Hosed GRUB trying to install Mate 16.04, can't boot

[watchpocket]

So I tried to install Ubuntu Mate 16.04 earlier tonight from a live USB flash drive to a standalone SSD drive (plugged into another USB port on my desktop machine).

I selected the correct drive during the installation process (the SSD drive, sde), but I think my mistake was that, when the installation prompted to enter a username and a computer name, I entered my computer's name but got a warning that that name was already being used (by, I think it said "another computer", forget the exact wording). It's the name my computer -- or my current Ubuntu -- has, and I wanted to keep the same name.

Instead of entering a different name, I went with the same name anyway. That was probably my mistake. The install process continued, but when I tried to boot from the SSD drive, it wouldn't boot.

Then I tried to boot normally, with both the USB drive and the SSD drive unplugged. Normally I'm put at my custom GRUB menu that allows me to select one of two internal drives (one drive with Ubuntu 14.04, the other with Ubuntu 12.04). (If I do nothing, 14.04 automatically boots after 5 seconds.)

Instead of seeing the GRUB menu, all I got was:

error: no such device: [long UUID]
Entering rescue mode . . .
grub rescue>_

The only command that I knew to enter here that returned anything was ls, which returned:

(hd0) (hd0, msdos2) (hd0, msdos1)
(hd1) (hd1, msdos2) (hd1, msdos1)
(hd2) (hd2) (hd2, msdos1)

I have three one-terabyte spinning drives in my desktop unit, the third drive has no OS and is only for data storage.

I'm only able to post this message by booting into my live USB flashdrive's ubuntuMATE "Try Ubuntu MATE" interface, using its Firefox. The only thing I can boot from at the moment is the live USB flash drive.

All three of my internal drives appear to be intact, but what do I need to do to be able to boot normally into my 14.04 and 12.04 drives.

i.e., how do I get my GRUB menu back?

Very uncertain & somewhat desperate about this turn of events, thanks for any clear steerage.

[Bucky Ball]

Boot Repair (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair) may be your friend, but first, it gives you the option to run the bootinfo script on the first screen (from memory). Do that and post the link it gives you when it's finished, please.

You can install it directly in a live session. Just follow the instructions on that link. If you reboot you will need to go through it all again as anything you install on a live session will be lost on boot (but you probably know that). ;)

[watchpocket]

Boot Repair (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair) may be your friend, but first, it gives you the option to run the bootinfo script on the first screen (from memory). Do that and post the link it gives you when it's finished, please.

You can install it directly in a live session. Just follow the instructions on that link. If you reboot you will need to go through it all again as anything you install on a live session will be lost on boot (but you probably know that). ;)


Thanks loads! here's the pastebin link to the bootinfo summary:

http://paste2.org/0BO478M9

[Bucky Ball]

Well, you have 14.04 on sda1, 12.04 on sdb1 and 16.04 nowhere. It's not installed. The problem could be with sdd1, a mystery partition. Don't know what that is but looks to be causing an issue. Is it the partition you were trying to install to? It is 'busy' and looks to be holding things up. If external, unplug it and any other external drives.

In boot repair, there is an option to reinstall grub to a location of your choice. Choose to install grub to sda then reboot and see where you get to. Any different?

PS: You don't need multiple /swap files. You can use the same one for all installs as they are not booting at the same time. When installing, simply choose 'Something Else' and point the install to the existing /swap (in other words, do nothing about swap). If there is a /swap there, it will be used 'automagically'.

You can change where an OSs looks for /swap by changing the /etc/fstab file, but that's for later and another thread perhaps. ;)

[watchpocket]

sdd is a total mistake and only got there earlier tonight. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be there. It is not external. It's definitely not what I was trying to install 16.04 to.

But it looks like sdd is what some mutant instance of 16.04 WAS installed to.

I was trying to install 16.04 Mate on a standalone SSD drive, which is definitely not connected now.

The "Disks" utility program shows sdd and has named it:

1.6 GB Loop Device
/cdrom/casper/filesystem.squashfs

Size: 1.6 GB
Device: /dev/loop0 (Read-Only)
Contents: Unknown (squashfs 4.0) -- Mounted at /rofs


GParted shows /dev/sdd (15.29 GiB) as follows:

Partition: /dev/sdd1;
file system: unknown
Label: Ubunt-MATE 16.04 LTS amd64
Size 4.00 KiB

Partition: unallocated
File System: unallocated
Size 1.47 GiB

Partition: /dev/sdd2
File system: fat16
Size 2.31 MiB; Used 2.30 MiB; Unused: 8.00 KiB

Partition: unallocated
File System: unallocated
Size 13.82 GiB

I should probably remove sdd, but will wait on that for now.

I'll go ahead and use the Boot Repair util to install grub to sda and re-boot, and report back. Thanks for the help.

[watchpocket]

WHEW !!!

I'm back to normal. Simply locating GRUB per your suggestion on sda, using the Boot Repair util, has given me the GRUB menu back completely intact.

(It looks just a bit different in that it now includes additional choices, but that's fine.)

Also, according to both the "Disks" util and GParted, sdd has vanished. And that's fine by me.

Thank you for being there, Bucky.

Time now for some sleep. Tomorrow when I re-group I'll need to make sure I have a better handle on just how I'm installing, and where I'm installing to. Thanks again - you guys are totally giving of the great unwashed multitudes of us who trip over our own elbows.

[Bucky Ball]

Hehe. All good and glad I could help. Great that you're getting somewhere with it. Yes, Boot Repair is your friend! (Got me out of many a tight situation. You could do it all with a terminal, but ...)

Last tip: Have a good luck at what you have already on those drives in there, specifically the drive you are intending to install to. Draw a 'mud-map' of the drive and how you'd like it to look when you've finished partitioning. This can be of great help in 'the heat of the moment' when installing, so to speak. ;)

And remember, you only need the one /swap partition. No need to create a new one. In fact, depending on how much RAM you have, no /swap at all will work fine. Not that's that what you want, but reassuring in as much as if anything goes amiss with the /swap during install but you manage to install Ubuntu, you can always point it to use whatever /swap you want later by editing /etc/fstab.

PS: I notice you have marked this as solved. That's fine as the original issue is solved, but advise you now post a new thread if you have any further issues with installing. Post a link to that here if you like and I'll see if there's anything I can help with. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[watchpocket]

. . . Have a good luck at what you have already on those drives in there, specifically the drive you are intending to install to.

I have a new, empty, outboard standalone SSD drive as the drive I want to install UbuntuMATE-16.04 to -- a Sandisk Ultra II 960 GB SATA III drive (http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-2-5-Inch-Height-SDSSDHII-960G-G25/dp/B00M8ABHVQ?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00). (Actually it's no longer empty because of a previous botched install-attempt, but everything that's on it now can be wiped.)


Draw a 'mud-map' of the drive and how you'd like it to look when you've finished partitioning. This can be of great help in 'the heat of the moment' when installing, so to speak. ;)

All I want on that SSD is one large partition for both / and /home, with about 10 GB of unallocated space (maximum) and maybe 8 or 10 GB of swapspace.

But I'm a bit unclear as to how and when to format it, because I did format it that way, but then, the installation process appears to format it again, or in addition to the original formatting, inserting extra things -- partitions, swapspace -- that I don't want or need. (More on this in a separate post.)


And remember, you only need the one /swap partition.

Per drive, correct? If I boot 14.04 on sda, the swapspace on the unmounted sdb drive isn't going to do me any good (even if sdb is mounted, yes?) and isn't available to me at all when I'm booted to sda.

PS:
I notice you have marked this as solved. That's fine as the original issue is solved, but advise you now post a new thread if you have any further issues with installing.

Yes, I've been planning to do that as a separate discussion.


Post a link to that here if you like and I'll see if there's anything I can help with. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Will do, thanks again!

[Bucky Ball]

You need a /swap partition, 2Gb unless you are hibernating, a /home if you are having one (although I let it install in / as a partition and put symlinks in there to a data partition on another drive), and / for the OS.

Choose 'Something Else' at the partitioning section of the install and you can assign mountpoints and partitions/partition sizes there.

Doesn't matter where the /swap is. Same drive, different drive to /, doesn't matter. Just point fstab to wherever it is. I repeat: If there is a /swap partition anywhere during install, the install should see it and use it. If it doesn't, not an issue. It can be set up later.

[watchpocket]

You need a /swap partition, 2Gb unless you are hibernating, a /home if you are having one (although I let it install in / as a partition and put symlinks in there to a data partition on another drive), and / for the OS.

Choose 'Something Else' at the partitioning section of the install and you can assign mountpoints and partitions/partition sizes there.

Doesn't matter where the /swap is. Same drive, different drive to /, doesn't matter. Just point fstab to wherever it is. I repeat: If there is a /swap partition anywhere during install, the install should see it and use it. If it doesn't, not an issue. It can be set up later.

So first I re-formatted the SSD -- I made one large partition, with a 10 GB swap area, and 10 GB unallocated. (See attached pic to see what it looks like in GParted.) Last night I didn't even have the boot flag activated.

269109

Then I re-installed MATE 16.04, choosing "Something else," and selected not to have the partitions changed. the install process seemed to go OK. When prompted to define the root file system, I went into the installer's partition menu and told it to go to sde. Swap was already defined.

Two things about the install process I thought seemed a bit off were:

(a) the notice saying swap would be formatted to sda2, sdb2, and sde2. Fine, but I get worried when it starts talking about sda and sdb. Swap was already defined in those drives, I want the installer not to touch sda and sdb. I selected to install to sde.

(b) when I entered the name of the computer for the network to see, I couldn't put the pre-existing name in, so this time I changed the spelling of it. (But maybe that's not so important & maybe I can change it later.)

Re-booting without the SSD plugged in is no problem, the grub menu appears as it should.

But when I re-boot with the SSD connected via USB, instead of 16.04 booting, I see this:

error: invalid arch-independent ELF magic.
Entering rescue mode . . .
grub rescue . . .

At this point I'm not sure how to get the SSD to boot into 16.04. Any & all tips appreciated, as always.

(Btw, I made a Boot-Repair-Disk today on a spare flashdrive, after last night's experience.)

[watchpocket]

Btw, in wanting to boot to the external SSD via USB, I'm just doing this to make sure I have UbuntuMATE 16.04 correctly installed and up & running and bootable from the SSD.

My main goal is to remove the internal spinner HDD drive sdb, on which Ubuntu 12.04 now resides, and replace that HDD with the SSD as the main bootable drive, in which I'd like the SSD with 16.04 on it to then be drive sda.

What is now sda with UbuntuMATE 14.04 would then be my made my sdb.

The drive that now has 12.04 on it would be wiped, and put in an enclosure to be used as an external storage drive.

So that new 16.04 would be the default boot from the internal SSD (which would then be made drive sda), and old 14.04 would be the alternative boot from the internal spinning HDD (what is now sda but will be changed to sdb).

Meanwhile searching right now on the ELF error message, I think I somhow need my grub, which is on sda, to recognize sde when it's connected. Still searching.

[Bucky Ball]

Sorry, but you don't seem to be getting this bit.

A/ you don't ever need more than one /swap. I have mentioned this a number of times so can't figure out why you are now creating one, and creating a 10Gb one at that. How large is your installed RAM and do you intend hibernating???

B/ At the bottom of the 'Something Else' screen you will see a drop down asking where you want to put grub. Install it to the same partition as you are install 16.04. Once installed, boot and your other install will appear. Boot into that, open a terminal and:


sudo grub-update

That will pick up the new install and add it to the menu.

The other option is to install grub to sda (NOT a partition on sda) and then 16.04 will have control of the grub. You may need to run the above command on first boot.

[watchpocket]

Doesn't matter where the /swap is. Same drive, different drive to /, doesn't matter. Just point fstab to wherever it is. I repeat: If there is a /swap partition anywhere during install, the install should see it and use it.


A/ you don't ever need more than one /swap. I have mentioned this a number of times so can't figure out why you are now creating one,

Most of the time in my computer use, I have only one hard drive mounted.

Are you saying that mounted drive A is actually able to use the swap partition that is on unmounted drive B?

How can it use the /swap on an unmounted drive? I didn't think that was possible. That's why I have a swap partition on both drives that contain an OS.


and creating a 10Gb one at that.

I'll either get rid of the swap partition on the SSD or reduce it 2 GB.


How large is your installed RAM and do you intend hibernating???

I have 8 GB of RAM, I never hibernate and don't plan to.


B/ At the bottom of the 'Something Else' screen you will see a drop down asking where you want to put grub. Install it to the same partition as you are install 16.04. Once installed, boot and your other install will appear. Boot into that, open a terminal and:

sudo grub-update

That will pick up the new install and add it to the menu.

Got it, will do. Mucho thanks.

[Bucky Ball]

No, in that case, can't use /swap partition on an unmounted drive. :)

But hang on. After rereading earlier posts, if I've got it right, I think I may have misled. You are installing Ubuntu on the SSD? You have no other installs on the other drive that are going to be included?

If this is the case, just let it roll. Don't worry about pointing grub anywhere during 'Something Else', let it do that 'automagically'.

[watchpocket]

You are installing Ubuntu on the SSD?

That's correct. I've already installed UbuntuMATE 16.04 on my new 960 GB SSD.

(I just haven't been able to boot to it yet, so I'm not totally sure 16.04 is installed there correctly, but I think -- I hope -- it is.)


You have no other installs on the other drive that are going to be included?

I do have one other (previous) install (and I'm not, btw, trying to install right now anything other than MATE 16.04, which, as mentioned above, should already be on the SSD) -- I have UbuntuMATE 14.04 on another (internal) drive. (Currently, that's drive sda. Drive sda is a one-terabyte mechanical spinning HDD.)



So far, I've been trying to install MATE 16.04 on the SSD with the SSD being used as an external drive plugged into a USB port.

What I'm going to do -- though this will have to wait a few days, until Thursday -- is the following:

(a) install the SSD into the inside of my desktop box as an internal drive, and make the SSD my drive sda. This will have MATE 16.04 on it, and will be the drive I'll want to boot to by default;

(b) make it so the spinner drive containing MATE 14.04 -- currently drive sda -- will, in the new set-up, be drive sdb (and I'll leave 14.04 on that drive);

(c) leave my third hard drive -- another one-terabyte spinner -- which has no OS on it, but is only for data storage, I'll leave that as my drive sdc;

(d) at that point I'll need to make sure my GRUB is set up correctly. I'll want GRUB to be on drive sda -- the SSD -- and my thought is that I may be able to put GRUB on sda by using Boot-Repair, using the same "locate" feature that served me well on your advice a couple of nights ago.

Or, I may not be able to do that -- I may have to re-install 16.04 onto the SSD in order to have GRUB working so that GRUB will (1) present a menu to choose to boot into either 16.04 or 14.04; and (2) auto-boot into 16.04 after five seconds. What I don't know is, with this new set-up, whether GRUB should be placed on sda, or on sda1.

I'll report back after I've attempted the above, thanks as always.

[Bucky Ball]

Ok. My suggestion would be to put the SSD in the computer first up. A number of reasons for this.

Some laptops will only want to boot from sda. Trying to get them to do otherwise can be time consuming and unsuccessful. Also, if you manage to install 16.04 correctly on sdb (which you may already have) then the grub set up will be totally out of whack. It will see the internal HDD as sda, the external SSD as sdb, and when you swap them over, probably chaos as sdb is now sda (that will happen automatically without you changing anything) and sda, the HDD, is now sdb. The machine will attempt to boot from sda (which is originally sdb) but your active grub is actually on what is now sdb, the external HDD. Follow me?

There is also always the possibility that while trying to install on the external SSD, there's a rush of blood and you end up doing something disasterous to the HDD. If the SSD is in the box, the HDD can be completely unplugged and removed from danger. :)

If you don't get this kind of mix up I described above, likely there will be something amiss. Might be easily fixable, might take days, so easier to have the hardware where you want it to end up, then proceed.

If you are booted to a live session of Ubuntu, could you open Gparted and take a screenshot of the SSD (sdb, you'll find it in the drop-down list at top right of Gparted window) and post here. We'll be able to see if you have 16.04 installed in there. If that is the case, you may just be able to install the SSD to the computer, tweak the grub with Boot Repair and off you go.

[watchpocket]

Some laptops will only want to boot from sda. Trying to get them to do otherwise can be time consuming and unsuccessful.

With luck, this shouldn't be a worry, since I'm working only with my desktop unit. (I don't have a laptop.)


Also, if you manage to install 16.04 correctly on sdb (which you may already have)

16.04 won't actually be on sdb (neither old nor new sdb). I should provide you with a look at my full configuration, which I don't think I've done yet:

CURRENT:

I have three identical (same make & model), internal, one-terabyte HDDs (spinners):

sda contains UbuntuMATE 14.04;
sdb contains Ubuntu 12.04;
sdc is storage.

The solid-state drive right now is still an external drive, in an enclosure.


FUTURE: (what I plan to do this weekend)

sda will be the solid-state drive (it will now be internal) and it will contain UbuntuMATE 16.04;
sdb will be an internal HDD, and it will contain UbuntuMATE 14.04 (This is what is sda right now. Current sda will become new sdb);
sdc will remain (internal) storage.

The HDD that currently contains Ubuntu 12.04 (current sdb) will be put into an enclosure and will be an external storage drive.



then the grub set up will be totally out of whack.

Right -- I'm kind of anticipating that.


There is also always the possibility that while trying to install on the external SSD, there's a rush of blood and you end up doing something disasterous to the HDD. If the SSD is in the box, the HDD can be completely unplugged and removed from danger. :)

Yes, the old Ubuntu blood-rush. I know it well.


If you are booted to a live session of Ubuntu, could you open Gparted and take a screenshot of the SSD (sdb, you'll find it in the drop-down list at top right of Gparted window) and post here.

OK, the solid-state drive is actually still an external drive (so it's /dev/sdd in Gparted), but I took two screenshots:

The one on the left is the folder that opens when I plug the solid-state drive into a USB port.

The one on the right is from Gparted -- again with the solid-state drive plugged in to a USB port. (You'll see that I haven't had a chance yet to do anything with changing the swap partition size -- it's still 10 GB, I may tweak that downward a bit.)

269136269137

Thanks again!

[watchpocket]

. . . take a screenshot of the SSD (sdb, you'll find it in the drop-down list at top right of Gparted window) and post here. We'll be able to see if you have 16.04 installed in there.

Just wondering if those shots in my previous post look like 16.04 was installed on the external SSD all right. And is it normal to have that 35 MB "link to Raw image there?" Thanks.

[Bucky Ball]

It looks like it was installed, but can you boot to it? Do you even want to as you'll be swapping these over (or are they already swapped). I'm presuming you're taking these shots from the install on the other drive.

I'd swap them over now and tackle the issue of the SSD spinning (which wouldn't have been the case had you swapped them over first) as anything else you do is going to be kinda redundant when sdd changes to sdb.

Who knows, you may plop the SSD in the machine and it boots up just like that! But I have my doubts.

[watchpocket]

It looks like it was installed, but can you boot to it?

Short answer: Yes.

UbuntuMATE-16.04 is now on my solid-state drive, and that solid-state drive is now internal -- it's secured into the inside-the-box drive bay at sdb (where previously the HDD containing Ubuntu-12.04 was).

(That's for now. Later I'll want to have the SSD/16.04 at sda, after I get 16.04 set up a bit nicer).

I can indeed boot to 16.04 from my current grub menu (the one on sda where UbuntuMATE 14.04 -- which I'm logged into -- is), but boot time into 16.04 is unusually long -- a minute & 42 seconds from when I select it in the grub menu.

However, something interesting is that I now have the old 12.04 HDD pulled out of the computer (it was sdb), and it's now in an external enclosure. When I boot to that external HDD, I get that system's (different) grub menu. When I choose "Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)" in that grub menu, it boots me not into 12.04 but into 16.04, and, more importantly, with NO delay.

I'd like to be able to boot that quickly to 16.04 from the grub menu on sda.

Who knows, you may plop the SSD in the machine and it boots up just like that!

That's basically what happened, except that there's this long boot time. I think I'll be fine if I can just straighten out the grub issues.

Also, I edited my fstab, because on booting to 14.04, I was getting a warning that a drive was missing (12.04's swap UUID was listed). I got rid of that warning by removing 12.04's swap UUID from fstab.

But in editing fstab, I've messed up fstab:

(The UUID for 16.04 is commented-out here (line number 13) because with it active, the SSD (16.04) doesn't appear in the 14.04 "Places" menu and is not accessible generally.)


1 # /etc/fstab: static file system information.
2 #
3 # Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
4 # device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
5 # that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
6 #
7 # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
8 # UbuntuMATE-14.04:
9 UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /dev/sda1
10 UUID=a88c33fd-88b5-43b2-92f6-457430d206fd none swap sw 0 0 # /dev/sda2
11 #
12 # UbuntuMATE-16.04:
13 # UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /dev/sdb1
14 UUID=d6a2bc73-6ec4-4465-a9ab-8447e13ac6f9 none swap sw 0 0 # /dev/sdb2

Here also is my /etc/default/grub on 14.04:

1 # If you change this file, run 'sudo update-grub' afterwards to update /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
2 # For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
3 # info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'
4
5 GRUB_DEFAULT=0
6 GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
7 #GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
8 GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
9 GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
10 GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="nomodeset=1 #=1 quiet splash video=uvesafb:mode_option=1600x1200-32,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap"
11 GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
12 GRUB_FONT=/boot/grub/DejaVuSansMono.pf2
13
14 # The resolution used on graphical terminal:
15 # Note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE.
16 # You can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'.
17 GRUB_GFXMODE=1600x1200-32
18
19 # Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs.
20 # This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
21 # the memory-map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
22 #GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"
23
24 # Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
25 #GRUB_TERMINAL=console
26
27 # Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux:
28 #GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true
29
30 # Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries:
31 #GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY=true
32
33 # Uncomment to get a beep at grub start:
34 #GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"
35 GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep

And, FWIW, here is a Boot Info Summary link:

(In this boot info summary:
sda is 14.04;
sdb is 16.04 on the internal SSD;
sdc is the internal storage HDD;
sdd is the live-USB with the Boot-Repair Disk program on it; and
sde is the external HDD with 12.04 on it.)

http://paste.ubuntu.com/16619259/

Many thanks for reading.

[watchpocket]

My last post didn't actually ask a question. The question would be how can I (a) set up grub to boot to sdb/16.04 quickly (as the 2nd choice in the grub menu) and (b) make sure my fstab is error-free. Thanks.

[oldfred]

I agree with Bucky that it probably would just be easier to install new SSD into system and install Ubuntu to it.
Grub likes to install to sda.
When plugging drives in, be sure to start at SATA0 which will be sda, and use all ports in order. I have had many issues when I skipped a port. Flash drive that was sdf would become sdb on reboot. Then using device to mount, I had to be careful which drive I was working with.

Whenever editing fstab always run this before rebooting. It remounts everything per new fstab. If no errors, then ok. If errors you must fix before rebooting.
sudo mount -a

You can boot a partition, not an install and then you do not have to do double update-grub once in second install and once in main boot from sda or first install.
How to: Create a Customized GRUB2 Screen that is Maintenance Free.- Cavsfan
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MaintenanceFreeCustomGrub2Screen
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/CustomMenus
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2076205

I typically turn off os-prober and use my own 40_custom entries to boot.
And with multiple drives I had default install & boot on sdc or later sdd, so my test installs that wanted to default to sda, I would just let them install to sda, but normally did not use it. BIOS was set to boot from sdc.

A bit late now, but with only Linux, I prefer gpt partitioning. And if later a new system as I had planned that would be UEFI, I included both an ESP - efi system partition for future UEFI boot and a bios_grub partition for current BIOS boot. Then drive worked in older BIOS system, but could be moved to a new UEFI system without total re-formatting & partitioning.



GPT Advantages (older but still valid) see post#2 by srs5694:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1457901
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GUID_Partition_Table#Advantages_of_GPT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface
http://askubuntu.com/questions/629470/gpt-vs-mbr-why-not-mbr

[Bashing-om]

watchpocket; Hey .. and hello again .

In a multi-boot system I am a firm believer in maintaining ONE install as the primary system and that is the way my mind works.
What system is your preference as the primary ?



(a) set up grub to boot to sdb/16.04 quickly

Then we would want to see updated:


sudo blkid
sudo fdisk -lu
sudo parted -l
cat /etc/fstab
cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Setting that primary can be a thing of patience . Resetting grub in each install .. and turning os_proper off in all but that primary control system .



and (b) make sure my fstab is error-free. Thanks.

remains to be seen from the above .. then we do as oldfred advised and run:


mount -a

having the system verify the file and is in a happy state.



ain't nothing but a thing

[watchpocket]

What system is your preference as the primary ?
Currently the primary system is UbuntMATE-14.04 on an HDD drive at sda.

But my preference now for the primary system will be UbuntuMATE-16.04, which is on a recently-installed solid-state drive, at sdb. (Maybe it'll be appropriate to then make that solid-state drive sda. I'll see as I go along, I suppose.)

(Even though 16.04 has just been installed and is still very raw, this will be the primary system for future use, so I figure I should set it up to be the primary now.)

Then we would want to see updated:


sudo blkid
sudo fdisk -lu
sudo parted -l
cat /etc/fstab
cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg


I'll report back with results of the above commands later tonight when I get home.

I think the info for some of it -- blkid, /boot/grub/grub.cfg and /etc/fstab -- are above in post number 20 (fstab in the post itself, blkid, I think, and /boot/grub/grup.cfg for sure, are in the Boot Info Summary linked to at the bottom of that post).

I'm ever grateful, please stay tuned, more to come in about 4 hours. Thanks once again.

[watchpocket]

Then we would want to see updated:


sudo blkid
sudo fdisk -lu
sudo parted -l
cat /etc/fstab
cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg

OK, here is the output of the above commands:

--> sudo blkid
[sudo] password for rj:
/dev/sda1: LABEL="UbuntuMATE-14.04" UUID="1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda2: UUID="a88c33fd-88b5-43b2-92f6-457430d206fd" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="UbuntuMATE-16.04" UUID="010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb2: UUID="d6a2bc73-6ec4-4465-a9ab-8447e13ac6f9" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdc1: LABEL="WeirdBeard" UUID="c801726e-7a01-4963-989a-38482e6658cf" TYPE="ext4"

--> sudo fdisk -lu
Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 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: 0x3aec6e77

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 1932552191 966275072 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 1932552192 1953525167 10486488 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 960.2 GB, 960197124096 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 116737 cylinders, total 1875385008 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: 0x000b53b4

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 2048 1833400319 916699136 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 1833400320 1854412799 10506240 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdc: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 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: 0x41031e20

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 2048 1953523711 976760832 83 Linux



--> sudo parted -l
Model: ATA ST31000528AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 989GB 989GB primary ext4 boot
2 989GB 1000GB 10.7GB primary linux-swap(v1)


Model: ATA SanDisk SDSSDHII (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 960GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 939GB 939GB primary ext4 boot
2 939GB 949GB 10.8GB primary linux-swap(v1)


Model: ATA ST31000528AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 1000GB 1000GB primary ext4


--> cat /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>
# UbuntuMATE-14.04:
UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /dev/sda1
UUID=a88c33fd-88b5-43b2-92f6-457430d206fd none swap sw 0 0 # /dev/sda2
#
# UbuntuMATE-16.04:
# UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /dev/sdb1
UUID=d6a2bc73-6ec4-4465-a9ab-8447e13ac6f9 none swap sw 0 0 # /dev/sdb2

As mentioned in my post number 20 above, the UUID for 16.04 is commented-out in /etc/fstab (at line number 13, highlighted in brown) because with it active, the SSD (16.04) doesn't appear in the 14.04 "Places" menu and is not accessible generally. (Probably because I didn't know to run sudo mount -a and re-boot after editing fstab.)


--> cat /boot/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 $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
set default="${next_entry}"
set next_entry=
save_env next_entry
set boot_once=true
else
set default="0"
fi

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

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 {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
fi
if loadfont /boot/grub/DejaVuSansMono.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=1600x1200-32
load_video
insmod gfxterm
set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ] ; then
set timeout=30
else
if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
set timeout_style=menu
set timeout=10
# Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
# unavailable.
else
set timeout=10
fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
fi
insmod jpeg
if background_image /boot/grub/darkwood-1920x1200-wallpaper.jpg; then
set color_normal=light-blue/black
set menu_color_normal=light-gray/black
set menu_color_highlight=white/light-blue
true
else
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
if background_color 60,59,55; then
clear
fi

color_normal=light-gray/black

if [ -e ${prefix}/themes/ubuntu-mate/theme.txt ]; then
insmod png
theme=${prefix}/themes/ubuntu-mate/theme.txt
fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/06_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.
menuentry "Ubuntu-MATE 14.04 (Trusty Tahr)" {
set root=(hd0,1)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro quiet splash
initrd /initrd.img
}
menuentry "Ubuntu-MATE 14.04 (Trusty Tahr) (Recovery Mode)" {
set root=(hd0,1)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro recovery nomodeset
initrd /initrd.img
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)" {
set root=(hd1,1)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro quiet splash
initrd /initrd.img
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin) (Recovery Mode)" {
set root=(hd1,1)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro single
initrd /initrd.img
}
### END /etc/grub.d/06_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
function gfxmode {
set gfxpayload="${1}"
if [ "${1}" = "keep" ]; then
set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=7
else
set vt_handoff=
fi
}
set linux_gfx_mode=keep
export linux_gfx_mode
menuentry 'Ubuntu' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f' {
recordfail
load_video
gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-86-generic root=UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f ro nomodeset=1 #=1 quiet splash video=uvesafb:mode_option=1600x1200-32,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap $vt_handoff
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-86-generic
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Ubuntu' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f' {
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-86-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.13.0-86-generic-advanced-1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f' {
recordfail
load_video
gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 3.13.0-86-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-86-generic root=UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f ro nomodeset=1 #=1 quiet splash video=uvesafb:mode_option=1600x1200-32,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap $vt_handoff
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-86-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-86-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.13.0-86-generic-recovery-1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f' {
recordfail
load_video
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 3.13.0-86-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-86-generic root=UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f ro recovery nomodeset
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-86-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-85-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.13.0-85-generic-advanced-1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f' {
recordfail
load_video
gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 3.13.0-85-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-85-generic root=UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f ro nomodeset=1 #=1 quiet splash video=uvesafb:mode_option=1600x1200-32,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap $vt_handoff
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-85-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-85-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.13.0-85-generic-recovery-1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f' {
recordfail
load_video
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f
fi
echo 'Loading Linux 3.13.0-85-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-85-generic root=UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f ro recovery nomodeset
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-85-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/30_os-prober ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (16.04) (on /dev/sdb1)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-simple-010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic root=UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d ro quiet splash $vt_handoff
initrd /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-22-generic
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (16.04) (on /dev/sdb1)' $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-advanced-010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d' {
menuentry 'Ubuntu (on /dev/sdb1)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic--010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic root=UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d ro quiet splash $vt_handoff
initrd /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 4.4.0-22-generic (on /dev/sdb1)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic--010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic root=UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d ro quiet splash $vt_handoff
initrd /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 4.4.0-22-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sdb1)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic-root=UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d ro recovery nomodeset-010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic root=UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d ro recovery nomodeset
initrd /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 4.4.0-21-generic (on /dev/sdb1)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic--010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic root=UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d ro quiet splash $vt_handoff
initrd /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-21-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 4.4.0-21-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sdb1)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic-root=UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d ro recovery nomodeset-010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic root=UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d ro recovery nomodeset
initrd /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-21-generic
}
}

set timeout_style=menu
if [ "${timeout}" = 0 ]; then
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###

### 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.
menuentry "Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)" {
set root=(hd1,1)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro quiet splash
initrd /initrd.img
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin) (Recovery Mode)" {
set root=(hd1,1)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro single
initrd /initrd.img
}
menuentry "Ubuntu-MATE 14.04 (Trusty Tahr)" {
set root=(hd0,1)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro quiet splash
initrd /initrd.img
}
menuentry "Ubuntu-MATE 14.04 (Trusty Tahr) (Recovery Mode)" {
set root=(hd0,1)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro recovery nomodeset
initrd /initrd.img
}
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
Thanks, as always, for taking a look.

[oldfred]

I would just boot into your Ubuntu Mate and install grub to the MBR of the same drive if sdb:
#reinstall from working (not liveCD/DVD/USB) system - first find Ubuntu drive (example is drive sdb but use your drive not partitions):
sudo parted -l
#if it's "/dev/sdb" then just run:
sudo grub-install /dev/sdb
#If that returns any errors run:
sudo grub-install --recheck /dev/sdb
sudo update-grub

Then set BIOS to boot from sdb or whichever drive that install is.

I prefer to have an install on every drive and its boot loader in the MBR of that drive.

But grub remembers which drive it installed into originally and on a major update may reinstall to that MBR. So second installs may overwrite your preferred version of grub.
Best to check and change if required.
#To see what drive grub2 uses see this line - grub-pc/install_devices:
sudo debconf-show grub-pc # for BIOS with grub-pc
It will show drive model & serial number
to see similar drive info
sudo lshw -C Disk -short
sudo grub-probe -t device /boot/grub
#to get grub2 to remember where to reinstall on major updates
sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc
#Enter thru first pages,tab to ok, spacebar to choose/unchoose drive, enter to accept, do not choose partitions
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2189643
Not even sure this works for UEFI
dpkg-reconfigure grub-efi-amd64

[Bucky Ball]

Today I did this on my own machine.

To begin I had:
sda = internal HDD
sdb = internal SSD (in an optical drive bay dock where the DVD used to be)

I then:
Pulled out sda and sdb, put sdb in place of sda. So now I have the SSD in the internal hard drive bay in the laptop, not the optical drive bay.

Boot the machine. Problem. Boot from a Boot Repair USB, install grub to sda (Advanced Options> Grub Location). Reboot the machine. Good to go. The SSD, which was sdb, is now sda. Exactly what you are after.

Install HDD, previously sda, into optical drive bay. Boot machine, check Gparted, HDD is now sdb. So I now have:

sda = SSD
sdb = HDD

14.04 LTS on the SSD is now first on the list. Previously I had to jump through hoops to get there (boot the machine> hit F12 to get to boot device list> choose FDD(!)> choose correct sdb entry from that grub).

[Bashing-om]

watchpocket; Hey;

You have the greatest of advise there is .. there is little I can add.
For your reference and consideration; My system:


sysop@1404mini:~$ sudo fdisk -lu
[sudo] password for sysop:

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 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: 0x00065f5e

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 10242047 5120000 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 10244096 30724095 10240000 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 34207742 976771071 471281665 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 443795688 443811689 8001 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 443811753 597409154 76798701 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 597409792 976771071 189680640 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 34207744 44447743 5120000 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 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: 0x0002ea65

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 2048 102402438 51200195+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 * 102404096 204804095 51200000 83 Linux
/dev/sdb3 204806144 266246143 30720000 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 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: 0x502a9772

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 63 976768064 488384001 83 Linux
sysop@1404mini:~$

sysop@1404mini:~$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="1404mroot" UUID="3a47f1f1-ed1f-4134-b6aa-be101a7d97b4" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda2: LABEL="1404mhome" UUID="29a6fc4f-ff12-4cac-8eb1-e98e50f1107f" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda5: UUID="192a4783-56fa-4fd0-a62f-c45a14c08482" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda6: LABEL="DATA" UUID="3ad091a1-5036-463b-ba4e-88e98e41b07a" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda7: LABEL="LUBU1404" UUID="4e6cd96d-49bd-47f0-9dfe-8eeebad4cf9d" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda8: LABEL="1404mvar" UUID="136af805-5758-4880-acc4-0e1d35e2c266" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="ubie14.04std" UUID="345cab2e-22e7-4f89-8781-05cc0f7628a2" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb2: LABEL="ubie1204" UUID="7dd23297-30ea-417a-8f69-3e2df76f3192" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb3: LABEL="ubie15.10" UUID="2ec4733f-db40-4db0-aef8-5c54e54085ab" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdc1: LABEL="my_stuff" UUID="6a24777c-8191-4230-81f1-376f31b321e5" TYPE="ext4"
sysop@1404mini:~$


Now, controlling and keeping track of the bootloader can be a pain .. I do highly recommend Cavsfan's solution :
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MaintenanceFreeCustomGrub2Screen
If you do not want the aggravation of maintaining grubs .



nothing to it but



lay your ears back and do it

[oldfred]

+1 on Cavsfan's link for Maintenance Free grub booting.

I also learned about the same time from Ranch Hand, but Cavsfan documented it and maintains the documentation.

[watchpocket]

Wow thanks for the input everybody. I'll read through all this slowly and soberly over the next day or so (along with the Cavsfan & other links) before I make a move.

One quick question: I can achieve the same kind of swapping that Bucky Ball did, can I not, simply by unplugging the SATA cable from the back of the sda drive and plugging it into the sdb drive, and vice-versa, right?

I'll still have to use Boot Repair to move GRUB, but I'm guessing that just switching the SATA cables will make sdb become sda and vice-versa.

Thanks again.

[Bashing-om]

watchpocket; Uh Huh.


Wow thanks for the input everybody. I'll read through all this slowly and soberly over the next day or so (along with the Cavsfan & other links) before I make a move.

One quick question: I can achieve the same kind of swapping that Bucky Ball did, can I not, simply by unplugging the SATA cable from the back of the sda drive and plugging it into the sdb drive, and vice-versa, right?

I'll still have to use Boot Repair to move GRUB, but I'm guessing that just switching the SATA cables will make sdb become sda and vice-versa.

Thanks again.

Yep .. if you are using UUIDs universally .. I would not expect a problem.
As oldfred advised, best not to skip about sata ports .
I like:
sata port 1 for sda primary booting system
sata port 2 as sdb
sata port 3 as sdc
sata port 4 as sdd
Just for the mind set control .



KISS always applies



then there is Murphy's Law

[watchpocket]

How can I tell which SATA port is which? I see the SATA plugs on my motherboard that I have the drives plugged into, but I can't tell from looking at those which is which.

[Bashing-om]

watchpocket; Humm ...

They - the sata ports - "should" be labeled .
My old Abit board .. as one looks at the sata controller ..
port 1 lower right ( 2 rows on the controller)
port 4 lower left
port 8 upper left.

Then one can generally find the spec sheet for the mainboard on the net .



hope this helps

[LostFarmer]

On your post #25:

As mentioned in my post number 20 above, the UUID for 16.04 is commented-out in /etc/fstab (at line number 13, highlighted in brown) because with it active, the SSD (16.04) doesn't appear in the 14.04 "Places" menu and is not accessible generally. (Probably because I didn't know to run sudo mount -a and re-boot after editing 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>
# UbuntuMATE-14.04:
UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /dev/sda1
UUID=a88c33fd-88b5-43b2-92f6-457430d206fd none swap sw 0 0 # /dev/sda2
#
# UbuntuMATE-16.04:
# UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /dev/sdb1
UUID=d6a2bc73-6ec4-4465-a9ab-8447e13ac6f9 none swap sw 0 0 # /dev/sdb2


You can NOT have the same mount point for 2 different partitions and never at ' / '.

[Bucky Ball]

You don't need to know what the SATA sockets on the board are labeled. If one is showing you sda and one sdb, that is telling you what they are. If you have one as sda and one as sdb, swap the cables over.

I should have suggested this before but forgot you were on a desktop and not a laptop. The drive that is showing up now as sda should become sdb when you swap the two cables around. Give it a shot.

[watchpocket]

Lostfarmer wrote:
> You can NOT have the same mount point for 2 different partitions and never at ' / '.

Even if those partitions are on different drives?

[watchpocket]

You don't need to know what the SATA sockets on the board are labeled. If one is showing you sda and one sdb, that is telling you what they are.

I kinda figured that was really all I'd need to know (after asking the question of course).


If you have one as sda and one as sdb, swap the cables over. [...] Give it a shot.

Will do, thanks!

[LostFarmer]

Even if those partitions are on different drives? I am very poor at explaining so will give part of my 'fstab':



/dev/disk/by-uuid/EEE20F43E20F100F /mnt/Storage auto nosuid,nodev,nofail,x-gvfs-show 0 0
/dev/disk/by-uuid/66FEA5AE3AC6800A /mnt/Sermon auto nosuid,nodev,nofail,x-gvfs-show,x-gvfs-name=Sermon 0 0 I have that in each of my 'fstab' Linux install , that is fine.


/dev/disk/by-uuid/EEE20F43E20F100F /mnt/Storage auto nosuid,nodev,nofail,x-gvfs-show 0 0
/dev/disk/by-uuid/66FEA5AE3AC6800A /mnt/Storage auto nosuid,nodev,nofail,x-gvfs-show 0 0 This would not be permitted. Have 2 different partitions (by uuid) mounted at /mnt/Storage at the same time..


I notice you have 2 active swaps, sda2 and sdb2, that is permitted. swap partitions are handled differently.

[watchpocket]

I notice you have 2 active swaps, sda2 and sdb2, that is permitted. swap partitions are handled differently.

So my fstab above is OK then, yes? (OK if I un-comment the brown-highlighted line, I mean.)

As long as that mount point of root is on totally separate hard drives?

[Bashing-om]

watchpocket; Nope;

As LostFarmer has pointed out .. you can not mount 2 devices to the same mount point; " /mnt/Storage >> EEE20F43E20F100F , 66FEA5AE3AC6800A .

Only one will be recognized.



keep all the ducks in a row

[watchpocket]

Got it. Major props to both of you for clueing me in.

[Bucky Ball]

Just coming back to this and a note. If you are booting into one OS, why would you want to mount another partition with another OS on at boot? Why exactly do you want an entry for the other OS in the fstab?

For instance, an example. sda1 has an OS. sda5 has an OS. If you boot to the install on sda1 and you want to access files on the install on sda5, simply click on the entry for sda5 in the side pane of the file manager and the partition should mount 'automagically'. Same with any other partitions on the same or other drives which aren't included in the fstab.

So, which partitions do you actually want to mount at boot??? I have /, /Data and /swap in my fstab. That is it. No reason to have a bunch of partitions mounting at boot which I may or not use (and the / partition from another OS is not what I would normally be accessing when booted in to any other install as all my personal data is on /Data, a partition on another drive accessible by all installs).

The only reason I have /Data in the fstab is because I have symlinks in my /home directory inside / which point to directories in /Data. Otherwise I could just click /Data in the side pane of the file manager and it would mount.

Just throwing that in.

[oldfred]

I do the same as Bucky.

I label my other partitions, so I know which is which. I have installs, backup, ISO partitions for grub loopmounting and some others that I only want to mount on occasion. But use fstab for my /mnt/data partition.


fred@Z170N:~$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-label
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 backup_b -> ../../sdb4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 data -> ../../sdb6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 data64 -> ../../sdc3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 efi64 -> ../../sdc1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 ESP -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 ESP_B -> ../../sdb1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 ISO -> ../../sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 ISO_b -> ../../sdb3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 root_b -> ../../sdb2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 24 12:52 yakkety -> ../../sdc2

[watchpocket]

If you are booting into one OS, why would you want to mount another partition with another OS on at boot? Why exactly do you want an entry for the other OS in the fstab?

Your question assumes I even had any real idea of what I was doing when I made the fstab entry that I later commented-out. I put it there almost as a kind of placeholder to be reviewed later, knowing that I didn't know what I was doing. I just made it look like the one above it.

Winging it -- making entries when I don't know they're correct, or that I don't understand -- is (obviously) never a good idea.

But both your and oldfred's examples will be a big help when I get back to this in a day or two.

[watchpocket]

Getting back to this, I fixed and simplified my two fstab files (the first on an HDD, the 2nd on an SSD):


1 # /etc/fstab: static file system information.
2 #
3 # Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
4 # device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
5 # that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
6 #
7 # UbuntuMATE-14.04:
8 # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
9 UUID=1742aa67-b8ce-45d2-94ca-05e3579f7e2f / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /dev/sda1
10 UUID=a88c33fd-88b5-43b2-92f6-457430d206fd none swap sw 0 0 # /dev/sda2


1 # /etc/fstab: static file system information.
2 #
3 # Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
4 # device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
5 # that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
6 #
7 # Ubuntu-MATE-16.04:
8 # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
9 UUID=010dab65-d950-47dc-ac77-a3760775104d / ext4 noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /dev/sdb1
10 UUID=d6a2bc73-6ec4-4465-a9ab-8447e13ac6f9 none swap sw 0 0 # /dev/sdb2

For the SSD, I put into place some of the SSD-optimization advice given here (https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/ssd). Specifically, I added "noatime" to fstab; added the line "fstrim /" to rc.local; disabled the weekly cron job with this command:
sudo mv -v /etc/cron.weekly/fstrim /fstrim (transferring the script file fstrim to the root directory, thus disabling it); and, in /etc/sysctl.conf, reduced vm.swappiness to 10 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure to 50.

I decided to let my HDD continue to be the sda drive, since 14.04 is on the HDD and since 14.04 will continue to be my main working OS for quite awhile, until I get 16.04 set up and customized. So GRUB is booting directly into 14.04. Once I start to use 16.04 more than 14.04, I'll just change the GRUB_DEFAULT setting in /etc/default/grub from "0" to "3" (which is the position-location in my custom GRUB menu for 16.04 on the SSD). So things are working well, thread marked "solved."

[Bashing-om]

watchpocket; Good Job !

Pleased ya got it all sorted out .. and provided your "procedure" .

sounds like a plan to me .



just keep on keep'n on