Grub configuration lost, I cannot boot

[Peppuzzo]

I have accidentally started the recovery OS of my netbook, and messed-up grub.
I can start the Netbook from a live CD, but I do not manage to restore grub to anything useful. Below the outcome of the Boot Info Script I have found in the forum::confused:



Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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

=> Grub 0.97 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive
in partition #5 for /boot/grub/stage2 and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
=> 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: Windows 7
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sda6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda7: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sda8: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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:

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Vista: Fat 32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /boot/bcd

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system:
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed:
mount: unknown filesystem type ''

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Fat32
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sdb1 starts
at sector 0. But according to the info from fdisk,
sdb1 starts at sector 62.
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 * 2,048 118,737,245 118,735,198 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 118,738,942 467,379,044 348,640,103 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 209,728,638 257,650,469 47,921,832 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 257,650,533 261,843,434 4,192,902 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 261,843,498 365,848,244 104,004,747 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 365,848,308 467,379,044 101,530,737 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 467,386,368 488,357,887 20,971,520 1b Hidden W95 FAT32
/dev/sda4 488,357,888 488,392,064 34,177 1b Hidden W95 FAT32


Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 2032 MB, 2032664576 bytes
63 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1016 cylinders, total 3970048 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 * 62 3,968,495 3,968,434 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 76708D71708D393F ntfs
/dev/sda2: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda3 86F4-D40A vfat „z¨ª˜š©˜ˆ™˜
/dev/sda5 52a1f00c-3489-4f89-8645-15ed11fd4071 ext2 linuxos
/dev/sda6 baa83723-8698-4cbc-a7f6-fc69e6cabfb1 swap linux-swap
/dev/sda7 887f9334-80d8-4ad8-a5f1-b5ec12d954a9 ext2 linux data
/dev/sda8 795F2895216CD401 ntfs windows data
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 29F5-F9D6 vfat
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

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


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


108.8GB: boot/grub/stage2
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda4

00000000 55 aa 03 e9 7a 00 93 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |U...z...........|
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000020 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ff ff 00 00 00 9b cf 00 |................|
00000030 ff ff 00 00 00 93 cf 00 ff ff 00 00 00 9a 0f 00 |................|
00000040 ff ff 00 00 00 92 0f 00 27 00 20 00 00 00 00 00 |........'. .....|
00000050 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 10 00 44 65 76 69 63 65 |..........Device|
00000060 56 4d 20 52 6f 6d 20 4c 6f 61 64 65 72 00 00 00 |VM Rom Loader...|
00000070 01 31 31 2f 32 32 2f 32 30 30 37 00 00 00 00 00 |.11/22/2007.....|
00000080 0e 58 2e a3 42 02 68 00 00 1f 68 00 00 07 57 2e |.X..B.h...h...W.|
00000090 8d 3e 00 06 2e 80 7d 20 03 75 17 9c 60 b8 03 00 |.>....} .u..`...|
000000a0 cd 10 61 9d 2e 8d 3e 8c 03 e8 fd 02 b4 00 50 cd |..a...>.......P.|
000000b0 16 58 5f b8 03 00 c1 e0 09 89 c3 0e 07 26 66 8b |.X_..........&f.|
000000c0 47 0c 66 85 c0 74 05 2e 66 a3 56 00 fa 66 31 c0 |G.f..t..f.V..f1.|
000000d0 8c c8 66 c1 e0 04 2e 66 01 06 4a 00 fb 2e 66 a3 |..f....f..J...f.|
000000e0 3a 00 b0 9a 2e a2 3d 00 66 50 e8 25 03 66 58 66 |:.....=.fP.%.fXf|
000000f0 50 66 51 1e c8 0c 00 00 0e 1f 66 31 c0 3e a1 06 |PfQ.......f1.>..|
00000100 00 66 c1 e0 09 66 2d 03 00 00 00 66 50 2e 66 a1 |.f...f-....fP.f.|
00000110 56 00 66 50 66 31 c0 66 31 c9 b9 00 06 8c c8 66 |V.fPf1.f1......f|
00000120 c1 e0 04 66 01 c8 66 50 e8 cb 01 c9 1f 66 59 66 |...f..fP.....fYf|
00000130 58 fa 2e 0f 01 16 48 00 0f 20 c0 0c 01 0f 22 c0 |X.....H.. ....".|
00000140 2e 66 8b 36 56 00 66 67 66 67 8b 06 66 3d eb 3e |.f.6V.fgfg..f=.>|
00000150 45 54 74 14 0f 20 c0 24 fe 0f 22 c0 57 2e 8d 3e |ETt.. .$..".W..>|
00000160 5a 03 e8 44 02 5f cd 18 0f 20 c0 24 fe 0f 22 c0 |Z..D._... .$..".|
00000170 06 53 8c cb 8e c3 bb 00 06 e8 e0 00 5b 07 c8 0c |.S..........[...|
00000180 00 00 66 b8 00 02 00 00 66 50 2e 66 a1 56 00 66 |..f.....fP.f.V.f|
00000190 50 66 31 c0 66 31 c9 b9 00 06 8c c8 66 c1 e0 04 |Pf1.f1......f...|
000001a0 66 01 c8 66 50 e8 4e 01 c9 2e 66 8b 36 56 00 66 |f..fP.N...f.6V.f|
000001b0 89 e0 66 50 16 66 29 db bb 48 00 66 29 c9 8c c9 |..fP.f)..H.f)...|
000001c0 66 c1 e1 04 66 01 d9 66 51 66 29 c0 66 29 c9 b8 |f...f..fQf).f)..|
000001d0 08 00 66 50 b8 14 02 8c c9 66 c1 e1 04 66 01 c1 |..fP.....f...f..|
000001e0 66 51 66 29 c0 89 e0 66 29 c9 8c d1 66 c1 e1 04 |fQf)...f)...f...|
000001f0 66 01 c1 fa 2e 0f 01 16 48 00 0f 20 c0 0c 01 0f |f.......H.. ....|
00000200


anyone could help?

[wilee-nilee]

I see you have the bcd boot in windows, but you have been using grub to boot is this correct?

[Peppuzzo]

Yes, this is correct

[wilee-nilee]

Yes, this is correct

I'm not familiar enough with grub-legacy but people are on line daytime US that are.

[Peppuzzo]

Yes, this is correct indeed. Shall I run the script?

[wilee-nilee]

Yes, this is correct indeed. Shall I run the script?

What script? the one in my sig is the one you posted, if you do any tweaking and it doesn't get working, run the boot script again. I would wait for some help though. You might give a description of exactly whats going on when you boot, I assume that you just get a blinking cursor. Also how far into the recovery did it get and what did you do. This shouldn't have broken grub, but it seems it has so more info will help those that know some fixes.

[Peppuzzo]

What script? the one in my sig is the one you posted, if you do any tweaking and it doesn't get working, run the boot script again. I would wait for some help though. You might give a description of exactly whats going on when you boot, I assume that you just get a blinking cursor. Also how far into the recovery did it get and what did you do. This shouldn't have broken grub, but it seems it has so more info will help those that know some fixes.

Thanks for your quick reply. Ok, I re-run the script and post the code below

when I boot I get the grub prompt and do not get much further than that.
I have tried some of the tricks in the forums (http://www.sorgonet.com/linux/grubrestore/) (http://www.sorgonet.com/linux/grubrestore/), by installing grub and try to mount some devices, but I do not get the grub menu when I reboot, only the grub prompt.

What has broken grub in the first place, I suspect, is the Vista recovery mode of the Netbook, which I started by mistake; the tool went into recovery mode, and asked me if I wanted to go further, I clicked on no, but damage was done nevertheless.



Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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

=> Grub 0.97 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive
in partition #5 for /boot/grub/stage2 and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
=> 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: Windows 7
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sda6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda7: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sda8: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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:

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Vista: Fat 32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /boot/bcd

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system:
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed:
mount: unknown filesystem type ''

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Fat32
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sdb1 starts
at sector 0. But according to the info from fdisk,
sdb1 starts at sector 62.
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 * 2,048 118,737,245 118,735,198 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 118,738,942 467,379,044 348,640,103 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 209,728,638 257,650,469 47,921,832 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 257,650,533 261,843,434 4,192,902 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 261,843,498 365,848,244 104,004,747 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 365,848,308 467,379,044 101,530,737 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 467,386,368 488,357,887 20,971,520 1b Hidden W95 FAT32
/dev/sda4 488,357,888 488,392,064 34,177 1b Hidden W95 FAT32


Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 2032 MB, 2032664576 bytes
63 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1016 cylinders, total 3970048 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 * 62 3,968,495 3,968,434 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 76708D71708D393F ntfs
/dev/sda2: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda3 86F4-D40A vfat „z¨ª˜š©˜ˆ™˜
/dev/sda5 52a1f00c-3489-4f89-8645-15ed11fd4071 ext2 linuxos
/dev/sda6 baa83723-8698-4cbc-a7f6-fc69e6cabfb1 swap linux-swap
/dev/sda7 887f9334-80d8-4ad8-a5f1-b5ec12d954a9 ext2 linux data
/dev/sda8 795F2895216CD401 ntfs windows data
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 29F5-F9D6 vfat
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

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


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


108.8GB: boot/grub/stage2
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda4

00000000 55 aa 03 e9 7a 00 93 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |U...z...........|
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000020 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ff ff 00 00 00 9b cf 00 |................|
00000030 ff ff 00 00 00 93 cf 00 ff ff 00 00 00 9a 0f 00 |................|
00000040 ff ff 00 00 00 92 0f 00 27 00 20 00 00 00 00 00 |........'. .....|
00000050 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 10 00 44 65 76 69 63 65 |..........Device|
00000060 56 4d 20 52 6f 6d 20 4c 6f 61 64 65 72 00 00 00 |VM Rom Loader...|
00000070 01 31 31 2f 32 32 2f 32 30 30 37 00 00 00 00 00 |.11/22/2007.....|
00000080 0e 58 2e a3 42 02 68 00 00 1f 68 00 00 07 57 2e |.X..B.h...h...W.|
00000090 8d 3e 00 06 2e 80 7d 20 03 75 17 9c 60 b8 03 00 |.>....} .u..`...|
000000a0 cd 10 61 9d 2e 8d 3e 8c 03 e8 fd 02 b4 00 50 cd |..a...>.......P.|
000000b0 16 58 5f b8 03 00 c1 e0 09 89 c3 0e 07 26 66 8b |.X_..........&f.|
000000c0 47 0c 66 85 c0 74 05 2e 66 a3 56 00 fa 66 31 c0 |G.f..t..f.V..f1.|
000000d0 8c c8 66 c1 e0 04 2e 66 01 06 4a 00 fb 2e 66 a3 |..f....f..J...f.|
000000e0 3a 00 b0 9a 2e a2 3d 00 66 50 e8 25 03 66 58 66 |:.....=.fP.%.fXf|
000000f0 50 66 51 1e c8 0c 00 00 0e 1f 66 31 c0 3e a1 06 |PfQ.......f1.>..|
00000100 00 66 c1 e0 09 66 2d 03 00 00 00 66 50 2e 66 a1 |.f...f-....fP.f.|
00000110 56 00 66 50 66 31 c0 66 31 c9 b9 00 06 8c c8 66 |V.fPf1.f1......f|
00000120 c1 e0 04 66 01 c8 66 50 e8 cb 01 c9 1f 66 59 66 |...f..fP.....fYf|
00000130 58 fa 2e 0f 01 16 48 00 0f 20 c0 0c 01 0f 22 c0 |X.....H.. ....".|
00000140 2e 66 8b 36 56 00 66 67 66 67 8b 06 66 3d eb 3e |.f.6V.fgfg..f=.>|
00000150 45 54 74 14 0f 20 c0 24 fe 0f 22 c0 57 2e 8d 3e |ETt.. .$..".W..>|
00000160 5a 03 e8 44 02 5f cd 18 0f 20 c0 24 fe 0f 22 c0 |Z..D._... .$..".|
00000170 06 53 8c cb 8e c3 bb 00 06 e8 e0 00 5b 07 c8 0c |.S..........[...|
00000180 00 00 66 b8 00 02 00 00 66 50 2e 66 a1 56 00 66 |..f.....fP.f.V.f|
00000190 50 66 31 c0 66 31 c9 b9 00 06 8c c8 66 c1 e0 04 |Pf1.f1......f...|
000001a0 66 01 c8 66 50 e8 4e 01 c9 2e 66 8b 36 56 00 66 |f..fP.N...f.6V.f|
000001b0 89 e0 66 50 16 66 29 db bb 48 00 66 29 c9 8c c9 |..fP.f)..H.f)...|
000001c0 66 c1 e1 04 66 01 d9 66 51 66 29 c0 66 29 c9 b8 |f...f..fQf).f)..|
000001d0 08 00 66 50 b8 14 02 8c c9 66 c1 e1 04 66 01 c1 |..fP.....f...f..|
000001e0 66 51 66 29 c0 89 e0 66 29 c9 8c d1 66 c1 e1 04 |fQf)...f)...f...|
000001f0 66 01 c1 fa 2e 0f 01 16 48 00 0f 20 c0 0c 01 0f |f.......H.. ....|
00000200

[wilee-nilee]

I had not noticed before but sda5 appears to be the Linux OS, and there are no grub files listed there or anywhere so I think this will definitely take somebody who knows what to do.

[Peppuzzo]

Indeed. Thanks anyhow so far. I will wait form some help from someone expert on the matter..

[darkod]

Unfortunately losing grub1 on the MBR is not the only damage. Here:

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

Not only that there are no ubuntu boot files on sda5 which seems to be your root partition, but it's not even recognized as Ubuntu OS.

If you have important data there, you can try restoring it with Testdisk or Photorec. If you don't, maybe reinstalling in your existing partitions is the best and fastest way.
Note that when you want to install linux in existing partitions, you need to use the manual partitioning and tell it what partition to use for what. It doesn't do it automatically and if you use the side-by-side guided option it will just create another parallel installation.

If you open sda5 in live mode can you see the files inside, is the folder structure still there? The /boot folder with the kernel files inside? The /boot/grub folder?

[Peppuzzo]

Unfortunately losing grub1 on the MBR is not the only damage. Here:

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

Not only that there are no ubuntu boot files on sda5 which seems to be your root partition, but it's not even recognized as Ubuntu OS.

If you have important data there, you can try restoring it with Testdisk or Photorec. If you don't, maybe reinstalling in your existing partitions is the best and fastest way.
Note that when you want to install linux in existing partitions, you need to use the manual partitioning and tell it what partition to use for what. It doesn't do it automatically and if you use the side-by-side guided option it will just create another parallel installation.

If you open sda5 in live mode can you see the files inside, is the folder structure still there? The /boot folder with the kernel files inside? The /boot/grub folder?

I have no important data there, so I will go for a re-installation in sda5, I am afraid. Thanks for the warning as well. I see a structure with /boot and /boot/grub directory, but the boot directory looks pretty empty to me

[Peppuzzo]

I am trying to reinstall ubuntu on the sda5 partition, but I get the error that root is not present there.

It says:


No root file system is defined

Please correct this from the partitioning menu.

How to do tha?

[darkod]

In Manual Partitioning, you need to select the partition from the list, then click the Change button on bottom. It will allow to select filesystem ext4, tick the format box, and set mount point as /.

That is how you specify what partition to be used for what manually. The swap partition should be detected and used automatically but you can double check by selecting it and the Change button again, and specify to be used as swap area. There is no format and mount point for swap.

[Peppuzzo]

Thanks Darko. It is happily installing now.:)

[Peppuzzo]

Solved. Thanks very much.