Can't boot past initramfs on fresh install

[samagon]

Howdy guys. Let me preface this by admitting that i am a total linux noob.

I have a Toshiba NB205 netbook (1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280/ 160GB 5400RPM SATA drive/ Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA950/ 2GB Ram 800 MHz) that came preloaded with XP. I downloaded the latest Ubuntu Netbook Edition and used Universal-USB-Installer-1.8.3.4 (for windows) to make a live USB stick. I booted the live version of Ubuntu Netbook and from there i installed it to my HDD choosing to overwrite my Windows partition. The problem is that after i installed it i can't boot into the OS. I get the following message:

Gave up waiting for root device. Common Problems:
- Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline)
- Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
- Check root= (did the system wait for the right device?)
- Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/7bf50e45-7867-4dd6-86df-6d674181dca1 does not exist. Dropping to shell!

If anyone could shed some light on this I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

[Hedgehog1]

samagon,

Please boot off your USB stick (you may be posting from it right now). :D

In the Terminal (Menu to: Applications >> Accessories >> Terminal), please run this command: (the -'l' is a lower case 'L')

sudo fdisk -l
Then copy the text from the output and paste it into your next post.

The Hedge...

:KS

[samagon]

Disk /dev/sda: 8021 MB, 8021606400 bytes
5 heads, 32 sectors/track, 97920 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 160 * 512 = 81920 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 51 97920 7829568 b W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000853ec

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 18693 150145024 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 18693 19458 6142977 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 18693 19458 6142976 82 Linux swap / Solaris
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

[wilee-nilee]

Disk /dev/sda: 8021 MB, 8021606400 bytes
5 heads, 32 sectors/track, 97920 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 160 * 512 = 81920 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 51 97920 7829568 b W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000853ec

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 18693 150145024 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 18693 19458 6142977 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 18693 19458 6142976 82 Linux swap / Solaris
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

So I think the install put grub on the thumb which registers as sda so from gthe thumb run the fdisk -l command to confirm this and if the 160 hd is still showing as sdb run these two commands.

sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
then

sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sdb
reboot to the install and run

sudo update-grub
Here is the link to the commands.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling%20GRUB%202

When you boot with a thumb sometimes the thumb is listed as the first hard drive in this case sda

[samagon]

I get to the last step, but after i type the command i get


/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for / (is /dev mounted?).

[wilee-nilee]

So from a booted live Ubuntu cd or thumbdrive lets see the bootscript read out; in my signature just click on it and follow the instructions. Come back to the thread and click on the (#) in the reply panel this makes code tags paste all the text in between.

Personally since this is a fresh install I would have just reinstalled but I'm familiar with partitioning and using Linux.