dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0
    
    =================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================
    
    
      17.3GB: boot/grub/core.img
      47.8GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
      17.3GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
      17.4GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-22-generic
      17.4GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
      51.1GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
      54.7GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-25-generic
      68.9GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-26-generic
      70.5GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-27-generic
       9.5GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-28-generic
      17.3GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
      17.3GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic
      17.4GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic
      17.5GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic
      17.5GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-25-generic
      17.5GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-26-generic
      17.5GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-27-generic
      17.5GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-28-generic
       9.5GB: initrd.img
      70.5GB: initrd.img.old
      17.5GB: vmlinuz
      17.5GB: vmlinuz.old
    Should I still Purge and reinstall Grub? Once again Thanks truly for all the help. This is a work computer that I hadn't backed up for a while. A mistake I will not make again!
    Last edited by drs305; March 9th, 2011 at 06:29 PM. Reason: Added [code] [/code] tags for formatting.

  4. #104
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    Quote Originally Posted by Cdocks View Post
    Should I still Purge and reinstall Grub?
    First, congratulations on clearing the disk error messages.
    Have you tried booting it without the LiveCD? If so, what happens?

    The contents of RESULTS.txt appears normal. If it doesn't boot and you end up at a grub rescue or grub prompt, or get a Grub error message, you could try purging and reinstalling G2. This is what I recommend when things appear normal but the system still doesn't boot and it's a Grub2 failure.

    If you end up at a blinking cursor or get to the Ubuntu logo or further, it isn't a G2 issue.
    Back to Xorg...

    Retired.

  5. #105
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Beans
    4

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    Sorry I forgot to mention that I am currently using the Hard drive in question. I successfully booted and rebooted(without a LiveCD) several times since parted magic. Its running like charm! I will image the drive now that I know that Grub is fine. Thanks again!

  6. #106
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Beans
    117

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    Dear DRS305,

    I was referred to your post #41 by Oldfred. He thinks your post can help me. I'm supposed to follow the proceedure to uninstall Grub Legacy and Grub 2, and then reinstall Grub Legacy. I'm sorry, but I have no experience with Linux. Other than a few minutes examining a live CD bootup, I haven't even seen Linux run. Your procedure is not at all clear to me. Can you clarify some things for me?

    First of all, how DO you "chroot"? You never really explain it. Do I issue the command just once? Or before every other command? Also I have to tell the command WHERE the new root is?

    Secondly, must I have an internet connection to remove Grub Legacy and Grub2? Or install Grub2? Not going to happen. I have no way to get a wired connection to the machine, and I'm sure installing drivers for a wireless card would be too difficult for me from the command prompt.

    I have my XT4 root partition at /dev/sda9, and swap partition at /dev/sda10. I want Grub Legacy installed PROPERLY on the Ubuntu root partition, and NOT the MBR. What specific commands would I run from a terminal window to unistall Grub Legacy, and Grub2, then REINSTALL Grub Legacy to the root?


    Please don't ask me to justify in detail why I want to manually install Grub Legacy to the root partition, and use Windows NTLDR to chainload Linux. I've done SIX formats and full installations of Ubuntu 10.10 from the Live CD or Alternate Install CD over the past week. Even when I pursued a normal installation, OSPROBER has consistently failed to find my other installations, and Grub2 has failed to boot Ubuntu. I"m tired of wearing out my formerly new drive with lengthy re-formats and re-installs. I am even more tired of looking at a a black screen with a "-" or "Grub>" prompt. Oldfred has told me repeatedly how wonderful GRUB2 and OS-Prober are, but I've yet to see one bit of evidence that it's getting me any closer to using Linux. My last hope is a manual installation of Grub Legacy.

    Will you help me?

    P.S. One more thing....I have tried using SuperGrub to verify that my installation is bootable. That too has failed repeatedly. I always get a message that FSTAB is missing.. OldFred thinks there is something wrong with my system that I am not getting a full installation, but I got the motherboard replaced under warranty, but it hasn't made any difference. My BIOS settings are all the defaults. I' never get any error messages from the installer whether I installed Grub2 to the MBR, or not. I even tried to install Fedora 14 and got the same failure.

    Hope you can help.
    Last edited by Engineeringtech; March 15th, 2011 at 12:41 AM.

  7. #107
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Distro
    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    Quote Originally Posted by Engineeringtech View Post
    First of all, how DO you "chroot"? You never really explain it. Do I have to tell the command where the new root is?
    The procedure is laid out in the first post. Each step in the "Chroot" section is required for the procedure to run. Step 1 is the section in which the actual 'chroot' occurs.

    Secondly, must I have an internet connection to remove Grub Legacy and Grub2? Or install Grub2?
    You don't need an internet connection to uninstall Grub2. But you would normally need a connection to install grub legacy.

    Disclaimer: I cannot guarantee this will work, as I haven't tried it, but I will give you the basic outline. There will be more info you will need to know if you want to continue. Just ask. Do not purge any files at this time as this post provides a general overview but not the specific details.

    Without an internet connection you will not be able to download the necessary packages. You might be able to download the grub legacy package (grub_097-29ubuntu60_amd64.deb or grub_097-29ubuntu60_i386.deb) from another computer and put it on a flash drive. You could then install it if your computer has the required dependencies already installed. According to my version of 10.10, the required dependencies for "grub" are:
    grub-common
    udev (>= 117-5)
    ucf (>= 3.004-0ubuntu2)
    debconf (>= 1.5.19)
    util-linux (>= 2.15-1)

    You can see if they are installed by looking in Synaptic if you can run your Ubuntu OS, or you can mount the partition and explore the /var/lib/dpkg/status file to see if the packages are installed and of sufficient recency.

    If they are and you can get a copy of "grub.deb", you may be able to install it with the dpkg command. I'll give that to you later if you really decide to pursue this.

    I have my XT4 root partition at /dev/sda9, and swap partition at /dev/sda10. I want Grub Legacy installed PROPERLY on the Ubuntu root partition, and NOT the MBR. What specific commands would I run from a terminal window to unistall Grub Legacy, and Grub2, then REINSTALL Grub Legacy to the root ?
    I would have to refer you to old posts on how to set up Grub legacy to the MBR. I don't know if you can install it directly to a partition when you install Grub or if you would allow a normal installation and then move it to a partition. There are threads on this but I've not used Grub legacy in a long time.

    P.S. One more thing....I have tried using SuperGrub to verify that my installation is bootable. That too has failed repeatedly. I always get a message that FSTAB is missing.. OldFred thinks there is something wrong with my system that I am not getting a full installation. But I never get any error messages from the installer whether I installed Grub2 to the MBR, or not. I even tried to install Fedora 14 and got the same failure.
    oldfred is someone to listen to. He provides outstanding advice and knows his way around both Ubuntu and Windows. I'm pretty much worthless with Windows as I've been away from it for too long.

    If you are having a problem with fstab that is not likely to be a grub problem, and if SuperGrub also can't boot it would further the chances of some other problem.

    Please don't ask me to justify in detail why I want to manually install Grub Legacy
    I normally may provide pros and cons but generally will provide the advice requested as long as it conforms to the forum Code of Conduct and I have the time.

    IMO, as a relatively inexperienced Linux user I think you are probably trying to do things that will end up frustrating you. But how much time and energy you want to try to spend on this is up to you.

    If you still want to remove Grub2 and install Grub legacy, you will need to download a copy of the grub deb after you ensure you already have the necessary dependencies. If the dependencies are not aleady installed, you could get into 'dependency hell' trying to find all the needed packages.

    If you want to continue, have obtained a copy of the grub*.deb and have the required dependencies, let me know.
    Last edited by drs305; March 15th, 2011 at 02:05 PM.
    Back to Xorg...

    Retired.

  8. #108
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Beans
    117

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    DRS305,

    I said goodbye to Oldfred. I took 4 weeks of his time, and unfortunately, we never got a resolution. I have bothered him enough. And some other forum members were bothered by my posts. I 'm not going to make the same mistake here. If you're ok with it, I'll ask a few more questions and then say my goodbyes to pursue this on my own.

    This install / reinstall of Grub is all too complicated for me. I don't know about dependencies, or installing drivers from a terminal window. And I have no chance of getting an internet connection in here. I'm just going to get into more trouble.

    When I started this attempt to add Ubuntu to my system, I had a written proceedure from an old friend of mine that I'd used successfully to place Ubuntu 9.04 on a SCSI RAID array. Unfortunately, the RAID controller failed for unrelated reasons, and I probably had less than a half hour total time on Linux. It wetted my appetite.

    When I finally got a new dual boot setup on a FakeRAID array, I thought I could use the same steps to install 10.10 as I previously used to add 9.04. That involved putting "grub" in the root of the Ubuntu install partition (rather than the MBR),and "DD"ing the first 512 bytes of the partition to a file which could be called by the NT bootloader. I didn't realize that Ubuntu 10.10 had ditched Grub Legacy in favor of Grub 2. I also didn't realize I'd get so much grief from the Installer about my use of the Intel FakeRAID. (I eventually gave up on the RAID.)

    So the questions are:

    1. Is it even possible to chainload Grub2 to boot Ubuntu 10.10 in the same manner as was previously possible with Grub Legacy?

    2. Disregarding the bootloader issues, can you offer any ideas why my installations of Ubuntu 10.10 from the Alternate Install CD, and one from the Fedora 14 installer, could result in installations missing key files like FSTAB and MENU.LST? What could cause that? I never got any error messages from the installer. Is there any fix?

    3. Would installing 9.04 be a viable long term solution? Or is that a mistake? How long will it be supported?

  9. #109
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    First, although I don't know if this is causing problems, is to get rid of any residual RAID bits. Grub2 and RAID sometimes get along. I don't use RAID so I can't give advice on installing it, but to remove the remnants of a previous RAID setup you can run the following. Run the appropriate commands for whichever drive (sda, sdb, etc) you are trying to work with:
    Code:
    sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/sda
    sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/sdb
    sudo apt-get remove dmraid
    Chainloading is possible with Grub2. The problem with putting G2 on a partition is that if the files move Grub2 will break.

    I really don't know why fstab and menu.lst are missing. I guess I'd first boot to any OS and do a search for the files to confirm they are really missing.

    If they are found (especially Grub files) once you've booted an OS it's possible the BIOS doesn't see that part of the disk. Both fstab and menu.lst could have been rewritten and possibly placed near the end of the disk. I can envision cases where the BIOS couldn't find menu.lst before the system can view the entire partition.

    A BIOS limitation would explain why you don't get error messages. An OS would see the entire disk and think (correctly) that the installation was completed without errors. But if BIOS can't find the files it is looking for the OS will not boot.

    That's the only thing I can think of, but if your motherboard was still under warranty I would think the BIOS shouldn't be a limitation.

    As for 9.10, it's 'End of Life' is next month, so I don't think that is a viable alternative. It will still run, but there will be no support and you'll miss out on a lot of advances since it was designed.
    Back to Xorg...

    Retired.

  10. #110
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Bangalore, India
    Beans
    31
    Distro
    Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

    Re: HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD

    Indeed useful, it works for me.
    Thanks a lot.

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