[SOLVED] Ubuntu as alternate OS on 2nd HD on Dell [Archive]

View Full Version : [SOLVED] Ubuntu as alternate OS on 2nd HD on Dell

mick_ub_v11

June 30th, 2011, 08:41 PM

I have a Dell 4600 with WinXP Pro SP3 on the 30GB C: drive.

I have a second 160 GB D: drive that I would like to put Ubuntu on as an alternative OS.

I have done the "Try" of Ubuntu booting from the CD and most everything seems to work ok.

I next want to install Ubuntu 11.04 on D:

At system startup, I get the F2, F12 option.
I hit F12 and get this:

Boot Device Menu:
1. Normal
2. Primary Master Drive
3. Diskette Drive
4. Hard Disk Drive C:
5. IDE CD-ROM Device
etc.

***

I choose 5 to boot Ubuntu from the CD.

What drive do I select in the future if I want to boot from the D: drive after installing Ubuntu on it? I don't see the D: drive in the Boot Device Menu.

***

Dell Dimension 4600 Series
Pentium 4, 2.4 GHz
Level 2 Cache, 512 KB Integrated
BIOS Version A06

***

Under Drive Configuration I have:

Diskette Drive A:
SATA Primary Drive : Off
SATA Secondary drive : Off
Primary Master Drive: Hard Drive
Primary Slave Drive: Off
Secondary Master Drive: CD-ROM Device
Secondary Slave Drive: CD-ROM Device

IDE Drive UDMA: On

***

Hard Disk Drive Sequence:
1. System BIOS Boot Devices
2. USB Device (not installed)

***

Boot Sequence:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive C:
3. IDE CD-ROM Drive

***

Fast Boot: On
OS Install Mode: Off

***

Memory: 512 MB DDR SDRAM
Memory speed: 333 MHz
System Memory Channel Mode: Dual
AGP Aperture: 128 MB

***

In summary:
For the time being, I want to retain WinXP on C:
I want to boot Ubuntu from D: with the choice made at system startup (F12)

Question: If D: gets formatted to a file format used by Linux/Ubuntu, is there something I have to do in WinXP to let it know not to look any longer for the D: drive?

Otherwise, are there settings I need to change in order to begin my install of Ubuntu on D: Which drive choice do I make at the F12 Boot Device Menu in order to load Ubuntu from D: I suspect that I need to change a setting so that the D: drive is an additional choice on the Boot Device Menu, unless choice "2. Primary Master Drive" is my choice, but that doesn't make sense (yet).

I apologize if this is all too rudimentary and redundant, but I want to get into this ASAP.

Thanks,

Mick

oldfred

June 30th, 2011, 11:26 PM

Welcome to the forums.

If I remember correctly I was trying to help another user with Dell and had a BIOS like yours. I assumed since it boots SATA you have a drive choice. But we never found it. (Ended up with grub in the MBR of the windows drive). From what I see you do have some settings to turn drive on or off which may change the boot settings. But you often have to have a bootable drive plugged in when booting for BIOS to then offer a second boot choice.

Old IDE drives would would only boot from a primary master which was set with jumpers on the drive. BIOS was just smart enough to know to jump to primary master to continue booting.
Newer drives with SATA have to let you choose drive as SATA drives have no jumpers. But some early BIOS that were still primarily IDE did not always have a SATA option it seems.

You can still install Ubuntu to the new 160GB drive. I would be sure to create a smaller system partition that is fully inside the first 137GB BIOS boot limit that some older computers have. Just create a 20GB / (root) partition and make the rest of the drive /home and swap or even split into /home and a shared NTFS for any data you want to share with windows. If you use manual install you will get a choice to install grub2's boot loader to the MBR of sdb, otherwise it defaults to sda. But then I am not sure if you will be able to boot or will have to install grub's bootloader to sda also.

mick_ub_v11

July 4th, 2011, 07:41 PM

OK, I got this far:

I loaded Ubuntu 11.04 on the second 160 GB D: drive (I believe!) having allocated 90GB to Ubuntu and leaving 60GB for WinXP (NTFS). The original C: drive is 30GB with WinXP and (I presume) some newly installed instructions to offer a choice at boot to continue with a WinXP boot or alternatively boot to Ubuntu.

HOWEVER!!!!!

After install, which seemed to go smoothly enough, I reboot the PC, and after the BIOS boot, the PC makes a funny noise like a HDD is having a mild heart attack, and stops dead with this error message:

Error: No Such Device:
dd691809-e29e-466b-9392-c978c2f9134b.
Grub Rescue>_

***********************

I re-installed Ubuntu from the CD again. This time a lot faster, of course, because the D: drive was already partitioned and formatted for Ubuntu from the first install.

On the next reboot, I get the same error message, but only with different hex values.

It appears all the WinXP (NTFS) contents are intact as per the info I obtained next...

***********************

I poked around and obtained enough info to make this determination:

IDE Hard Drive Diagnostics

Primary SATA
Drive 0: No Device

Secondary SATA
Drive 0: No Device

Primary IDE
Drive 0: MAXTOR 6E030L0 - Pass
Drive 1: No Device

Secondary IDE
Drive 0: GCR-8481B - Diagnostics Not Supported
Drive 1: NEC DVD+RW ND-1100A - Diagnostics not supported.

***

Unknown MBR on /dev/sdb

Unknown bootloader on sda1

Unknown bootloader on sdb2

Std Err Messages:
UNLZMA: Decoder Error

*******

sda1: vfat
win95

**

sda2: ntfs
winXP
Bootfiles: /boot.ini /ntldr ntdetect.com

**

sdb1: ntfs
WinXP

**

sdb2: extended partition

**

sdb5: swap

**

sdb6: ext4
Ubuntu 11.04
bootfiles: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

**

sdb7: swap

****************************

I know vaguely what this all means, but only enough to be dangerous.

Thanks if you can point me in a more positive direction!

- Mick

oldfred

July 4th, 2011, 08:01 PM

I do not understand why BIOS does not even see second drive but your seem to see sdb. I think the issue with some of these Dell's was they only booted from the IDE drive as sda.

Post this:

Boot Info Script courtesy of forum members meierfra & Gert Hulselmans
Page with instructions and download:
http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/
Paste contents of results.txt in a New Reply, then highlight entire file and click on # in edit panel(code tags) to make it easier to read.
Or You can generate the tags first by pressing the # icon in the New Reply Edit toolbar and then paste the contents between the generated [ code] paste here [ /code] tags.
V60 has improved formating and requires code tags to make it legible. New Version is a zip file that you have to extract to get .sh to run.

smurphy_it

July 4th, 2011, 08:11 PM

Looks like you BIOS is having some issues with one of the HDD's. Suggest you grab some HDD testing utilities. (Hiren's Boot CD, comes to mind). Validate that both drives are good.

If they are, you'd have to move on to seeing if you can update your BIOS with a newer revision, or seeing if a newer BIOS exists for your Hard Drive(s).

If you don't have luck with the BIOS (or don't want to risk it), then look around for a "Bootloader" for your bios. If you have an old system, it could be having some issues with the drive layout.

Alternatively, you should validate that the Physical drive attributes were detected properly and that is what the BIOS is using. Note that if you change the disk attributes (in the BIOS) it will most likely erase your drive, so make sure you know which drive you are dealing with and back it up first.

mick_ub_v11

July 4th, 2011, 09:33 PM

As per request from oldfred.
Thanks, Mick_ub_v11

Boot Info Script 0.60 from 17 May 2011

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

=> Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 1 of
the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and uses an
embedded config file:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
search.fs_uuid 59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446 root
set
prefix=($root)/boot/grub---------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------.
=> No known boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.

sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 95
Boot files: /IO.SYS /MSDOS.SYS /COMMAND.COM

sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sdb1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sdb2: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sdb5: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sdb6: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 11.04
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sdb7: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

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

Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sda: 30.8 GB, 30750031872 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3738 cylinders, total 60058656 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sda1 63 64,259 64,197 de Dell Utility
/dev/sda2 * 64,260 60,034,904 59,970,645 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS

Drive: sdb __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 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 Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sdb1 63 122,197,163 122,197,101 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sdb2 122,198,014 312,580,095 190,382,082 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 311,537,664 312,580,095 1,042,432 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb6 122,198,016 310,491,135 188,293,120 83 Linux
/dev/sdb7 310,493,184 311,531,519 1,038,336 82 Linux swap / Solaris

"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/ramzswap0 swap
/dev/sda1 07D3-0609 vfat DellUtility
/dev/sda2 94407A124079FB76 ntfs
/dev/sdb1 D2C020DAC020C717 ntfs DISK2_VOL1
/dev/sdb5 bc219906-1c58-4d67-bcb9-6d79a3a7fdb3 swap
/dev/sdb6 59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446 ext4
/dev/sdb7 f4791cde-2f11-4e05-a4b9-cc0ffa26bf03 swap

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

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

================================ sda2/boot.ini: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=========================== sdb6/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 video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
if [ "${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
if background_color 44,0,30; then
clear
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
if [ ${recordfail} != 1 ]; then
if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
set linux_gfx_mode=keep
else
set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
else
set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
else
set linux_gfx_mode=keep
fi
else
set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode
if [ "$linux_gfx_mode" != "text" ]; then load_video; fi
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-8-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-8-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.38-8-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-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='(/dev/sdb,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 59280e83-eabd-436b-a104-2d691f57b446
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Professional (on /dev/sda2)" --class windows --class os {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 94407A124079FB76
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 ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============================== sdb6/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
/dev/sdb6 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sdb7 during installation
UUID=f4791cde-2f11-4e05-a4b9-cc0ffa26bf03 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sdb6: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

GiB - GB File Fragment(s)

92.482200623 = 99.302006784 boot/grub/core.img 1
82.981052399 = 89.100226560 boot/grub/grub.cfg 1
59.659042358 = 64.058408960 boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic 2
92.480487823 = 99.300167680 boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic 1
59.659042358 = 64.058408960 initrd.img 2
92.480487823 = 99.300167680 vmlinuz 1

======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ========================

Unknown MBR on /dev/sdb

00000000 90 e9 7d 01 fa 33 c0 8e d0 8e c0 8e d8 bc 00 7c |..}..3.........||
00000010 8b f4 fb bf 00 06 b9 00 01 f3 a5 bb 20 06 ff e3 |............ ...|
00000020 90 90 be 7d 07 81 3c aa 55 75 11 e8 58 00 73 0c |...}..<.Uu..X.s.|
00000030 e8 65 00 72 07 e8 b1 00 72 3b eb 2c be 7d 07 c7 |.e.r....r;.,.}..|
00000040 04 00 00 ba 80 00 be be 07 b9 04 00 f6 04 80 75 |...............u|
00000050 07 83 c6 10 e2 f6 eb 1d 8a 74 01 8b 4c 02 bb 00 |.........t..L...|
00000060 7c b8 01 02 cd 13 72 0d 81 3e fe 7d 55 aa 75 05 ||.....r..>.}U.u.|
00000070 ea 00 7c 00 00 be 6a 07 ac 0a c0 74 fe bb 07 00 |..|...j....t....|
00000080 b4 0e cd 10 eb f2 bb 00 7e c6 07 13 c6 47 01 00 |........~....G..|
00000090 b2 80 b8 00 e0 cd 13 c3 bf 00 7e ba f0 01 b3 a0 |..........~.....|
000000a0 e8 84 00 72 0c b1 01 e8 48 00 72 05 e8 19 00 73 |...r....H.r....s|
000000b0 16 f6 c3 10 75 05 80 cb 10 eb e5 81 fa 70 01 74 |....u........p.t|
000000c0 05 ba 70 01 eb d8 f9 c3 81 bd fe 01 55 aa 75 17 |..p.........U.u.|
000000d0 8b 75 02 81 fe be 01 77 0e 03 f7 81 3c aa 55 75 |.u.....w....<.Uu|
000000e0 06 f6 44 02 01 75 01 f9 c3 bf 00 7c b1 0a e8 01 |..D..u.....|....|
000000f0 00 c3 52 57 83 c2 02 b0 01 ee 42 8a c1 ee 42 32 |..RW......B...B2|
00000100 c0 ee 42 ee 42 8a c3 ee 42 b0 20 ee e8 33 00 ec |..B.B...B. ..3..|
00000110 24 fd 3c 58 75 0d 83 ea 07 b9 00 01 fa f3 6d fb |$.<Xu.........m.|
00000120 f8 eb 01 f9 5f 5a c3 52 83 c2 07 ec a8 80 75 0f |...._Z.R......u.|
00000130 4a 8a c3 ee 42 ec 24 d0 3c 50 75 03 f8 eb 01 f9 |J...B.$.<Pu.....|
00000140 5a c3 51 8b 0e 6c 04 83 c1 12 81 c2 ff 01 ec 8a |Z.Q..l..........|
00000150 e0 80 e4 d8 80 fc 58 74 06 3b 0e 6c 04 75 ef 81 |......Xt.;.l.u..|
00000160 ea ff 01 b9 00 20 e2 fe 59 c3 0d 0a 45 72 72 6f |..... ..Y...Erro|
00000170 72 20 4c 6f 61 64 69 6e 67 20 4f 53 00 aa 55 00 |r Loading OS..U.|
00000180 00 e9 80 fe 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000190 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 b0 7b 70 1e 00 00 00 01 |.........{p.....|
000001c0 01 00 07 fe ff ff 3f 00 00 00 6d 94 48 07 00 fe |......?...m.H...|
000001d0 ff ff 05 fe ff ff fe 97 48 07 02 00 59 0b 00 00 |........H...Y...|
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 sda1

00000000 eb 46 90 44 65 6c 6c 20 34 2e 31 00 02 04 01 00 |.F.Dell 4.1.....|
00000010 02 00 02 00 00 f8 3f 00 3f 00 ff 00 3f 00 00 00 |......?.?...?...|
00000020 c5 fa 00 00 80 00 29 09 06 d3 07 44 65 6c 6c 55 |......)....DellU|
00000030 74 69 6c 69 74 79 46 41 54 31 36 20 20 20 00 00 |tilityFAT16 ..|
00000040 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 fa b8 00 00 8e d0 bc fc |................|
00000050 7b fb fc 8e d8 ff 0e 13 04 8b 0e 13 04 c1 e1 06 |{...............|
00000060 8e c1 b9 00 01 33 f6 33 ff f3 66 a5 c7 06 72 04 |.....3.3..f...r.|
00000070 45 44 8e c0 bd 00 7c e8 21 01 0f 82 bb 00 66 0f |ED....|.!.....f.|
00000080 b7 86 16 00 66 d1 e0 66 0f b7 9e 0e 00 66 03 c3 |....f..f.....f..|
00000090 66 03 86 1c 00 66 89 86 3e 00 8b 86 11 00 c1 e8 |f....f..>.......|
000000a0 04 89 86 46 00 bb 00 05 e8 aa 00 0f 82 8a 00 ba |...F............|
000000b0 10 00 b9 0b 00 be ec 7d 8b fb f3 a6 74 16 83 c3 |.......}....t...|
000000c0 20 4a 75 ee 66 ff 86 3e 00 ff 8e 46 00 75 d6 be | Ju.f..>...F.u..|
000000d0 d9 7d eb 6d 66 0f b7 86 11 00 66 ba 20 00 00 00 |.}.mf.....f. ...|
000000e0 66 f7 e2 66 0f b7 8e 0b 00 66 03 c1 66 48 66 f7 |f..f.....f..fHf.|
000000f0 f1 66 01 86 3e 00 66 8b 86 3e 00 66 89 46 fc 66 |.f..>.f..>.f.F.f|
00000100 0f b7 47 1a 8b f8 2d 02 00 66 0f b6 9e 0d 00 66 |..G...-..f.....f|
00000110 f7 e3 66 01 86 3e 00 bb 00 07 c7 86 46 00 04 00 |..f..>......F...|
00000120 e8 32 00 72 14 81 c3 00 02 66 ff 86 3e 00 ff 8e |.2.r.....f..>...|
00000130 46 00 75 ec ea 00 02 70 00 be cc 7d eb 03 be d9 |F.u....p...}....|
00000140 7d e8 02 00 eb fe ac 3c 00 74 09 b4 0e bb 07 00 |}......<.t......|
00000150 cd 10 eb f2 c3 66 8b 86 3e 00 66 33 d2 66 0f b7 |.....f..>.f3.f..|
00000160 8e 18 00 66 f7 f1 66 42 88 96 45 00 66 33 d2 66 |...f..fB..E.f3.f|
00000170 0f b7 8e 1a 00 66 f7 f1 88 96 44 00 89 86 42 00 |.....f....D...B.|
00000180 b8 01 02 8b 8e 42 00 c0 e5 06 0a ae 45 00 86 e9 |.....B......E...|
00000190 8a b6 44 00 8a 96 24 00 cd 13 c3 80 3e c2 07 06 |..D...$.....>...|
000001a0 74 29 b8 01 02 bb 00 06 b9 01 00 b6 00 8a 96 24 |t).............$|
000001b0 00 cd 13 72 16 c6 06 c2 07 06 b8 01 03 bb 00 06 |...r............|
000001c0 b9 01 00 b6 00 8a 96 24 00 cd 13 c3 44 69 73 6b |.......$....Disk|
000001d0 20 65 72 72 6f 72 0d 0a 00 4d 69 73 73 69 6e 67 | error...Missing|
000001e0 20 27 69 6f 2e 73 79 73 27 0d 0a 00 49 4f 20 20 | 'io.sys'...IO |
000001f0 20 20 20 20 53 59 53 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa | SYS.......U.|
00000200

Unknown BootLoader on sdb2

00000000 cb 95 ba 91 6d ae 84 7f 24 60 12 41 1e c2 b6 55 |....m...$`.A...U|
00000010 2c cd 0d 3d 02 da ef c3 51 bc ae b1 dc 48 83 2a |,..=....Q....H.*|
00000020 d1 a9 f9 be b5 eb 96 b0 5b eb ba 24 73 22 18 6e |........[..$s".n|
00000030 d9 73 24 67 a8 f7 1f 4a 53 7c ce e8 b4 b4 b1 8e |.s$g...JS|......|
00000040 64 5b e5 fb 26 49 b6 53 f3 b0 5c 90 7e 95 c5 dc |d[..&I.S..\.~...|
00000050 6a 49 a4 6b 20 c0 09 31 9e b9 c6 ea 50 7a d8 cd |jI.k ..1....Pz..|
00000060 bb 1d f0 96 6d 4f 4a 92 e6 18 3c c8 9b 87 40 7a |....mOJ...<...@z|
00000070 fa d7 87 cb e1 e7 6d 65 a3 08 16 d7 18 31 91 d0 |......me.....1..|
00000080 d1 29 59 b1 cb b9 d3 6a ff 00 0a df c7 5a 95 b5 |.)Y....j.....Z..|
00000090 f4 80 79 1a 55 a9 45 c7 20 37 50 3d 8f f8 d7 91 |..y.U.E. 7P=....|
000000a0 78 47 c0 52 ea 16 5a de bb 7d b6 2b bb 4b 77 74 |xG.R..Z..}.+.Kwt|
000000b0 89 c7 50 3a 11 57 1c 4f 2c 6c cd 60 ec ae 47 f0 |..P:.W.O,l.`..G.|
000000c0 83 e0 f2 7c 47 d1 e0 d6 af 64 16 cd 22 87 e3 3d |...|G....d.."..=|
000000d0 7d 3e b5 f5 16 bb f0 e3 c2 de 29 b3 b6 d3 75 3d |}>........)...u=|
000000e0 22 06 6b 55 fd dd ec 69 82 0f a9 f5 3e f5 8e 26 |".kU...i....>..&|
000000f0 ac de b1 d2 c1 b7 bc cf 48 f0 e7 c3 4d 3f c3 9a |........H...M?..|
00000100 41 5d 3e e6 39 d1 17 28 3a 12 2b 86 bc 96 7f 12 |A]>.9..(:.+.....|
00000110 97 85 e4 31 48 ae 54 95 1b 71 83 5e 65 3f de 4d |...1H.T..q.^e?.M|
00000120 b7 b9 4d e8 79 a6 a5 60 be 1f 95 c4 6f e7 4c 4f |..M.y..`....o.LO|
00000130 2a f2 f3 5d 64 ba a6 a3 a5 68 51 4c 37 88 e4 5c |*..]d....hQL7..\|
00000140 26 46 46 7e b5 bf 2f 33 5c c6 2e a7 2b b2 3e 76 |&FF~../3\...+.>v|
00000150 7f 17 eb 3a 57 8c 65 bb 9a d1 6e a7 8d 82 c6 f1 |...:W.e...n.....|
00000160 1f 2d 80 1c e4 1f 5e 7b d7 1b e2 0f 86 10 fc 45 |.-....^{.......E|
00000170 d5 ae 6f 74 8b b3 63 a8 4c db 9b 4f d4 23 31 06 |..ot..c.L..O.#1.|
00000180 6f f6 5f a1 35 e9 c3 96 83 53 8e c5 27 65 63 37 |o._.5....S..'ec7|
00000190 c2 9e 17 d5 fc 38 ad 67 a8 d9 4b 68 c8 c4 10 57 |.....8.g..Kh...W|
000001a0 23 fe fa e9 5f 66 fc 13 f0 d5 9e b9 e1 dd 55 1d |#..._f........U.|
000001b0 a3 37 2c 76 c2 92 1c 64 e3 b1 ae 3c 4d 65 00 fe |.7,v...d...<Me..|
000001c0 ff ff 82 fe ff ff 02 18 49 0b 00 e8 0f 00 00 fe |........I.......|
000001d0 ff ff 05 fe ff ff 01 00 00 00 01 20 39 0b 00 00 |........... 9...|
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

=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

unlzma: Decoder error

mick_ub_v11

July 4th, 2011, 10:26 PM

As per smurphy_it (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=288150) request:

I burned a Hiren's Boot CD.

Now what?

Or, which utility(ies) do I use to determine the status of my two hard drives?

Thanks,

- Mick

YesWeCan

July 5th, 2011, 12:49 AM

The bootinfo looks reasonable to me. Although I get suspicious when Grub uses an embeded config file; that may be incidental. Getting to "grub rescue>" is something positive. It means the Grub pre-booting code is working fine on sda. So it was unable to search sdb and load files from /boot that it needs (it looks for the UUID of the partition and this is the long hex number you see). It may be a problem with the disk or it may be a problem with how Dell's bios works.

It would be informative to know what partitions Grub can see. If the next time it is at the rescue> prompt would you type 'ls', that will list all the partitions it can see.

mick_ub_v11

July 5th, 2011, 02:06 AM

Response to request of YesWeCan:

"It would be informative to know what partitions Grub can see. If the next time it is at the rescue> prompt would you type 'ls', that will list all the partitions it can see."

grub rescue>ls

(hd0) (hdo,msdos2) (hd0, msdos1) (fd0)

Thanks,
Mick

mick_ub_v11

July 5th, 2011, 02:09 AM

Sorry, slight typo just previous on the "o" and "0":

grub rescue>ls

(hd0) (hd0,msdos2) (hd0,msdos1) (fd0)

Where: 0 = zero (hd0)
Where: o = oh (msdos)

- Mick

oldfred

July 5th, 2011, 04:38 AM

It is not seeing any partitions on your second drive, but boot script shows sdb??

How is sdb plugged in. Is it SATA or IDE. Is it on the same IDE channel as your CD drive?

smurphy_it

July 5th, 2011, 02:27 PM

As per smurphy_it request:
I burned a Hiren's Boot CD.
Now what?
Or, which utility(ies) do I use to determine the status of my two hard drives?

I need to download that tool to test out a crappy windows system for a friend of mine. I'll be checking it out shortly, however, from their web page it looks like you'll be doing a hdd check from the "Hard Disk Tools menu". You'll need to know what kind of hard drive it is for starters. If not, one of the tools in there should be able to determine that. Watch out for the "low level formatting" tools. It will totally wipe your drive, and its not easily recovered (as it's a low level format as opposed to an O/S format, which is a high level format).

mick_ub_v11

July 5th, 2011, 02:49 PM

On the Hiren's Boot CD were a couple of utilities I recognized, so I ran these: Seagate Disk Wizard (which was used to install the second HDD (ST3160023A where ST is Seagate Technologies) and Seagate SeaTools.

**************************

Disk Wizard returned this:

Disc 1: 28.64 GB Maxtor 6E030L0 IDE (0) Primary Master

Disc 2: 149.1 GB ST3160023A IDE (0) Primary Slave

****************

more detail:

Disc 1: 28.64 GB (Partitions)

**

FS:Fat16 Partition: 0XDE
(EISA configuration)
31.35 MB
PRIMARY

**

C:
28.64 GB NTFS
PRIMARY

**

Unallocated 7.844MB
UNALLOCATED

*******

Disc 2: 149.1 GB (partitions)

**

Disc2_Vol1 (D: )
58.27 GB NTFS
PRIMARY

**

E:
89.79 GB EXT3
LOGICAL

**

Linux Swap 507 MB
LOGICAL

**

Unallocated 480 KB
UNALLOCATED

**

Linux Swap 509 MB
LOGICAL

***********************************

SeaTools returned the following:

Maxtor 6E030L0, s/n xxx, rev. NAR61590
Device 0 = ATA Device Maxtor 6E030L0 on generic PCI ATA
Max Native address: 60058655
Device is 28 bit addressed
number of LBAs 60058655 (30.750 GB)
This drive supports security features
SMART is supported and enabled
SMART has not been tripped
DST is supported
Logging feature set is not supported
POH 22218

*****

Seagate ST3160023A, s/n xxx, rev. 8.01
Device 1 = ATA Device Seagate ST3160023A on generic PCI ATA
Max Native address: 312581807
Device is 48 bit addressed
number of LBAs 312581807 (160.042 GB)
This drive supports security features
SMART is supported and enabled
SMART has not been tripped
DST is supported
Logging feature set is supported
POH 15457 Current Temp 36

**********************************

Thanks,
- Mick

smurphy_it

July 5th, 2011, 03:42 PM

Bios getting confused ? This is what I see in this thread:

Secondary IDE
Drive 0: GCR-8481B - Diagnostics Not Supported
Drive 1: NEC DVD+RW ND-1100A - Diagnostics not supported.

Yet, when you run the HDD tools from the Hirens Boot CD, you get this:

Disc 2: 149.1 GB ST3160023A IDE (0) Primary Slave

Very peculiar. Have you tried enabling the "Primary Slave" as a boot device in the BIOS.

BIOS Version A06
Under Drive Configuration I have:
Diskette Drive A:
SATA Primary Drive : Off
SATA Secondary drive : Off
Primary Master Drive: Hard Drive
Primary Slave Drive: Off <--- Can you change this --> ?
Secondary Master Drive: CD-ROM Device
Secondary Slave Drive: CD-ROM Device

If you are "technical" I'd suggest you verify the jumper settings for the two hard drives, and indicate what IDE channel they are on. As sometimes the drive is showing up as a secondary slave, and other times as a primary slave. If they are both on the same IDE cable (Primary), you can try forcing one to master, and other to slave... Or set them both to Cable select. Could try unhooking the CD-ROMs to take that out of the picture.

smurphy_it

July 5th, 2011, 03:49 PM

You have this configuration:

Primary Master = 30GB Maxtor HDD
Primary Slave = 160GB Seagate HDD
Secondary Master = GCC CD-ROM/DVD-X
Secondary Slave = NEC DVD RW

I'd validate jumper settings on the two hard drives. Verify they are master and slave. Some drives have a jumper on them that indicate they are the "only drive in the chain". Verify this isn't the case with your maxtor drive too!

YesWeCan

July 5th, 2011, 10:38 PM

It is curious that when Ubuntu is run from CD the 149GB drive is accessible. Presumably, it was also accessible using Windows (although Windows cannot be booted now). But Grub's loader cannot access it. Perhaps the bios is in a different mode, or something is not yet enabled in the bios. I don't think it is a boot device selection issue because the 149GB is not being booted by the bios.

Two possible work-arounds:
1) Install Grub to the 149GB drive's MBR and restore the standard MBR to the Windows disk. Then add Grub to the Windows boot-loader menu: boot Ubuntu using Windows.

2) Install Grub to the MBR of the 149GB disk and swap it with the Windows disk so it becomes the primary master. This may create a problem with Windows updates, tho.

mick_ub_v11

July 6th, 2011, 01:12 AM

I booted via the Hiren's Boot CD and am able to load WinXP fairly normally. Everything seems to work. Perhaps a bit slower. The D: drive shows in "My Computer" as having the approx. 60GB now allocated after designating the balance of the 160GB D: drive (90GB) to Ubuntu.

Just can't get anywhere without a boot CD.

All in the name of doing without 100% Microsoft!

- Mick

smurphy_it

July 6th, 2011, 04:13 PM

I would suspect this is your problem:

FS:Fat16 Partition: 0XDE
(EISA configuration)
31.35 MB
PRIMARY

Perhaps you can backup that partition, then delete it to see if it fixes your problem. If not, restore the partition. Clonezilla should be able to do this for you (in case Hiren's boot CD can't) which is available at http://clonezilla.org

mick_ub_v11

July 6th, 2011, 04:31 PM

Also:

I am thinking that if I give up in exasperation and wipe both drives in order to make the entire machine (both drives) Ubuntu, the BIOS will continue to have the very same issue, i.e., it cannot see the second drive. Yes?
No?

If the easy way out is to make it an Ubuntu-only machine, that is tempting, but that is also giving up, which I tend not to do.

What tool is it, and/or what command(s) is it, that I can edit the BIOS/MBR line that enables Drive 1 / Primary-Slave (D: drive) to also be visible to the BOOT sequence?

Thanks,

- Mick

oldfred

July 6th, 2011, 05:07 PM

Did you follow smurphy_it's earlier suggestion.

If misjumpered or 40 wire cable with cable select setting, maybe somehow it works and BIOS do not see it. It is normal that it will not be seen if BIOS does not see it.

with pictures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA
Some history:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCS-c.html
If you have the more modern 80 conductor 'cable-select' type of IDE ribbon cables, make sure the blue plug is connected to the motherboard, the grey plug is plugged into your slave drive (if any), and the black plug is plugged into your master hard drive.

If you have the old kind of IDE ribbon cables, check that one hard disk is set as 'master' and the other is set as 'slave' if there's another drive on the same cable.

mick_ub_v11

July 6th, 2011, 10:47 PM

it is an 80 pin ribbon cable and the blue with mother, black with master, and gray with slave. all good there.

- Mick

mick_ub_v11

July 6th, 2011, 10:52 PM

Again, when I use the Hiren's Boot CD, I can load WinXP and it loads normally with all my customizations (desktop, etc.). I can see the D: drive with the 60GB allocated (formerly 160GB before I partitioned off 90GB for the Ubuntu install).

- Mick

mick_ub_v11

July 7th, 2011, 03:45 PM

Hmmm....

Now the Dell will boot to WinXP without any Boot CD intervention. It seems to run a bit oddly and slowly, but otherwise it all works. I don't know what changed. No more "Error: No Such Device / Grub Rescue>_"

The only thing I can fathom is that when I went to make a determination that I had the 80 pin ribbon cable attached properly, I detached the gray (Slave) plug from the D: Drive 1 (Seagate 160GB) in order to be able to see anything, and re-attached it. I had power un-plugged, both at the back of the PC and at the drive. I don't think that should have changed anything.

When I go to the utilities in WinXP, I can see the partitions of the drives, all correct.

However there is still no boot option to go to Ubuntu.

- Mick

oldfred

July 7th, 2011, 11:48 PM

To boot windows directly you have to have the windows boot loader in the MBR of the primary master which it is booting. Did some setting change to make a different drive primary master. Either jumpers on drive or BIOS setting.

Are drives set to cable select and not master nor slave?

mick_ub_v11

July 8th, 2011, 07:05 PM

To All:

Previously smurphy_it asked the following ("Can you change this?"

BIOS Version A06
Under Drive Configuration I have:
Diskette Drive A:
SATA Primary Drive : Off
SATA Secondary drive : Off
Primary Master Drive: Hard Drive
Primary Slave Drive: Off <--- Can you change this --> ?
Secondary Master Drive: CD-ROM Device
Secondary Slave Drive: CD-ROM Device

I went into Hard Drive Configuration in the F2 during BIOS boot and set Primary Slave from "OFF" to "AUTO". Next time I rebooted and checked it now identified the drive as the Seagate 160GB. Under my F12 at BIOS boot , now I had the Primary Slave listed as a boot disc choice, where it had not been listed before. I rebooted once again from the CD drive and un-installed/re-installed Ubuntu 11.04.

VOILA!!! At reboot, the system goes to an Ubuntu screen offering 4 choices, first being Ubuntu, fourth being WinXP.

So far, it's all working.

As I am just now (finally) getting started with Ubuntu from the D: drive (hd1), I still have some housekeeping things to check. Next I will see if I can print to my wireless printer.

After that, my next project will be a 1997 Sony Vaio Pentium 1 with 32MB RAM, Win98 SE, 8GB hard drive. I understand that I should be going with an Ubuntu-LITE for this application. Can you suggest which one?

Thanks, and I'll keep you posted on any further progress on either machine.

- Mick

smurphy_it

July 11th, 2011, 07:09 PM

I went into Hard Drive Configuration in the F2 during BIOS boot and set Primary Slave from "OFF" to "AUTO". Next time I rebooted and checked it now identified the drive as the Seagate 160GB. Under my F12 at BIOS boot , now I had the Primary Slave listed as a boot disc choice, where it had not been listed before. I rebooted once again from the CD drive and un-installed/re-installed Ubuntu 11.04.

Sounds like the ribbon cable wasn't in properly. Now that it is inserted properly, it is being read properly, and as you've already done, can be booted from.

Sounds solved to me (thread tools, Mark as Solved).

Addtionally: 32MB Ram on old laptop... WoW. I'd go really light for something old like that. Perhaps puppylinux or DSL for starters.

mick_ub_v11

July 11th, 2011, 07:15 PM

Yes, 32 MB is on a desktop Sony Vaio, NOT a laptop. So far I've tried PuppyLinux on it (hangs) and DSL (so-so).

Thanks for input to solve Ubuntu loading problem on Dell 512MB Pentium 4.

I'll figure out next how to mark thread SOLVED.

Thanks!!!

- Mick