[ubuntu] Update and then no boot [Archive]

View Full Version : [ubuntu] Update and then no boot

Bo0ddha

December 12th, 2010, 01:08 AM

Running ubuntu on an external hdd. Did a fresh install of 10.10 and then did the system updates. After the reboot it won't boot to the usb hdd anymore. It just goes straight to windows.

drs305

December 12th, 2010, 01:15 AM

The best way to set this up would be to have your system boot the external drive first. That way, if you have the Windows bootloader on your internal, you can boot directly to Windows with the external disconnected and to Ubuntu or Windows when the external drive is connected.

To do this, boot to a LiveCD, mount your external drive, and then install grub to the external drive. Then make sure your BIOS boots the external drive first.

If you need to know how to set this up we need some information. Run the boot info script and post the contents of RESULTS.txt:
http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net

Bo0ddha

December 12th, 2010, 01:25 AM

Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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

=> Syslinux is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda
=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb
=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc and looks on the same drive in
partition #3 for (,msdos3)/boot/grub.

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdb2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdb3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdc3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sdc4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 4110 MB, 4110417920 bytes
72 heads, 7 sectors/track, 15928 cylinders, total 8028160 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 * 688 8,028,159 8,027,472 b W95 FAT32

Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 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/sdb1 63 25,173,854 25,173,792 27 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 * 25,173,855 25,382,699 208,845 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb3 25,382,700 488,395,119 463,012,420 7 HPFS/NTFS

Drive: sdc ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdc: 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/sdc1 2,048 1,870,030,259 1,870,028,212 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc2 1,898,031,104 1,902,030,847 3,999,744 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc3 * 1,870,030,848 1,882,030,079 11,999,232 83 Linux
/dev/sdc4 1,882,030,080 1,898,031,103 16,001,024 83 Linux

blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/loop1 3b312aae-bf92-c24d-8698-1e887998a9c3 ext2 casper-rw
/dev/sda1 F63F-B820 vfat PENDRIVE
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 CCECB432ECB418A2 ntfs PQSERVICE
/dev/sdb2 0C48B49A48B483CC ntfs SYSTEM RESERVED
/dev/sdb3 3ADCB680DCB635CB ntfs Acer
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdc1 2EB2C52EB2C4FAFB ntfs Meu
/dev/sdc2 27a9680a-f23f-460f-a253-0a46e96db627 swap
/dev/sdc3 d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780 ext4
/dev/sdc4 445ec8f5-4509-4b18-b869-e74ec5c53e1a ext2
/dev/sdc: PTTYPE="dos"

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sda1 /cdrom vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437, iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sdc4 /media/445ec8f5-4509-4b18-b869-e74ec5c53e1a ext2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdc1 /media/Meu fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sdc3 /media/d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780 ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)

=========================== sdc3/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='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780
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='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780
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='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic root=UUID=d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780 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='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-23-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic root=UUID=d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780 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='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780 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='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780 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='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ccecb432ecb418a2
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda2)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0c48b49a48b483cc
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 ###

=============================== sdc3/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/sdc3 during installation
UUID=d011c4e3-0df1-4fa3-ae9d-90df484b8780 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /home was on /dev/sdc4 during installation
UUID=445ec8f5-4509-4b18-b869-e74ec5c53e1a /home ext2 defaults 0 2
/dev/sdc2 none swap sw 0 0

=================== sdc3: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================

958.7GB: boot/grub/core.img
961.3GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
961.4GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
961.3GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-23-generic
959.7GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
959.6GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic
961.3GB: initrd.img
961.4GB: initrd.img.old
959.6GB: vmlinuz
959.7GB: vmlinuz.old
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda1

00000000 eb 58 90 53 59 53 4c 49 4e 55 58 00 02 08 e0 02 |.X.SYSLINUX.....|
00000010 02 00 00 00 00 f8 00 00 3f 00 ff 00 b0 02 00 00 |........?.......|
00000020 50 7d 7a 00 90 1e 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 |P}z.............|
00000030 01 00 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000040 80 00 29 20 b8 3f f6 4e 4f 20 4e 41 4d 45 20 20 |..) .?.NO NAME |
00000050 20 20 46 41 54 33 32 20 20 20 fa fc 31 c9 8e d1 | FAT32 ..1...|
00000060 bc 76 7b 52 06 57 8e c1 b1 26 bf 78 7b f3 a5 8e |.v{R.W...&.x{...|
00000070 d9 bb 78 00 0f b4 37 0f a0 56 20 d2 78 1b 31 c0 |..x...7..V .x.1.|
00000080 b1 06 89 3f 89 47 02 f3 64 a5 8a 0e 18 7c 88 4d |...?.G..d....|.M|
00000090 bc 50 50 50 50 cd 13 eb 4b f6 45 b4 7f 75 25 38 |.PPPP...K.E..u%8|
000000a0 4d b8 74 20 66 3d 21 47 50 54 75 10 80 7d b8 ed |M.t f=!GPTu..}..|
000000b0 75 0a 66 ff 75 ec 66 ff 75 e8 eb 0f 51 51 66 ff |u.f.u.f.u...QQf.|
000000c0 75 bc eb 07 51 51 66 ff 36 1c 7c b4 08 cd 13 72 |u...QQf.6.|....r|
000000d0 13 20 e4 75 0f c1 ea 08 42 89 16 1a 7c 83 e1 3f |. .u....B...|..?|
000000e0 89 0e 18 7c fb bb aa 55 b4 41 8a 16 74 7b cd 13 |...|...U.A..t{..|
000000f0 72 10 81 fb 55 aa 75 0a f6 c1 01 74 05 c6 06 32 |r...U.u....t...2|
00000100 7d 00 66 b8 e0 e7 15 00 66 ba 00 00 00 00 bb 00 |}.f.....f.......|
00000110 7e e8 10 00 66 81 3e 24 7e 34 be f5 72 75 76 ea |~...f.>$~4..ruv.|
00000120 38 7e 00 00 66 03 06 64 7b 66 13 16 68 7b b9 10 |8~..f..d{f..h{..|
00000130 00 eb 2b 66 52 66 50 06 53 6a 01 6a 10 89 e6 66 |..+fRfP.Sj.j...f|
00000140 60 b4 42 e8 7f 00 66 61 8d 64 10 72 01 c3 66 60 |`.B...fa.d.r..f`|
00000150 31 c0 e8 70 00 66 61 e2 da c6 06 32 7d 2b 66 60 |1..p.fa....2}+f`|
00000160 66 0f b7 36 18 7c 66 0f b7 3e 1a 7c 66 f7 f6 31 |f..6.|f..>.|f..1|
00000170 c9 87 ca 66 f7 f7 66 3d ff 03 00 00 77 17 c0 e4 |...f..f=....w...|
00000180 06 41 08 e1 88 c5 88 d6 b8 01 02 e8 37 00 66 61 |.A..........7.fa|
00000190 72 01 c3 e2 c9 31 f6 8e d6 bc 6c 7b 8e de 66 8f |r....1....l{..f.|
000001a0 06 78 00 be cc 7d e8 09 00 31 c0 cd 16 cd 19 f4 |.x...}...1......|
000001b0 eb fd 66 60 ac 20 c0 74 09 b4 0e bb 07 00 cd 10 |..f`. .t........|
000001c0 eb f2 66 61 c3 8a 16 74 7b cd 13 c3 42 6f 6f 74 |..fa...t{...Boot|
000001d0 20 65 72 72 6f 72 0d 0a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | error..........|
000001e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

Unknown BootLoader on sdc4

00000000 00 00 01 ba 44 62 2d 82 64 b7 01 89 c3 f8 00 00 |....Db-.d.......|
00000010 01 bd 07 ec 81 80 05 21 18 8b 7f 63 82 03 00 c4 |.......!...c....|
00000020 99 fb ff f1 02 e3 a3 02 f9 f0 86 44 1b c1 c3 5d |...........D...]|
00000030 1e c3 99 41 2c 7c d6 0b 99 3f 10 56 fb 09 ba 99 |...A,|...?.V....|
00000040 b9 02 98 55 31 d1 49 8b d4 7b 41 b7 d9 31 d5 d1 |...U1.I..{A..1..|
00000050 3c 0f c5 1c 34 04 69 84 5a eb 39 91 f6 3e 2f 5f |<...4.i.Z.9..>/_|
00000060 a2 b2 88 ed b4 60 38 e8 0e b4 2b dd 7d 35 ee 69 |.....`8...+.}5.i|
00000070 83 09 0f c1 2c 45 31 dd a4 bc 10 28 02 cb e3 4c |....,E1....(...L|
00000080 08 fd 16 b9 3f f2 56 47 08 8e f4 a3 46 f8 f2 04 |....?.VG....F...|
00000090 06 fc 4d 0e af 00 5f be 87 eb 72 9e 0b 04 02 3f |..M..._...r....?|
000000a0 f1 82 6d c0 a0 30 86 98 44 46 9d c8 e4 05 cb 87 |..m..0..DF......|
000000b0 ce 84 c4 f8 ca f1 9e db 78 42 4c 3d e4 72 e3 91 |........xBL=.r..|
000000c0 f1 54 dc 31 20 38 b6 05 b4 1c a8 64 7e 8a fb 9f |.T.1 8.....d~...|
000000d0 f8 8f 64 3a 29 0e dd 3c 08 0d 19 82 1b ec b6 ad |..d:)..<........|
000000e0 68 0a 95 0b 77 9c 1a 14 30 53 70 17 27 24 92 00 |h...w...0Sp.'$..|
000000f0 00 e0 3e 6c 5b a0 c0 c0 c0 d4 18 18 18 1b ea c9 |..>l[...........|
00000100 fa 54 d2 c3 7c fa 13 e8 73 95 2a 7b 1d 33 f4 b0 |.T..|...s.*{.3..|
00000110 d2 ce 7e 99 4d 27 d4 9f b9 86 e9 4d 76 18 5d c2 |..~.M'.....Mv.].|
00000120 6b 17 29 3e 54 ec 8a ab 8f 9e ac 2a 85 53 e8 88 |k.)>T......*.S..|
00000130 2d be 7e f6 b3 ed 6e 69 42 7f 0d 24 35 59 b3 f0 |-.~...niB..$5Y..|
00000140 9a c5 c7 df 1d 2a 7d 0a bb 9a f5 ab 6b a6 85 fa |.....*}.....k...|
00000150 4a ef 9f a5 a4 ec 6c 27 ee 6b 42 ae a5 fa 67 5e |J.....l'.kB...g^|
00000160 5b d3 89 12 24 00 55 2e 88 74 77 fe f3 5f 43 e0 |[...$.U..tw.._C.|
00000170 40 0e 30 03 81 97 2a 9c e2 1d d6 ad e5 2e de 34 |@.0...*........4|
00000180 e1 5b b3 53 c9 bd 60 04 6f e9 b0 0a 45 f4 80 12 |.[.S..`.o...E...|
00000190 6e ff f3 24 de 55 34 27 78 1c 2f 04 14 19 c1 91 |n..$.U4'x./.....|
000001a0 58 1b c9 66 2e 4b 31 8c 52 51 e4 54 41 9c 26 dc |X..f.K1.RQ.TA.&.|
000001b0 84 b5 f2 5f 5a 4f a1 54 55 2e 88 70 77 fe f3 61 |..._ZO.TU..pw..a|
000001c0 4a 10 a0 7e e4 17 61 c9 f1 34 65 79 59 a6 00 01 |J..~..a..4eyY...|
000001d0 47 c0 e6 4e 57 f2 2d e4 1d 5d f8 bb 03 3d cb bd |G..NW.-..]...=..|
000001e0 6d 39 b7 b9 1e b3 23 a8 61 24 73 23 00 42 cc 3d |m9....#.a$s#.B.=|
000001f0 12 c9 a0 7d ff 27 c4 31 b5 3d 6e 62 ef de 7c 20 |...}.'.1.=nb..| |
00000200

What you described is what I already have done. Grub is on the external hdd and the interal windows drive still has it's own boot loader. What I don't understand is why after I update it won't boot from the usb hdd. I hit f12 on boot to select the boot device and the usb hdd is not there. I'm on my usb live right now and that showed up and booted just fine. If I need to reinstall grub2 please point me to a guide or a post where I install it to the external hdd.

Edit: Full results posted. I agree with the thinking that the bios is not even seeing grub on the sdc. I just don't know how to fix it. It was working perfectly before that. My bios does see the usb live I am currently using though.

drs305

December 12th, 2010, 01:49 AM

I am assuming you didn't post the entire contents of the RESULTS.txt, which gives us some more information we need.

But it appears Grub2 is installed on sdc's MBR and sdc3's Ubuntu partition. BIOS is most likely booting from sdb and using the Windows bootloader.

You can check by holding down the SHIFT key during boot to see if the Grub 2 menu appears but probably it won't.

Did your system boot from this device previously? Is the device listed in the BIOS boot order (it could be listed under USB or Hard Drives, depending on the BIOS). I know you say your BIOS couldn't see it when you pressed F12. The BIOS passes control to Grub, so if the BIOS isn't seeing your external drive there is a problem before Grub2 gets involved.

Please post the full contents of the RESULTS.txt. You can just edit your previous screen and then post when you have done it. There are UUIDS, drive/partition sizes, etc we need to check to give you a more complete answer.

Bo0ddha

December 12th, 2010, 02:20 AM

Just rechecked my bios. Order is usb then ide0. I tried swapping usb ports, and playing around with having the pendrive and external hdd plugged in and no matter what it does not give me the option of booting from the external hdd. Reinstall grub?

drs305

December 12th, 2010, 02:45 AM

Here is one guess - is your BIOS a bit old? All your Grub files are deep into the hard drive. If your BIOS is limited to 137GB it wouldn't see any of the boot files.

You can check by entering BIOS on the initial boot and see what it reports as the drive size. If it shows approximately 135-137GB, enable the 'large drive' or equivalent option in BIOS or see if there is a BIOS update available. If this is the problem but you can't solve it via the BIOS, the other option is to create a /boot partition early in the drive.

The other thing I noticed is that Grub is seeing Windows as being on sda (hd0,1)/(hd0,2) and Linux on sdb (hd1,3). Since the UUID's appear correct the 'search' command plus the UUID in the 'linux' line should override the 'set root' line.

Let us know about the BIOS dirve limit and whether or not that might be the cause.

Added:
In response to your last post, if the above doesn't clarify things, you could install Grub on the Windows drive as well as long as your Ubuntu drive was always going to be connected. I'll wait for your response to what I wrote earlier in this post though.

Bo0ddha

December 12th, 2010, 02:54 AM

Was working correctly before the update in this exact setup. I had rebooted 2 or 3 times. I'm on a new netbook that was bought about 6 months ago. Checking the bios now will let you know results.

drs305

December 12th, 2010, 03:00 AM

Was working correctly before the update in this exact setup. I had rebooted 2 or 3 times. I'm on a new netbook that was bought about 6 months ago. Checking the bios now will let you know results.

Well, unless you repartitioned that's probably not the issue then. The BIOS limitation can be insidious, as an initial install may put all the files within the limit, but an update can move some beyond that point and cause the BIOS to fail to boot.

However, since your primary partition is so large to begin with there is little chance any of the Grub files have moved from inside to outside any existing BIOS limit unless you did a major reformatting.

Bo0ddha

December 12th, 2010, 03:07 AM

drs305

December 12th, 2010, 03:16 AM

Ok looked all over my bios and it gave no information on any drive sizes or large partition. If I was to use a partition manager and move the ntfs partition to the end and put the linux ones at the begining that would solve the large hd problem?

It would if that was the issue but I wouldn't do that yet. Added: Also, you state it's a fresh install but it ran previously. If it was on the same end of the drive that would support the proposition that the BIOS can see that deep into the drive.

If you could get to the grub prompt, you could try the "ls" command, then once you identify the Ubuntu partition, ls (hdX,Y)/boot/grub to see if it can see any of the files. It should be (hd2,3), but it might be (hd1,3) as well.

I think the next step would be to try a simple Grub reinstall from the LiveCD. If that doesn't work, from the same guide you can do a complete purge and reinstall using 'chroot'. One note if you do this though: Your Grub menuentries don't quite match up with the RESULTS.txt. It could be because your sda wasn't attached at the time you last updated grub.

When you refer to the guide, you will have to mount your real Ubuntu OS. Use "sudo fdisk -l" or "sudo blkid" to identify your Ubuntu partition before you mount it. It could be sdb3 or sdc3 (or even sda3), so figure it out after you boot to the LiveCD desktop.

I'm going to be signing off soon, but try the "What Can I Try First" section, and if that doesn't work, proceed to the chroot procedure.

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

I am still not sure why your system isn't recognizing the drive, and this shouldn't really be a Grub problem. However, accomplishing the steps above will ensure that you have taken the steps you can if Grub is somehow responsible.

Bo0ddha

December 12th, 2010, 03:28 AM

Going to give it a try now. Thanks for all the help and prompt replies.

Edit: Figured out my own questions.
Re-edit: Could not get it to work. Decided to move the ntfs partition to the back of the drive and to just do a fresh install. First thing I will do is then update and see what happens then. I do have a preference question though. It is a 1tb drive. I have /, /home, /swap, ntfs. Currently I have about 30gb of free space to make the linux partitions. Is there a reason to make /home about 20gb or is it better to just fold it into the ntfs? It seems to make more sense putting it into the ntfs so both os can see it.

drs305

December 12th, 2010, 12:57 PM

Currently I have about 30gb of free space to make the linux partitions. Is there a reason to make /home about 20gb or is it better to just fold it into the ntfs? It seems to make more sense putting it into the ntfs so both os can see it.

The /home has to be on a linux filesystem for permission support, so it can't be in an NTFS partition.

I have to stress though that if you were previously running an Ubuntu install at the end of the disk the 137GB limit is probably not the issue. I would at least Google your netbook brand and "137GB" or "137 GB" to see if anyone had that problem with it.

Bo0ddha

December 12th, 2010, 01:21 PM

drs305

December 12th, 2010, 01:52 PM

It worked before will get it working again. Did the google search and did not find anything besides an article saying that before you upgrade your hd make sure it can handle it. Not stating whether it did or not.

/home would be about 8gb. I was asking if it would be smarter to roll the extra 20 gb into the ntfs or make the /home about 28 gb or so. In a way it does not matter.

The size of home depends on whether you are going to store your data in $HOME or not. I have a a separate /home (on occasion) but don't keep data files in it. I've given it only a couple of GBs. Of course, if you have a huge music collection in /home, you would need a much larger allocation.

If the extra space was going to be mostly shared with Windows, I'd probably just include it in the NTFS partition.

Bo0ddha

December 12th, 2010, 02:24 PM

NTFS it is. Currently pushing the ntfs to the back and putting the extra gigs back into ntfs. It's bee running for about 12 hours now atleast and I hope it will be done in the morning so I can install ubuntu. Thats what I get for using a 1tb drive I guess.;) Once I get it installed will post here and say it's working or not. Thank you so much for your patience and help. I've learned a lot from all of this. I'm actually deployed right now and one of the guys here his computer's hdd crapped out and he can't reformat. I had him go buy a usb stick and I have him running Ubuntu off of a persistent usb. It's enough to let him watch his movies and skype with his family. So thanks to you'r help I was able to help him. I do have another question for him if you don't mind. He has an external hdd that is password protected and I am unable to easily mount it. How can this be done? I've tried disk utility and it will not give me the option. Is this because it's protected?

drs305

December 12th, 2010, 02:39 PM

He has an external hdd that is password protected and I am unable to easily mount it. How can this be done? I've tried disk utility and it will not give me the option. Is this because it's protected?

Probably. For normal filesystems Ubuntu can mount them without designating the type, but I believe for encrypted devices the encryption type has to be part of the mounting command. Of course it would depend on what kind of encrypting it is.

I've not used encryption so a better source of information could be obtained by Googling mount encrypted drive and include the encryption type if known.