[Boot-Repair] Graphical tool to repair the PC boot in one click

[oldfred]

Once in a great while we see this issue with either bootinfo script or Boot-Repair which is running the bootinfo script.

Often related to file corruption. Did you have an abnormal shutdown, power failure or force shutdown? That can cause file corruption and then script cannot open a partition.

I might first try chkdsk on NTFS partitions and e2fsck on Linux partitions. I think Boot-Repair tries to run fsck on Linux but may not yet been able to. Yann knows details of his program.

#From liveCD so everything is unmounted,swap off if necessary, change example shown with partition sdb1 to your partition(s)
#e2fsck is used to check the ext2/ext3/ext4 family of file systems. -p trys fixes where response not required
sudo e2fsck -C0 -p -f -v /dev/sdb1
#if errors: -y auto answers yes for fixes needing response see man e2fsck
sudo e2fsck -f -y -v /dev/sdb1


And you only can run chkdsk from Windows, so Boot-Repair cannot run it. From Linux you can run some things that do very minor fixes to NTFS and set chkdsk flag so next time you boot NTFS it will run chkdsk.

[dez93_2000]

cheers Fred. No abnormalities in shutdowns etc on ubuntu so i'll assume it's the windows disc & give chkdsk a go from the recovery console on the xp disc.
The errant XP disc can be mounted in ubuntu but isn't in fstab... where's the best place to post bootinfoscript outputs in the hope that someone can give it a good eyeball?
In case it's here, the key bit, the XP disc, says:

sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Mounting failed: fuse: mount failed: Device or resource busy
fuse: mount failed: Device or resource busy

I'll try chkdsk now; if you have any "99% of the time that's due to X" instincts, please share!
Cheers man

Simon

[oldfred]

That mount error is usually resolved by chkdsk. If not hope you have a good backup of your data.

Sometimes it can just be hibernation also, as Ubuntu will usually not open a hibernated system to prevent damage.

[dez93_2000]

i guess (hopefully not too much more) time will tell!

re: backup - so although it doesn't show up in grub thus doesn't boot, it'll mount fine (not automatically at ubuntu boot tho) and i can read/write to it just dandy.
He says, hoping that that's still the case when/if i boot back into ubuntu!!

[YannBuntu]

Hi Dez,
if Boot-Repair hangs when the window says "os-prober", then the problem may be due to the 'os-prober' tool. You can check it by typing 'sudo os-prober' in a terminal.
Please also try Oldfred's suggestions, and have a look here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/boot-repair/+bug/1064323

[dez93_2000]

Hi Yann,

It doesn't hang, it just takes... forever, like 2+ hours. It completed fine and I ran chkdsk last night so I guess we'll see how the chips have fallen!

Cheers

Dez

[pulpo69]

Hi Dez,
if Boot-Repair hangs when the window says "os-prober", then the problem may be due to the 'os-prober' tool. You can check it by typing 'sudo os-prober' in a terminal.
Please also try Oldfred's suggestions, and have a look here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/boot-repair/+bug/1064323

i've a ubuntu12.10/windows8 installation(efi). boot-repair installed.
if i run sudo os-prober, the command gives no output. i don't know why.

[oldfred]

@pulpo69
I have never seen anyone run os-prober?
Not even sure you can run it on its own as it is run as part of sudo update-grub.

If booting with UEFI the os-prober does not work correctly anyway. You have to use Boot-Repair or manually add a correct boot stanza (like the old days).

grub2's os-prober creates wrong style (BIOS) chain boot entry
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...2/+bug/1024383
Type of entry that does not work:
'Windows ...) (on /dev/sdXY)'

[dez93_2000]

Hi guys, sorry if this is the wrong place to continue this problem-solve mission - if so please say so (& ideally where I should go). If someone can help me out here i'd be really grateful.

My system was:

sata drive 1 = sda = 500gb ntfs w/ winXP boot
sata drive 2 = sdb = 500gb ext4 w/ ubuntu 12.04 boot
IDE drive 1 = 300gb? ntfs = winXP boot. never use it to boot.

I upgraded ubuntu to 12.10 to solve some problems, but this meant the XP install on sda doesn't appear in grub thus can't be booted. I can access it from ubuntu. I ran fixmbr (resulting in 'no operating systems found', as expected, fixed with boot-repair from liveCD) then chkdsk /p then chkdsk /r. No change - XP install on sda still not recognised

My bootinfoscript output for the XP drive hasn't changed since doing fixmbr & chkdsk:

sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Mounting failed: fuse: mount failed: Device or resource busy
fuse: mount failed: Device or resource busy

Any thoughts on what's going wrong here? I can mount it when in ubuntu and use as normal.

Many thanks in advance.

Also, does anyone know of a way to say to ubuntu during upgrades "upgrade ubuntu, but there are other drives and they're all fine on grub so for god's sake don't f*** around with them, just leave them alone!"?

Cheers gents

Dez

[oldfred]

Grub reinstalls to where ever you originally installed it. New auto installs just install to sda, but if you use Something Else or manual install you can specify where to install grub2's boot loader.

(BIOS not UEFI) as BIOS uses grub-pc.

#To see what drive grub2 uses see this - grub-pc/install_devices:
sudo debconf-show grub-pc
sudo grub-probe -t device /boot/grub


#to get grub2 to remember where to reinstall on updates:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc
#Enter thru first pages,spacebar to choose/unchoose drive, enter to accept, do not choose partitions