Dual/Triple boot issues

[AliPM]

Hi, I've been getting into Ubuntu for the last 6 months or so but I've run into some complications. My computer originally had 2 SATA HDDs, one with Windows 7 installed on it and one without a bootable OS (which I just used for storage), then I got hold of a 20GB IDE disc and installed that to use Ubuntu on. This worked fine (with 9.04 and then 9.10) for months, having a GRUB at startup and both Ubuntu and Win7 behaving normally, until I upgraded to 10.04 and it kept coming up with error messages (most annoyingly regarding fglrx compatibility). About a week ago I reinstalled 9.10 and it all worked fine again.

But then about 5 days ago I got all crazy and decided to install XP on the disc that previously had no OS on it, and after doing this I lost the GRUB screen and it would boot straight into XP. I tried looking on the live CD for a restore GRUB option (as quite a few people had recommended) but couldn't find it so I just reinstalled 9.10, and after this a strange thing happened - GRUB was back, with Windows 7 listed as the only other OS, but choosing this option made it boot into XP! Also the sound drivers seemed to be all messed up in XP.

Yesterday I ran the "bootsect.exe" utility from the Win7 system restore console and I'm back to using Win7 with no GRUB or option to use any other OS. Could anyone tell me how to get the GRUB back without reinstalling Ubuntu? I don't mind losing XP, in fact I might just reformat that disc anyway.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks

[darkod]

To get a better idea what we are dealing with, can you run the boot info script and post the content of the results file as explained here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=8844901&postcount=4

And another thought. Since you were willing to make a clean install of 9.10, did you try a clean install of 10.04 too? Sometimes the upgrade process goes wrong but a clean install wouldn't show the same issues.

[AliPM]

Here are the results of running that boot script. Thanks very much btw.


Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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

=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda
=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb
=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc

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:

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: /boot.ini /bootmgr /Boot/BCD
/Windows/System32/winload.exe /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdc1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdc2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdc5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
27 heads, 10 sectors/track, 1808878 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xe2c246f8

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 2,048 11,266,047 11,264,000 27 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 * 11,279,520 488,375,999 477,096,480 7 HPFS/NTFS


Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xd0f4738c

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 63 312,560,639 312,560,577 7 HPFS/NTFS


Drive: sdc ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdc: 20.0 GB, 20020396032 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2434 cylinders, total 39102336 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xfd478bc7

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdc1 63 37,383,254 37,383,192 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2 37,383,255 39,102,209 1,718,955 5 Extended
/dev/sdc5 37,383,318 39,102,209 1,718,892 82 Linux swap / Solaris


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 AE16BDF816BDC19F ntfs
/dev/sda2 8454341354340B06 ntfs
/dev/sdb1 B660339E60336471 ntfs
/dev/sdc1 57b025f3-a749-4c10-b11f-a92045a9f9c5 ext4
/dev/sdc5 ec365f80-71aa-4679-9107-e3880923b3ba swap

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (rw)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (rw)
/dev/sda2 /media/8454341354340B06 fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,default_permissions,b lksize=4096)


================================ sda2/boot.ini: ================================

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /usepmtimer

=========================== sdc1/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=(hd2,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 57b025f3-a749-4c10-b11f-a92045a9f9c5
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=(hd2,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 57b025f3-a749-4c10-b11f-a92045a9f9c5
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=57b025f3-a749-4c10-b11f-a92045a9f9c5 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=(hd2,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 57b025f3-a749-4c10-b11f-a92045a9f9c5
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=57b025f3-a749-4c10-b11f-a92045a9f9c5 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/sda2)" {
insmod ntfs
set root=(hd0,2)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8454341354340b06
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 ###

=============================== sdc1/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/sdc1 during installation
UUID=57b025f3-a749-4c10-b11f-a92045a9f9c5 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sdc5 during installation
UUID=ec365f80-71aa-4679-9107-e3880923b3ba none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

=================== sdc1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


2.6GB: boot/grub/core.img
2.6GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
2.7GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
2.1GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
2.7GB: initrd.img
2.1GB: vmlinuz




ps. The main reason I gave up on 10.04 so quickly is because all the window minimize/maximise/close buttons are in the top left and not top right and I couldn't get used to it. Bloody Mac users always getting their way! ;) And no I haven't tried giving it a clean install.

[darkod]

You can get grub2 back to the MBR of /dev/sdc if you boot the ubuntu cd in live mode and execute:

sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sdc

But in order to see grub2 you need to set BIOS to boot from /dev/sdc, the 20GB disk first.

Your 7 and XP boot files are both on /dev/sda2 but don´t seem combined together. I guess this has to do with which windows OS is installed first. You could try tweaking around, or just restore the XP boot files but before that you need to set specific options, because it depends on them where windows will put the boot files. It´s not very intelligent.

[AliPM]

Should I set the BIOS to boot from the 20gb disc before or after making changes in ubuntu from the live cd or does it not matter?

Thanks for your help btw

[darkod]

Should I set the BIOS to boot from the 20gb disc before or after making changes in ubuntu from the live cd or does it not matter?

Thanks for your help btw

For linux it doesn't matter. But windows depends on which disk is set as first to boot from, and which partition on that disk has the boot flag set. It will install the windows bootloader to that disk and windows boot files to that partition. Even if windows is not actually installed in it.

That's why before repairing any type of windows boot files you have to take into account which disk is set as first and which partition on it with the boot flag because that's how you control where the boot files will go.

[AliPM]

So just to clarify before I do anything, to restore the XP boot files do I need to go through the Repair a Broken System options off the install CD? The Ubuntu liveCD isn't smart enough to fix my Windows boot problems as well is it?

I haven't tried anything yet because I don't want to lose the ability to do certain things i can only do in windows until I'm sure I can get it back fairly easily and quickly.

[darkod]

To make things as safe as possible, actually it's best to:

1. Open Gparted from ubuntu live mode and right-click /dev/sdb1, and set a boot flag on it (it currently doesn't have it).

2. Then power down and disconnect other disks, leave just the XP disk connected.

3. Boot with the XP cd, go into Recovery Console, and try:

fixboot (or maybe fixboot c:)
fixmbr

4. Restart and see whether XP boots fine. Until it does, you need to repair the boot process.

Once XP is working fine again, power down, connect the other disks, and you will need to restore grub2 to the MBR of /dev/sdc and make sdc the first disk to boot from.

[AliPM]

Right, I'll try that. Do you know if it is enough to disable the drives in BIOS, rather than physically disconnecting them?

[darkod]

Right, I'll try that. Do you know if it is enough to disable the drives in BIOS, rather than physically disconnecting them?

Should be enough. If BIOS does't see them, nothing should be able to see them.

[AliPM]

@darkod
Sorry I never replied to let you know how it went - I was unable to disable the drive in BIOS, and simply because I've been really busy and haven't been in the mood to do fiddle around with my computer a lot I just let it slide. I'm taking a different tack though, getting rid of my copy of 7 (which I discovered was actually a pirate copy, cos it started giving me hassle about it not being genuine) and reinstalling XP and 9.10 on my 2 SATA drives.

Your help was truly appreciated, and I hope you weren't too pissed off that I didn't let you know how it went. I just decided that scrubbing all the mess away and starting again clean seemed by far the easiest way to a noob like myself!

[AliPM]

@darkod again
Thanks so much for helping me figure out what was going on with the MBR/grub. Since posting my last post I've managed to get the computer booting up exactly how I want it with XP on one disc and ubuntu 9.10 on the other, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without referring to various posts of yours and using your boot info script.

I look forward to putting bloody ******* behind me - I'm just hanging onto it for the games, I promise.

[ssulaco]

ps. The main reason I gave up on 10.04 so quickly is because all the window minimize/maximise/close buttons are in the top left and not top right and I couldn't get used to it. Bloody Mac users always getting their way! ;) And no I haven't tried giving it a clean install.
This script makes it easy to swop the buttons
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/03/easy-gui-window-button-switcher-for.html

[AliPM]

That's some weird psychic internet juju that is - I was thinking about reinstalling Lucid (and deciding against it because of the window buttons thing) 5 mins before I read that post. I literally haven't given a second's thought to using Lucid instead of Karmic since writing that post in June. Cue Twilight Zone music...

And thanks for the heads up, I might reconsider at some point.