[SOLVED] Dual boot with 2 disks - Windows 7 / Ubuntu [Archive]

go29habs

February 13th, 2010, 04:05 AM

I've installed Windows 7 onto one hard drive, and then installed Ubuntu 9.10 onto a second hard drive. The installations seemed to go fine, and I can boot into Ubuntu from the GRUB menu. However when I try to boot into Windows from the GRUB menu, I get a message saying "error: no such device: 446e94786e946488".

Very grateful for any advice.

raymondh

February 13th, 2010, 05:04 AM

Set the Ubuntu HD as first-to-boot in BIOS.

Did you update GRUB after booting into ubuntu? If not, boot into Ubuntu and access a terminal and type:

sudo update-grub

hopefully, that will pick up your win7 install. Post back error or success :)

Raymond

go29habs

February 13th, 2010, 03:22 PM

I updated the GRUB as you suggested, but the same error still comes up when I try to boot Windows 7. I also tried switching the hard drive boot order in the BIOS, but when I do this nothing boots at all, there is just a flashing cursor. Does this mean that I must re-install one or both of the operating systems? Many thanks.

darkod

February 13th, 2010, 04:49 PM

No, you don't have to reinstall (yet). :)
Look at post #2 here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1405953

and post the content of your results.txt here so we can have a better look.

go29habs

February 13th, 2010, 06:16 PM

Here is the RESULTS.TXT file produced by the boot info script.
In the other thread, you mentioned putting it in CODE tags for
easier reading, but I just don't know what that is, sorry.

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

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks for
(UUID=327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5)/boot/grub.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb

sda1: __________________________________________________ _________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD

sda2: __________________________________________________ __________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 7
Boot files/dirs: /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sdb1: __________________________________________________ __________

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

sdb2: __________________________________________________ __________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 9.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sdb3: __________________________________________________ __________

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

sdc: __________________________________________________ ___________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0619e3a1

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 2,048 206,847 204,800 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 206,848 3,907,026,943 3,906,820,096 7 HPFS/NTFS

Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 1 3,907,029,167 3,907,029,167 ee GPT

GUID Partition Table detected.

Partition Start End Size System
/dev/sdb1 34 1,987 1,954 Bios Boot Partition
/dev/sdb2 1,988 3,888,933,628 3,888,931,641 Linux or Data
/dev/sdb3 3,888,933,629 3,907,029,134 18,095,506 Linux Swap

blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/sda1 446E94786E946488 ntfs System Reserved
/dev/sda2 625697B556978905 ntfs
/dev/sdb2 327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5 ext4
/dev/sdb3 4c6dc530-75b1-44e5-a3c5-6ce5d4476ec3 swap
/dev/sdc 2966-7B88 vfat

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sdb2 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sdc /media/2966-7B88 vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=devkit,uid=1000,gid=1000, shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,flush)

=========================== sdb2/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s /boot/grub/grubenv ]; then
have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd1,2)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/white
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd1,2)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode)" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd1,2)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ntfs
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 446e94786e946488
chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sdb2/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sdb2 during installation
UUID=327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sdb3 during installation
UUID=4c6dc530-75b1-44e5-a3c5-6ce5d4476ec3 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

=================== sdb2: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================

2.3GB: boot/grub/core.img
.2GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
.2GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
.1GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
.2GB: initrd.img
.1GB: vmlinuz
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sdc

00000000 eb 3c 90 4d 53 57 49 4e 34 2e 31 00 02 40 20 00 |.<.MSWIN4.1..@ .|
00000010 02 00 02 00 00 f8 00 01 3f 00 ff 00 00 00 00 00 |........?.......|
00000020 00 40 3c 00 80 00 29 88 7b 66 29 4e 4f 20 4e 41 |.@<...).{f)NO NA|
00000030 4d 45 20 20 20 20 46 41 54 31 36 20 20 20 fa 33 |ME FAT16 .3|
00000040 c9 8e d1 bc fc 7b 16 07 bd 78 00 c5 76 00 1e 56 |.....{...x..v..V|
00000050 16 55 bf 22 05 89 7e 00 89 4e 02 b1 0b fc f3 a4 |.U."..~..N......|
00000060 06 1f bd 00 7c c6 45 fe 0f 8b 46 18 88 45 f9 38 |....|.E...F..E.8|
00000070 4e 24 7d 22 8b c1 99 e8 77 01 72 1a 83 eb 3a 66 |N$}"....w.r...:f|
00000080 a1 1c 7c 66 3b 07 8a 57 fc 75 06 80 ca 02 88 56 |..|f;..W.u.....V|
00000090 02 80 c3 10 73 ed 33 c9 8a 46 10 98 f7 66 16 03 |....s.3..F...f..|
000000a0 46 1c 13 56 1e 03 46 0e 13 d1 8b 76 11 60 89 46 |F..V..F....v.`.F|
000000b0 fc 89 56 fe b8 20 00 f7 e6 8b 5e 0b 03 c3 48 f7 |..V.. ....^...H.|
000000c0 f3 01 46 fc 11 4e fe 61 bf 00 07 e8 23 01 72 39 |..F..N.a....#.r9|
000000d0 38 2d 74 17 60 b1 0b be d8 7d f3 a6 61 74 39 4e |8-t.`....}..at9N|
000000e0 74 09 83 c7 20 3b fb 72 e7 eb dd be 7f 7d ac 98 |t... ;.r.....}..|
000000f0 03 f0 ac 84 c0 74 17 3c ff 74 09 b4 0e bb 07 00 |.....t.<.t......|
00000100 cd 10 eb ee be 82 7d eb e5 be 80 7d eb e0 98 cd |......}....}....|
00000110 16 5e 1f 66 8f 04 cd 19 be 81 7d 8b 7d 1a 8d 45 |.^.f......}.}..E|
00000120 fe 8a 4e 0d f7 e1 03 46 fc 13 56 fe b1 04 e8 c1 |..N....F..V.....|
00000130 00 72 d6 ea 00 02 70 00 b4 42 eb 2d 60 66 6a 00 |.r....p..B.-`fj.|
00000140 52 50 06 53 6a 01 6a 10 8b f4 74 ec 91 92 33 d2 |RP.Sj.j...t...3.|
00000150 f7 76 18 91 f7 76 18 42 87 ca f7 76 1a 8a f2 8a |.v...v.B...v....|
00000160 e8 c0 cc 02 0a cc b8 01 02 8a 56 24 cd 13 8d 64 |..........V$...d|
00000170 10 61 72 0a 40 75 01 42 03 5e 0b 49 75 77 c3 03 |.ar.@u.B.^.Iuw..|
00000180 18 01 27 0d 0a 49 6e 76 61 6c 69 64 20 73 79 73 |..'..Invalid sys|
00000190 74 65 6d 20 64 69 73 6b ff 0d 0a 44 69 73 6b 20 |tem disk...Disk |
000001a0 49 2f 4f 20 65 72 72 6f 72 ff 0d 0a 52 65 70 6c |I/O error...Repl|
000001b0 61 63 65 20 74 68 65 20 64 69 73 6b 2c 20 61 6e |ace the disk, an|
000001c0 64 20 74 68 65 6e 20 70 72 65 73 73 20 61 6e 79 |d then press any|
000001d0 20 6b 65 79 0d 0a 00 00 49 4f 20 20 20 20 20 20 | key....IO |
000001e0 53 59 53 4d 53 44 4f 53 20 20 20 53 59 53 7f 01 |SYSMSDOS SYS..|
000001f0 00 41 bb 00 07 80 7e 02 0e e9 40 ff 00 00 55 aa |.A....~...@...U.|
00000200

=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sdb'! The util sfdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.

oldfred

February 13th, 2010, 07:00 PM

When you are editing your thread the top panel shows editing commands, the # is code tag, do if you highlight/select a section and click on the # it will add code tags around the highlighted section.

Generally with 2 drives I like to have the windows MBR in the windows drive and grub in the Ubuntu drive and set the Ubuntu drive first in BIOS so it can find and let you also boot windows. But you have GPT on your ubuntu drive. GPT is a newer partitioning scheme over the MBR which we have had since the IBM PC came out. GPT is used by Apple and some windows servers and is required for drives over 2TB as MBR has a hard limit of 2TB. Not all tools have been updated for GPT so you do need to be aware. Grub2 & Ubuntu are or can be GPT aware.

I do not have GPT and have found some conflicting info on whether you can just install grub2 to the MBR (GPT has MBR just for compatibility) or if you have to have a small BIOS Boot Partition. You have the BIOS boot partition per the script so I would install grub2 on the GPT drive and set it first in BIOS. Then run an update-grub to find windows on the other drive.
http://grub.enbug.org/BIOS_Boot_Partition

This link says they just installed grub2 to the drive and it found the BIOS boot partition.
http://www.mail-archive.com/grub-devel@gnu.org/msg12109.html

GPT info
http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/fdisk-unable-to-create-partition-greater-2tb.html
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-gpt/
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=3106368.0

go29habs

February 13th, 2010, 10:23 PM

I installed GRUB2 to /dev/sdb1, which is the small BIOS boot partition on my second hard drive. I ran update-grub and switched the boot order of the hard disks in the BIOS. The behaviour of the machine did not change. It will not boot at all from the second drive, and when booting from the first, GRUB will boot Ubuntu but not Windows. Below is the new RESULTS.TXT file from the boot info script:

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

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks for
(UUID=327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5)/boot/grub.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb
sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 7
Boot files/dirs: /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Bios Boot Partition
Boot sector type: Grub 2
Boot sector info: Grub 2 is installed in the boot sector of sdb1 and
looks at sector 468124 of the same hard drive for
core.img, core.img is at this location on /dev/sdb and
looks on partition #2 for /boot/grub.

sdb2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 9.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sdb3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0619e3a1

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 2,048 206,847 204,800 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 206,848 3,907,026,943 3,906,820,096 7 HPFS/NTFS

Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 1 3,907,029,167 3,907,029,167 ee GPT

GUID Partition Table detected.

Partition Start End Size System
/dev/sdb1 34 1,987 1,954 Bios Boot Partition
/dev/sdb2 1,988 3,888,933,628 3,888,931,641 Linux or Data
/dev/sdb3 3,888,933,629 3,907,029,134 18,095,506 Linux Swap

blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/sda1 446E94786E946488 ntfs System Reserved
/dev/sda2 625697B556978905 ntfs
/dev/sdb2 327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5 ext4
/dev/sdb3 4c6dc530-75b1-44e5-a3c5-6ce5d4476ec3 swap

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sdb2 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)

=========================== sdb2/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s /boot/grub/grubenv ]; then
have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd1,2)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/white
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd1,2)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode)" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd1,2)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ntfs
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 446e94786e946488
chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sdb2/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sdb2 during installation
UUID=327bd90f-0ae2-4eba-bfad-b5ce0cd235e5 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sdb3 during installation
UUID=4c6dc530-75b1-44e5-a3c5-6ce5d4476ec3 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

=================== sdb2: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================

.2GB: boot/grub/core.img
.2GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
.2GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
.1GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
.2GB: initrd.img
.1GB: vmlinuz
=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sdb'! The util sfdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.

darkod

February 13th, 2010, 10:45 PM

You are NOT supposed to edit grub.cfg manually but as a test, boot ubuntu, open grub.cfg with:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg

find the part with the win7 entry which looks like:

menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ntfs
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 446e94786e946488
chainloader +1
}

and put the # symbol at the beginning of the seach line, like this:

menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ntfs
set root=(hd0,1)
# search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 446e94786e946488
chainloader +1
}

Then save and close that file. Reboot and see if it will boot win7 like that. DO NOT run update-grub after you made the change.

go29habs

February 13th, 2010, 11:19 PM

I made the change to grub.cfg that you suggested, but when I tried to save the file, a big red banner popped up and I got an error message that read:

"Could not save the file /boot/grub/grub.cfg . You are trying to save the file on a read-only disk. Please check that you typed the location correctly and try again."

I don't remember setting any disk as read-only, but I don't really know what I'm doing (obviously). I do appreciate the advice, and I'd be grateful for any more help.

darkod

February 13th, 2010, 11:23 PM

I made the change to grub.cfg that you suggested, but when I tried to save the file, a big red banner popped up and I got an error message that read:

"Could not save the file /boot/grub/grub.cfg . You are trying to save the file on a read-only disk. Please check that you typed the location correctly and try again."

I don't remember setting any disk as read-only, but I don't really know what I'm doing (obviously). I do appreciate the advice, and I'd be grateful for any more help.

No problem, actually there is an easier way to try. Restart the computer and in the grub menu move the option on the windows entry but DON'T hit Enter. Instead press 'e'. That will show you the list of commands that are booting win7, should be the same commands from the win7 entry in grub.cfg. You can move the cursor with the arrows. Delete the line starting with search....
Press Ctrl+X to boot and see whether it will boot win7 correctly. If it does, we will make that change permanent (if I can figure out how coz I haven't done it before). :)

go29habs

February 13th, 2010, 11:54 PM

I deleted that line from the Windows 7 entry as you suggested. After pressing Ctrl+X to boot, I received the following message:

error: no such partition

darkod

February 13th, 2010, 11:59 PM

I deleted that line from the Windows 7 entry as you suggested. After pressing Ctrl+X to boot, I received the following message:

error: no such partition

I found the article how to resolve that but if it didn't boot with the line deleted, it's not the same problem. Sorry, I don't have any other idea what might be the problem. :( As oldfred, I'm also not sure how would GPT affect grub2 and ubuntu as a whole. And whether that is a problem at all.

oldfred

February 14th, 2010, 12:07 AM

If you are willing to test I think you just need to install grub2 to sdb not sdb1. It will use the space in the BIOS boot partition for core.img.

For GRUB 2 you will need a BIOS Boot Partition in the GPT scheme

GRUB 2 boot.img will go into the protective MBR (using the first 446 bytes of the MBR).
However, in the GPT setup, there is no space following the 512-byte MBR for embedding the "second stage" core.img. Thus, you must make a separate "BIOS boot partition" to hold core.img. Make it 128 kiB as recommended in the following link. Actually, using ext2 for example, and GParted Live CD, the minimum partition size is 8 MB, or 32 MB for FAT32.

meierfra.

February 14th, 2010, 12:28 AM

Grub 2 malfunctions with a mixture of GPT and MS_DOS partition tables. But there is an easy fix:

Open /etc/default/grub via

gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub

and add the line

GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_msdos"

to the end of the file. Save the file and update "grub.cfg" via

sudo update-grub

darkod

February 14th, 2010, 12:43 AM

Grub 2 malfunctions with a mixture of GPT and MS_DOS partition tables. But there is an easy fix:

Open /etc/default/grub via

gksudo gedit /etc/default/gruband add the line

GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_msdos"

to the end of the file. Save the file and update "grub.cfg" via

sudo update-grub

And here comes the cavalry. :popcorn:

go29habs

February 17th, 2010, 04:10 AM

I did as meierfra suggested and now GRUB works perfectly. I can choose to boot into Windows or Ubuntu at startup and either one works. Many many thanks meierfra, and to all others who took the time to help. I'll try to mark this thread as solved if I can figure out how.

meierfra.

February 17th, 2010, 02:39 PM

now GRUB works perfectly.
Great. Have fun with Windows 7 and Ubuntu