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View Full Version : [ubuntu] Each Login changes GRUB



kunks112
February 8th, 2009, 06:46 AM
I have Ubuntu 8.04 install on one SATA drive. Vista on another SATA drive, and XP Pro on a back up IDE drive. When I first installed Ubuntu correctly everything was fine, however a couple days later when I turned on my computer my GRUB menus was changed.

For instance, my GRUB menu looks as the following




1. Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic
2. Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic (recovery mode)
3. Ubuntu 8.04.2, memtest86+
4. XP Pro (loader)
5. Vista (hd2)


At fisrt this was the case, now when I load GRUB and choose Vista I get XP Pro. If I try XP Pro I get an error, and when I load Ubuntu somtimes I get Ubuntu sometime I get an error.

Other times When I would select Vista it would load XP Pro, choose XP pro I would load Ubuntu, choose Ubuntu it would load Vista.

I ran boot_info_script and get the following


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

=> Grub0.97 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on boot drive #2 in
partition #1 for /boot/grub/stage2 and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
=> Grub0.97 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks on the same drive
in partition #1 for /boot/grub/stage2 and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows Vista
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 8.04.2
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/menu.lst /etc/fstab

sdb2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdb5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdc1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

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

Drive sda: __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sda: 300.0 GB, 300069052416 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36481 cylinders, total 586072368 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x1bf61bf5

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 63 586,051,199 586,051,137 7 HPFS/NTFS


Drive sdb: __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0009aac1

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 * 63 955,498,004 955,497,942 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 955,498,005 976,768,064 21,270,060 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 955,498,068 976,768,064 21,269,997 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive sdc: __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sdc: 4102 MB, 4102887936 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 498 cylinders, total 8013453 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0009305c

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdc1 * 34 7,984,304 7,984,271 b W95 FAT32


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

/dev/sda1: UUID="40BC2AF2BC2AE1E0" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="83e5bd57-791c-45da-a814-5ac0bf6b4a08" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb5: TYPE="swap" UUID="62132145-d060-460c-afeb-3d7dd27bfadc"
/dev/sdc1: UUID="200D-D515" TYPE="vfat"

=============================== "mount" output: ===============================

/dev/sdb1 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
/sys on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devshm on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/mike/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=mike)
/dev/sdc1 on /media/disk type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=hal,shortname=mixed,uid=1 000,utf8,umask=077,flush)

=========================== sdb1/boot/grub/menu.lst: ===========================

# 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=83e5bd57-791c-45da-a814-5ac0bf6b4a08 ro

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

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

## 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 xforcevesa

## 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 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic root=UUID=83e5bd57-791c-45da-a814-5ac0bf6b4a08 ro quiet splash xforcevesa
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic root=UUID=83e5bd57-791c-45da-a814-5ac0bf6b4a08 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, memtest86+
root (hd0,0)
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.



# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sdb1
title XP Pro (loader)
root (hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1

title Vista (hd2)
rootnoverify (hd2,0)
map (hd0) (hd2)
map (hd2) (hd0)
chainloader +1


=============================== sdb1/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sdc1
UUID=83e5bd57-791c-45da-a814-5ac0bf6b4a08 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /dev/sdc5
UUID=62132145-d060-460c-afeb-3d7dd27bfadc none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/scd1 /media/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

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


466.9GB: boot/grub/menu.lst
467.0GB: boot/grub/stage2
466.9GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic
466.9GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic.bak
467.0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic
466.9GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic.bak
466.9GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic
466.9GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic
467.0GB: initrd.img
466.9GB: initrd.img.old
466.9GB: vmlinuz
466.9GB: vmlinuz.old


help please

Thanks
Mike

caljohnsmith
February 8th, 2009, 03:23 PM
Hi kunks112, because you have Grub installed to the MBR of both your sda and sdb drives, the type of behavior you describe could be due to changing which drive boots first on start up. It looks like that could be due to your Windows XP drive not being detected, because the Boot Info Script results do not show your 100 GB Windows XP drive that was present a couple weeks ago when I helped you in this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1045706). First I would recommend restoring a Windows MBR to your sda Windows drive since Ubuntu is on your sdb drive, so how about doing:

sudo apt-get install lilo
sudo lilo -M /dev/sda mbr
Then reboot, set your BIOS boot order to boot the sdb Ubuntu drive before your other drives, and you should be OK. When you reboot, if you end up booting straight into Windows, you will know you are booting a different drive than the Ubuntu drive. But I think the root of your problem is that your 100 GB Windows XP drive is not being consistently detected, so you may have a hardware issue. Let me know how it goes.

kunks112
February 8th, 2009, 10:16 PM
Thank you for the reply. I thought it might be a hardware issue. Im thinking the easiest thing to do will be to transfer all the IDE drive data to a 3rd SATA and forget about using my 100GB IDE drive.

Im not sure what installing lilo was meant for.

However thank you for confirming my thoughts.

kunks112
February 15th, 2009, 05:57 PM
Update:

To confirm previous diagnosis, I have been watching my bios start-up screen to check whether each drive is recognized. Upon each time one of the drives is not recognized at start-up, I get into GRUB very quickly but have the same issue stated above.

Upon each time every drive is recognized, GRUB loads in very slowly (approximately 3'20") and am able to load any OS.

Is there a reason GRUB is so slow when all drives are detected?