Please help with boot problem/reinstalation of boot loader

[Elaphe]

Hello everyone!

I'm suddenly experiencing an issue with the dual boot setup on my Acer netbook, and I'm hoping for some advice on how to proceed. Let me appologize in advance if this has been asked and answered, but I can not seem to find a previous thread that addresses my particular issue. Basically, I reinstalled the Windows partition on my netbook, and now my computer fails after post just before Grub would start. I bel;ieve I just need to reinstall the bootloader, but I have no idea how to do this, and I have some concerns about loosing data, The details of my problem are as follows.

As mentioned, I have an Acer 1410 netbook, about a year old, and it came with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed. Although I have long been a dedicated Linux and Ubuntu user, I am also a student and I need to have Windows available to occasionally run software for some of my online classes. So I resized the Windows partition down to about 50 gigs or so, and the rest of the 200 gig hard disc was devoted to Ubuntu. At times I have reinstalled the Ubuntu OS, and once before I even reinstalled the Windows partition using the Acer utility included on the hard drive, and my system has always worked well for me until today.

But recently I was having some trouble with Windows Updates and since I keep no important info on that partition I decided this morning to once again reinstall Windows and start from scratch. Acer includes a utility to do this on the hard drive, so I rebooted, and then in Grub selected that "special" partition. The reinstall went just fine, and the machine rebooted. On reboot, Grub started and, just to make sure I didn't ruin my Ubuntu partition, I booted Ubuntu with no problems. I rebooted again and in Grub selected Windows this time. Windows started and began some normal looking "first-run" stuff, installing this and setting up that. The machine then rebooted again, and I was poised to select Windows in Grub, but this time no Grub. Shortly after post, right when you'd expect to see Grub, the screen goes black, the drive light is off, it hangs, then reboots. On reboot, the same thing; it gets up to where Grub would start, and fails in the same manor.

So I am now running off the Live version on my USB drive. I can see my Windows and Ubuntu partitions, and access my data. I assume that my bootloader needs to be reinstalled, but I can not find out to do that from the Live USB drive (and I do not have a CD drive to try either). Could anyone help me understand what went wrong all of a sudden, and what I can do to fix my problem? My concerns are: I do not have a Windows disc, and the Windows info is on the hard drive, so I must be very careful not to lose that partition. And, I prefer not to have to lose my Ubuntu partition. Although I have my most of my data backed up, a few recent files would be in jeopardy.

I'm sorry for the lengthy post. Any info would be greatly appreciated! I'll be watching this post very closly, so please let me know what other information you may need to best help me.

Thank you in advance for your help!

-Elaphe

[Quackers]

Please boot from the Ubuntu Live cd/usb and select "try ubuntu" then when the desktop is loaded make sure you have an internet connection and go to the site below and download the boot script to your DESKTOP and then open up a terminal (Applications > Accessories > terminal) and run

sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script*.sh

This will produce a results.txt file on your desktop. Please copy the contents of that file and paste them in your next post between CODE tags. For CODE tags click on New Reply (not quick reply)and then click on the # symbol in the toolbar.
This will give a full overview of your current system.
Thanks.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

[Elaphe]

Hello, Quackers! Thank you so much for your help! As requested, here is the contents of the results file generated by running that script:

                Boot Info Script 0.55    dated February 15th, 2010                    

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

 => Syslinux is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda
 => Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks on the same drive in 
    partition #6 for (,msdos6)/boot/grub.

sda1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  Unknown
    Boot sector info:  According to the info in the boot sector, sda1 starts 
                       at sector 0. But according to the info from fdisk, 
                       sda1 starts at sector 62.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/grub.cfg

sdb1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files/dirs:   /BOOTMGR /BOOT/BCD

sdb2: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files/dirs:   /bootmgr /Boot/BCD

sdb3: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  Windows 7
    Boot files/dirs:   /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sdb4: _________________________________________________________________________

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

sdb5: _________________________________________________________________________

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

sdb6: _________________________________________________________________________

    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: 4029 MB, 4029677568 bytes
124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1023 cylinders, total 7870464 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    *             62     7,864,823     7,864,762   c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


Drive: sdb ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sdb1               2,048    25,167,871    25,165,824  27 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2    *     25,167,872    25,372,671       204,800   7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb3          25,372,672   127,764,944   102,392,273   7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb4         127,766,526   488,396,799   360,630,274   5 Extended
/dev/sdb5         127,766,528   139,474,943    11,708,416  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb6         139,476,992   488,396,799   348,919,808  83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL                         

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs                                 
/dev/loop1       0911c6b2-9313-4eb5-87b0-1f90f3f1ad36   ext3                                     
/dev/sda1        7F90-B4AE                              vfat                                     
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos" 
/dev/sdb1        8200E31000E309CD                       ntfs       PQSERVICE                     
/dev/sdb2        429CE4469CE435D7                       ntfs       SYSTEM RESERVED               
/dev/sdb3        769C64B69C647293                       ntfs       Acer                          
/dev/sdb4: PTTYPE="dos" 
/dev/sdb5        fe38023f-3551-4ab2-8646-3a31560835b4   swap                                     
/dev/sdb6        01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec   ext4                                     
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos" 

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

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

aufs             /                        aufs       (rw)
/dev/sda1        /cdrom                   vfat       (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)


=========================== sda1/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================


if loadfont /boot/grub/font.pf2 ; then
    set gfxmode=auto
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod gfxterm
    terminal_output gfxterm
fi

set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray

menuentry "Try Ubuntu without installing" {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux    /casper/vmlinuz  file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash --
    initrd    /casper/initrd.lz
}
menuentry "Install Ubuntu" {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux    /casper/vmlinuz  file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper only-ubiquity quiet splash --
    initrd    /casper/initrd.lz
}
menuentry "Check disc for defects" {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux    /casper/vmlinuz  boot=casper integrity-check quiet splash --
    initrd    /casper/initrd.lz
}

=================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


    ??GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg

=========================== sdb6/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,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec
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,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec
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 2.6.35-25-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-25-generic root=UUID=01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec ro   quiet splash
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-25-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-25-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec
    echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.35-25-generic ...'
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-25-generic root=UUID=01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec ro single 
    echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-25-generic
}
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,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec 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,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec
    echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec 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,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec
    linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec
    linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ntfs
    set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8200e31000e309cd
    chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda2)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ntfs
    set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 429ce4469ce435d7
    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 ###

=============================== sdb6/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/sdb6 during installation
UUID=01c5fd94-4e26-448f-bf31-5231344351ec /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sdb5 during installation
UUID=fe38023f-3551-4ab2-8646-3a31560835b4 none            swap    sw              0       0

=================== sdb6: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


 133.8GB: boot/grub/core.img
 114.5GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
  72.5GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
 175.4GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-25-generic
 133.8GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
 133.8GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-25-generic
 175.4GB: initrd.img
  72.5GB: initrd.img.old
 133.8GB: vmlinuz
 133.8GB: vmlinuz.old
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader  on sda1

00000000  eb 58 90 53 59 53 4c 49  4e 55 58 00 02 08 20 00  |.X.SYSLINUX... .|
00000010  02 00 00 00 00 f8 00 00  3e 00 7c 00 00 00 00 00  |........>.|.....|
00000020  ba 01 78 00 f8 1d 00 00  00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00  |..x.............|
00000030  01 00 06 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000040  00 00 29 ae b4 90 7f 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  |..)....         |
00000050  20 20 46 41 54 33 32 20  20 20 fa fc 31 c9 8e d1  |  FAT32   ..1...|
00000060  bc 76 7b 52 06 57 8e c1  b1 26 bf 78 7b f3 a5 8e  |.v{R.W...&.x{...|
00000070  d9 bb 78 00 0f b4 37 0f  a0 56 20 d2 78 1b 31 c0  |..x...7..V .x.1.|
00000080  b1 06 89 3f 89 47 02 f3  64 a5 8a 0e 18 7c 88 4d  |...?.G..d....|.M|
00000090  bc 50 50 50 50 cd 13 eb  4b f6 45 b4 7f 75 25 38  |.PPPP...K.E..u%8|
000000a0  4d b8 74 20 66 3d 21 47  50 54 75 10 80 7d b8 ed  |M.t f=!GPTu..}..|
000000b0  75 0a 66 ff 75 ec 66 ff  75 e8 eb 0f 51 51 66 ff  |u.f.u.f.u...QQf.|
000000c0  75 bc eb 07 51 51 66 ff  36 1c 7c b4 08 cd 13 72  |u...QQf.6.|....r|
000000d0  13 20 e4 75 0f c1 ea 08  42 89 16 1a 7c 83 e1 3f  |. .u....B...|..?|
000000e0  89 0e 18 7c fb bb aa 55  b4 41 8a 16 74 7b cd 13  |...|...U.A..t{..|
000000f0  72 10 81 fb 55 aa 75 0a  f6 c1 01 74 05 c6 06 32  |r...U.u....t...2|
00000100  7d 00 66 b8 90 f3 15 00  66 ba 00 00 00 00 bb 00  |}.f.....f.......|
00000110  7e e8 10 00 66 81 3e 2c  7e cd c2 8f 72 75 76 ea  |~...f.>,~...ruv.|
00000120  40 7e 00 00 66 03 06 64  7b 66 13 16 68 7b b9 10  |@~..f..d{f..h{..|
00000130  00 eb 2b 66 52 66 50 06  53 6a 01 6a 10 89 e6 66  |..+fRfP.Sj.j...f|
00000140  60 b4 42 e8 7f 00 66 61  8d 64 10 72 01 c3 66 60  |`.B...fa.d.r..f`|
00000150  31 c0 e8 70 00 66 61 e2  da c6 06 32 7d 2b 66 60  |1..p.fa....2}+f`|
00000160  66 0f b7 36 18 7c 66 0f  b7 3e 1a 7c 66 f7 f6 31  |f..6.|f..>.|f..1|
00000170  c9 87 ca 66 f7 f7 66 3d  ff 03 00 00 77 17 c0 e4  |...f..f=....w...|
00000180  06 41 08 e1 88 c5 88 d6  b8 01 02 e8 37 00 66 61  |.A..........7.fa|
00000190  72 01 c3 e2 c9 31 f6 8e  d6 bc 6c 7b 8e de 66 8f  |r....1....l{..f.|
000001a0  06 78 00 be cc 7d e8 09  00 31 c0 cd 16 cd 19 f4  |.x...}...1......|
000001b0  eb fd 66 60 ac 20 c0 74  09 b4 0e bb 07 00 cd 10  |..f`. .t........|
000001c0  eb f2 66 61 c3 8a 16 74  7b cd 13 c3 42 6f 6f 74  |..fa...t{...Boot|
000001d0  20 65 72 72 6f 72 0d 0a  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  | error..........|
000001e0  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

Please let me know what else you may need to help me.

Thank you again!

-Elaphe

[Quackers]

I don't see anything wrong with the output of the boot script.
Am I correct in thinking that since you re-installed Windows, it hasn't booted to the Windows desktop yet?

[Elaphe]

I don't see anything wrong with the output of the boot script.
Am I correct in thinking that since you re-installed Windows, it hasn't booted to the Windows desktop yet?

No, not exactly. After I reinstalled Windows, I was able to boot into Windows once (and Ubuntu once before too), the Windows desktop came up, and it started a bunch of post-install configurations. Then it rebooted on it's own , and on that boot cycle the problem started. Ever since, I can not get to Grub, not even to select to boot Ubuntu.

Any further insight would be very, very helpful!

Thanks again!

-Elaphe

[Quackers]

Therein lies a problem.
If you have re-installed Windows from a recovery partition, I would expect Windows to be in the mbr of the disc. However, according to the boot script grub2 is installed in the mbr of sdb.
I presume that you don't have a Windows repair cd, or access to a usb cd drive. is that correct?

[Elaphe]

Therein lies a problem.
If you have re-installed Windows from a recovery partition, I would expect Windows to be in the mbr of the disc. However, according to the boot script grub2 is installed in the mbr of sdb.
I presume that you don't have a Windows repair cd, or access to a usb cd drive. is that correct?

That's correct, I do not have a disc, or even a disc drive. I should point out that this process has worked in the past when I've reinstalled Windows. Any further thoughts?

Thanks so much, Quackers!

-Elaphe

[Quackers]

I am dubious as to whether the re-installation was successful. As I said earlier I would expect to see Windows in the mbr of the drive, but it isn't. I suspect a Windows problem.
We can try installing Lilo, in place of Windows to the mbr and see if Windows boots. I suspect that it may not, and without a repair cd you don't have the necessary recovery tools.
If you boot from the Ubuntu live usb and open a terminal then copy/paste the following in, one line at a time and pressing enter after each line it will install Lilo. You can then reboot and see if Windows boots.
Bear in mind that this will wipe out grub2 from the mbr

sudo lilo -M /dev/sdb mbr

Edit I forgot something! Sorry.
You will need to enable the universe repository (System > Admin > Software Sources) by ticking the box for it
then when that's done the first line in the terminal should be

sudo apt-get install lilo

Then try the line above, sorry!

[Elaphe]

Hello again, Quackers!

I'm sorry I could not get back to you sooner, but I do very much appreciate your help!

I have always been fairly confident that the reinstall of Windows did succeed, since I was able to boot into it at least once. But rather than install good 'ole Lilo, I decided to try to reinstall Ubuntu 10.10 without selecting to format my partitions. I was hoping this would reinstall Grub without losing my data, and in fact this basically worked. Once Grub reinstalled I was able to find and boot into both my Windows partition and my Ubuntu partition. The only issue is that I lost some settings in Ubuntu, and I seem to have some conflicting kernel versions, but I am able to boot Ubuntu. I backed up the last few things I needed, and now I think I'll perform a clean install of Ubuntu, and I imagine that will set me straight again.

Thank you again for your time and help!

-elaphe

[Quackers]

You're welcome, and good decision!
Good luck.