Can't boot anything

[AliPM]

Wired ethernet doesn't work in my LiveUSB environment, but it did work at one point because I managed to install boot-repair. I have no idea what changed to make it stop working, I wasn't aware that I had changed anything.

I ran Boot-repair and ticked 'uncomment GRUB_GFXMODE', but I didn't get any option to set the GFXMODE to 640*480, or indeed to anything. Is this something I need to set manually? Changing it and rebooting it didn't have any effect.

Also, running Boot-repair and ticking 'Add a kernel option: nomodeset' had no discernible effect.

Could it make any difference that I still have a boot flag on sda2?

Could it help if I installed the bootloader in sda3 instead of sda?

[oldfred]

Grub does not use boot flag. Windows would need boot flag on sda2 to boot Windows 7 directly or on sda1 to boot XP directly.

Grub has to be installed to sda, not to any partition unless you are using another copy of grub or some other boot loader to boot.

Unticking the gfxmode will default to 640x480. If that worked you then could reset to your screen size or back to using the installed video driver.

If you hold shift key down from BIOS boot screen at startup do you get grub menu?

[AliPM]

No, holding Shift down has no effect.

When say 'unticking gfxmode', do you mean 'ticking Uncomment grub_gfxmode'? I can try that again, but it didn't work before.

This forum post seems to suggest I may not be the only one with this problem:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/IdeaPad-...en/td-p/563823

[oldfred]

See this thread. Just use newer version.

How to install Ubuntu 11.10 on a Lenovo (U)EFI system (tested on S205, B570)
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...LAN/Power/BIOS
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1867367

Sorry, I missed that you had the S205 and there are details in above links.

[AliPM]

Hey, no need to apologise! The advice has been hugely appreciated.

The links do seem to indicate that I will have to use UEFI boot partitions - does that mean that XP is totally out of the question?

[oldfred]

XP does not work with gpt at all. Even Windows 7 will only boot from gpt with UEFI, but 7 will read gpt on another drive where XP will not.

[AliPM]

So now I'm back to where I started with the EFI partitioning process. Ah well, at least now I know that I have to do it with EFI if I want to dual-boot (this is how I understand it at the moment anyway).

The only reason I've been so keen to keep XP is that my S205 only has 2GB ram, and although I've bought another 2gb module, to install it in the laptop you have to take the whole back panel off. I tried doing this and one of Lenovo's crappy screws got stripped in the process, so until I find a way of taking the screw out and replacing it (they don't do spares) I'm stuck with 2gb. Running 7 with only 2gb seems to drain the battery quite a lot.

[AliPM]

I'm getting ready to have another go at a reinstall, and I have a couple of questions. @oldfred, when you say that

But if using gpt with Linux only, as Windows only boots from gpt partitioned drives with UEFI, you need a bios_grub partition. The bios grub can be anywhere on drive. Efi partition is suppose to be first.

does that mean that if I want to dual-boot I don't need a bios_grub partition? I'm a tad confused because later in the same post, you said that I would need

250 MB efi FAT32 (for UEFI boot or future use for UEFI)
1 MB bios_grub no format (for BIOS boot)

Does this mean I need both, or just one? Will it cause any problems if I have a bios_grub partition, even if I want to dual-boot?


Because you said that

Also 10.04 was not efi compatible, but I did use gpt partitioning and BIOS boot with a bios_grub partition without issue

I think I will play safe and use 12.04. Maybe I will just use the 32-bit version until I get the other 2gb ram installed somehow. It wouldn't be an issue uninstalling 32-bit and installing 64-bit, would it? Could I even have both installed side-by-side to test the difference?

I would do all the disk partitioning from the LiveUSB in advance of installing Win7, does that seem sensible?

[oldfred]

It depends on whether you are installing Windows and which mode, UEFI or BIOS. With Windows you can only have gpt partitioning if booting in UEFI mode, and Ubuntu only installs in UEFI mode with the 64 bit version.

If you are using BIOS and installing Windows you have to use MBR partitioning. Only if BIOS mode and just Ubuntu can you either gpt or MBR.

You can install 32bit & 64 bit side by side if you have 10 to 25GB for another / (root) partition. With 2GB you can run 64bit, I have it in my 6 year old laptop with only 1.5GB of RAM. That may be too little but it works. Some say somewhere between 2 & 3GB is break point between 32bit & 64 bit, but if adding memory I would definitely use 64 bit.

A bios_grub partition or efi partition only applies to gpt partitioned drives. If booting with UEFI you have to have gpt partitioning & an efi partition first. Only grub needs a bios_grub in BIOS mode with a gpt partitioned drive, but then you cannot boot Windows.

[AliPM]

I installed 12.04 32-bit without reformatting the disk (still in MBR), and it now boots up fine, GRUB shows XP and 7 and they all work.

One thing though - 12.04 seems pretty slow compared to win 7. Is this a common problem?