Cannot install GRUB at all

[Levan666]

Hello,
I realise this is quite a common problem however, i have thoroughly searched and used all the guides i have found to reinstall grub yet i cannot. The furthest i have gotten is by following this guide http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=922678 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=922678http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=922678)and that got me an error 2 at the GRUB Inisializing page.

The full story is, i reinstalled Windows XP which obviously got rid of the GRUB MBR, i rebooted into a livecd to restore it.
I typed:

Sudo Grub
find /boot/grub/stage1
and it came up with file not found.
With the command fdisk -l, it is shown that the boot partition is sda3 which is the windows partition, sda1 is the ubuntu and sda2 is the swap. I can post full output if it helps.

I can't go anywhere from this and would greatly appreciate any help that could be given.

[Mark Phelps]

I know this is nitpicking, but the way you posted the command it won't work. You need to do "sudo grub" not "Sudo Grub".

Also, after you do the grub command, do you get the "grub>:" prompt?

[Levan666]

Sorry, yes, it was unceccecary capitilisation. I did the sudo grub and it did give me the grub> prompt.

[meierfra.]

Try


sudo grub
find /grub/stage1
find /stage1


If both of the "find" commands return "file not found" and download the Boot Info Script to the desktop of the Ubuntu Live CD:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/bootinfoscript/

Then open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and type:



sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script*.sh

That will create a "RESULTS.txt" file in the same directory from where the script is run, namely your desktop; please copy/paste the contents of the RESULTS.txt file to your next post (use the code tags)

[Levan666]

Unfortunately those commands did not work, here is the result.txt:

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

=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: Grub
Boot sector info: Grub is installed in the boot sector of sda1 and looks
at sector 201949247 of the same hard drive for the
stage2 file, but no stage2 files can be found at this
location.
Operating System: Ubuntu 8.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/menu.lst /etc/fstab

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x406848f1

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 63 484,472,204 484,472,142 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 484,472,205 489,388,094 4,915,890 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3 * 489,388,095 976,751,999 487,363,905 7 HPFS/NTFS


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

/dev/sda1: UUID="1b2065ad-8bff-4ff2-99b0-122b3ec92de7" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda2: UUID="740a1cd7-f3d9-4710-9601-b7d204a7ae6e" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda3: UUID="88C0AEF3C0AEE722" TYPE="ntfs"

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

proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
tmpfs on /lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
tmpfs on /lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
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)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)


=========================== sda1/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=1b2065ad-8bff-4ff2-99b0-122b3ec92de7 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=1b2065ad-8bff-4ff2-99b0-122b3ec92de7

## 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 vga=791

## 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 Intrepid Ibex (8.10)
uuid 1b2065ad-8bff-4ff2-99b0-122b3ec92de7
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-11-generic root=UUID=1b2065ad-8bff-4ff2-99b0-122b3ec92de7 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-11-generic
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/sda3
title Windows 7
root (hd0,2)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1


=============================== sda1/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# -- This file has been automaticly generated by ntfs-config --
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>

proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda1 :
UUID=1b2065ad-8bff-4ff2-99b0-122b3ec92de7 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# Entry for /dev/sda2 :
UUID=740a1cd7-f3d9-4710-9601-b7d204a7ae6e none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/sda3 /media/Windows ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_AU.UTF-8 0 0

=================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


103.3GB: boot/grub/menu.lst
112.8GB: boot/grub/stage2
103.4GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-11-generic
103.3GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic
103.4GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-11-generic
103.3GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic
103.4GB: initrd.img
103.3GB: initrd.img.old
103.4GB: vmlinuz
103.3GB: vmlinuz.old

================================ sda3/boot.ini: ================================

[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

[meierfra.]

Try this in a terminal in the LiveCD:



sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt --recheck /dev/sda


Post the output of whose commands, reboot and hope for the best.

[Levan666]

here is the output:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt --recheck /dev/sda
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
Unknown partition table signature
The file /mnt/boot/grub/stage1 not read correctly.


and still no grub upon reboot :(

[meierfra.]

This won't cure your problem, but while I'm trying to figure out what to do next, could you post the output of:


sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
ls -l /mnt/boot/grub
ls -l /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc

[meierfra.]

After you posted the output I requested in my last post, download the attached file stage1.txt to the Desktop of your LiveCD. Then


sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt (ignore any "is already mounted message")
cd /mnt/boot/grub
sudo mv stage1 stage1.bu
sudo cp ~/Desktop/stage1.txt stage1
sudo grub

and at the "grub>" prompt


root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
quit

Before you type "quit" post the content of the terminal. Reboot and report what happened.

[Levan666]

Thank you very much for helping, i greatly appreciate it.


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls -l /mnt/boot/grub
total 224
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 197 2009-04-25 07:30 default
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 45 2009-04-25 07:30 device.map
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8660 2009-04-25 07:30 e2fs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8452 2009-04-25 07:30 fat_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 16 2009-02-25 04:59 installed-version
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9152 2009-04-25 07:30 jfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4241 2009-04-22 08:04 menu.lst
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4241 2009-04-22 08:04 menu.lst~
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4257 2009-04-10 11:49 menu.lst.backup
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7860 2009-04-25 07:30 minix_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 10132 2009-04-25 07:30 reiserfs_stage1_5
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2009-04-10 11:49 splashimages
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 2009-04-25 07:30 stage1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 110292 2009-04-25 07:30 stage2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9980 2009-04-25 07:30 xfs_stage1_5
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls -l /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc
total 271
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8660 2007-09-10 21:09 e2fs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8452 2007-09-10 21:09 fat_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9152 2007-09-10 21:09 jfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7860 2007-09-10 21:09 minix_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 10132 2007-09-10 21:09 reiserfs_stage1_5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 2007-09-10 21:09 stage1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 110292 2007-09-10 21:09 stage2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 110292 2007-09-10 21:09 stage2_eltorito
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9980 2007-09-10 21:09 xfs_stage1_5
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ hexdump -C
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$


The hexdump command didn't do anything for about 10-20 minutes and then it just gave me the ubuntu@ubuntu: prompt again.

[meierfra.]

the hexdump command didn't do anything for about 10-20 minutes and

Sorry about that. I forgot to delete that command.

The output of the other commands did not reveal any problems. So I doubt that the instruction from my previous post, will improve the situation. But you might as well give it a try.

[Levan666]

After you posted the output I requested in my last post, download the attached file stage1.txt to the Desktop of your LiveCD. Then


sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt (ignore any "is already mounted message")
cd /mnt/boot/grub
sudo mv stage1 stage1.bu
sudo cp ~/Desktop/stage1.txt stage1
sudo grub

and at the "grub>" prompt


root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
quit

Before you type "quit" post the content of the terminal. Reboot and report what happened.

Still receiving the same error


grub> root (hd0,0)

grub> setup (hd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... no

Error 2: Bad file or directory type

[meierfra.]

error 2 can be caused by setting in your bios. Did you have any changes in your bios since you originally installed Ubuntu?

error 2 can also be caused by problems with the filesytem, so lets run a file system check:


sudo umount /dev/sda1
sudo e2fsck -fyv /dev/sda1


Also undo the commands from my previous post:


sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
cd /mnt/boot/grub
sudo mv stage1.bu stage1

and then try to install grub again


sudo grub
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
quit

[Levan666]

I think i may have flashed my bios to a more recent version.
I ran the filesystem check but still receiving error 2 when trying to install grub.

[meierfra.]

Let's try one more attempt to install grub:


sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
cd /mnt
sudo cp {/,}etc/resolv.conf
sudo mount --bind {/,}proc
sudo mount --bind {/,}sys
sudo mount --bind {/,}dev
sudo chroot /mnt

and at the new prompt


apt-get purge grub
apt-get install grub
exit
Back at the normal prompt:


sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt --recheck /dev/sda

Reboot.

If this did not work:
Here are a couple of threads, where people were able to cure "grub error 2" by changing setting in their bios: (If you do change some settings, make sure to record the original setting)


http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=151682
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=933239

[meierfra.]

What Live CD are you using? Ubuntu 8.10? Or an earlier version?

[meierfra.]

Couple of more options:

1. Reinstall grub as follows:


sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
sudo mount --bind {/,}proc
sudo mount --bind {/,}sys
sudo mount --bind {/,}dev
sudo chroot /mnt
grub
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
quit
exit


2. Get the SuperGrub CD from http://www.supergrubdisk.org/
After you burned the CD, boot from the CD.
At the first screen choose

GRUB => MBR & !LINUX! (1) AUTO ;- )))

For more information see http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wiki/Howto_Fix_Grub

[Levan666]

Sorry for the late reply.
the command

ubuntu@ubuntu:/mnt$ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt --recheck /dev/sda
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
The file /mnt/boot/grub/stage1 not read correctly.

the part where it said stage1 could not read correctly is what made grub have an error 2, or so i think.

[meierfra.]

Try my suggestions from the last post before you investigate your bios. Maybe the problem is caused by the LiveCD rather than your bios. If that's the case, installing grub from the "chroot" or using Super grub might work.

[Levan666]

I have tried your alternate method for installing grub and it returned "mount: mount point proc does not exist" for the mount proc, sys and dev commands. Super disk also had an error of some kind. Just to be sure i used a different livecd from a different OS altoghter. I booted up Sabayon V4 and installed grub the simple way



grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
(hd0,0)

grub> root (hd0,0)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83

grub> setup (hd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)"... 17 sectors are embedded.
succeeded
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hd0)1+17 p (hd0,0)/boot/grub/stage2
/boot/grub/menu.lst"... succeeded
Done.

grub> quit

This all looked very hopeful, however, when i went to reboot, i still got an error 2.

[meierfra.]

"mount: mount point proc does not exist"

Oops, that was my fault. I left out a "cd /mnt". But since you got grub installed via the Sabayon V4 CD, no need to try this again.



i still got an error 2.

Darn. I still don't think its the bios fault. So try this


sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
cd /mnt
sudo cp {/,}etc/mtab
sudo mount --bind {/,}proc
sudo mount --bind {/,}sys
sudo mount --bind {/,}dev
sudo chroot /mnt
grub-install /dev/sda

[Levan666]

I am currently using the Sabayon CD as it supports my wireless card so i wont have to move all my stuff down stairs to the router just to connect my laptop to the ethernet port.

The output of your suggested commands:


sabayonuser@sabayonx86-64 ~ $ sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
sabayonuser@sabayonx86-64 ~ $ cd /mnt
sabayonuser@sabayonx86-64 /mnt $ sudo cp {/,}etc/mtab
sabayonuser@sabayonx86-64 /mnt $ sudo mount --bind {/,}proc
sabayonuser@sabayonx86-64 /mnt $ sudo mount --bind {/,}sys
sabayonuser@sabayonx86-64 /mnt $ sudo mount --bind {/,}dev
sabayonuser@sabayonx86-64 /mnt $ sudo chroot /mnt
id: cannot find name for group ID 11
id: cannot find name for group ID 409
id: cannot find name for group ID 410
id: cannot find name for group ID 411
root@sabayonx86-64:/# grub-install /dev/sda
You shouldn't call /sbin/grub-install. Please call /usr/sbin/grub-install instead!

Could not find device for /boot: Not found or not a block device.


This is very strange. If the windows MBR can be reinstalled in one simple command, GRUB should be able to aswell, i wonder whats gotten into my computer

[meierfra.]

sabayonx86-64

Is your ubuntu install 32 bit or 64 bit? One cannot chroot from 64bit LiveCD to a 32 bit installation.

Anyway, I'm out of time for today, but will check back in tomorrow.

In the mean time, you might check out the two threads concerning the bios,

[Levan666]

My computer is definitley a 32bit computer and im quite positve the Sabayon cd was also 32bit.

Some extra information that may be of relevance or may help is that the current installation of Ubuntu is 8.10, the live CD i was using was 7.10 along with Sabayon Four Oh (4.0)

[meierfra.]

My computer is definitley a 32bit computer and im quite positve the Sabayon cd was also 32bit.

Some extra information that may be of relevance or may help is that the current installation of Ubuntu is 8.10, the live CD i was using was 7.10 along with Sabayon Four Oh (4.0)

O.K I think some of your problems might have been caused by the 7.10 LiveCD. But using the 7.10 LiveCD should be ok, as long as we run all the relevant commands from a chroot. So lets try one more time to reinstall grub.
Boot from the Ubuntu 7.10 LiveCD


sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
cd /mnt
sudo cp {/,}etc/resolv.conf
sudo mount --bind {/,}proc
sudo mount --bind {/,}sys
sudo mount --bind {/,}dev
sudo chroot /mnt

and at the new prompt



apt-get purge grub
apt-get install grub
grep -v rootfs /proc/mounts> /etc/mtab
grub-install --recheck /dev/sda


Post the whole content of the terminal.


exit

Post the whole content of the terminal.

Then reboot and let me know exactly what happens when you try to boot into Ubuntu.

[Levan666]

It worked!!!!
Thank you so much!!
Rebooted into grub with no problems and booted up Ubuntu without a hitch.

Once again, thank you so much!!:):):):)

[meierfra.]

It worked!!!!
Great. Sorry that it took me so long to figure out the correct commands to reinstall grub, but both of your LiveCDs seem to have problems with your Ubuntu installation.

Have fun with Jaunty and XP.