Need help with first Ubuntu run

**sixeight327** · June 21st, 2011

Hello all,

I am new to Ubuntu and linux in general. After trying Ubuntu from a live usb, I finally decided to install it to my hard drive alongside Windows 7. Before installing, I created new partitions for the installation of linux. One 4 GB partition for swap, one 10 GB partition for /, and a separate 10 GB partition for /home. The installation seemingly went smoothly, however i have not been able to actually boot from the hard drive. When my pc restarted, it booted windows. The data from the installation is still on my hard drive, I checked. If anyone could instruct me on how to actually boot Ubuntu, it would be greatly appreciated.

**Quackers** · June 21st, 2011

Welcome to UF.
Where did you install grub to?

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. This will give you a zip file which should be extracted in the same directory as it was downloaded. This produces a folder which contains the script and a changelog file.
You then need to cd to that directory in the terminal (for example

Code:

 cd Downloads/boot_info_script060

if you downloaded it to your Downloads folder). You don't need to do that if you downloaded it to your home folder.
Then enter

Code:

sudo bash boot_info_script.sh

This will produce a results.txt file in the same directory as the downloaded boot script. 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/

**sixeight327** · June 21st, 2011

This is what my results.txt file says.

Code:

Boot Info Script 0.60    from 17 May 2011


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

 => Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
 => Syslinux MBR (4.04 and higher) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.

sda1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  Unknown
    Boot sector info:   No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        /bootmgr /boot/bcd

sda2: __________________________________________________________________________

    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:        /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda3: __________________________________________________________________________

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

sda4: __________________________________________________________________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
    Boot sector info:   According to the info in the boot sector, sda5 starts 
                       at sector 2048.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        

sda6: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  Grub2 (v1.99)
    Boot sector info:   Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the boot sector of sda6 
                       and looks at sector 586663192 of the same hard drive 
                       for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks 
                       for (,msdos6)/boot/grub on this drive.
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 11.04
    Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda7: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        

sdb1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  SYSLINUX 4.04 2011-04-18
    Boot sector info:   Syslinux looks at sector 30542 of /dev/sdb1 for its 
                       second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the  directory. 
                       The integrity check of the ADV area failed. No errors 
                       found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /syslinux/syslinux.cfg /ldlinux.sys

sdb4: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext3
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        

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

Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sda1               2,048    30,716,279    30,714,232  1c Hidden W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2    *     30,717,952   178,810,879   148,092,928   7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda3         178,810,880   187,000,831     8,189,952  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4         187,004,926   625,139,711   438,134,786   f W95 Extended (LBA)
/dev/sda5         187,004,928   586,389,503   399,384,576   7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda6         586,391,552   605,642,751    19,251,200  83 Linux
/dev/sda7         605,644,800   625,139,711    19,494,912  83 Linux


Drive: sdb _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 4016 MB, 4016045568 bytes
124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1020 cylinders, total 7843839 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sdb1    *             38     7,839,719     7,839,682   c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdb4           7,839,720     7,843,838         4,119  83 Linux


"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs   
/dev/loop1       fdc7d379-4aeb-ee47-a4ed-8cdde2813fcf   ext2       casper-rw
/dev/sda1        3C98-AC5D                              vfat       RECOVERY
/dev/sda2        7E8EB6A58EB6557D                       ntfs       OS
/dev/sda3        c27891ae-75a4-40c2-b87c-eb04e8d827a1   swap       
/dev/sda5        20BEB85FBEB82F62                       ntfs       DATA
/dev/sda6        bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95   ext4       
/dev/sda7        e688f88b-67a5-411c-8426-c53a4064eafb   ext4       
/dev/sdb1        0B0A-2B32                              vfat       PENDRIVE
/dev/sdb4        f9debb01-4d99-4be2-8dc4-8520d694b508   ext3       hybrid

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop1       /media/casper-rw         ext2       (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sda5        /media/DATA              fuseblk    (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions)
/dev/sda6        /media/bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95 ext4       (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sda7        /media/e688f88b-67a5-411c-8426-c53a4064eafb ext4       (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdb1        /cdrom                   vfat       (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sdb4        /media/hybrid            ext3       (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)


=========================== sda6/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 video_bochs
  insmod video_cirrus
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
if [ "${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
if background_color 44,0,30; then
  clear
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
if [ ${recordfail} != 1 ]; then
  if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
    if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
      if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
        set linux_gfx_mode=keep
      else
        set linux_gfx_mode=text
      fi
    else
      set linux_gfx_mode=text
    fi
  else
    set linux_gfx_mode=keep
  fi
else
  set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode
if [ "$linux_gfx_mode" != "text" ]; then load_video; fi
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-8-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(/dev/sda,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95 ro   quiet splash vt.handoff=7
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-8-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(/dev/sda,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95
    echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.38-8-generic ...'
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95 ro single 
    echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-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='(/dev/sda,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95
    linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(/dev/sda,msdos6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95
    linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows Recovery Environment (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" --class windows --class os {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod fat
    set root='(/dev/sda,msdos1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3c98-ac5d
    drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
    chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda2)" --class windows --class os {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ntfs
    set root='(/dev/sda,msdos2)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7E8EB6A58EB6557D
    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 ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============================== sda6/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/sda6 during installation
UUID=bab33082-7eed-4e8e-a6d2-5ffd64b96c95 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda7 during installation
UUID=e688f88b-67a5-411c-8426-c53a4064eafb /home           ext4    defaults        0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
#UUID=c27891ae-75a4-40c2-b87c-eb04e8d827a1 none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/mapper/cryptswap1 none swap sw 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sda6: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

 279.742835999 = 300.371582976  boot/grub/core.img                             1
 286.182037354 = 307.285622784  boot/grub/grub.cfg                             1
 282.365482330 = 303.187628032  boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic               2
 280.415401459 = 301.093744640  boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic                  1
 282.365482330 = 303.187628032  initrd.img                                     2
 280.415401459 = 301.093744640  vmlinuz                                        1

=========================== sdb1/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
}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

========================= sdb1/syslinux/syslinux.cfg: ==========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# D-I config version 2.0
include menu.cfg
default vesamenu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 50

# If you would like to use the new menu and be presented with the option to install or run from USB at startup, remove # from the following line. This line was commented out (by request of many) to allow the old menu to be presented and to enable booting straight into the Live Environment! 
# ui gfxboot bootlogo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sdb1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

            ?? = ??             boot/grub/grub.cfg                             1

================= sdb1: Location of files loaded by Syslinux: ==================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

            ?? = ??             ldlinux.sys                                    1
            ?? = ??             syslinux/gfxboot.c32                           1
            ?? = ??             syslinux/syslinux.cfg                          1
            ?? = ??             syslinux/vesamenu.c32                          1

============== sdb1: Version of COM32(R) files used by Syslinux: ===============

 syslinux/gfxboot.c32               :  COM32R module (v4.xx)
 syslinux/vesamenu.c32              :  COM32R module (v4.xx)

======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ========================

Unknown BootLoader on sda1

00000000  eb 58 90 4d 53 44 4f 53  35 2e 30 00 02 10 24 00  |.X.MSDOS5.0...$.|
00000010  02 00 00 00 00 f8 00 00  3f 00 ff 00 00 08 00 00  |........?.......|
00000020  78 a9 d4 01 87 3a 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  80 00 29 5d ac 98 3c 4e  4f 20 4e 41 4d 45 20 20  |..)]..<NO NAME  |
00000050  20 20 46 41 54 33 32 20  20 20 33 c9 8e d1 bc f4  |  FAT32   3.....|
00000060  7b 8e c1 8e d9 bd 00 7c  88 4e 02 8a 56 40 b4 41  |{......|.N..V@.A|
00000070  bb aa 55 cd 13 72 10 81  fb 55 aa 75 0a f6 c1 01  |..U..r...U.u....|
00000080  74 05 fe 46 02 eb 2d 8a  56 40 b4 08 cd 13 73 05  |t..F..-.V@....s.|
00000090  b9 ff ff 8a f1 66 0f b6  c6 40 66 0f b6 d1 80 e2  |.....f...@f.....|
000000a0  3f f7 e2 86 cd c0 ed 06  41 66 0f b7 c9 66 f7 e1  |?.......Af...f..|
000000b0  66 89 46 f8 83 7e 16 00  75 38 83 7e 2a 00 77 32  |f.F..~..u8.~*.w2|
000000c0  66 8b 46 1c 66 83 c0 0c  bb 00 80 b9 01 00 e8 2b  |f.F.f..........+|
000000d0  00 e9 2c 03 a0 fa 7d b4  7d 8b f0 ac 84 c0 74 17  |..,...}.}.....t.|
000000e0  3c ff 74 09 b4 0e bb 07  00 cd 10 eb ee a0 fb 7d  |<.t............}|
000000f0  eb e5 a0 f9 7d eb e0 98  cd 16 cd 19 66 60 80 7e  |....}.......f`.~|
00000100  02 00 0f 84 20 00 66 6a  00 66 50 06 53 66 68 10  |.... .fj.fP.Sfh.|
00000110  00 01 00 b4 42 8a 56 40  8b f4 cd 13 66 58 66 58  |....B.V@....fXfX|
00000120  66 58 66 58 eb 33 66 3b  46 f8 72 03 f9 eb 2a 66  |fXfX.3f;F.r...*f|
00000130  33 d2 66 0f b7 4e 18 66  f7 f1 fe c2 8a ca 66 8b  |3.f..N.f......f.|
00000140  d0 66 c1 ea 10 f7 76 1a  86 d6 8a 56 40 8a e8 c0  |.f....v....V@...|
00000150  e4 06 0a cc b8 01 02 cd  13 66 61 0f 82 75 ff 81  |.........fa..u..|
00000160  c3 00 02 66 40 49 75 94  c3 42 4f 4f 54 4d 47 52  |...f@Iu..BOOTMGR|
00000170  20 20 20 20 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |    ............|
00000180  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
000001a0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 0d 0a 52 65  |..............Re|
000001b0  6d 6f 76 65 20 64 69 73  6b 73 20 6f 72 20 6f 74  |move disks or ot|
000001c0  68 65 72 20 6d 65 64 69  61 2e ff 0d 0a 44 69 73  |her media....Dis|
000001d0  6b 20 65 72 72 6f 72 ff  0d 0a 50 72 65 73 73 20  |k error...Press |
000001e0  61 6e 79 20 6b 65 79 20  74 6f 20 72 65 73 74 61  |any key to resta|
000001f0  72 74 0d 0a 00 00 00 00  00 ac cb d8 00 00 55 aa  |rt............U.|
00000200


=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

unlzma: Decoder error
boot_info_script.sh: line 1579: [: 2.73495e+09: integer expression expected

**Quackers** · June 21st, 2011

You have installed grub to the Ubuntu root partition, sda6. This is not where grub normally needs to be.
It should be in the mbr of the hard drive - ie /dev/sda

From the live cd desktop please open a terminal and copy/paste these commands into it, one at a time, pressing enter after each line.

Code:

sudo mount /dev/sda6 /mnt  
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

This should report "installation finished. No errors"
If it does, please reboot, when Ubuntu should boot directly.
In your new Ubuntu desktop open up a terminal and run

Code:

sudo update-grub

and watch as grub.cfg is configured. You should see the Windows Loader appear. If so, when that's finished, you can reboot, when you should see a grub menu with a choice of which system to boot.

**sixeight327** · June 21st, 2011

Ok so i am using a different computer for this post. The computer in which i have installed ubuntu is at the grub menu. How do I go about booting up?

**Quackers** · June 21st, 2011

At the grub menu? What does it say?
It should be a list of operating systems and kernels with the top item (Ubuntu) highlighted. It should boot by default on its own if you leave it until the timer counts down.
Or you can press enter.

But I suspect that's not what you're seeing, is it?

**sixeight327** · June 21st, 2011

There wasnt a timer or any options,

grub>

is all it says

**Quackers** · June 21st, 2011

Is your usb flash drive still plugged in? Try without.

**sixeight327** · June 21st, 2011

I just unplugged the flash drive. Nothing changed.

**Quackers** · June 21st, 2011

Please boot from the live cd/usb again and re-run the boot script and post the output.
There are a couple of oddities in your previous boot script.
The first is that the flash drive seems to have a problem

Code:

sdb1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  SYSLINUX 4.04 2011-04-18
    Boot sector info:   Syslinux looks at sector 30542 of /dev/sdb1 for its 
                       second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the  directory. 
                       The integrity check of the ADV area failed. No errors 
                       found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /syslinux/syslinux.cfg /ldlinux.sys

and the second problem seems to be an encrypted swap partition?? Or is it using LVM or raid? Not sure what this is

Code:

# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
#UUID=c27891ae-75a4-40c2-b87c-eb04e8d827a1 none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/mapper/cryptswap1 none swap sw 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------