GRUB problems on dual boot

[usafwings]

I have a problem that I don't exactly know how to diagnose, as I'm a new user to Ubuntu and Linux.

I was trying to set up my GRUB menu in terminal because I just installed Windows XP SP3. I've got a 500 G HDD and Each OS is set-up on their own partition.

fdisk -1 does not work:




ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ fdisk -1
fdisk: invalid option -- '1'


Usage: fdisk [-b SSZ] [-u] DISK Change partition table
fdisk -l [-b SSZ] [-u] DISK List partition table(s)
fdisk -s PARTITION Give partition size(s) in blocks
fdisk -v Give fdisk version
Here DISK is something like /dev/hdb or /dev/sda
and PARTITION is something like /dev/hda7
-u: give Start and End in sector (instead of cylinder) units
-b 2048: (for certain MO disks) use 2048-byte sectors


Apparently terminal from a LiveCD-boot can't even find my partitions. GParted can, though. My Ubuntu install is perfectly in tact as well as the XP installation. XP flag is boot. I tried the reverse, and that was a no-go.

I also get this list of nonsense when I enter grub on terminal - which I couldn't until I reinstalled it.

Finally I typed grub in terminal and:

grub> root (hd0,0)
Error 21: Selected disk does not exist
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
Error 15: File not found
grub> find /boot/grub/stage2
Error 15: File not found

Oh, sudo gedit grub/boot/menu.lst (or the like - still can't remember it off the top of my head) renders a big zip. Nothing displays in the menu list. What gives??

Thanks for any input. I know both installations are correct, if I can only get the GRUB working and get the system to find my partitions. Thanks again! ):P

wings

[registerkar]

Hi...I to am a linux newbie

If u r using Ubuntu 9.10 then this version uses Grub 2 & not Grub 1 as in 9.04
So boot in Ubuntu & type 'sudo update-grub' in terminal
Grub will detect all your installed OS & u should boot in both OS.

Can u just let us know about which version u r using?...

[jheaton5]

You have a typo in your fdisk command it is l not 1

try again: fdisk -l

[usafwings]

Yes it's 9.10.

I thought it was l and not 1 as well at first, but I got an error message doing that. I'll check and see if it wasn't just operator error. Thanks for the help!

):P
wings

[jheaton5]

If u r using Ubuntu 9.10 then this version uses Grub 2 & not Grub 1 as in 9.04
So boot in Ubuntu & type 'sudo update-grub' in terminal
Grub will detect all your installed OS & u should boot in both OS.

That is the right answer if you are using grub2.

[usafwings]

Tried and failed. Any other ideas? :)

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo update-grub
grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ fdisk -l
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$


):P
wings

[usafwings]

Also:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ fdisk -u

Usage: fdisk [-l] [-b SSZ] [-u] device
E.g.: fdisk /dev/hda (for the first IDE disk)
or: fdisk /dev/sdc (for the third SCSI disk)
or: fdisk /dev/eda (for the first PS/2 ESDI drive)
or: fdisk /dev/rd/c0d0 or: fdisk /dev/ida/c0d0 (for RAID devices)
...


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ fdisk -b SSZ

Usage: fdisk [-b SSZ] [-u] DISK Change partition table
fdisk -l [-b SSZ] [-u] DISK List partition table(s)
fdisk -s PARTITION Give partition size(s) in blocks
fdisk -v Give fdisk version
Here DISK is something like /dev/hdb or /dev/sda
and PARTITION is something like /dev/hda7
-u: give Start and End in sector (instead of cylinder) units
-b 2048: (for certain MO disks) use 2048-byte sectors


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
This renders a blank list.


...just to make sure.

[oldfred]

Grub2 does not have a menu.lst. Trying to edit it will just create a blank file.

to run copy this to your terminal:


sudo fdisk -l

You can copy with right click copy & right click paste or control-shift c in the terminal at the cursor location.

[usafwings]

Well I'm quite stupid as I consistently omitted the sudo command.


sudo fdisk -l Renders this:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x99459945

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 8510 68356543+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 8511 12157 29294527+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda3 * 12158 44028 256003807+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda5 8511 12157 29294496 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Edit: I still get this, however:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo update-grub
grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /.


Thanks! ;)
usafwings

[oldfred]

I do not know if it is related to your problem or not, but you cannot have 2 boot flags on one drive. Use a liveCD and gparted to remove the boot flag from the linux partition. Only windows needs the boot flag.

[usafwings]

I do not know if it is related to your problem or not, but you cannot have 2 boot flags on one drive. Use a liveCD and gparted to remove the boot flag from the linux partition. Only windows needs the boot flag.

I thought I had previously removed that flag. It is fixed now.

What I can't figure out though is managing the boot in GRUB. I have GRUB2 but still even this doesn't work:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo update-grub
grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /.



When fdisk looks like:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x99459945

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 8510 68356543+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 8511 12157 29294527+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda3 * 12158 44028 256003807+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda5 8511 12157 29294496 82 Linux swap / Solaris



How do I reinstate/reinstall the GRUB as to accomplish my dual boot? All the tuts are for 9.04 or earlier.

Thanks! 8-[
usafwings

[oldfred]

Herman has instructions on reinstalling grub2:

reinstall grub2
http://members.iinet.net/~herman546/p20/GRUB2%20Bash%20Commands.html#Re-install_GRUB_from_Live_CD

[usafwings]

reinstall grub2

I followed your link and it has a lot of awesome info. I tried reinstalling GRUB2 and this is what I got.


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls /mediarenders: disk (I relabeled to make the process easier)


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-setup -d /media/disk/boot/grub /dev/sdarendered a response similar to: unable to access device.map
So, I continued with his guide.


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-setup -d /media/disk/boot/grub -m /media/disk/boot/grub/device.map /dev/sdarenders: ubuntu@ubuntu:~

It seems that nothing happened. Is this correct, or will I get feedback saying that it had been installed?

Thanks! :)
wings

[usafwings]

The last command seems to have worked. I rebooted and GRUB has worked, and it booted me into Ubuntu.

Now my problem is this:
It seems I have no option to select the two OS's, it just auto-boots into Ubuntu.
How do I configure this boot menu for GRUB2?

Thanks!8-[
usafwings

Edit: I tried holding down shift during the boot process and the menu displayed. Windows XP was definitely not one of the choices, however, when I got into Ubuntu and rechecked my partitions, it's still on there. Any ideas?

[oldfred]

If the sudo update-grub2 command does not find the XP install it probably means you have a problem with the XP install. You can add a manual setting if you want.

If you put your menu entry in /etc/grub.d/40_custom it will not be over written and will be at the end of your menu.
ranch hand's custom grub2
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1284553

If you want to know what is booting from where run this script:
Boot Info Script 0.32 courtesy of forum member meierfra
http://sourceforge.net/projects/bootinfoscript/
Instructions
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1291280
cd to directory saved to:
chmod 755 boot_info_script032.sh
sudo ./boot_info_script032.sh
or as example if on desktop
sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script*.sh
This will create a RESULTS.txt file in the same directory. Paste the entire contents of that file back here. Once pasted highlight all text and click the # sign on the toolbar to place code tags around the text.

[usafwings]

sudo update-grub2 command...

This did just the trick! Thank you so much for the advice!

Awesome!\\:D/
wings