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jwmaddox
October 16th, 2011, 06:15 PM
Hello,

I just installed Ubuntu 11.04 from a CD on a new USB 2.0 external hard drive following the instructions provided by http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/05/23/install-ubuntu-11-04-on-external-hard-disk/ The CD was created using a download from the Ubuntu site.

When I restart my laptop, which normally runs Windows XP, Windows XP boots as usual. And when I look in My Computer from within Windows, the external hard drive isn't shown. It's as if I had done nothing and had no external hard drive. Can you offer any guidance as to how to boot Ubuntu from my external hard drive?

I did look around fora to see if someone else had this or a similar problem, and there were several posts on the subject; but honestly, I'm brand new to this, and it was not clear to me how to proceed. I did note that generation of a "RESULTS.txt" file was usually involved, so I produced that file for my system, and have attached it below.

Regards,
James



Boot Info Script 0.60 from 17 May 2011

============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
=> Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks at sector 1 of
the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks
for (,msdos1)/grub on this drive.
sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
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: Windows XP
Boot files: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM
sdb1: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext2
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files: /grub/grub.cfg /grub/core.img
sdb2: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
sdb5: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system:
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''
sdb6: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 11.04
Boot files: /etc/fstab
sdb7: __________________________________________________ ________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files:
============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sda: 60.0 GB, 60011642880 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7752 cylinders, total 117210240 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 16,390,079 16,390,017 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 16,390,080 117,195,119 100,805,040 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS

Drive: sdb __________________________________________________ ___________________
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000202043392 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121600 cylinders, total 1953519616 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 * 2,048 503,807 501,760 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 505,854 1,953,517,567 1,953,011,714 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 505,856 4,409,343 3,903,488 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb6 4,411,392 23,941,119 19,529,728 83 Linux
/dev/sdb7 23,943,168 1,953,517,567 1,929,574,400 83 Linux

"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________
Device UUID TYPE LABEL
/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 528CEC848CEC63C7 ntfs
/dev/sda2 7684EB4884EB0A07 ntfs
/dev/sdb1 badb25c6-b286-4b00-947e-68bc69ee3668 ext2
/dev/sdb6 ebfe821d-062d-40ab-b2b5-1767fabc3a14 ext4
/dev/sdb7 d6d9f94a-3812-4a35-bf73-b6edf4a2430a ext4
================================ Mount points: =================================
Device Mount_Point Type Options
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)

================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=1
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
C:\BOOTSECT.DAT="System Restore" /minint
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
================================ 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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
============================= sdb1/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 "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
function load_video {
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
}
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root ebfe821d-062d-40ab-b2b5-1767fabc3a14
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root badb25c6-b286-4b00-947e-68bc69ee3668
set locale_dir=($root)/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=$linux_gfx_mode
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root badb25c6-b286-4b00-947e-68bc69ee3668
linux /vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=ebfe821d-062d-40ab-b2b5-1767fabc3a14 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-8-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root badb25c6-b286-4b00-947e-68bc69ee3668
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.38-8-generic ...'
linux /vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=ebfe821d-062d-40ab-b2b5-1767fabc3a14 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /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,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root badb25c6-b286-4b00-947e-68bc69ee3668
linux16 /memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root badb25c6-b286-4b00-947e-68bc69ee3668
linux16 /memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows NT/2000/XP (on /dev/sda1)" --class windows --class os {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 528CEC848CEC63C7
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1
}
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 7684EB4884EB0A07
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 ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=================== sdb1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================
GiB - GB File Fragment(s)
0.211028099 = 0.226589696 grub/core.img 2
0.211551666 = 0.227151872 grub/grub.cfg 1
0.061859131 = 0.066420736 initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic 74
0.009290695 = 0.009975808 vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic 20
=============================== 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
# / was on /dev/sdb6 during installation
UUID=ebfe821d-062d-40ab-b2b5-1767fabc3a14 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/sdb1 /boot ext2 defaults 0 2
# /home was on /dev/sdb7 during installation
UUID=d6d9f94a-3812-4a35-bf73-b6edf4a2430a /home ext4 defaults 0 2
# swap was on /dev/sdb5 during installation
#UUID=911e8316-1642-4547-ae98-104d3ed0c1e3 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/mapper/cryptswap1 none swap sw 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================
unlzma: Decoder error

Merk42
October 22nd, 2011, 05:14 PM
Moved to Installation & Upgrades

2F4U
October 22nd, 2011, 05:28 PM
Its quite unclear to me what your problem is. Is it that you are not able to boot Ubuntu or that can boot Ubuntu, but are unable to see anything inside Ubuntu from Windows?
If you are unable to boot Ubuntu, then you may need to change boot order in your BIOS, so that the external hdd comes first. If you don't see anything inside Ubuntu from Windows, this is probably due to the ext4 filesystem. As far as I know, Windows by default is not able to read content from a ext4 filesystem.

raja.genupula
October 22nd, 2011, 06:50 PM
you said that Ubuntu installed in your external harddisk.ok put a live cd boot from it and do this

sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc

install your grub to external hard disk i mean to your sdb.

all the best.

& one more thing i can help for you is go with the grub recovery link in my signature and make sure that you have connected your external hard disk while doing this process.

jwmaddox
October 23rd, 2011, 10:00 AM
2F4U, my difficulty is that I cannot boot Ubuntu; when I start my laptop, it boots XP. The reference to Windows that I made in my original post was meant to provide additional information that might help resolve the problem. I had been able to see the external hard drive from My Computer before the Ubuntu installation to the hard drive, but not after, so I thought that might be another piece to the puzzle. Sorry if it came across as confusing.

Regards,
James

jwmaddox
October 25th, 2011, 02:27 AM
raja.genupula, I followed your instructions, and it resolved the issue, so thank you for taking the time to offer some solutions.

If anyone is interested, I first ran the following command:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc
which did not fix the problem. So I then followed the "Grub Recovery" link, clicked "Boot-Repair" under "Using Boot-Repair-Disk", then used the "2nd Option: install Boot-Repair in Ubuntu" to run the two commands listed there. It worked like a charm.

Regards,
James