Ubuntu won't boot when cloned onto identical machine.

**acpuck1** · August 10th, 2012

Ok, so here's the setup:

I created an image on machine A. I imaged it onto machine B. Machine B will not boot. No grub loader or anything. I put the HDD from machine A into B and it does not boot. Same results. I put the imaged HDD from B into the machine I created the image on: A and it works fine.

Is there something about Ubuntu that will only allow it to work on the machine it was originally installed on?

I called HP, where the machines were purchased from and they do not have a lock of any kind on the HDDs. They were meant to be imaged.

Is there a command or something I need to do to allow Ubuntu to run on another machine?

Also, is there anything I need to do to the image because the system is EFI?

To clone the machine I'm using Clonezilla. When I boot with a Live CD, the file system is all there along with the boot partition on the imaged Hard Drive.

When I try to boot the imaged HDD on a machine other than the one the image was created on, I get a blank screen with a flashing dash in the upper left corner.

**vexorian** · August 10th, 2012

Define not boot, if you specify the error message or lack thereof it will be easier to diagnose.

One time it happened to me that when moving ubuntu from a machine setup to another, the swap partition's address changed (somehow it was not using UUIDs). So I had to boot with a live CD and find out what is going on.

Try using the live CD, and see if the file systems were copied correctly. Verify with gparted that the partitions are identical. If all seems fine, try reinstalling grub : http://www.howopensource.com/2012/05...4-live-cd-usb/

**Ghost_Mazal** · August 10th, 2012

Sjoe. There are a few things that can go wrong with an image , but the fact that the original drive itself doesn't work either has got me stumped. That rules out about everything that can go wrong with a clone as it is the original.

So you have no error message or anything ?

**vexorian** · August 10th, 2012

The original drive does not work either?

How did you clone the image?

This reminds me of a time I used the command line to clone the image. But I accidentally cloned the empty hard drive on the hard drive that contained the data... Because I mistyped the syntax. The command line tool is ruthless and won't warn you that you are cloning an empty hard drive and that the result is a hard drive containing data will be removed.

So, better use the live CD to verify that your partitions are still there.

**acpuck1** · August 10th, 2012

The live CD shows the system files and boot partition are on the hard drive.

I am using Clonezilla to clone these machines.

**audiomick** · August 10th, 2012

Originally Posted by vexorian

The original drive does not work either?

You might like to look at the original post again. As I understand it, both drives work in the machine that was used to make the clone, neither drive works in the second machine.

To answer a question from the OP: no, Ubuntu does not do anything to stop and install being used on a different machine. There would also not really be any point to that as the license under which it is released allows as many installs as you want on any machine that you want.

What occurs to me is this business that micrsoft are pushing through with the secure boot. I gather that is related to EFI. I can't say anything definite about that though, as I have been ignoring the whole thing in the hope it would just go away...