Batting "0 for 3" with grub rescue

[Tom Collier]

I've limped into the forums by Live USB after my eeePC 1000HD has gone all "grub rescue" on me.

Tried the excellent and extraordinarily clear HOWTO to boot and install from the grub rescue prompt by drs305. No errors line after line, but no results at the end of the process, either.

Tried Boot-Repair from terminal twice. It claimed to have succeeded, but I still get nothing but the "rescue" prompt when I turn on my computer.

eeePC 1000HD with Windows XP on one side, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on the other, and a middle ground NTSF partition that allowed both to save files to the middle and let me print to a boat-anchor of an old Lexmark that scorned Linux drivers. (Santa is going to fix ALL of that).

Any help (that works) will be so appreciated that I'll dedicate my next contribution to our Food Bank in your honor.......

Here's the output from the boot_info_script summary.


Boot Info Script 0.60 from 17 May 2011


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

=> Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) 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
looks in partition 5 for /boot/grub.
=> Syslinux MBR (3.61-4.03) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.

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:

sda4: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda6: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sdb1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: SYSLINUX 3.63 Debian-2008-07-15
Boot sector info: Syslinux looks at sector 15296 of /dev/sdb1 for its
second stage. According to the info in the boot
sector, sdb1 starts at sector 0. But according to the
info from fdisk, sdb1 starts at sector 62.
Operating System:
Boot files: /syslinux/syslinux.cfg /ldlinux.sys

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

Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 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 * 63 125,853,209 125,853,147 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 125,853,210 180,827,639 54,974,430 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda4 180,827,640 234,372,284 53,544,645 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 180,827,703 232,058,924 51,231,222 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 232,058,988 234,372,284 2,313,297 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 4007 MB, 4007657472 bytes
124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders, total 7827456 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 * 62 7,826,383 7,826,322 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/loop1 0f4b37af-5782-4b5e-bccf-93858024f3e7 ext3
/dev/sda1 FEDC6E73DC6E265D ntfs
/dev/sda2 9C1CCA131CC9E7FA ntfs
/dev/sda5 c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350 ext4
/dev/sda6 709169d3-d5a1-4e3f-b1b5-af3dacc76e60 swap
/dev/sdb1 10D7-92BE vfat

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop1 /media/0f4b37af-5782-4b5e-bccf-93858024f3e7 ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdb1 /cdrom vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437, iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)


================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=C:\wubildr.mbr
[operating systems]
C:\wubildr.mbr = "Ubuntu"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=========================== sda5/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/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
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 ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=10
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
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-37-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-37-generic root=UUID=c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-37-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-37-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-37-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-37-generic root=UUID=c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-37-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-36-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-36-generic root=UUID=c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-36-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-36-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-36-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-36-generic root=UUID=c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-36-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350
linux16 /boot/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)" {
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set FEDC6E73DC6E265D
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 ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============================== sda5/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 defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=709169d3-d5a1-4e3f-b1b5-af3dacc76e60 none swap sw 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

GiB - GB File Fragment(s)

86.384025097 = 92.754140672 boot/grub/core.img 1
86.367541790 = 92.736441856 boot/grub/grub.cfg 1
107.482818127 = 115.408797184 boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-36-generic 1
100.404761791 = 107.808792064 boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-37-generic 1
101.736979961 = 109.239250432 boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-36-generic 1
102.871505260 = 110.457437696 boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-37-generic 1
100.404761791 = 107.808792064 initrd.img 1
107.482818127 = 115.408797184 initrd.img.old 1
102.871505260 = 110.457437696 vmlinuz 1
101.736979961 = 109.239250432 vmlinuz.old 1

========================= sdb1/syslinux/syslinux.cfg: ==========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
include menu.cfg
default vesamenu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 50
gfxboot bootlogo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

================= sdb1: Location of files loaded by Syslinux: ==================

GiB - GB File Fragment(s)

?? = ?? ldlinux.sys 1
?? = ?? syslinux/syslinux.cfg 1
?? = ?? syslinux/vesamenu.c32 1

============== sdb1: Version of COM32(R) files used by Syslinux: ===============

syslinux/vesamenu.c32 : COM32R module (v3.xx)


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :
**************** log of boot-repair 2011-12-21__20h06 ****************
boot-repair version : 3.02-0ppa1~lucid
clean version : 3.02-0ppa1~lucid
internet: connected
clean-gui version : 3.02-0ppa1~lucid
/usr/share/clean/cleancommon-gui.sh: line 160: 25507 Terminated while true; do
done
python-software-properties version : 0.75.10
ls: cannot access /casper-rw-backing: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /casper-rw-backing: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /casper-rw-backing: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /casper-rw-backing: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /casper-rw-backing: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /casper-rw-backing: No such file or directory
LIVESESSION is : yes
BYTES_BEFORE_PART[1] (sda) = 63 sectors * 512 bytes = 32256 bytes.
OSPROBER: /dev/sda1:Windows NT/2000/XP:Windows:chain
/dev/sda5:Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS (10.04):Ubuntu:linux
BLKID: /dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop1: UUID="0f4b37af-5782-4b5e-bccf-93858024f3e7" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda1: UUID="FEDC6E73DC6E265D" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda2: UUID="9C1CCA131CC9E7FA" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda5: UUID="c5ba1651-91e9-4654-bc85-24fa6d14b350" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda6: UUID="709169d3-d5a1-4e3f-b1b5-af3dacc76e60" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="10D7-92BE" TYPE="vfat"
sda1 contains Windows (windows)
sda5 contains Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS (linux)
1 disks with OS, 2 OS : 1 Linux, 0 MacOS, 1 Windows, 0 unknown type OS.
mkdir: cannot create directory `/mnt/clean/sda5/var/log': Input/output error
mkdir: cannot create directory `/mnt/clean/sda5/var/log': Input/output error
Total of 2 OS detected on sda disk.
dir: cannot access /mnt/clean/sda5/var/log/clean/mbr_backups: Input/output error
mkdir: cannot create directory `/mnt/clean/sda5/var/log': Input/output error
sda contains minimum one OS
FDISK
Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x515dee3b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 125853209 62926573+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 125853210 180827639 27487215 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 180827640 234372284 26772322+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 180827703 232058924 25615611 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 232058988 234372284 1156648+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 4007 MB, 4007657472 bytes
124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders, total 7827456 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000ad890

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 62 7826383 3913161 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x515dee3b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 125853209 62926573+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 125853210 180827639 27487215 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 180827640 234372284 26772322+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 180827703 232058924 25615611 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 232058988 234372284 1156648+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 4007 MB, 4007657472 bytes
124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders, total 7827456 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000ad890

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 62 7826383 3913161 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
sda1 : sda, not-sepboot, no-grub, no-aptget, 32, no boot, /mnt/clean/sda1, with-os, no-gpt, no-fstab, .
sda2 : sda, is-maybe-sepboot, no-grub, no-aptget, 32, no boot, /mnt/clean/sda2, no-os, no-gpt, no-fstab, .
sda5 : sda, not-sepboot, grub, aptget, 32, with boot, /mnt/clean/sda5, with-os, no-gpt, fstab-without-efi, .
PARTED: Model: ATA ST9120817AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 120GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32.3kB 64.4GB 64.4GB primary ntfs boot
2 64.4GB 92.6GB 28.1GB primary ntfs
4 92.6GB 120GB 27.4GB extended
5 92.6GB 119GB 26.2GB logical ext4
6 119GB 120GB 1184MB logical linux-swap(v1)


Model: Verbatim STORE N GO (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 4008MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 31.7kB 4007MB 4007MB primary fat32 boot, lba
MOUNT aufs on / type aufs (rw)
none on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
/dev/sdb1 on /cdrom type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437, iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (ro,noatime)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
none on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
none on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /lib/init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/ubuntu/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=ubuntu)
/dev/loop1 on /media/0f4b37af-5782-4b5e-bccf-93858024f3e7 type ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sda1 on /mnt/clean/sda1 type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)
/dev/sda2 on /mnt/clean/sda2 type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)
/dev/sda5 on /mnt/clean/sda5 type ext4 (rw)
/sys/block/sda: alignment_offset bdi capability dev device ext_range holders inflight power queue range removable ro sda1 sda2 sda4 sda5 sda6 size slaves stat subsystem trace uevent
/sys/block/sdb: alignment_offset bdi capability dev device ext_range holders inflight power queue range removable ro sdb1 size slaves stat subsystem trace uevent
/dev: agpgart audio block bsg btrfs-control bus char console core cpu_dma_latency disk dri dsp ecryptfs fb0 fd full fuse hidraw0 hpet input kmsg log mapper mcelog mem mixer net network_latency network_throughput null oldmem pktcdvd port ppp psaux ptmx pts random rfkill rtc rtc0 sda sda1 sda2 sda4 sda5 sda6 sdb sdb1 sequencer sequencer2 sg0 sg1 shm snapshot snd sndstat stderr stdin stdout urandom usbmon0 usbmon1 usbmon2 usbmon3 usbmon4 usbmon5 vga_arbiter zero
/dev/mapper: control
DF Filesystem Type Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
aufs aufs 1.1G 223M 754M 23% /
none devtmpfs 493M 300K 492M 1% /dev
/dev/sdb1 vfat 3.8G 1.8G 2.1G 46% /cdrom
/dev/loop0
squashfs 672M 672M 0 100% /rofs
none tmpfs 498M 112K 497M 1% /dev/shm
tmpfs tmpfs 498M 792K 497M 1% /tmp
none tmpfs 498M 92K 497M 1% /var/run
none tmpfs 498M 4.0K 498M 1% /var/lock
none tmpfs 498M 0 498M 0% /lib/init/rw
/dev/loop1 ext3 1.1G 223M 754M 23% /media/0f4b37af-5782-4b5e-bccf-93858024f3e7
/dev/sda1 fuseblk 61G 24G 37G 40% /mnt/clean/sda1
/dev/sda2 fuseblk 27G 743M 26G 3% /mnt/clean/sda2
/dev/sda5 ext4 25G 16G 7.3G 69% /mnt/clean/sda5
FDISK
Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x515dee3b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 125853209 62926573+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 125853210 180827639 27487215 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 180827640 234372284 26772322+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 180827703 232058924 25615611 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 232058988 234372284 1156648+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 4007 MB, 4007657472 bytes
124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders, total 7827456 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000ad890

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 62 7826383 3913161 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
Logs saved into /mnt/clean/sda1/clean/log/2011-12-21__20h06boot-repair01
mkdir: cannot create directory `/mnt/clean/sda5/var/log': Input/output error
cp: accessing `/mnt/clean/sda5/var/log/clean/log/2011-12-21__20h06boot-repair01': Input/output error
Logs saved into /mnt/clean/sda5/var/log/clean/log/2011-12-21__20h06boot-repair01
combobox_ostoboot_bydefault_fillin
Order Linux according to their /boot type 64
Order Linux according to their /boot type 32
combobox_efi_fillin sda5
set_checkbutton_reinstall_grub
set_radiobutton_ostoboot_bydefault
combobox_separateboot_fillin
separate_bootpart and efi show_hide sda5
efi_show_hide 3 (no-gpt)
set_radiobutton_place_grub
combobox_separateboot_fillin
separate_bootpart and efi show_hide sda5
efi_show_hide 3 (no-gpt)
************************Before mainwindow appear
FSCK_ACTION no PASTEBIN_ACTION yes
MBR_ACTION reinstall REINSTALL_POSSIBLE yes PURGE_POSSIBLE yes UNHIDEBOOT_ACTION yes (10.s) PART_TO_REINSTALL_GRUB 3 (sda5) PART_TO_REINSTALL_GRUB_PURGE 3 (sda5) FORCE_GRUB no NOFORCE_DISK sda REMOVABLEDISK no UNCOMMENT_GFXMODE no ATA no-ata ADD_KERNEL_OPTION no (acpi=off) MBR_TO_RESTORE sda (mbr) (sda) USE_SEPARATEBOOTPART no (sda2) grub-pc ()
/usr/share/clean/bootrepair.sh: line 56: 26135 Terminated while true; do
done
RETOURCOMBO_purge_grub : sda5 (Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS)
RETOURCOMBO_ostoboot_bydefault : sda5 (Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS)
combobox_separateboot_fillin
separate_bootpart and efi show_hide sda5
efi_show_hide 3 (no-gpt)
RETOURCOMBO_place_grub (NOFORCE_DISK) : sda
RETOURCOMBO_separateboot (BOOTPART_TO_USE) : sda2
set_checkbutton_reinstall_grub
set_radiobutton_ostoboot_bydefault
combobox_separateboot_fillin
separate_bootpart and efi show_hide sda5
efi_show_hide 3 (no-gpt)
set_radiobutton_place_grub
combobox_separateboot_fillin
separate_bootpart and efi show_hide sda5
efi_show_hide 3 (no-gpt)
RETOURCOMBO_place_grub (NOFORCE_DISK) : sda
RETOURCOMBO_separateboot (BOOTPART_TO_USE) : sda2
RETOURCOMBO_separateboot (BOOTPART_TO_USE) : sda2
RETOURCOMBO_separateboot (BOOTPART_TO_USE) : sda2
internet: connected
************************Before Repairing
FSCK_ACTION no PASTEBIN_ACTION yes
MBR_ACTION reinstall REINSTALL_POSSIBLE yes PURGE_POSSIBLE yes UNHIDEBOOT_ACTION yes (10.s) PART_TO_REINSTALL_GRUB 3 (sda5) PART_TO_REINSTALL_GRUB_PURGE 3 (sda5) FORCE_GRUB no NOFORCE_DISK sda REMOVABLEDISK no UNCOMMENT_GFXMODE no ATA no-ata ADD_KERNEL_OPTION no (acpi=off) MBR_TO_RESTORE sda (mbr) (sda) USE_SEPARATEBOOTPART no (sda2) grub-pc ()
Freed space function
/dev/sda1 62926572 24974528 37952044 40% /mnt/clean/sda1
/dev/sda5 25213284 16315208 7617296 69% /mnt/clean/sda5
Reinstall the GRUB of sda5 into the MBR of sda
Unmount (force) all OS partitions except / and partition where we reinstall GRUB (sda5)
dpkg_function
chroot: cannot run command `dpkg': No such file or directory
grub-install (GNU GRUB 1.98-1ubuntu12)
/usr/lib/grub/grub-mkconfig_lib: 1: cannot open s: No such file
/usr/lib/grub/grub-mkconfig_lib: 1: ����W���_Q��cx0L��(c��#��B%��y��: not found
/usr/lib/grub/grub-mkconfig_lib: 1: Syntax error: "|" unexpected
/usr/lib/grub/grub-mkconfig_lib: 1: cannot open s: No such file
/usr/lib/grub/grub-mkconfig_lib: 1: ����W���_Q��cx0L��(c��#��B%��y��: not found
Mount all the partitions for the logs
Unhide boot menu (10 seconds) if Wubi detected
internet: connected
touch: cannot touch `/mnt/clean/sda5/var/log/clean/log/boot-repair': Input/output error

[bcbc]

It looks like boot repair isn't able to access /dev/sda5:

mkdir: cannot create directory `/mnt/clean/sda5/var/log': Input/output error

From the live CD/USB:

sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

EDIT: I don't think the --boot-directory= option is in Lucid. It might be, but use --root-directory= instead.

[darkod]

Also, please explain in more detail about the error. Do you have two boot menu screens or only one? Does the error happen regardless whether you select ubuntu or windows? Do you get the boot menu at all?

I have noticed you seem to have a wubi mbr entry in your boot.ini:


[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=C:\wubildr.mbr
[operating systems]
C:\wubildr.mbr = "Ubuntu"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

But this entry should not affect booting ubuntu. However, after selecting XP from your main grub2 menu, you might be getting "grub rescue" which is coming from the wubi mbr. You obviously don't have a wubi install right now, and grub2 is clearly on the MBR of your hdd. This seems as a left over from earlier wubi install.

[Tom Collier]

Ah! You have jogged my memory...when I was first introduced to Ubuntu (9.xx) I used it through Wubi for almost a year before I converted to a dual boot.

And I remember finally getting irritated that XP booted by default if I left the boot menu to do its thing. So I changed it to Ubuntu by default. But that was so long ago, I don't remember how I did it. Come to think of it, when I wanted to boot into XP, I always got a double screen and had to tell it twice to get me into XP. Perhaps this is an artifact and I never really

a.) created a true dual boot system, or
b.) installed Grub on the Ubuntu side (/dev/sda5)??

The error in detail:

I used to get a Grub menu when I turned on my computer. Now I get: some text about limited editing capacity and using the TAB key one way or another, and a prompt at the bottom of the page that reads ">rescue". That's it.

EDIT: if I install Grub to /dev/sda5 as bcbc suggests upthread, will it preserve my dual boot?

[darkod]

The commands bcbc suggested will not install grub2 on the /dev/sda5 partition. Because you will be running them from live mode, from the cd (usb), you have to let it know where is your root partition.
That's why with the first command you are mounting your root partition which is /dev/sda5 to the mount point /mnt. That is what the 5 means.
The second command installs grub2 to /dev/sda (the MBR of the disk) with the parameter specifying the root directory, mounted at /mnt.

I would try those commands first, because even though the script says grub2 is installed on the MBR, something might be wrong. Just boot into live mode with cd or usb and run those commands to reinstall grub2 to the MBR. Reboot and see if it helped.

[Tom Collier]

Here's what that did command did.....


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda
cp: cannot stat `/mnt/boot/grub/sfs.mod': Input/output error
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

[darkod]

I have no idea about that error, and short google search doesn't give anything conclusive. Lets try to completely remove and reinstall grub2. For that you need to chroot into your root partition which needs a few more commands than just mount.


sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
sudo chroot /mnt

To completely remove and reinstall grub2, and recreate the config files:


apt-get --purge remove grub-pc
apt-get install grub-pc
grub-mkconfig
update-grub
grub-install /dev/sda

Exit the chroot and unmount:


exit
sudo umount /mnt/sys
sudo umount /mnt/proc
sudo umount /mnt/dev
sudo umount /mnt

Reboot and see if that helped.

[Tom Collier]

Here's what the "apt-get" command line in the second block generated:


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt
root@ubuntu:/# apt-get --purge remove grub-pc
E: Unable to write to /var/cache/apt/
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
root@ubuntu:/#

I really appreciate your walking me through this....

[darkod]

Uh, this is beyond me unfortunately. Give it a shot without the two apt-get commands in the second block. Lets hope that just the mkconfig, update and install might help somehow.
I was hoping for a clean install of grub2 but it seems there are some issues.

[N00b-un-2]

oy... yet another Wubi headache. Word for the wise DO NOT USE WUBI! Set up a real dual boot and you'll be a lot happier in the end.
It looks like your live USB may be borked. Try creating a new live USB or CD. Then boot into it and create your chroot the same way you did only omit

sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
When I have to restore GRUB after messing around with another OS and my MBR gets overwritten, I create my chroot with /proc and /dev only and haven't blown up my computer yet :wink:
After you chroot int /mnt, issue the commands

sudo grub-install /dev/sda
sudo update-grub

This will install GRUB to the MBR of your hard drive, overwriting whatever else is installed to it and it will update it. exit out of your chroot, unmount your drive and reboot. Grub --should-- be working.

[bcbc]

Try fsck'ing /dev/sda5. Even though it's mounting okay, there's something messed up:

sudo umount /dev/sda5
sudo fsck -fv /dev/sda5


(Make sure it's unmounted. -f force it even if it appears clean. -v verbose output. You can add -y (attempt to fix) as well (otherwise it will prompt you).

You should probably take a data backup beforehand.

[Tom Collier]

Solved ... (which, I suppose is what you call it when you obliterate the original problem, rather than address it command by command in the terminal.)

10.04 Live USB did not display the existence (!) of certain folders that showed up using the ls command and full path at the grub rescue prompt. Not talking about hidden files, here. These files did show up in Lucid Puppy, so I used Lucid Puppy Live USB to transfer a few of these undetected (NOT hidden...undetected...I know the difference) files that I wanted to save but were not in my backup.

I downloaded and burned a new, fresh checksummed iso of 10.04.3 LTS, and did a clean, single OS reinstall.

Back in business and weaned from Windows 'cause Santa is gonna solve the wireless print-from-Linux problem that kept the dual boot system around in the first place.

Thanks for all your assistance! This is one of the most helpful forums in the Intertubes.

Politically correct Holiday Greetings of your choice, or "Happy All Of The Above."

[N00b-un-2]

just out of curiosity, what type of printer do you have and what do you mean by "wireless"? If you have a bluetooth printer, you're options may be limited. On the other hand most wifi capable printers support multiple print protocols. Try configuring your printer using ipp, lpr/lpd instead of samba. Samba relies on on a host system that the printer is attached physically to in order to work, whereas lpr and ipp configure your printer as a standalone print server.