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stork123
May 26th, 2010, 11:59 PM
I have a Toshiba NB305 netbook running windows 7. I installed netbook ubuntu 10.04 from a USB drive this morning after playing with the live ISO off the USB. I chose to repartition and keep Windows 7.
Upon boot, I get GRUB and when I choose either the Ubuntu or the Recovery I get a "gave up waiting for root device" page with a command prompt flashing at initiramfs.

The Alert reads, "/dev/disk/by-uuid/49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f does not exist. Dropping to Shell!

I'm still able to boot windows 7 as well as the live cd and see all the partitions and operating systems.

I've looked inside the Grub.cfg file and the commands aren't pointing to /dev/sda5/ but rather to the uuid? Is this normal? Does this need to be changed?

Thanks for your help.

In the meantime... I will continue to search the forums.
I will run this script and try and get some more info.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=8844901&postcount=4

darkod
May 27th, 2010, 12:07 AM
It's not exactly the same message but see if this helps:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/bootinfoscript/index.php?title=Boot_Problems:search

stork123
May 27th, 2010, 12:10 AM
I'll try it right now.
thanks!

Nope.. same error.
I'm not familiar with editing the lines within the GRUB menu.

I deleted the line and then CTRL-X to boot (same issue).
I went back into the GRUB menu and saw that the line was back. Did I actually delete it?

darkod
May 27th, 2010, 12:20 AM
I'll try it right now.
thanks!

Nope.. same error.
I'm not familiar with editing the lines within the GRUB menu.

I deleted the line and then CTRL-X to boot (same issue).
I went back into the GRUB menu and saw that the line was back. Did I actually delete it?

When you use 'e' to edit from the grub menu, it is temporary, only for that boot. If that worked, the article says how to make it permanent change.
But if you are sure you followed the steps correctly and it didn't work, no point in continuing with the fix. It seems you have different issue.

stork123
May 27th, 2010, 12:23 AM
Okay...
Would it help for me to run bootinfo script?

darkod
May 27th, 2010, 12:28 AM
It could help us notice something. But I'm not too optimistic, it seems you did everything right. It seems one of 'those strange things'...
Run it, and lets see the results.

stork123
May 27th, 2010, 12:30 AM
running it now...
if this fails... maybe reinstalling from the USB?

Here's the log


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.
=> Syslinux 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: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 2,048 3,074,047 3,072,000 27 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 3,074,048 258,728,939 255,654,892 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 470,738,944 488,396,799 17,657,856 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 258,729,982 470,738,943 212,008,962 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 258,729,984 464,785,407 206,055,424 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 464,787,456 470,738,943 5,951,488 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 2003 MB, 2003828736 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 7644 cylinders, total 3913728 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 * 8,064 3,913,727 3,905,664 e W95 FAT16 (LBA)


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 3E3699DB3699950D ntfs System
/dev/sda2 641ABF8A1ABF57AE ntfs TI105803W0C
/dev/sda3 C824E4F324E4E602 ntfs HDDRECOVERY
/dev/sda4: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda5 49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f ext4
/dev/sda6 469d04d8-78b4-4009-b845-7f9e37aa945d swap
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 2F8C-A26B vfat TRAVELDRIVE
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sdb1 /cdrom vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437, iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)


=========================== 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 $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then
saved_entry=${chosen}
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
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/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f
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 3e3699db3699950d
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda2)" {
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 641abf8a1abf57ae
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda3)" {
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c824e4f324e4e602
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 ###

=============================== 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 nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=49024e15-119a-4339-ad23-f201ce4a6d1f / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=469d04d8-78b4-4009-b845-7f9e37aa945d none swap sw 0 0

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


214.2GB: boot/grub/core.img
214.2GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
214.2GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
214.2GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
214.2GB: initrd.img
214.2GB: vmlinuz
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda4

00000000 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff |................|
*
000001b0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 fe |................|
000001c0 ff ff 83 fe ff ff 02 00 00 00 00 28 48 0c 00 fe |...........(H...|
000001d0 ff ff 05 fe ff ff 02 28 48 0c 00 d8 5a 00 00 00 |.......(H...Z...|
000001e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

darkod
May 27th, 2010, 12:44 AM
I can't see anything wrong with it. Sorry.

stork123
May 27th, 2010, 12:51 AM
okay... thanks.
I'm gonna try and reinstall from the thumbdrive over the existing partition.
Question for you if you have a sec.
I'd like to clone my windows partition to use as a backup incase I blow it all out.
I'm sure this is discussed here - looking around now.
Got a link for that?

I'd like to make a bootable usb of my existing windows 7 starter as a plan b?

darkod
May 27th, 2010, 12:56 AM
Not sure about bootable usb, but you can clone partitions (both windows and linux) with CloneZilla.

It comes as image for live cd or live usb I think. You can boot with it, similar to ubuntu live mode, and clone the partition(s) you want to external hdd for example.

stork123
May 27th, 2010, 03:55 AM
" eventually I discovered that changing the BIOS SATA Controller Mode from AHCI to Compatibility allowed Ubuntu to boot"

This was the trick...

Still needs some tweaking.
Thanks for all your help!

zachstauffer
July 1st, 2010, 03:41 AM
Sorry for bumping an old thread, but I have the same problem. When I change the SATA controller to IDE Ubuntu will boot, but Windows 7 will not. When I change it back to AHCI Windows boots, but Ubuntu will not. Anybody have an idea of what to do?

Thanks in advance!

C. M .Hughes
August 26th, 2010, 05:04 AM
I, too, apologize for bumping an old thread, but I have had exactly the same issues. I've tried re-installing twice to no avail.

The BIOS switch had the same results for me as reported by zachstauffer.

zachstauffer
August 26th, 2010, 11:09 PM
Hope this helps, but I fixed my problem by flashing my bios with an updated version. Then I was able to boot UNR in AHCI.

kenorb
September 16th, 2010, 09:20 AM
See those bugs:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/360378
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/579572