Windows 98 not booting after installing Ubuntu 9.10

[Newuser2010]

I installed Ubuntu 9.10 on a Dell latitude.
After insallation I can not boot into Windows 98 because Grub does not find my windows 98 Intallation.
But I am sure it is there because I can access all the Windows files from within Ubuntu.
If I update-grub it does not find Windows 98.
Is grub-pc compatible with Win 98 and Fat32 ?
How do I get it to boot Win98.
Best Regards
U

[bpalone]

This is purely a W.A.G., but it is entirely possible that Grub 2 does not look for nor recognize a 9x OS. It isn't exactly a new OS. I have a 98 box that I just recently built, so I'm not anti 98. But, many developers wouldn't even think of 9x as possibility today.

I do remember seeing a thread on here about reverting back to the old Grub. If nobody comes forth with an answer, you might try gong that route.

Good luck.

p.s. Another option would be to try the 8.04 LTS since it use the old Grub. That would be a reasonably quick way to see.

[oldfred]

Lets run this script to see what is where. Script was updated to see win98 as it only went back to see XP files before.

Boot Info Script courtesy of forum member meierfra
Page with instructions and download:
http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/
Be sure to highlight and use code tags (# in edit panel) to make it easier to read when you post the results.txt.

[Newuser2010]

Thanks I run the scripts and it gave the following results.





Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in
partition #5 for /boot/grub.

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: MSWIN4.1: Fat 32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 98
Boot files/dirs: /boot.ini /IO.SYS /MSDOS.SYS /COMMAND.COM

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Fat32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 20.0 GB, 20003880960 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2432 cylinders, total 39070080 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x5ababb03

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 63 9,221,309 9,221,247 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda2 9,221,310 14,490,629 5,269,320 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda3 14,490,630 39,070,079 24,579,450 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 14,490,693 37,929,464 23,438,772 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 37,929,528 39,070,079 1,140,552 82 Linux swap / Solaris


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/sda1 252F-17FC vfat
/dev/sda2 ED9E-0CF6 vfat
/dev/sda5 49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b ext4
/dev/sda6 a07bb244-54dd-41e7-b85c-2599547f76b4 swap

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sda5 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)


================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================

[Boot Loader]
timeout=0
Default=C:\


[Operating Systems]
C:\="Microsoft Windows 98"


=========================== sda5/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=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b
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=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b 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=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b 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 ###
if [ ${timeout} != -1 ]; then
if keystatus; then
if keystatus --shift; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=0
fi
else
if sleep --interruptible 3 ; then
set timeout=0
fi
fi
fi
### 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 ###

=============================== sda5/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/sda5 during installation
UUID=49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=a07bb244-54dd-41e7-b85c-2599547f76b4 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

=================== sda5: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


9.5GB: boot/grub/core.img
8.2GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
8.2GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
9.5GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
8.2GB: initrd.img
9.5GB: vmlinuz

What next?

Best Regards:
U:)

[oldfred]

I would try a custom entry in 40_custom.

You add entries to this
/etc/grub.d/40_custom

menuentry "Windows 98 on sda1" {
set root=(hd0,1)
chainloader +1
}

Then run
sudo update-grub

[Newuser2010]

I tryed a custom entry in 40_custom as you said,
but no results:

Custom Entry:

#!/bin/sh
exec tail -n +3 $0
# 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.
menuentry "Windows 98 on sda1"{
set root=(hd0,1)
chainloader +1
}


Update-Grub:


ndatulumukwa@ndatulumukwa-laptop:~$ sudo update-grub
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
done
ndatulumukwa@ndatulumukwa-laptop:~$


Best Regards:
U

[oldfred]

I just reran mine and it does not show the results of 40_custom but the grub.cfg should be updated and when you reboot an entry should be there.

You can check before rebooting by looking at
/boot/grub/grub.cfg

The real test is does it work.

[Newuser2010]

Yes there is an entry in Grub.cfg
But it still does not work it goes straight to Ubuntu.

#
# 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=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b
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=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b 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=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=49c3d65a-a030-4e1c-ac3d-ec61e8b12e1b 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 ###
if [ ${timeout} != -1 ]; then
if keystatus; then
if keystatus --shift; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=0
fi
else
if sleep --interruptible 3 ; then
set timeout=0
fi
fi
fi
### 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.
menuentry "Windows 98 on sda1"{
set root=(hd0,1)
chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

Best Regards
U

[oldfred]

With the entry in 40_custom the menu should come up. Only when there are only Ubuntu entries is it supposed to directly boot.

You can hold down the shift key from BIOS boot to get the menu.

[Newuser2010]

When I press the shift key then the menu comes up and I can boot Windows 98.
What can I do so that the menu comes up automatically?

Best Regards:
U:)

[oldfred]

You can change the settings in /etc/default/grub. I have not changed much so I do not know the exact setting.

It may be this but check the links for more explanation:
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 on single operating system computers.

* No menu is displayed. The system is immediately booted to the default OS.
* This is the default setting with only one identified operating system.
o

To display the menu under this condition, place a # symbol at the start of the line and ensure the GRUB_TIMEOUT setting is a positive integer.


General info:
look for Boot Display Behavior
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2
The Grub 2 Guide (formerly Grub 2 Basics)
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1195275

Grub 2 Title Tweaks
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1287602
drs305's hack to get hidden timeout to work:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1319672
ranch hand's custom grub2
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1284553

[Newuser2010]

Everything is working now the way I want.
I put a comment in front of hidden timeout in /etc/default/grub


# GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0

Since then the menu comes up automatically.
Thanks for your help.
Best Regards
U.
:)