Grub 2 hangs - "Grub loading." Ubuntu 9.10.

[berman56]

I just did a fresh install of 9.10 on my HP nc6400 laptop. I dual boot with Win XP. I've been running Ubuntu and XP side-by-side for a long time without trouble. After installation of 9.10, the computer hangs at "Grub loading." and goes no further - ie. it never gets to the grub menu (I've left it for a few hours and nothing).

Interestingly, if I reinstall Ubuntu, it allows me to boot successfully once. And then the problem recurs.

I would greatly appreciate any help!!!

Thanks.

[berman56]

I realized this problem is an "Undecided" BUG in launchpad:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/441941

At least I'm not the only person having this problem. A somewhat complicated workaround is suggested in the discussion but I am too scared to give it a go.

Oh well, 9.04 for now.

[berman56]

A user in the launchpad BUG discussion solved the problem for me:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/441941

I dual boot Ubuntu with Windows XP on an HP laptop (nc6400). Turns out that HP software appears to mess with MBR each boot and this trips up GRUB2. I uninstalled HP protecttools and HP recovery manager installer (unfortunately I didn't do this systematically and I don't know which is responsible) and then did a clean installation of 9.10 and everything works perfectly. No further GRUB2 trouble!!!:p

[PhoneixS]

A user in the launchpad BUG discussion solved the problem for me:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/441941

I dual boot Ubuntu with Windows XP on an HP laptop (nc6400). Turns out that HP software appears to mess with MBR each boot and this trips up GRUB2. I uninstalled HP protecttools and HP recovery manager installer (unfortunately I didn't do this systematically and I don't know which is responsible) and then did a clean installation of 9.10 and everything works perfectly. No further GRUB2 trouble!!!:p
Thank you for the info.

[s_raghu20]

Incidentally, my HP Compaq 6710b (with Vista Business) did not face any such issues during the upgrade.

Also, my home PC (self assembled - no branding) did not face any issues either.

should I be happy (that everything was fine) or should I worry more since it wasnt reported ? :D

[jwj12001]

I had exactly the same problem with my HP desktop and dual booting. If I booted into XP, next time Grub would hang. Uninstalling the HP recovery software fixed it. Thanks for the tip.