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Tickeldi
November 18th, 2011, 04:46 AM
Cheers,

I just installed Ubuntu 11.10 on a MSI Notebook (VR600) alongside Vista.
Sadly GRUB2 won't load. Instead all I get to see is a blinking cursor until I turn the machine of or do a warm reboot.

If I keep holding shift I get "GRUB loading." and the blinking cursor below that.

I can boot into the USB stick from which I installed Ubuntu just fine. From there I tried chrooting and reinstalling GRUB with no effect. I also used Boot-Repair (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair), no luck.

Here is the RESULT.TXT (http://paste.ubuntu.com/741874/) of Boot Info Script for that system. It seems to me that

core.img is at this location and looks for on this drive.should be something like

core.img is at this location and looks for (msdos5)/boot/grub/ on this drive.but why isn't it?

Edit: I also commented out
# GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=00

oldfred
November 18th, 2011, 06:06 AM
The script does not seem to show the partition with the very newest grub 1.99. Older versions even 1.99 did work and show partition. On my boot script it does not show the partition but Ubuntu boots ok.

Tickeldi
November 18th, 2011, 06:19 AM
I see. Still it won't boot for me. I will try to fall back on GRUB legacy to see if that brings me any luck. Will post if something explodes.

Rubi1200
November 18th, 2011, 06:22 AM
Install gawk in the live environment and then run the boot info script to see if it picks up on the missing information.

Tickeldi
November 18th, 2011, 02:53 PM
I will do that.
I just tried installing GRUB Legacy and basically followed the HOWTO for that here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1298932).

I now have on my screen:



GRUB Loading stage1.5.



GRUB loading, please wait...
[blinking cursor]


This is starting to get old. I have the strong feeling that this has nothing to do with GRUB2. Now going on to install gawk.

Tickeldi
November 18th, 2011, 03:14 PM
Here the updated RESULTS.txt now with gawk and grub legacy.
Everything seems to point in the right direction.

I am pretty desperate.


Edit:
The problem obviously revolves around the fact that neither GRUB Legacy or GRUB2 can access the grub files on sda5 while booting. I assume that this must have to do with the bios on that machine. The partition to be booted is near to the end of the hd. Does that make any sense? I will create a seperate "boot" partition at the beginning of the disk and hope that this will solve the whole thing. Stay tuned ;)

Rubi1200
November 18th, 2011, 06:02 PM
I wouldn't have thought the position of the GRUB files should make a difference on a drive of less than 137GB (which is often where there would be a problem when BIOS couldn't see beyond that limit.

However, why not try reinstalling GRUB using a chroot before creating a separate /boot partition?

See here for more details:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1581099


Boot Info Script 0.60 from 17 May 2011


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

=> Grub Legacy (v0.97) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the
same drive in partition #5 for /boot/grub/stage2 and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
=> ISOhybrid (Syslinux 4.04 and higher) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.

sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:

sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows Vista
Boot files: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda3: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:

sda4: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 11.10
Boot files: /boot/grub/menu.lst /etc/fstab

sda6: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sdb1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: iso9660
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: /dev/sdb1 ist bereits eingehängt oder sdb1 wird gerade benutzt

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

Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 Köpfe, 63 Sektoren/Spur, 12161 Zylinder, zusammen 195371568 Sektoren
Einheiten = Sektoren von 1 × 512 = 512 Bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sda1 2,048 12,290,047 12,288,000 27 Hidden NTFS (Recovery Environment)
/dev/sda2 * 12,290,048 83,970,047 71,680,000 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda3 83,970,048 162,075,517 78,105,470 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda4 162,076,670 195,371,007 33,294,338 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 162,076,672 193,292,287 31,215,616 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 193,294,336 195,371,007 2,076,672 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 16.0 GB, 16013852672 bytes
19 Köpfe, 24 Sektoren/Spur, 68590 Zylinder, zusammen 31277056 Sektoren
Einheiten = Sektoren von 1 × 512 = 512 Bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sdb1 * 64 1,423,959 1,423,896 17 Hidden NTFS / HPFS


"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 32343C3D343C05FF ntfs WinRE
/dev/sda2 727206A772066FE1 ntfs OS_Install
/dev/sda3 CEEC4ED4EC4EB68D ntfs Data
/dev/sda5 7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79 ext4
/dev/sda6 def465b8-31cf-43fc-a259-160f5259e15a swap
/dev/sdb1 iso9660 Ubuntu 11.10 i386

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sda5 / ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1,data=ordered)


=========================== sda5/boot/grub/menu.lst: ===========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-legacy-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## specify if running in Xen domU or have grub detect automatically
## update-grub will ignore non-xen kernels when running in domU and vice versa
## e.g. indomU=detect
## indomU=true
## indomU=false
# indomU=detect

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 11.10, kernel 3.0.0-12-generic
uuid 7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic root=UUID=7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-12-generic

title Ubuntu 11.10, kernel 3.0.0-12-generic (recovery mode)
uuid 7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic root=UUID=7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-12-generic

title Ubuntu 11.10, memtest86+
uuid 7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

title Windows Vista
root (hd0,2)
makeactive
chainloader +1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============================== sda5/etc/fstab: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' 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/sda5 during installation
UUID=7a6e025c-b01a-4897-b6c6-8fd2e3c78d79 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /mnt/C was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=727206A772066FE1 /mnt/C ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0
# /mnt/D was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=CEEC4ED4EC4EB68D /mnt/D ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0
# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=def465b8-31cf-43fc-a259-160f5259e15a none swap sw 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sda5: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

GiB - GB File Fragment(s)

89.559452057 = 96.163729408 boot/grub/menu.lst 1
89.541858673 = 96.144838656 boot/grub/stage2 1
78.671863556 = 84.473270272 boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-12-generic 2
89.484764099 = 96.083533824 boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic 1
78.671863556 = 84.473270272 initrd.img 2
89.484764099 = 96.083533824 vmlinuz 1

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

Unknown BootLoader on sda4

00000000 ec cf ab 2a 92 4d 61 f8 d8 eb b7 e6 be a9 ad f4 |...*.Ma.........|
00000010 44 87 43 22 6a 85 79 70 30 a3 4f de 96 e1 c5 6c |D.C"j.yp0.O....l|
00000020 9c 3f db 1a 42 bd 91 e8 88 5b e7 d6 6e 19 dd e4 |.?..B....[..n...|
00000030 f4 f7 73 12 1a f5 a9 60 e0 13 7f ce 46 51 f5 5c |..s....`....FQ.\|
00000040 4c af 0b 0a f2 2d c1 d8 38 cb 17 c6 1e 89 0d d4 |L....-..8.......|
00000050 a4 67 a3 02 ca 65 d9 50 90 83 af be f6 c1 25 4c |.g...e.P......%L|
00000060 fc 1f 3b fa a2 9d f1 c8 e8 3b 47 b6 ce f9 3d c4 |..;......;G...=.|
00000070 54 d7 d3 f2 7a d5 09 40 40 f3 df ae a6 31 55 3c |T...z..@@....1U<|
00000080 ac 8f 6b ea 52 0d 21 b8 98 ab 77 a6 7e 69 6d b4 |..k.R.!...w.~im.|
00000090 04 47 03 e2 2a 45 39 30 f0 63 0f 9e 56 a1 85 2c |.G..*E90.c..V..,|
000000a0 5c ff 9b da 02 7d 51 a8 48 1b a7 96 2e d9 9d a4 |\....}Q.H.......|
000000b0 b4 b7 33 d2 da b5 69 20 a0 d3 3f 8e 06 11 b5 1c |..3...i ..?.....|
000000c0 0c 6f cb ca b2 ed 81 98 f8 8b d7 86 de 49 cd 94 |.o...........I..|
000000d0 64 27 63 c2 8a 25 99 10 50 43 6f 7e b6 81 e5 0c |d'c..%..PCo~....|
000000e0 bc df fb ba 62 5d b1 88 a8 fb 07 76 8e b9 fd 84 |....b].....v....|
000000f0 14 97 93 b2 3a 95 c9 00 00 b3 9f 6e 66 f1 15 fc |....:......nf...|
00000100 6c 4f 2b aa 12 cd e1 78 58 6b 37 66 3e 29 2d 74 |lO+....xXk7f>)-t|
00000110 c4 07 c3 a2 ea 05 f9 f0 b0 23 cf 5e 16 61 45 ec |.........#.^.aE.|
00000120 1c bf 5b 9a c2 3d 11 68 08 db 67 56 ee 99 5d 64 |..[..=.h..gV..]d|
00000130 74 77 f3 92 9a 75 29 e0 60 93 ff 4e c6 d1 75 dc |tw...u).`..N..u.|
00000140 cc 2f 8b 8a 72 ad 41 58 b8 4b 97 46 9e 09 8d 54 |./..r.AX.K.F...T|
00000150 24 e7 23 82 4a e5 59 d0 10 03 2f 3e 76 41 a5 cc |$.#.J.Y.../>vA..|
00000160 7c 9f bb 7a 22 1d 71 48 68 bb c7 36 4e 79 bd 44 ||..z".qHh..6Ny.D|
00000170 d4 57 53 72 fa 55 89 c0 c0 73 5f 2e 26 b1 d5 bc |.WSr.U...s_.&...|
00000180 2c 0f eb 6a d2 8d a1 38 18 2b f7 26 fe e9 ed 34 |,..j...8.+.&...4|
00000190 84 c7 83 62 aa c5 b9 b0 70 e3 8f 1e d6 21 05 ac |...b....p....!..|
000001a0 dc 7f 1b 5a 82 fd d1 28 c8 9b 27 16 ae 59 1d 24 |...Z...(..'..Y.$|
000001b0 34 37 b3 52 5a 35 e9 a0 20 53 bf 0e 86 91 00 fe |47.RZ5.. S......|
000001c0 ff ff 83 fe ff ff 02 00 00 00 00 50 dc 01 00 fe |...........P....|
000001d0 ff ff 05 fe ff ff 02 57 dc 01 00 b1 1f 00 00 00 |.......W........|
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 sdb1

00000000 01 43 44 30 30 31 01 00 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 |.CD001.. |
00000010 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 | |
00000020 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 55 62 75 6e 74 75 20 31 | Ubuntu 1|
00000030 31 2e 31 30 20 69 33 38 36 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 |1.10 i386 |
00000040 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ........|
00000050 96 6e 05 00 00 05 6e 96 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.n....n.........|
00000060 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000070 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 01 01 00 00 01 |................|
00000080 00 08 08 00 f2 02 00 00 00 00 02 f2 5f 00 00 00 |............_...|
00000090 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 60 00 00 00 00 22 00 23 00 |.......`....".#.|
000000a0 00 00 00 00 00 23 00 08 00 00 00 00 08 00 6f 0a |.....#........o.|
000000b0 0c 0f 0f 29 00 02 00 00 01 00 00 01 01 00 20 20 |...).......... |
000000c0 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 | |
*
000001b0 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 58 4f | XO|
000001c0 52 52 49 53 4f 2d 31 2e 30 2e 38 20 32 30 31 31 |RRISO-1.0.8 2011|
000001d0 2e 30 34 2e 31 34 2e 30 37 33 30 30 31 2c 20 4c |.04.14.073001, L|
000001e0 49 42 49 53 4f 42 55 52 4e 2d 31 2e 30 2e 38 2c |IBISOBURN-1.0.8,|
000001f0 20 4c 49 42 49 53 4f 46 53 2d 31 2e 30 2e 38 2c | LIBISOFS-1.0.8,|
00000200

oldfred
November 18th, 2011, 06:10 PM
Have not seen old grub legacy & menu.lst for ages. How did you install it. From a chroot into Ubuntu, whcih should work?

Old versions of grub .97 do not work with ext4 partitions, so it has to be from a version since 9.04 as that was when Ubuntu started using ext4.

Tickeldi
November 20th, 2011, 07:24 AM
Have not seen old grub legacy & menu.lst for ages. How did you install it. From a chroot into Ubuntu, whcih should work?

Old versions of grub .97 do not work with ext4 partitions, so it has to be from a version since 9.04 as that was when Ubuntu started using ext4.

Yes I chrooted into the installed system, deinstalled grub2, a message warning me that my system is now unbootable appeared, then I installed the package "grub" and grub-installed it into the MBR. I wasn't aware of its incompatibility to ext4 though. In any case, it didn't work.

I reinstalled GRUB2 via chroot many times. Sorry I didn't state that before but thats how I did it. I actually come from gentoo so I know how to use the terminal and how to chroot into a system.

I also tried a GRUB rescue cd (rescatux) and bootrepair.

I did a backup of the whole disk so I am grateful for any ideas.

Tickeldi
November 20th, 2011, 07:32 AM
wow

I just got it to work. As I said I have a backup of the whole disk so I just killed the whole thing and made a solo install of ubuntu. That did it. I still don't know why it didn't work before though.

Now I just have to do perform a bit of partition dancing. I guess I'll have to reinstall windows which will [word I learned I am not even allowed to hint at here] the MBR again. So uh. Wish me luck and many many thanks to you for your support.

Rubi1200
November 20th, 2011, 12:07 PM
Glad you got things sorted out in the end :)

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