Problems with Dual Boot - Help Please

[mikeody]

I have just finished installing the Netbook Remix as a dual boot with Windows7 starter.
PC is Toshiba Netbook, 1.6 Atom, plenty of Hard Drive space.
The install appeared to go well - via bootable USB flash drive.
I accepted the suggested partition 'split'and made no changes to anything during the install.

Upon restart the GRUB menu item "Ubuntu Generic" gives me :
"Gave up waiting for root device.
Missing modules (cat /proc/modules ; 1s /dev)
ALERT /dev/disk/by-uuid/dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237 does not exist"

The other GRUB options vis
"Windows 7 (loader) (ondev/sdb1)" boots Windows 7 OK.
"Windows 7 (loader) (on dev/sdb2)" also boots Windows 7 OK.

Can anyone help me please ? Thanks.

[Quackers]

Please boot from the Ubuntu Live cd/usb and select "try ubuntu" then when the desktop is loaded make sure you have an internet connection and go to the site below and download the boot script to your DESKTOP and then open up a terminal (Applications > Accessories > terminal) and run


sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script*.sh

This will produce a results.txt file on your desktop. Please copy the contents of that file and paste them in your next post between CODE tags. For CODE tags click on New Reply (not quick reply)and then click on the # symbol in the toolbar.
This will give a full overview of your current system.
Thanks.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

[mikeody]

Thanks Quackers,
Wow that was fun - I dont have ANY experience of that new swish desktop !



Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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

=> Syslinux is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda
=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks on the same drive in
partition #5 for (,msdos5)/boot/grub.

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Fat32
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: Windows 7
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sdb3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdb4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdb5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sdb6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 4089 MB, 4089446400 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 497 cylinders, total 7987200 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 7,984,304 7,984,242 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 * 2,048 3,074,047 3,072,000 27 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 3,074,048 258,369,257 255,295,210 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb3 472,444,928 488,396,799 15,951,872 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb4 258,369,534 472,444,927 214,075,394 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 258,369,536 466,302,975 207,933,440 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 466,305,024 472,444,927 6,139,904 82 Linux swap / Solaris


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 3C72-4A42 vfat NEW VOLUME
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 3C2C05012C04B7C2 ntfs System
/dev/sdb2 BED02A95D02A5445 ntfs NETBOOK
/dev/sdb3 7CBE502FBE4FE06E ntfs HDDRECOVERY
/dev/sdb4: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb5 dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237 ext4
/dev/sdb6 ad05a681-680c-46dd-a63d-2e04dca8b91c swap
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sda1 /cdrom vfat (ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,i ocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)


=========================== sdb5/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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237
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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237
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='(hd1,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237 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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237 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,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237
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/sdb1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3c2c05012c04b7c2
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sdb2)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd1,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bed02a95d02a5445
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sdb3)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd1,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7cbe502fbe4fe06e
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 ###

=============================== sdb5/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/sdb5 during installation
UUID=dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sdb6 during installation
UUID=ad05a681-680c-46dd-a63d-2e04dca8b91c none swap sw 0 0

=================== sdb5: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


156.1GB: boot/grub/core.img
158.3GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
154.0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
156.1GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
154.0GB: initrd.img
156.1GB: vmlinuz
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sdb4

00000000 fe ff ff 50 51 8b 8d 58 fe ff ff 51 ff 92 64 01 |...PQ..X...Q..d.|
00000010 00 00 8b 95 54 fe ff ff 83 c4 20 8b 8d 54 fe ff |....T..... ..T..|
00000020 ff 8b bd 6c fe ff ff 8b 42 0c 8b 95 74 fe ff ff |...l....B...t...|
00000030 29 d0 d9 bd 66 fe ff ff 50 66 8b 85 66 fe ff ff |)...f...Pf..f...|
00000040 db 04 24 d8 0d e0 3e 63 62 b4 0c 66 89 85 64 fe |..$...>cb..f..d.|
00000050 ff ff 83 ec 04 d9 ad 64 fe ff ff db 9d 60 fe ff |.......d.....`..|
00000060 ff d9 ad 66 fe ff ff 8b 41 04 8b 95 60 fe ff ff |...f....A...`...|
00000070 01 c2 8b 41 08 8b 8d 5c fe ff ff 29 f8 83 e8 10 |...A...\...)....|
00000080 f6 45 18 04 8b 59 08 8b 7b f8 75 20 b9 01 00 00 |.E...Y..{.u ....|
00000090 00 51 6a 00 6a 00 52 50 57 53 6a 00 6a 00 56 e8 |.Qj.j.RPWSj.j.V.|
000000a0 bc bb 03 00 83 c4 30 e9 f4 fc ff ff b9 21 00 00 |......0......!..|
000000b0 00 f6 45 18 01 74 da eb d3 83 ec 0c 51 e8 1e 9f |..E..t......Q...|
000000c0 0c 00 83 c4 10 e9 01 fd ff ff 8d 4d 88 6a 01 6a |...........M.j.j|
000000d0 02 51 53 e8 a8 ab 0c 00 e9 e8 f8 ff ff c7 45 ac |.QS...........E.|
000000e0 00 00 00 00 50 c6 45 b0 00 6a ff c7 45 a8 78 c2 |....P.E..j..E.x.|
000000f0 66 62 57 53 e8 77 80 fd ff 8b 45 ac 83 c4 10 39 |fbWS.w....E....9|
00000100 45 8c 74 0f 8d 4d 88 50 50 53 51 e8 a0 5f 07 00 |E.t..M.PPSQ.._..|
00000110 83 c4 10 83 ec 0c 53 e8 64 75 fd ff 83 c4 10 e9 |......S.du......|
00000120 5e fa ff ff 8d b6 00 00 00 00 8d bf 00 00 00 00 |^...............|
00000130 55 89 e5 56 53 89 c6 83 ec 10 81 fa ff ff 00 00 |U..VS...........|
00000140 0f 94 c3 83 f8 01 0f 94 c0 20 d8 88 45 f7 75 14 |......... ..E.u.|
00000150 85 f6 0f 94 c0 20 c3 0f 85 9b 00 00 00 8d 65 f8 |..... ........e.|
00000160 5b 5e 5d c3 83 ec 0c a1 24 d9 69 62 c7 05 a8 b1 |[^].....$.ib....|
00000170 69 62 e4 3e 63 62 c7 05 ac b1 69 62 08 00 00 00 |ib.>cb....ib....|
00000180 c7 05 b0 b1 69 62 f0 63 4e 62 c7 05 b4 b1 69 62 |....ib.cNb....ib|
00000190 7c 10 6a 62 c7 05 b8 b1 69 62 00 00 00 00 a3 bc ||.jb....ib......|
000001a0 b1 69 62 c7 05 24 d9 69 62 a8 b1 69 62 68 a8 b1 |.ib..$.ib..ibh..|
000001b0 69 62 e8 39 5d 07 00 83 c4 10 80 7d f7 00 00 fe |ib.9]......}....|
000001c0 ff ff 83 fe ff ff 02 00 00 00 00 d0 64 0c 00 fe |............d...|
000001d0 ff ff 05 fe ff ff 02 d0 64 0c 00 b8 5d 00 00 00 |........d...]...|
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



Your efforts are REALLY appreciated.

[Quackers]

Ok, thanks for that.
It's saying that the specified partition (the one with all the numbers) does not exist, whereas it is listed properly in your etc/fstab file. So it is there, but it can't find it for some reason.
Could you try something please?
Take out the flash drive and then reboot. When the grub menu appears and making sure that the Ubuntu......Generic line is highlighted, press the "e" key and a new screen will appear.
From that screen press ctrl + X and see if it then boots ok

[mikeody]

Hi again Quakers,
No, it hung with flashing cursor.
After a fair while I hit enter and got the same message as I got via the GRUB menu.

[Quackers]

I don't see anything wrong I'm afraid.
I could suggest that you re-install grub, but I don't know if that will fix it.
It could be that the file system needs checking on the Ubuntu system, but again, I'm not sure.
I would suggest leaving the thread open for others more experienced than me to offer advice.
Hang in there :-)

[mikeody]

Thanks Quackers for all your efforts - lets hope someone else can pick this one up !
I am a bit surprised at the problem though given I am not doing anything unexpected - just following the bouncing ball.
A question.
If it was an installation issue - how easy is it to wipe out the (broken) Ubuntu OS and try to do it all over again ?

[Quackers]

As I say, I really don't see anything wrong.
A re-install may fix it by virtue of the fact that the Ubuntu partition will be formatted and therefore get a new UUID number.
To re-install you would just boot from the live cd/usb and choose to install Ubuntu. Then, at the partitioning stage you would need to choose "specify manually" and then in the display of available partitions double-click on sdb5 (which may change to sda5, depending on what your flash drive is listed as).
You would then get a new box opening up and you would select ext4 as the format type (from the drop down menu), check the format box, select / as the mount point, leave the size the same and click on OK, then continue with the installation.

[Herman]

:D My suggestion is to try booting manually from the GNU/GRUB command line instead of just from your GRUB Menu, and then get updates.
Here's a link about how to boot manually from CLI Mode GRUB, GRUB How To Boot From CLI Mode. (http://members.iinet.net/%7Eherman546/p20/GRUB2%20How%20To%20Boot%20From%20CLI%20Mode.html)

Another way would be to chroot , How to chroot (http://members.iinet.net/%7Eherman546/p20/GRUB2%20Bash%20Commands.html#chroot) - use a Live CD or another Ubuntu installed in a hard disk or USB to fix your GRUB, and get operating system updates, (sudo apt-get update, and sudo apt-get upgrade).
EDIT: Just apt-get update and apt-get upgrade because we don't need 'sudo' in chroot, I just remembered, sorry for my mistake.

I think operating system updates might fix it, I'm not sure, but your computer's symptoms remind me of something that happened to me once and that's what worked that time, so I'm just hoping the same will work again.

Regards, Herman :)

[Quackers]

Aha! A timely visit Herman :-)
I must say I've not seen this type of error before.
I hope the OP gets to see your post before he re-installs.

[mikeody]

Have just reinstalled with EXACTLY the same message when booting 'generic' so will pursue Hermans idea [thanks Herman] - will report back.

[coffeecat]

I could be wrong - I often am :( - but I think I may have found the problem. When you boot from the live USB, it assigns itself the device descriptor sda and the internal drive sdb - as you can see from your bootscript. But when you try to boot from the hard drive without the USB, the HD becomes sda. Normally, a UUID (which is correct in your case) would get round this, but for this one little detail (from grub.cfg):




### 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='(hd1,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=dbe1dd84-00e2-427a-bbc5-29ad6e3d6237 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}

(hd1,msdos5) is grubspeak for sdb5, but it needs to be sda5 = (hd0,msdos5). I know the UUID will be different now because you have reinstalled, but since you are getting the same problem, my guess is that you have the same hd1 instead of hd0 here.

The answer would be to boot up with the live CD and edit grub.cfg where I've highlighted in red. This should enable you to boot from the HD. It's not normally considered OK to edit grub.cfg directly, but this is one of those rare occasions where it would be justifiable. If that gets you booting OK, all you then have to do is to run 'sudo update-grub' from the installed desktop and the problem will sort itself out.

Post back if you need help editing grub.cfg, because there are one or two little wrinkles you need to know about.

[Quackers]

That's well spotted sir! :-)

[mikeody]

Well folks, Netbook Remix [on a Toshiba Netbook] is a dirty word around here !
I tried my best to follow your last instructions but ended up totally confused !! Must be old age.
All I can tell you is that when I tried to boot using the GRUB console I ended up with virtually the same 'message' as before.
I began then to doubt the ISO on the flash drive, so I installed Netbook Remix on a spare hard drive on a desktop [using same flash drive]. It installed perfectly and interestingly without that 'new fangled' destop !
So back to the netbook.
I deleted Windows7 and set out [optimistically] to install Netbook Remix taking the whole of the 250GB - after all as I knew the ISO was good I thought I would have no problem without the complications of dual boot.
Wrong again ! Installation went all OK but as soon as I booted the generic kernel - guess what - the same message ! Toshiba doesnt like Ubuntu ?
So I will tinker a bit more but if I cannot get my Remix to boot I think I will put XP on the laptop - pity.
Thanks again.

[mikeody]

Have only just spotted coffecat post.
Will follow up and post.

[mikeody]

An update.
Remix is still not booting. Have tried to follow everyones kind advice but have had no joy as yet - a combination I think of genuine 'the fix wont work for me' and my general lack of command line knowledge.
Its ironic that the Remix installs perfectly [and quickly] on a desktop [from same flash drive], and 10.04 desktop installs perfectly [but slowly] on the Netbook [also from a flash drive] !
I was thinking I might keep the desktop version on the netbook but boot was taking [without exaggeration] 8 minutes !!
I tried some recommended boot speed-up fixes [involving a profile] but after that it wouldnt boot at all ! Not my day.
Am currently downloading Netbook Remix 9.10 to see if I can get that to work. If it does I will download updates and settle for that.
Will post again.