[SOLVED] GRUB error

[abuakel]

Thanks, I've bookmarked that page since I've gotta go to a friends house and install a dual boot of Ubuntu and Vista. I've never dual booted.. on my laptop, I just wiped XP since I didn't care from it with the Guided Installation by using the whole disk

The reason why I dual booted on my Vista box was because I wanted to make sure I knew how to handle everything in case anything went wrong at my friend's house.
And, now, I've figured it out thanks to this thread and that thread you linked me to.. thanks again.

[abuakel]

You marked this thread solved but if you are still having problems, read on ...

Grub thinks that windows is on the third partition of the first drive and linux is on the 5th partition of the second drive. Due to grub's methodology, these two are designated (hd0,2) and (hd1,4), which is what grub shows.

Grub Error 22 means grub is having problems locating partitions. At this point, I'll refer you to another post rather than recopy the commands. It will run the "sudo grub" command and take you through a restoration. Try it and then come back here. I'll edit this post to put down the commands but without the explanation.

So now please refer to this link unless someone has already responded in this post:
How to restore Grub from a live Ubuntu cd.

That post, in short:
sudo grub
At grub prompt:
find /boot/grub/stage1
Input result in:
root (hd?,?)
setup (hd0)
quit

I guess it's not solved anymore.. lol, you were right.
I've followed what you suggested and followed the commands in the link you've attached, but I still get the same GRUB error.

[drs305]

Is the Vista root still listed as (hd0,2) in your current menu.lst? You might try swapping it and the one listed for the Dell Utility Partition, making Vista (hd0,0). That is where windows often resides, but who knows.

Sorry you aren't getting any more responses. Although I have a dual-boot machine, I've not had grub errors with it. Hopefully you will get some experienced windows users to help you here.

[abuakel]

Is the Vista root still listed as (hd0,2) in your current menu.lst? You might try swapping it and the one listed for the Dell Utility Partition, making Vista (hd0,0). That is where windows often resides, but who knows.

Sorry you aren't getting any more responses. Although I have a dual-boot machine, I've not had grub errors with it. Hopefully you will get some experienced windows users to help you here.

It's alright..
This is the menu list right?

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default		0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		10

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root		(hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader	+1
#
# title		Linux
# root		(hd0,1)
# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=ecafd647-4905-4716-ab3b-b392f969ec93 ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd1,4)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
##      lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title		Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=ecafd647-4905-4716-ab3b-b392f969ec93 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=ecafd647-4905-4716-ab3b-b392f969ec93 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic

title		Ubuntu 8.04, memtest86+
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title		Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title		Dell Utility Partition
root		(hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader	+1


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda3
title		Windows Vista/Longhorn (loader)
root		(hd0,2)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader	+1

[drs305]

Yes, that's it. At least you have had practice mounting the linux partition with the livecd...

[abuakel]

Yes, that's it. At least you have had practice mounting the linux partition with the livecd...

haha, I've learned soo much just with this error.

I've figured out where Ubuntu is. but how can I tell where the Vista root is?

$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xe0000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1           5       40131   de  Dell Utility
/dev/sda2               6        1311    10485760    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3   *        1311       21063   158660608    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4           21063       38914   143382528    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5           21063       38914   143381504    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 203.9 GB, 203928109056 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24792 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x30d3dd7e

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1       23391   187882496    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2           23392       24792    11253532+   5  Extended
/dev/sdb5           23392       24727    10731388+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb6           24728       24792      522081   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdc: 8017 MB, 8017412096 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 30584 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1               1       30584     7829488    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

[abuakel]

I fixed my problem by going into the BIOS and disabling RAID or putting RAID on auto..

Unutbu informed me that "RAID is for making multiple hard drives seem like one (for better throughput and data reliability). Given that you have Vista on one hard drive and Ubuntu on the other, you are using the two hard drives as independent devices. This disqualifies you for RAID."

soo, after putting it on auto, I was able to boot into Ubuntu, but a new problem occurred with Vista.. it just won't boot.

Edit: Computers are strange things.. I re-enable RAID to see if Vista would work.. and low and behold, it did!!.. along with Ubuntu.. This has given me the biggest head ache since getting USB support working in Virtualbox. lol

Edit 2: ^^ Computer's aren't strange things.. Microsoft Vista is the strange one.

This has been officially solved <-- and hopefully I'm not speaking too soon like last time, where the next day, I was back with GRUB Error 22. But I've rebooted and rebooted into both systems various times, without problem.. so I'm hoping it'll stay that way.