Grub xputs

[TimEnid]

I just upgraded to 10.10 and when my pc restarted, I get a message saying "error:the symbol' grub_xputs' not found" underneath that it says"grub rescue". What do I do next?

[drs305]

There was a bug in upgrades from Karmic to Lucid that generated the same error message. The solution was to boot to the LiveCD Desktop and reinstall grub-pc.

I wrote a guide last week to detail how to purge and reinstall grub. You could follow the entire procedure or just try to reinstall (install --reinstall) without purging first. I like the 'purging' method as it will replace files the user may have accidentally deleted.

Here is the link:
HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1581099)

[TimEnid]

When I boot from the cd, I still get the same screen. I'm unable to load the cd. I chose boot from cd in the bios, but it won't

[drs305]

Can you test the CD in another computer or test another CD in the same computer?

I assume you just used it recently for the installation but it sounds like the system isn't using the CD and is proceeding to use the hard drive.

I don't know what error message would be generated, but if you have both 64 and 32 bit install CDs make sure you are using the correct one (at least on the 32-bit machine).

ADDED: Seems there is also an xputs bug in the 10.04 to 10.10 process. See here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/609280

[TimEnid]

I didn't used a cd to upgrade. I used the update manager.

[drs305]

I didn't used a cd to upgrade. I used the update manager.

I found a bug report on updates to 10.10 and added it to my previous post. ^^

[TimEnid]

I read all the comments in the link but am unsure of what I should do next.

[TimEnid]

should I remove the internal drives from my pc?

[TimEnid]

Thanks a lot. This solved my problem. I am now up and running. I owe you.
There was a bug in upgrades from Karmic to Lucid that generated the same error message. The solution was to boot to the LiveCD Desktop and reinstall grub-pc.

I wrote a guide last week to detail how to purge and reinstall grub. You could follow the entire procedure or just try to reinstall (install --reinstall) without purging first. I like the 'purging' method as it will replace files the user may have accidentally deleted.

Here is the link:
HOWTO: Purge and Reinstall Grub 2 from the Live CD (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1581099)

[dez93_2000]

Thanks a lot. This solved my problem

...but not mine, sadly. Changing boot priority to cd still hits the xputs error then grub rescue. Maybe it's not loading the cd but i don't know what else i can do to make it do so. Tried both LiveCd flavours.

Tried to type my way out of the hole using help here: http://grub.enbug.org/Manual#GrubShell but 'help' command isn't recognised.

Did the first 2 bits of this: http://ubuntu-ky.ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9975071&postcount=5 but insmod didn't recognise linux as a thing.

Since i need to reinstall grub (http://ubuntu-ky.ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9979766&postcount=7) does anyone know
1. if there are a set of 'grub rescue' commands that actually work to help me reinstall grub either directly, or
2. what i can do to get my cdrom drive booting so i can do this all through the well documented GUI process?

Many thanks in advance. I literally can't believe this hasn't been fixed since last time. No matter how much better the new builds are, they are forever tainted by having to take a full day getting them to work.
drs305 - cheers from the whole community for your posts about this in various fora.

[drs305]

...but not mine, sadly. Changing boot priority to cd still hits the xputs error then grub rescue. Maybe it's not loading the cd but i don't know what else i can do to make it do so. Tried both LiveCd flavours.


The main way that you could be getting the grub xputs message with a CD inserted and listed first in BIOS is if the CD boot is failing and the BIOS goes to the backup selection (hard drive).

Can you boot other CDs from your computer?

You might also try creating a bootable USB drive or flashdrive. The option is presented on the Ubuntu download page.
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

I'd like to be able to talk you or instruct you through a grub terminal boot, but the xputs error normally means that it isn't completely installed. In most circumstances, the user trying to boot with this error sooner or later runs into a missing or corrupted file that will cause the boot to fail.

[dez93_2000]

cheers for the ideas. tried the usb method using a 1gb stick (recommends 2) but not recognised in any of my ports. next priority was cdrom which says "booting from cd/dvd" then hits the xputs problem with both 32 & 64bit. Windows boots cds give me a few dots of loading/spinning up then the same.

SO. Any ideas on how to get the usb stick recognised* or the boot cd working or..anything else?

*since i used a 1gb stick instead of the recommended 2, could this be the problem? Reason i ask is that the process worked fine and obviously the iso FITS on a 1gb stick, since it fits on a 700mb cd.

thanks in advance - again!

[Quackers]

Is there an option in your bios to boot from usb stick? If there is it would need to be selected as first or second boot device (ie before or after CD drive but before HDD).

[dez93_2000]

indeed there is sir, and its selected, followed by cdrom, followed by hard drive.

usb-fdd is the one, right? (i think it's called FDD)

[Quackers]

I'm unsure. Could FDD be for a floppy drive?

[sikander3786]

usb-fdd is the one, right? (i think it's called FDD)

I don't think it would be usb-fdd. Sometime on some hardware, flash drives just pop in the Hard Disk Drive menu and you need to set 1st boot device to HDD and then change the boot order of the HDDs themselves and bring your USB drive to the top of the list.

Can you please list your motherboard's make and model?

[dez93_2000]

Guys, thanks a million for this. My denseness in not guessing FDD meant floppy drive was the problem i guess. Cheers!

[bradbury]

Grub 2 seems to have a problem mixing up the A and B drives. There is a way to solve it by editing the grub.cfg file I think but I don't know what it is.

My solution: Unplug the power to the non-Ubuntu drive (so there is only a single "A" drive" on the machine, i.e. the one you want to boot Ubuntu off of) [1]. The boot Ubuntu and fix grub.cfg or downgrade back to grub 1.x.

If your system is a real "mixed drive" system, e.g. root on Drive A and user on Drive B then this may be problematic and you'll have to figure out the grub.cfg fix first.

1. Note, if the install put "Grub 2" into the MBR of Drive B then you are going to have to reinstall grub (presumably boot some LiveCD and get it to re-install grub) to get it into the MBR of Drive A.

[bradbury]

I get a message saying "error:the symbol' grub_xputs' not found" underneath that it says"grub rescue". What do I do next?

This error comes when Grub is looking for additional sub-components on the wrong partition or in my case on the wrong drive. One can tell this because "grub rescue" does not behave as documented (it is useless as far as I can tell).

You have to get grub to be dealing with the right partitions on the right drive (easiest way -- unplug all drives but the one being used to install Grub & Ubuntu, reinstall, boot from that drive and verify operations).

Not pretty but it seemed to work for me.

[Urhixidur]

I ran into the same problem after upgrading from Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) to Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick). I can boot from the LiveCD and then, after a little twiddling (installing lvm2, modprobe dm-mod, partprobe), remount my target drives, but grub steadfastly refuses to see the mounted partitions when the time comes to create grub.cfg. The physical/logical drive/partition configuration did NOT change between before and after the upgrade: it used to boot just fine.

Single physical hard drive (/dev/sda), with three physical partitions:
/dev/sda1 : FAT16, "DellUtility"
/dev/sda2 : ext4, "boot" bootable, mounted as /boot
/dev/sda3 : LVM, "lvm_vol_grp"

The logical LVM partitions are:
/dev/lvm_vol_grp/root : ext4, "root", mounted as /
/dev/lvm_vol_grp/home : ext4, "home", mounted as /home
/dev/lvm_vol_grp/share : ext4, "share", mounted as /share
/dev/lvm_vol_grp/swap : swap, "swap", not mounted

Once running from LiveCD, I mkdir /target and mount the four target partitions there (/target, /target/boot, /target/home, /target/share). I then try "grub-install --root-directory=/target /dev/sda", which produces no error but does not create /target/boot/grub/grub.cfg

If I try to update-grub I get "/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for / (is /dev mounted?)" I get the same message if I chroot to /target and then try to update-grub.

Here is what the bootinfoscript reports from the LiveCD, and later from chroot /target:


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 #2 for (,msdos2)/grub.

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Dell Utility: Fat16
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /COMMAND.COM

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: Grub 2
Boot sector info: Grub 2 is installed in the boot sector of sda2 and
looks at sector 152888 of the same hard drive for
core.img, but core.img can not be found at this
location.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: LVM2_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

lvm_vol_grp-root: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /etc/fstab

lvm_vol_grp-home: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

lvm_vol_grp-share: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

lvm_vol_grp-swap: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 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 63 128,519 128,457 de Dell Utility
/dev/sda2 * 128,520 610,469 481,950 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 610,470 1,953,525,167 1,952,914,698 8e Linux LVM


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-home 2e4be6e0-0ac6-4505-828d-71774caf84c5 ext4
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-root 331525a6-2db5-48c4-832d-b6d4beb7db92 ext4
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-share e31fa943-d4e2-41ad-96ab-47ff7968fc00 ext4
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-swap f856452e-3dd0-48a8-b6f6-5070d562c889 swap
/dev/sda1 07D8-061B vfat DellUtility
/dev/sda2 6b70b7ff-381b-4a15-a12c-bc9a53981125 ext4 boot
/dev/sda3 f7KkI3-kg0x-pFVS-P9RT-HSLE-JJ4M-NJqmLV LVM2_member
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
error: /dev/sdb: No medium found

=============================== "ls -R /dev/mapper/" output: ===============================
/dev/mapper:
control
lvm_vol_grp-home
lvm_vol_grp-root
lvm_vol_grp-share
lvm_vol_grp-swap

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-root /target ext4 (rw)
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-home /target/home ext4 (rw)
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-share /target/share ext4 (rw)
/dev/sda2 /target/boot ext4 (rw)


========================= lvm_vol_grp-root/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
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-root / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /boot was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=6b70b7ff-381b-4a15-a12c-bc9a53981125 /boot ext4 defaults 0 2
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-home /home ext4 defaults 0 2
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-share /share ext4 defaults 0 2
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-swap none swap sw 0 0

============= lvm_vol_grp-root: Location of files loaded by Grub: =============


.1GB: initrd.img
.1GB: initrd.img.old
.1GB: vmlinuz
=======Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive==============

sdb
Note the message "Grub 2 is installed in the boot sector of sda2 and looks at sector 152888 of the same hard drive for core.img, but core.img can not be found at this location" The exasperating thing is that there is a /target/boot/grub/core.img file...

For comparison, here is the bootinfoscript result from chroot /target :


Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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


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

no valid partition table found
blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL


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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-root / ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,barrier=1,data=ordered)
/dev/sda2 /boot ext4 (rw,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered)
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-home /home ext4 (rw,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered)
/dev/mapper/lvm_vol_grp-share /share ext4 (rw,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered)
/dev/scd0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)

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

/proc/mounts: _get_sysfs_dir: fopen %s failed: No such file or directory
/proc/devices: fopen failed: No such file or directory
Failed to create lvm type filter
Internal error: _vginfos list should be empty
You have a memory leak (not released memory pool):
[0x2480780]
You have a memory leak (not released memory pool):
[0x2480780]
sort: open failed: /tmp/BootInfo0/BLKID: No such file or directory
Help??

[drs305]

Urhixidur,

I don't use lvm but I believe your problem is that you aren't also mounting the /boot partition.

For installing grub on a more conventional setup, if you had Ubuntu on sda1 and a separate /boot partition on sda2 you would do it this way:

Example for demonstration purposes only:

sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

Use this principle and apply it to installing your lvm setup.

[steve.dake]

Very easy fix -worked for me and took about 2 minutes:

http://karuppuswamy.com/wordpress/2010/06/02/how-to-chroot-to-ubuntu-using-live-cd-to-fix-grub-rescue-prompt/

[Jean-Noel]

Tx for having taken the time to write this solution. It solved my problem.

Here is the text I put on LinkedIn "Ubuntu Users ( 10.000+ members ) Official Group" :

What stops XP-users from switching to Ubuntu? Can we make a plan together to help those millions of XP-users (63% market share) not to have to buy a new computer?

http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=27258&type=member&item=21625037&qid=954d0dd5-6896-40c2-88f9-a57f5c17c3b2&goback=%2Egde_27258_member_21625037%2Egmp_27258

************************************************** **

1 good reason about what stops ANY (regular) computer-users from switching to Ubuntu?

February 7th, 4 months after Ubuntu 10.10 launch, I thought that most of the bugs of ver. 10.10 are now solved and that it could be a good time to migrate my 10.04LTS version to 10.10

I was wrong!
Following the 10.10 update (launched with update manager), after rebooting my machine, I got a very friendly black screen with the following message:

Error : the symbol ‘grub_xputs’ not found.
grub rescue> _

No matter about what and how.
A regular non computer literate user doesn’t care about the good and bad reasons why this happens, he will just be desperate because his machine doesn’t work anymore after an upgrade to the latest version of everything on his machine, simply because a several months old bug isn’t still corrected by a software editor which he trusted…