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rpaskudniak
November 26th, 2010, 03:34 AM
Greetings, all.

I have another concise-as-usual question for the Gurus out there.

I bought a new Dell AMD-64-based Windows-7 box in June and was unable to adjust partitions until now, when the System Rescue CD solved 2 problems I was unable to explain to Dell. That's just my excuse for waiting this long to install Ubuntu. (Also waiting for 10.10)

Here is my disk layout:

Windows-7 comes with 3 partitions installed:
Dell Utility (FAT-16) ~ 40GB
Recovery (ntfs) ~ 11GB
The OS (ntfs) - the rest of the 1-TB disk. Known as /dev/sda3 to gparted.
An extended partition, /dev/sda4, that I created. See below.


I used Dell disk management to shrink that third partition by 400GB and used Gparted-Live to create an extended partition in that 400GB space. The main sub-partition I am interested in is
/dev/sda5 - 4GB (ext3), which I have set as my root mount point.

I have attached the gparted screen shot.

Now, that's what I did before I started to install Ubuntu.

During the install, it prompted me where to install the Grub. it prompted with the name of the hard drive, the Samsung <yada yada>. Coward that I am, I clicked the down-arrow and selected /dev/sda5. I also designated that the root mount point.

Result:
When I boot the machine, it boots into Windows, like nothing has happened. The way I got into Ubuntu now was by booting from the SuperGrub Disk 1.98 and selecting "Detect any OS", opting for the Linux Kernel at the next step.

Duh, that not what I had in mind.:confused:


Where should I have installed it? I was terrified of having it overwrite my MBR on the hard drive.

And now that I DO have the SuperGrub disk, how do install the Grub back into where it belongs? And where is that anyway? On the Samsung as it originally wanted to do it? (I do have Windows recovery disks handy but I'd hate to have to put them to the test.)

I have other questions as well but let's handle this basic one first.

jacob.david
November 26th, 2010, 03:54 AM
You should have installed it on sda1. Don't worry about overwriting MBR, as GRUB is smart enough to detect Windows and add it to the menu. Having said that I personally faced some issue in setting up the dual boot with Windows 7. I hope you don't face any problem and everything goes smoothly.

wilee-nilee
November 26th, 2010, 04:23 AM
That is a starange set up at the least, don't worry about the boot loading the MBR this is child's play one command with MS 2 with Linux for grub2.

So that being said you can't put anything in the unallocated as you have the maximum amount of partitions allowed on a single HD 3 primary types and one extended. That extended if you plan to have all Linux and even a shared NTFS I think (get confirmation here) should just cover the whole area past the last NTFS.

In the extended you can put as many partitions you can fit, a whole bunch of different bootable Linux type if you wanted. A plethora, a unlimited amount of partitions.;)

sda1 sda2 , and sda3=3 partitions the limit is 4 of any type unless inside a extended, or a raid setup; you don't want raid.


You should have installed it on sda1. Don't worry about overwriting MBR, as GRUB is smart enough to detect Windows and add it to the menu. Having said that I personally faced some issue in setting up the dual boot with Windows 7. I hope you don't face any problem and everything goes smoothly.

First what is it and sda1 is a firmware partition.

Quackers
November 26th, 2010, 04:25 AM
Grub is normally installed to the mbr of sda - not in a numbered partition. It may (or may not :-)) , interfere with Windows booting, but that is fixable with a windows repair disc (not usually the recovery disc though).

rpaskudniak
November 26th, 2010, 05:28 AM
Quackers stated:


Grub is normally installed to the mbr of sda - not in a numbered partition. It may (or may not :-)) , interfere with Windows booting, but that is fixable with a windows repair disc (not usually the recovery disc though).

Just to hang on to the words I highlighted:

I thought the Windows Recovery DVD's I burned he other day are the repair disks. If these do not recover the MBR, how do I burn the Windows Repair Disc that you described? Though I suspect that both the Windows Installation DVD (Recovery Panel/fixmbr) and System Rescue CD will fix the the MBR for me.

Bottom line for me: I should restart the install process before I commit any serious downloads to Ubuntu. And allow it to install in the default location.

Thank you all for this apparent consensus.

BTW, Quackers, I like the avatar. I was considering "Dr. Quackenbush" before deciding on my screen name/avatar.

Quackers
November 26th, 2010, 05:33 AM
The Recovery Discs you have created are effectively a copy of the recovery partition on your hard drive and may prove invaluable to you in the future. Keep them safe :-) However, they may not offer a full complement of repair tools, such as command prompt or startup repair (which may be needed to fix an mbr).

BTW I think Quackenbush is a distant relation of mine :-)

Quackers
November 26th, 2010, 05:45 AM
It is still possible to re-install grub to the mbr of sda, but first I would suggest booting from the live cd/usb and selecting "try ubuntu" and when the desktop loads connect to the internet.
Then please go to the site below and download the boot script to your DESKTOP and then open up a terminal (Applications menu > Accessories > terminal) and copy/paste this command into it

sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script*.sh
The script will run then produce a results.txt file on your desktop.
Please copy the contents of that file and paste them into your next post using CODE tags. For CODE tags click on New Reply rather than quick reply and then click on the # symbol in the toolbar.

This will give a fuller view of your system. Once this is done stay in the live cd environment, where the necessary commands to install grub can be used.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

rpaskudniak
November 26th, 2010, 06:35 AM
Quackers,

I'ts getting late for me and I may not have the chance to get back to this for a few days. However, I just had an epiphany:

I was looking at the options in the [Partitions] drop-down menu and notices the check-box for []Boot. Only one partition can have this flag on; that partition happens to be /dev/sda2, the ntfs RECOVERY partition.

Now I did install the grub on /dev/sda5. Suppose I were to set the Boot flag on /dev/sda5, which would clear the Boot flag from /dev/sda2. Grub is grub no matter where it's located, I think.

What do you think?

As for pasting the RESULTS.txt - I had mercy on the other readers of this forum and have sent it as an attachment. It is over 400 lines long! I'm looking into it with vim now, with an interest to making sure Windows is still the default OS. (I printed the grub2 community documentation (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2) )

Quackers
November 26th, 2010, 06:41 AM
If you use CODE tags it appears like this

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: 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: 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

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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: /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: Grub 2
Boot sector info: Grub 2 is installed in the boot sector of sda5 and
looks at sector 1134686456 of the same hard drive for
core.img, but core.img can not be found at this
location.
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

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: ext3
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sda9: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdc1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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:

sdc2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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: /ubuntu/winboot/menu.lst /wubildr.mbr
/ubuntu/winboot/wubildr.mbr /wubildr
/ubuntu/winboot/wubildr

sdc3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdc5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sdc6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

=========================== 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 80,324 80,262 de Dell Utility
/dev/sda2 * 81,920 22,286,335 22,204,416 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 22,286,336 1,134,321,663 1,112,035,328 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 1,134,325,758 1,478,266,879 343,941,122 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 1,134,325,760 1,142,714,367 8,388,608 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 1,142,716,416 1,176,270,847 33,554,432 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 1,176,272,896 1,209,827,327 33,554,432 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 1,209,829,376 1,344,047,103 134,217,728 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 1,344,049,152 1,478,266,879 134,217,728 83 Linux


Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 8086 MB, 8086618112 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 983 cylinders, total 15794176 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 * 63 15,794,175 15,794,113 b W95 FAT32


Drive: sdc ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdc: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdc1 * 63 268,430,084 268,430,022 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc2 268,430,085 469,756,664 201,326,580 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc3 469,756,665 625,137,344 155,380,680 5 Extended
/dev/sdc5 469,756,728 603,979,739 134,223,012 83 Linux
/dev/sdc6 603,979,803 625,137,344 21,157,542 83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/sda1 3030-3030 vfat DellUtility
/dev/sda2 B6248003247FC4C1 ntfs RECOVERY
/dev/sda3 9AF08259F0823B8F ntfs OS
/dev/sda4: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda5 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c ext3 Ubuntu-Boot
/dev/sda6 b131bed3-9334-4baa-9573-bf15c9465e83 swap swap
/dev/sda7 0902758e-eda1-4a63-bb83-ad141ce4dc22 ext2 Ubuntu-tmp
/dev/sda8 23b67cc2-a31f-4881-8af8-839eb1035b78 ext3 Ubuntu-Users
/dev/sda9 669ccf70-1b6e-4c65-9c69-9e4e1d21af3e ext3 Ubuntu-VAR
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 2469-090C vfat CORSAIR
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdc1 441FCCDB2C9E0892 ntfs Backup
/dev/sdc2 129163807CBCA1CC ntfs Media
/dev/sdc3: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdc5 06382323-3fe8-4b1f-a0ba-5338134776cc ext3 DB-ifmx
/dev/sdc6 f5f5d92d-7b16-4f47-9403-8789efa6534c ext3 DB-pg
/dev/sdc: PTTYPE="dos"
error: /dev/sdd: No medium found
error: /dev/sde: No medium found
error: /dev/sdf: No medium found
error: /dev/sdg: No medium found
error: /dev/sdh: No medium found

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sda5 / ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0)
/dev/sdc5 /media/DB-ifmx ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdc6 /media/DB-pg ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdc1 /media/Backup fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sdb1 /media/CORSAIR vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=1000,gid=1000, shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sdc2 /media/Media fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)


=========================== sda5/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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c
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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c
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 2.6.35-23-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic root=UUID=831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-23-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-23-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-23-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic root=UUID=831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-23-generic
}
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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c 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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c 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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c
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 part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set b6248003247fc4c1
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 ###

=============================== 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=831b4fa3-b7eb-4daf-83f4-5edcb625795c / ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=b131bed3-9334-4baa-9573-bf15c9465e83 none swap sw 0 0

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


580.9GB: boot/grub/core.img
580.9GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
581.0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
581.0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-23-generic
580.9GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
580.9GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic
581.0GB: initrd.img
581.0GB: initrd.img.old
580.9GB: vmlinuz
580.9GB: vmlinuz.old

======================== sdc2/ubuntu/winboot/menu.lst: ========================

debug off
hiddenmenu
default 0
timeout 0
fallback 1

title find /ubuntu/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /ubuntu/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst
configfile /ubuntu/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst

title find /ubuntu/install/boot/grub/menu.lst
fallback 2
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /ubuntu/install/boot/grub/menu.lst
configfile /ubuntu/install/boot/grub/menu.lst

title find /menu.lst
fallback 3
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /menu.lst
configfile /menu.lst

title find /boot/grub/menu.lst
fallback 4
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /boot/grub/menu.lst
configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst

title find /grub/menu.lst
fallback 5
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /grub/menu.lst
configfile /grub/menu.lst

title commandline
commandline

title reboot
reboot

title halt
halt
=======Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive==============

sdd sde sdf sdg sdh

Quackers
November 26th, 2010, 06:48 AM
Only Windows uses boot flags.
From within the live cd open a terminal and copy/paste these commands into it, one line at a time and press enter.. You may need to enter your password after the first line.

sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda
The second line should report that it ran without any reported errors.
If it does type into the terminal

sudo update-grub
and hit enter. Then watch the terminal as grub.cfg is configured to see if Windows 7 (loader) appears.
After this reboot and you should see the grub menu where you can choose to boot each OS. Try both to ensure that they boot ok.

rpaskudniak
November 26th, 2010, 07:10 AM
Well, Quackers, that was one little voyage of discovery. I am currently booted from the Ubuntu-Live CD. It failed to boot from /dev/sda5 because it was missing some file, presumably the one referred to in the quoted text. (BTW, I didn't know you could scroll the quoted text like that.)


sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext3
Boot sector type: Grub 2
Boot sector info: Grub 2 is installed in the boot sector of sda5 and
looks at sector 1134686456 of the same hard drive
for core.img, but core.img can not be found at this
location.
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img


However, the commands you suggested did not come out error-free:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda
/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Sector 32 is already in use by FlexNet; avoiding it. This software may cause boot or other problems in future. Please ask its authors not to store data in the boot track..
Installation finished. No error reported.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo update-grub
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for / (is /dev mounted?).

BTW, I did the above after I changed the boot flag back to /dev/sda2.

OK, so gparted ain't perfect in allowing me to do set the flag on a non-ntfs partition.

In any case, I need to reboot to Windows now, if for no better reason than to see if I still can. As I indicated earlier, I have not committed much to this Ubuntu installation; I can do it over with no loss of data. Still, it's a better hack if I can avoid that cowardly way out.

This ain't finished yet, friend. :guitar:

Quackers
November 26th, 2010, 07:20 AM
The boot flag is an irrelevance to Linux and Gparted.
I have seen Flexnet causing boot failures before. I have no idea what it is but I know that the last time I saw it causing problems the OP was advised to get rid of it.
Try rebooting. You may now get a grub menu, or worse a grub prompt. If Windows doesn't boot you may need to download a Windows repair cd and run the startup repair. Or alternatively we could see if Lilo will install (which can boot Windows) but I hope it won't come to that.

rpaskudniak
November 26th, 2010, 08:19 AM
Quackers,
After consuming 1/2 pound of gobblers, my brain seems unaffected. Should I worry? :p

Good news and mediocre news:

Good news: I got the Grub menu and on first reboot, chose windows. On the next reboot I allowed the default Ubuntu to come up.

Mediocre news: Windows is at the bottom of the menu. I would rather have it at the top, where it will be the default. That's be virtue of the directive in /etc/defailt/grub:
GRUB_DEFAULT=0
As I understand the doc, if I want Windows at the top (and I have no intention of installing yet another OS here, though I have the Fedora DVD sitting on my desk). I would rename 30_os-prober to something like NO-WAY-30_os-prober and turn off its "executable" flags so that it does not get executed. Then I would copy the code to 09_Windows so that it would generate the menuentry code first and would therefore be at the top of the list.

Why not just rename 30_os-prober? In case I decide I do want to add Fedora to the mix. Also, since the new 09-Windows has only one function, I would like to pare it down to remove the now-irrelevant code. But until I do, that code is dead yeast in the beer; messy but harmless.

Again, I am soliciting your opinion. (I have already established that what sounds like a good idea will not necessarily pan out as such.)

So what do you think of my suggestion?

BTW, I have edited /etc/default/grub to set the countdown timer to 30 seconds and GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=false so that I can see what's going on.

Thank very much for your help, Quackers.

Quackers
November 26th, 2010, 08:39 AM
Since you have edited /etc/default/grub already, you can do so again if you wish :-) to change the default booting option to the number which Windows is.
Or a much easier way is to install Startup Manager via Synaptic Package Manager and change the default OS from there.
Did you run sudo update-grub in the terminal after making the changes to /etc/default/grub?
This makes the changes take effect.

I must admit to being relieved that you can boot both OSes. It was looking a bit dodgy for a while :-)

As far as I'm aware you only turn off os_prober if you have made a custom menu, or if you just don't want to pick up any OSes any more. Not something I'd want, personally.

rpaskudniak
November 28th, 2010, 01:56 AM
Since you have edited /etc/default/grub already, you can do so again if you wish :-) to change the default booting option to the number which Windows is.
Or a much easier way is to install Startup Manager via Synaptic Package Manager and change the default OS from there.
Did you run sudo update-grub in the terminal after making the changes to /etc/default/grub?
This makes the changes take effect.

I must admit to being relieved that you can boot both OSes. It was looking a bit dodgy for a while :-)

As far as I'm aware you only turn off os_prober if you have made a custom menu, or if you just don't want to pick up any OSes any more. Not something I'd want, personally.

Quackers,
You have saved me a great deal of skull sweat by telling me about StartupManager. How would I have found it had you not told me about it?

In any case, my big issues are now solved. I used StartupManager to set Windows as the default OS and in the menu it now shows up hightlighted at the bottom of the menu. These are smaller issues and call for a separate thread. I'll post it later or tomorrow. However, I am marking this thread as [SOLVED].

I will diddle the partitions, now that I realize the root is too small and I will play some other games to make my installation more practical.

Quackers, you have been terrific help to me, and anyone else who encounters my kind of questions. I give you Kudos and a beer!

Quackers
November 28th, 2010, 02:35 AM
Very kind sir, but a small fish would be more to my taste :-)
You're welcome.

BTW be careful "diddling" partitions. Only one diddle at a time and everything (including swap) should be unmounted.

rajeeja
December 13th, 2010, 10:51 PM
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/sda6 /dev/sda

/usr/sbin/grub-setup: warn: Sector 32 is already in use by FlexNet; avoiding it. This software may cause boot or other problems in future. Please ask its authors not to store data in the boot track..
Installation finished. No error reported.

Reboot into the LiveCD and execute:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda6 /mnt
mount: /dev/sda6 already mounted or /mnt busy
mount: according to mtab, /dev/sda6 is already mounted on /mnt

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo update-grub
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for / (is /dev mounted?).

Simply rebooting without the live CD gets me to grub> prompt. It's because the old grub files are gone and the new one didn't update?

Vista doesn't show up now, so I don't know what to do?

Many thanks,

rpaskudniak
December 14th, 2010, 01:48 AM
Rajeeja,

Do not repeat my mistake! I tried to recover my Windows by booting from my Dell Recovery disks and it messed up my files.

Before you do ANYTHING, print out article 1014708 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1014708) in this forum.

If you have the Windows installation DVD, boot from that.

Scary as it seems, start the installation process. At the 3rd of 4th step, it will prompt you for a region. After that, you will have the chance to enter command mode. If you choose that you will get a DOS-like command window. Here, enter these commands:


bootrec.exe /fixboot

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
This will blow away the grub and you will be able to boot only into Windows. Do that just to make sure you CAN boot to Windows. Then, however, you can now get back the grub by booting the Ubuntu Live CD and following the directions in that article.

And when you have everything back, send a [virtual] beer or similar kudos to talsemgeest for writing it.

rajeeja
December 14th, 2010, 02:56 PM
Thanks for the detailed reply, I'll have to search for the windows CD..

rajeeja
December 14th, 2010, 06:19 PM
Rajeeja,

Do not repeat my mistake! I tried to recover my Windows by booting from my Dell Recovery disks and it messed up my files.

Before you do ANYTHING, print out article 1014708 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1014708) in this forum.

If you have the Windows installation DVD, boot from that.

Scary as it seems, start the installation process. At the 3rd of 4th step, it will prompt you for a region. After that, you will have the chance to enter command mode. If you choose that you will get a DOS-like command window. Here, enter these commands:


bootrec.exe /fixboot

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
This will blow away the grub and you will be able to boot only into Windows. Do that just to make sure you CAN boot to Windows. Then, however, you can now get back the grub by booting the Ubuntu Live CD and following the directions in that article.

And when you have everything back, send a [virtual] beer or similar kudos to talsemgeest for writing it.




How did you fix Ubuntu after restoring windows?

rajeeja
December 14th, 2010, 10:03 PM
Rajeeja,

Do not repeat my mistake! I tried to recover my Windows by booting from my Dell Recovery disks and it messed up my files.

Before you do ANYTHING, print out article 1014708 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1014708) in this forum.

If you have the Windows installation DVD, boot from that.

Scary as it seems, start the installation process. At the 3rd of 4th step, it will prompt you for a region. After that, you will have the chance to enter command mode. If you choose that you will get a DOS-like command window. Here, enter these commands:


bootrec.exe /fixboot

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
This will blow away the grub and you will be able to boot only into Windows. Do that just to make sure you CAN boot to Windows. Then, however, you can now get back the grub by booting the Ubuntu Live CD and following the directions in that article.

And when you have everything back, send a [virtual] beer or similar kudos to talsemgeest for writing it.

I have a OS CD and I did fixboot and fixmbr, after doing that (both of them ran successfully) I simply ejected the Vista CD.

Now when I try to reboot, nothing comes to the screen just a cursor blinking. No more "grub>" prompt.

Any pointers?

Should I run startup recovery on Vista CD or do something with the 10.10 live CD?