Cant boot after trying to install dualboot XP/ubuntu10.10

[beharder]

Hi guys,

Im shiny new to ubuntu and to this forum. After trying 10.10 from a live CD I wanted to install it as second OS on my notebook with WinXP. Since I could only choose between erasing the entire disk and manually partitioning I chose the latter. Now when I trz to start my system I get the error message


error: unknown filesystem
grub rescue>Im accessing the internet using the Live CD now, I ve already seen that there s lots of information about configuring Grub in this forum, but honestly, since I m a complete newbie I m not really up to solving this problem without help.

This is my results.txt generated by the Boot Info Script, can somebody please tell me what went wrong with my installation and how to fix it?



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 #4 for (,msdos4)/boot/grub.

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Windows XP: Fat32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files/dirs: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 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 62,958,734 62,958,672 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 62,958,735 282,149,594 219,190,860 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 308,367,675 312,576,704 4,209,030 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4 282,149,595 308,367,674 26,218,080 83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 320D-180E vfat ACER
/dev/sda2 01CB6CE5343E4D80 ntfs Daten
/dev/sda3 76adda65-2464-4cc6-85ae-59495dfe7acf swap
/dev/sda4 ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8 ext3
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"

============================ "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/sda4 /media/ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8 ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)


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

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=FS2IF8

=========================== sda4/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${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
}

function load_video {
insmod vbe
insmod vga
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos4)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos4)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8
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 2.6.35-22-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos4)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos4)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos4)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos4)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod fat
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 320d-180e
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
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 ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

=============================== sda4/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/sda4 during installation
UUID=ab2e8af5-f86b-4f4d-aae2-601ea21ca9b8 / ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=76adda65-2464-4cc6-85ae-59495dfe7acf none swap sw 0 0

=================== sda4: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


150.6GB: boot/grub/core.img
150.5GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
150.5GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
150.5GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
150.5GB: initrd.img
150.5GB: vmlinuz

[ronparent]

This is a new one on me. Your grub boot loader and menu are both pointing to the correct partition but it is not finding the grub installation. What I don't understand is why the boot loader and grub.cfg are both referring to that 4th partition as msdos4? Why don't you do a grub 2 reinstall per the following: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling GRUB 2

Basically you will be booting from a live cd and opening a terminal session. In that terminal session you will first mount the install to your filesystem with the command:

sudo mount /dev/sda4 /mnt

Then you will reinstall grub with the command:

sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sda

If you cut and paste the above command it should put you back in business. Let us know if this works.

[beharder]

thanks for helping me. I have pasted the commands into a terminal and this part seems to have worked fine (no errors reported) but it didn t have the desired effect, I still can t boot, still get the same error message.


What I don't understand is why the boot loader and grub.cfg are both referring to that 4th partition as msdos4?Dont know that either. I created the root and swap partition under Windows, using Paragon 2009, then I tried my first installation of Ubuntu 10.10, having the format option for the root partition checked.

Everzthing went fine until the installation was completed and I was asked to restart the computer. I took out the CD (without having been prompted to do so) and clicked on restart. Then while shutting down the system hung itself up. I concluded that probably it had not been very bright of me to take the CD out without being prompted, and since I couldnt start the computer I went through the entire installation process again, only that this time 1. I didnt check the format option because I assumed the partition had already been properly formatted during the first try, and 2. I didnt take the CD out before I was asked to.

Was it maybe a mistake not to format the root partition again? Or does it have something to do with my Windows partitions being to big? Is there still a limit of 128GB for booting an OS?

[ronparent]

For some reason the partitions you created in windows, even though they are formatted as linux partition, are not being recognized as linux partitions. I'm not sure how to untangle this. The easiest way may be to install again and let the installer format them. But since this didn't seem to work the first time, why not boot from the live cd and delete those partitions. I suspect our objective here is to clear the 'msdos4' designation. That will require you select the manual partitioning option during install (just make sure to designate the '/' mount point). lol

The 128Mb is no longer a limit with grub 2 because it finds the partition by UUID. I suspect that the msdos designation on the partion may be the problem because the partition is not in a recognizable msdos format. I will watch to see how you make out.

[beharder]

that sounds reasonable, I will use Gparted to delete both partitions (swap and root) and start all over again. I will let you know how it worked out. thanks for the help!

[oldfred]

msdos is correct as that is what they are using as the MBR type formating. My gpt drive shows gpt as the entry.

entry from gpt drive:
set root='(hd1,gpt2)'

Entry from MBR drive:
set root='(hd2,msdos5)'

OP should just have to reinstall grub2. For whatever reason we seem to see a lot of this and the simple two line reinstall does not work but the full chroot does:

Grub Rescue Prompt Megathread - drs305
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1594052
chroot & grub uninstall & reinstall
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1581099

[beharder]

OP should just have to reinstall grub2. For whatever reason we seem to see a lot of this and the simple two line reinstall does not work but the full chroot does:

Grub Rescue Prompt Megathread - drs305
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1594052
chroot & grub uninstall & reinstall
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1581099


ok, deleting the partitions and recreating them by linux alone didn't make it either. I'll try to work myself through these threads tomorrow, thx for the links.

[ronparent]

oldfred is right again. I had never seen the msdos designation on partitions before. But sometime between the Maverick Alpha 2 and the final release those designations did creep into my system unnoticed. Nevertheless I would not format Ubuntu partitions neither primary nor extended in win7. As a matter of fact I was unable to create my raid extended in win 7. Examining my partitions in win 7 shows 6 primaries and 3 extended partitions with one primary separated from the others at the end of the disk! Gparted of course shows one primary and the extended with 8 logical partitions. Anyway there is apparently no tracking of partition type between Ubuntu and Win 7. Creating partitions will need extreme care so as to not disrupt your setup.

I thing that olfred is also right that you only have to reinstall grub. You will have to use one of the chroot methods also described in the Grub 2 reference I gave you. That reference is now incomplete in that it doesn't deal with the new partition designations but otherwise it clearly outlines the chroot steps to reinstalling Grub. Good luck. Soory, I could have saved you some work if I hadn't misdirected you.

[efflandt]

Do you by any chance have an Asus motherboard? My desktop PC from 2004 does not like the partitioning on MB boundaries (instead of cylinders) which became the default in 10.04, and likewise for 10.10.

So you might want to try hitting a key from the installation CD or USB when you see initial graphics at the bottom of the screen (keyboard?) and add partman/alignment=cylinder as a kernel boot parameter to the line that has quiet splash. Then boot to a live system, and with gparted delete and recreate your Linux partitions, making sure that you have the box checked to "Align to cylinders" (or something similar).

Fortunately I tried 10.04 on a usb hard drive first, and sorted that out before installing it to my internal drive. 10.10 on a usb drive with partitions aligned to cylinders also works on that PC.

[beharder]

Hi thanks for your posts, after I came home from work yesterday I was too tired to answer. I probably won't have time/capacity for the next round until thursday, then I'll read the Grub 2 reference.


You will have to use one of the chroot methods also described in the Grub 2 reference I gave you. That reference is now incomplete in that it doesn't deal with the new partition designations but otherwise it clearly outlines the chroot steps to reinstalling Grub. Good luck. Soory, I could have saved you some work if I hadn't misdirected you.

please don't worry about that, I'm really thankful for all the help I can get, without help I'd be completely lost on this. Besides, starting the installation is only a few mouseclicks, and then I've been watching Criminal Minds while the installation ran, so it wasn't too much work ;)

[beharder]

Do you by any chance have an Asus motherboard? My desktop PC from 2004 does not like the partitioning on MB boundaries (instead of cylinders) which became the default in 10.04, and likewise for 10.10.


Thanks for your reply! It's not an Asus but an Acer, but it's pretty old, too... It's an Acer Travelmate 2350 (!) that I bought in the summer of 2005, it was the cheapest notebook available at that time... so, yes, if older mainboards don't support the new way of formatting, it's pretty likely that my mainboard belongs to those oldies. (The hdd is newer, though)

But on the other hand from the Live CD I can see that there are more than 2 GB of data on the root partition on my hdd, I can open the folders and access the files and everything... Is that possible if the formatting didn't work?


So you might want to try hitting a key from the installation CD or USB when you see initial graphics at the bottom of the screen (keyboard?) and add partman/alignment=cylinder as a kernel boot parameter to the line that has quiet splash. Then boot to a live system, and with gparted delete and recreate your Linux partitions, making sure that you have the box checked to "Align to cylinders" (or something similar).

setting kernel boot parameters somehow sounds scary to me... is there a way I can verify this is necessary before trying that? Again, thanks for your help, I really appreciate it, I'm only a coward because I'm completely new to ubuntu....

[ronparent]

Setting kernel boot parameters is relatively harmless. The worst that can happen is that the boot process will fail. Any changes made by editing a grub boot line are temporary and will affect only that boot.

[beharder]

ok, thanks, I'll try it tomorrow and let you know how it worked out

[beharder]

ok, now I'm really frustrated...

first I followed efflandts advice, booted with the boot kernel options as specified, deleted my linux partitions, formatted them again using the "Align to cylinders"parameter, then installed 10.10 again - still couldn't boot!

then I worked myself through the "Purge and reinstall grub" - thread

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1581099

I worked through the entire "Purge & Reinstall with chroot" section, everything worked perfectly fine, no error message no problems. The only thing that didn't work was the line:


sudo cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/temp/etc/resolv.conf # May be required to connect to the Internet.
this didn't work because there is no file /etc/resolv.conf on my system, only a directory /etc/resolveconf, but because I was able to establish an internet connection by clicking on the internet symbol on the top right of my screen I chose to ignore this line.

everything else went fine as far as I can tell...

... BUT I STILL CANNOT BOOT!!!!

I still get the error message "unknown filesystem" and the grub rescue prompt.


wth is going wrong?

[beharder]

I thought it might be helpful to run the Boot Info Script again, this is the results.txt after formatting by cylinders and purging and reinstalling grub


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 #3 for (,msdos3)/boot/grub.

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Windows XP: Fat32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files/dirs: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 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 62,958,734 62,958,672 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 62,958,735 282,149,594 219,190,860 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 282,149,595 307,709,009 25,559,415 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 307,709,010 312,576,704 4,867,695 82 Linux swap / Solaris


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 320D-180E vfat ACER
/dev/sda2 01CB6CE5343E4D80 ntfs Daten
/dev/sda3 b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893 ext3
/dev/sda4 2606e811-3ed1-473c-a3d9-299954d1387d swap
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)


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

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=FS2IF8

=========================== sda3/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${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
}

function load_video {
insmod vbe
insmod vga
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893
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 2.6.35-22-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod fat
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 320d-180e
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
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 ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

=============================== sda3/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/sda3 during installation
UUID=b6930f49-c06f-41dc-a8f1-e0b5b03c6893 / ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=2606e811-3ed1-473c-a3d9-299954d1387d none swap sw 0 0

=================== sda3: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


148.6GB: boot/grub/core.img
148.6GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
148.7GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
148.7GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
148.7GB: initrd.img
148.7GB: vmlinuz

[oldfred]

Supposedly the 137GB BIOS limit is back to 2001, but perhaps your computer is old enough to have that limit. You cannot then boot from any partition beyond 137GB. (your boot files are at 148GB). This was error 18 in old grub but maybe grub2 assumed those systems are now too old and it just does not work.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/p15.html#18

The suggestion is to try a /boot partition inside the first 137GB of the drive. You have used all 4 partitions, so you will have to reinstall and create a extended partition so you can have additional partitions.

[beharder]

can I put the boot partition between the two windows XP partitions (now sda1 for Win XP OS and sda2 for my data)? Would windows XP still be able to access the data partition then?

[beharder]

P.S.: ... and since I'll have to format the root partition one more time - is it advisable to format according to cylinders again, or is that not necessary?

[oldfred]

If you can shrink sda1 then you can insert another partition. They will not be in order on the drive but that is not a requirement.

Not sure about cylinders.

Do you have BIOS set to LBA not auto for your drives, some solved some issues with that setting change?

[beharder]

Hi guys,

thanks to all of you for helping me! It finally works!

I deleted the partitions one more time, shrunk the sda1 (Windows XP drive C), inserted a 300MB boot partition between sda1 and sda2. Then I created an extended partition containing two logical partitions for swap and /. Then I reinstalled Ubuntu 10.10 one more time. And now everything works fine!

At first when I tried to shrink sda1 with gparted I forgot to use the alignment=cylinder option and the process ended with an error message. From then on I used this option for every partition I changed or created and everything worked fine. So obviously my problems have been caused by both, the old mainboard not supporting the formatting according to MiB, and the old 137GB-limit for the boot-Partition.

And after going through all this trouble, when I finally relaxed and inserted a movie DVD to enjoy the rest of the evening, I spilled a cup of tea over my notebook and almost killed it #-o... but only almost!

[oldfred]

Glad you got it working.:)

I spilled coffee into my IBM clicky keyboard several years ago at work and nearly cried. I loved the old IBM keyboards and hated the new Compaq keyboards that came with the new computers corporate was issuing.

[srs5694]

I spilled coffee into my IBM clicky keyboard several years ago at work and nearly cried. I loved the old IBM keyboards and hated the new Compaq keyboards that came with the new computers corporate was issuing.

You can get similar keyboards today from PC Keyboards (http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/) and CVT. (http://www.cvtinc.com/products/keyboards/menu.htm) They're pricey (especially the CVT products), but they're worth it.

Concerning the comment that triggered yours: I once spilled some soda on a laptop keyboard. At first it seemed OK, but then it died. I eventually found a replacement on eBay for a tolerable price, but the price a repair shop quoted to fix it was absolutely outlandish.