13.04 dual-boot not working at all

[TeoTN]

I have my Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 with Windows 7 pre-installed but I've decided to install also Ubuntu 13.04 here, and there my troubles start...

Previously I had my disk divided into partitions like this:
1) *: SYSTEM_DRV (200MB) NTFS Primary
2) C: Windows7_OS (~900GB) NTFS Primary
3) D: LENOVO (25.47GB) NTFS Primary
4) *:LENOVO_PART (19.53GB) NTFS Primary

So I have shrunk 2nd partition and made up two more partitions - Ext4 (18GB) and Linux Swap (2GB), converted 3 and 4 to Logical, and set Ext4 to primary. After this I installed Linux Ubuntu 13.04 and after restart what I see is "Missing operating system".
Therefore I run LiveCD and set via sudo parted my windows partition to have boot flag. Now Windows is working.
But my question is: why grub is not loading? and how to make it dual boot without getting rid of LENOVO partitions which are necessary while using OneKey Recovery?

PS I'm a Linux newbie.
PS2 I don't want to lose my data. I have nowhere to have them backed up.
PS3 Sorry for awful English, I'm still learning.

[oldfred]

If you have converted primary partitions to logical, you are not a beginner anymore. That is advanced.

But it seems like grub did not install to MBR. Boot-Flag should always be on NTFS partition that Windows boots from. Grub does not use boot flag.

Post the link to the BootInfo report that this creates. Is part of Boot-Repair:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Info
Boot Repair -Also handles LVM, GPT, separate /boot and UEFI dual boot.:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair
You can repair many boot issues with this or 'Create BootInfo' report (Other Options) & post the link it creates, so we can see your exact configuration and diagnose advanced problems.
Install in Ubuntu liveCD or USB or Full RepairCD with Boot-Repair (for newer computers)
http://sourceforge.net/p/boot-repair/home/Home/
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LinuxSecureRemix

[black3agl3]

Previously I had my disk divided into partitions like this:
1) *: SYSTEM_DRV (200MB) NTFS Primary
2) C: Windows7_OS (~900GB) NTFS Primary
3) D: LENOVO (25.47GB) NTFS Primary
4) *:LENOVO_PART (19.53GB) NTFS Primary
What is actually on the *LENOVO_PART partition?


So I have shrunk 2nd partition and made up two more partitions - Ext4 (18GB) and Linux Swap (2GB), converted 3 and 4 to Logical, and set Ext4 to primary.
There is actually no need to make you Ext4 partition a primary one. Logical works fine.


But my question is: why grub is not loading?
Where did you install grub? On which partition?

[darkod]

Run the boot info and post the link as oldfred suggested. We need to see details since what you wrote doesn't make much sense. Following the chronology of what you said, you first created two more partitions for ubuntu which is impossible on msdos disk if you already had 4 primary partitions. That might have converted the disk to Dynamic which is Microsoft format and you should not install linux on it (if that's what happened).

[HugoNotte]

You could the Windows to make recovery DVDs. Lenovo has got a program for it and I consider it as essential to have those DVDs. In case your hard drive packs up, what good is recovery partition on a faulty hard drive? Once you have made those DVDs you can actually delete that partition.

Check the partition table, Lenovo tends to have some unique tricks: it might be a hybrid, GPT with MBR. This tends to confuse some Linux installers.

The EFI boot partition might be NTFS instead of FAT32. Again, this confuses Linux installers, since Linux needs the EFI boot partition to be FAT.