CheshireKat
August 28th, 2011, 05:49 AM
So awhile ago I downloaded 10.4 and later, 10.10, but was too afraid to install them for fear of messing something up on my desktop. Well, I managed to get a cheap cable for the hecka old Dell laptop and successfully installed Bodhi Linux and UberStudent (both branches of Ubuntu, I believe), so I decided to give it a try on my HP/Compaq desktop computer, since it worked on the laptop that was way, way outdated with minimal problems, although they were different OSs, technically.Yeah, now I can't boot into any OS on my desktop and I don't see any GRUB menu or anything. I'm completely new to Linux and Ubuntu, so I've spent the last three weeks researching and downloading and nearly ripped out my hair trying to get everything set up. The desktop is a recent problem from Thursday.
First, after installing Ubuntu, I got a blank screen on boot. I had chosen the "Install alongside my current OS" option, but I chose my external hard drive to host Ubuntu, which I created a 91 GB partition for using the Ubuntu partitioner thing. So rebooted from the live disk, did a little research, and re-installed Ubuntu using the advanced options. I left the boot loader location to install where it suggested and set the partition/drive for the Ubuntu partition.
This caused a black screen with a blinking underscore (_) and nothing else.
Honestly, I've tried so many things that it's gets too difficult to walk through all my processes, but I've tried:
booting from LiveCD, downloading & installing lilo to Windows drive as suggested from online
testdisk copy from backup MBR
Plop boot manager (Windows wouldn't boot, had blinking _; booting from USB froze)
Super GRUB disk 2 & the other one, Rescatix
re-installing Ubuntu 3 times with different settings each time
Errors I've gotten:
black screen (occurred after first Ubuntu install)
blinking _ (occurs when trying to boot Windows; used to be Ubuntu as well after the third install I got the second error below)
error: no such device: [long string of letters and numbers--my external drive's UUID thing] and then grub rescue >
error: no partition device found (or something like that); this appears when trying to boot from my USB external drive after I did something (I think install Ubuntu once again, but I think I chose a wrong partition or something..ERG:mad:)
and my current one, MBR 1: [blinking underscore]; this appeared when booting from internal hard drive/Windows after running testdisk's Copy-from-Backup MBR thing
Now, here's a BUNCH of information; I ran bootinfo several times after each various fixes that failed to solve my problem:
RESULTS:
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Lilo is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
=> Syslinux MBR (3.61-4.03) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
===========================
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98)
Boot sector info: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the boot sector of
sda1 and looks at sector 600615768 of the same hard
drive for core.img, but core.img can not be found at
this location. No errors found in the Boot Parameter
Block.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM
sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ntldr /ntdetect.com
sdc1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: SYSLINUX 4.03 2010-10-22 ........>..sr>.......Sf.9...0...~.....~...f...M.f.f....f..0~....>E}.u......
Boot sector info: Syslinux looks at sector 845056 of /dev/sdc1 for its
second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the directory.
The integrity check of the ADV area failed. No errors
found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ldlinux.sys
sdd1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sdd2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdd5: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img
sdd6: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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 * 63 135,749,249 135,749,187 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 135,765,315 156,280,319 20,515,005 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
Drive: sdc __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdc: 16.2 GB, 16231956480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1973 cylinders, total 31703040 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/sdc1 * 63 31,696,244 31,696,182 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
Drive: sdd __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdd: 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 Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System
/dev/sdd1 63 440,960,921 440,960,859 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sdd2 440,961,022 625,141,759 184,180,738 5 Extended
/dev/sdd5 * 440,961,024 618,999,807 178,038,784 83 Linux
/dev/sdd6 619,001,856 625,141,759 6,139,904 82 Linux swap / Solaris
"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________
Device UUID TYPE LABEL
/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 A4DC262ADC25F768 ntfs COMPAQ
/dev/sda2 64EC36AAEC367680 ntfs HP_RECOVERY
/dev/sdc1 E8AD-290C vfat
/dev/sdd1 C2BC0FD9BC0FC6BF ntfs Expansion Drive
/dev/sdd5 18cca15c-36dc-489d-8588-0bacc4ec38bb ext4
/dev/sdd6 c213d1f4-7e89-4d0a-a389-f7bd7f686601 swap
================================ Mount points: =================================
Device Mount_Point Type Options
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sdc1 /media/E8AD-290C vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=999,gid=999,sh ortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sdd1 /media/Expansion Drive fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sdd5 /media/18cca15c-36dc-489d-8588-0bacc4ec38bb ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
================= sdc1: Location of files loaded by Syslinux: ==================
GiB - GB File Fragment(s)
?? = ?? ldlinux.sys 1
?? = ?? menu.c32 1
============== sdc1: Version of COM32(R) files used by Syslinux: ===============
menu.c32 : COM32R module (v4.xx)
=========================== sdd5/boot/grub/grub.cfg:
RESULTS1 (after running the "Fix Windows MBR" of the aforementioned Rescatix:
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Testdisk is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
=> Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc and looks at sector
1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and
looks in partition 5 for (,msdos5)/boot/grub.
=> Syslinux MBR (3.61-4.03) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98)
Boot sector info: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the boot sector of
sda1 and looks at sector 600615768 of the same hard
drive for core.img, but core.img can not be found at
this location. No errors found in the Boot Parameter
Block.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM
sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ntldr /ntdetect.com
sdc1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sdc2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdc5: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab
sdc6: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdd1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: SYSLINUX 4.03 2010-10-22 ........>..sr>.......Sf.9...0...~.....~...f...M.f.f....f..0~....>E}.u......
Boot sector info: Syslinux looks at sector 845056 of /dev/sdd1 for its
second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the directory.
The integrity check of the ADV area failed. No errors
found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ldlinux.sys
============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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 * 63 135,749,249 135,749,187 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 135,765,315 156,280,319 20,515,005 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
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 Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System
/dev/sdc1 63 440,960,921 440,960,859 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sdc2 440,961,022 625,141,759 184,180,738 5 Extended
/dev/sdc5 440,961,024 618,999,807 178,038,784 83 Linux
/dev/sdc6 619,001,856 625,141,759 6,139,904 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Drive: sdd __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdd: 16.2 GB, 16231956480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1973 cylinders, total 31703040 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/sdd1 * 63 31,696,244 31,696,182 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________
Device UUID TYPE LABEL
/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 A4DC262ADC25F768 ntfs COMPAQ
/dev/sda2 64EC36AAEC367680 ntfs HP_RECOVERY
/dev/sdc1 C2BC0FD9BC0FC6BF ntfs Expansion Drive
/dev/sdc5 18cca15c-36dc-489d-8588-0bacc4ec38bb ext4
/dev/sdc6 c213d1f4-7e89-4d0a-a389-f7bd7f686601 swap
/dev/sdd1 E8AD-290C vfat
================================ Mount points: =================================
Device Mount_Point Type Options
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sdd1 /media/E8AD-290C vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=999,gid=999,sh ortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESULTS2 (after running testdisk on LiveCD) Syslinux is my flashdrive that has bootinfo on it; it's a bootable MacPup Linux USB...just ignore it.
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Testdisk is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
=> Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc and looks at sector
1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and
looks in partition 5 for (,msdos5)/boot/grub.
=> Syslinux MBR (3.61-4.03) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
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
sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ntldr /ntdetect.com
sdc1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sdc2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdc5: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab
sdc6: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdd1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: SYSLINUX 4.03 2010-10-22 ........>..sr>.......Sf.9...0...~.....~...f...M.f.f....f..0~....>E}.u......
Boot sector info: Syslinux looks at sector 845056 of /dev/sdd1 for its
second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the directory.
The integrity check of the ADV area failed. No errors
found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ldlinux.sys
============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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 * 63 135,749,249 135,749,187 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 135,765,315 156,280,319 20,515,005 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
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 Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System
/dev/sdc1 63 440,960,921 440,960,859 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sdc2 440,961,022 625,141,759 184,180,738 5 Extended
/dev/sdc5 440,961,024 618,999,807 178,038,784 83 Linux
/dev/sdc6 619,001,856 625,141,759 6,139,904 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Drive: sdd __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdd: 16.2 GB, 16231956480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1973 cylinders, total 31703040 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/sdd1 * 63 31,696,244 31,696,182 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________
Device UUID TYPE LABEL
/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 A4DC262ADC25F768 ntfs COMPAQ
/dev/sda2 64EC36AAEC367680 ntfs HP_RECOVERY
/dev/sdc1 C2BC0FD9BC0FC6BF ntfs Expansion Drive
/dev/sdc5 18cca15c-36dc-489d-8588-0bacc4ec38bb ext4
/dev/sdc6 c213d1f4-7e89-4d0a-a389-f7bd7f686601 swap
/dev/sdd1 E8AD-290C vfat
================================ Mount points: =================================
Device Mount_Point Type Options
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sda1 /media/COMPAQ fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sdc1 /media/Expansion Drive fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sdd1 /media/E8AD-290C vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=999,gid=999,sh ortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=========================== sdc5/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================
I don't know what else is needed, but as you probably can tell, I'm a fix-it-myself kind of person. Well, I can't fix this myself even with hours of research, so I need some help from people who actually know what they're doing or talking about that's tailored to my scenario. I can't keep spending so much time on trying to get everything working, as I have to go to school. The computer is my LIFE and I can't use this ancient laptop primarily; I merely got it up and running for Creative Writing and the like, although it's so flippin' heavy it's not fun carrying it around (stupid Dell).
And I do NOT have Windows Recovery disk or anything of the sort, which keeps coming up in my research. Windows came pre-installed on all of our computers. I CAN, however, access my Window drive's original I386 folder through Ubuntu LiveCD, so if I need to use those files, then I will be able to. In fact, all my files and all my drives are accessible via LiveCD, which is a great source of relief for me.
I'm sorry for writing and pasting so much, but I want to make sure there's enough information to go off of. I hope someone can help me! I at least need ONE OS working on my desktop, and I don't want to reformat or reinstall Windows XP. Even if I get Ubuntu working now, I might need Windows later (since that's what my family uses and all).
Thanks!
First, after installing Ubuntu, I got a blank screen on boot. I had chosen the "Install alongside my current OS" option, but I chose my external hard drive to host Ubuntu, which I created a 91 GB partition for using the Ubuntu partitioner thing. So rebooted from the live disk, did a little research, and re-installed Ubuntu using the advanced options. I left the boot loader location to install where it suggested and set the partition/drive for the Ubuntu partition.
This caused a black screen with a blinking underscore (_) and nothing else.
Honestly, I've tried so many things that it's gets too difficult to walk through all my processes, but I've tried:
booting from LiveCD, downloading & installing lilo to Windows drive as suggested from online
testdisk copy from backup MBR
Plop boot manager (Windows wouldn't boot, had blinking _; booting from USB froze)
Super GRUB disk 2 & the other one, Rescatix
re-installing Ubuntu 3 times with different settings each time
Errors I've gotten:
black screen (occurred after first Ubuntu install)
blinking _ (occurs when trying to boot Windows; used to be Ubuntu as well after the third install I got the second error below)
error: no such device: [long string of letters and numbers--my external drive's UUID thing] and then grub rescue >
error: no partition device found (or something like that); this appears when trying to boot from my USB external drive after I did something (I think install Ubuntu once again, but I think I chose a wrong partition or something..ERG:mad:)
and my current one, MBR 1: [blinking underscore]; this appeared when booting from internal hard drive/Windows after running testdisk's Copy-from-Backup MBR thing
Now, here's a BUNCH of information; I ran bootinfo several times after each various fixes that failed to solve my problem:
RESULTS:
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Lilo is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
=> Syslinux MBR (3.61-4.03) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
===========================
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98)
Boot sector info: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the boot sector of
sda1 and looks at sector 600615768 of the same hard
drive for core.img, but core.img can not be found at
this location. No errors found in the Boot Parameter
Block.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM
sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ntldr /ntdetect.com
sdc1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: SYSLINUX 4.03 2010-10-22 ........>..sr>.......Sf.9...0...~.....~...f...M.f.f....f..0~....>E}.u......
Boot sector info: Syslinux looks at sector 845056 of /dev/sdc1 for its
second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the directory.
The integrity check of the ADV area failed. No errors
found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ldlinux.sys
sdd1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sdd2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdd5: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img
sdd6: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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 * 63 135,749,249 135,749,187 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 135,765,315 156,280,319 20,515,005 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
Drive: sdc __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdc: 16.2 GB, 16231956480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1973 cylinders, total 31703040 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/sdc1 * 63 31,696,244 31,696,182 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
Drive: sdd __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdd: 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 Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System
/dev/sdd1 63 440,960,921 440,960,859 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sdd2 440,961,022 625,141,759 184,180,738 5 Extended
/dev/sdd5 * 440,961,024 618,999,807 178,038,784 83 Linux
/dev/sdd6 619,001,856 625,141,759 6,139,904 82 Linux swap / Solaris
"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________
Device UUID TYPE LABEL
/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 A4DC262ADC25F768 ntfs COMPAQ
/dev/sda2 64EC36AAEC367680 ntfs HP_RECOVERY
/dev/sdc1 E8AD-290C vfat
/dev/sdd1 C2BC0FD9BC0FC6BF ntfs Expansion Drive
/dev/sdd5 18cca15c-36dc-489d-8588-0bacc4ec38bb ext4
/dev/sdd6 c213d1f4-7e89-4d0a-a389-f7bd7f686601 swap
================================ Mount points: =================================
Device Mount_Point Type Options
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sdc1 /media/E8AD-290C vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=999,gid=999,sh ortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sdd1 /media/Expansion Drive fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sdd5 /media/18cca15c-36dc-489d-8588-0bacc4ec38bb ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
================= sdc1: Location of files loaded by Syslinux: ==================
GiB - GB File Fragment(s)
?? = ?? ldlinux.sys 1
?? = ?? menu.c32 1
============== sdc1: Version of COM32(R) files used by Syslinux: ===============
menu.c32 : COM32R module (v4.xx)
=========================== sdd5/boot/grub/grub.cfg:
RESULTS1 (after running the "Fix Windows MBR" of the aforementioned Rescatix:
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Testdisk is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
=> Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc and looks at sector
1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and
looks in partition 5 for (,msdos5)/boot/grub.
=> Syslinux MBR (3.61-4.03) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98)
Boot sector info: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the boot sector of
sda1 and looks at sector 600615768 of the same hard
drive for core.img, but core.img can not be found at
this location. No errors found in the Boot Parameter
Block.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM
sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ntldr /ntdetect.com
sdc1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sdc2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdc5: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab
sdc6: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdd1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: SYSLINUX 4.03 2010-10-22 ........>..sr>.......Sf.9...0...~.....~...f...M.f.f....f..0~....>E}.u......
Boot sector info: Syslinux looks at sector 845056 of /dev/sdd1 for its
second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the directory.
The integrity check of the ADV area failed. No errors
found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ldlinux.sys
============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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 * 63 135,749,249 135,749,187 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 135,765,315 156,280,319 20,515,005 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
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 Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System
/dev/sdc1 63 440,960,921 440,960,859 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sdc2 440,961,022 625,141,759 184,180,738 5 Extended
/dev/sdc5 440,961,024 618,999,807 178,038,784 83 Linux
/dev/sdc6 619,001,856 625,141,759 6,139,904 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Drive: sdd __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdd: 16.2 GB, 16231956480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1973 cylinders, total 31703040 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/sdd1 * 63 31,696,244 31,696,182 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________
Device UUID TYPE LABEL
/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 A4DC262ADC25F768 ntfs COMPAQ
/dev/sda2 64EC36AAEC367680 ntfs HP_RECOVERY
/dev/sdc1 C2BC0FD9BC0FC6BF ntfs Expansion Drive
/dev/sdc5 18cca15c-36dc-489d-8588-0bacc4ec38bb ext4
/dev/sdc6 c213d1f4-7e89-4d0a-a389-f7bd7f686601 swap
/dev/sdd1 E8AD-290C vfat
================================ Mount points: =================================
Device Mount_Point Type Options
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sdd1 /media/E8AD-290C vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=999,gid=999,sh ortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESULTS2 (after running testdisk on LiveCD) Syslinux is my flashdrive that has bootinfo on it; it's a bootable MacPup Linux USB...just ignore it.
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Testdisk is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
=> Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc and looks at sector
1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and
looks in partition 5 for (,msdos5)/boot/grub.
=> Syslinux MBR (3.61-4.03) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
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
sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ntldr /ntdetect.com
sdc1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sdc2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdc5: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab
sdc6: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdd1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: SYSLINUX 4.03 2010-10-22 ........>..sr>.......Sf.9...0...~.....~...f...M.f.f....f..0~....>E}.u......
Boot sector info: Syslinux looks at sector 845056 of /dev/sdd1 for its
second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the directory.
The integrity check of the ADV area failed. No errors
found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /ldlinux.sys
============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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 * 63 135,749,249 135,749,187 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 135,765,315 156,280,319 20,515,005 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
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 Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System
/dev/sdc1 63 440,960,921 440,960,859 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sdc2 440,961,022 625,141,759 184,180,738 5 Extended
/dev/sdc5 440,961,024 618,999,807 178,038,784 83 Linux
/dev/sdc6 619,001,856 625,141,759 6,139,904 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Drive: sdd __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdd: 16.2 GB, 16231956480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1973 cylinders, total 31703040 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/sdd1 * 63 31,696,244 31,696,182 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________
Device UUID TYPE LABEL
/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 A4DC262ADC25F768 ntfs COMPAQ
/dev/sda2 64EC36AAEC367680 ntfs HP_RECOVERY
/dev/sdc1 C2BC0FD9BC0FC6BF ntfs Expansion Drive
/dev/sdc5 18cca15c-36dc-489d-8588-0bacc4ec38bb ext4
/dev/sdc6 c213d1f4-7e89-4d0a-a389-f7bd7f686601 swap
/dev/sdd1 E8AD-290C vfat
================================ Mount points: =================================
Device Mount_Point Type Options
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sda1 /media/COMPAQ fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sdc1 /media/Expansion Drive fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sdd1 /media/E8AD-290C vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=999,gid=999,sh ortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=========================== sdc5/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================
I don't know what else is needed, but as you probably can tell, I'm a fix-it-myself kind of person. Well, I can't fix this myself even with hours of research, so I need some help from people who actually know what they're doing or talking about that's tailored to my scenario. I can't keep spending so much time on trying to get everything working, as I have to go to school. The computer is my LIFE and I can't use this ancient laptop primarily; I merely got it up and running for Creative Writing and the like, although it's so flippin' heavy it's not fun carrying it around (stupid Dell).
And I do NOT have Windows Recovery disk or anything of the sort, which keeps coming up in my research. Windows came pre-installed on all of our computers. I CAN, however, access my Window drive's original I386 folder through Ubuntu LiveCD, so if I need to use those files, then I will be able to. In fact, all my files and all my drives are accessible via LiveCD, which is a great source of relief for me.
I'm sorry for writing and pasting so much, but I want to make sure there's enough information to go off of. I hope someone can help me! I at least need ONE OS working on my desktop, and I don't want to reformat or reinstall Windows XP. Even if I get Ubuntu working now, I might need Windows later (since that's what my family uses and all).
Thanks!