GRUB issues....

[arandomstring]

Hey, everyone. I currently have a dual-boot setup with Windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.04

Whenever I start my computer after booting windows previously I'm presented with a different GRUB than usual. I recently downloaded and installed linux kernel 3.6.0 and made some changes to GRUB using GRUB customizer. So I have been doing some tweaking with those files. This leads me to believe that for some reason Windows is causing GRUb to load a previous grub.cfg (This one lists ubuntu with the 3.2 kernel only). When I power down after encountering this issue (I can't boot into Ubuntu from this old GRUB [gives me some error like ELF Magic: press any button to continue]) and restart the correct GRUB appears.

So overall I feel I somehow have GRUB installed in two places and would like to remove the old version. I don't know if this is even possible without a fresh install though. I have already tried boot-repair with custom options selected.

Thanks for your help!

[oldfred]

From Boot_Repair run BootInfo and post link to report it creates.

Boot Repair -Also handles LVM, GPT, separate /boot and UEFI dual boot.:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair
You can repair many boot issues with this or 'Create BootInfo' report (Other Options) & post the link it creates, so we can see your exact configuration and diagnose advanced problems.

[arandomstring]

Alright, my bootinfo can be found here.

Thanks!

[oldfred]

Correct pastebin - you have some extra characters.
http://paste.ubuntu.com/1274141/

You only have one grub.cfg or the menu. You have two MBRs and it looks like both are the same version of grub booting the same sda5 partition. (script may say same drive, but it is not).

Grub menu shows new 3.6 kernel & older 3.2 kernels.

It looks like you have one of the new Intel Smart Response like these:

Intel Smart Response Technology & Dell XPS
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2036204
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2020155
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2038121
Some info on re-instating
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2038121

But they installed to the SSD and broke the RAID. I do not understand how RAID with an SSD really speeds thing up much.
You may need to install the RAID drivers in Ubuntu but the Boot-Repair may have done that already.
sudo apt-get install mdadm

Are you hibernating in Windows? Or does the Intel SRT auto hibernate like the new Windows 8?

[arandomstring]

I don't hibernate but I see the hibernation file when mounting the windows partition so I'm assuming that SRT is auto hibernating it. Is there any way to fix this? I'll try installing the RAID drivers and get back to you.

[YannBuntu]

You may need to install the RAID drivers in Ubuntu but the Boot-Repair may have done that already.

It hasn't, because AFAIK there is no clue in blkid (or else) suggesting the presence of RAID.
FYI, if it had enabled RAID, we would have seen it in the log between

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :

and

=================== os-prober:

@madkristoff: please try Oldfred's suggestion anyway

[arandomstring]

Alright, I did sudo apt-get install mdadm, is there anything I need to configure to use it?

[oldfred]

I do not see any evidence of RAID either, but I thought that was how Intel configured it. Maybe it also is a setting in BIOS?

Normally with RAID you cannot use gparted, but have to use the RAID tools to edit partitions. I do not know RAID enough to know more.

[arandomstring]

Shouldn't deleting the extra MBR fix this issue? Is there any way to do that?

Because I tried a fresh install earlier today and the problem persists...

EDIT: The bootinfo says I have GRUB installed on sdb as well as sda. I should just remove the GRUB installation from that hard drive (an SSD) and this should be cleared up. Anyone know how I could go about that?

[oldfred]

It should not matter. If you do not use a boot loader in a MBR it does not make any difference that it is there. Only the one you set in BIOS needs to be up to date.

But I prefer to install different operating systems in each drive and have that operating system's boot loader in the MBR of the same drive. With your configuration I am not sure if that does work. The links I posted were users that broke the RAID, and just installed Ubuntu in the SSD. Last link was a user with Ubuntu on the same drive but reimplemented the Intel RST system.