Booting (error)

[Azrael90]

Hi,
I tried to install ubuntu about 3 or 4 times now burned and downloaded everything new each time.
After the install which I do manually (setting the swap partition, ext3 and boot sector to "/").
I am installing on a 260 GB SATA hdd with another windows partition on it and another 300 GB SATA hdd for data storage.

However after the install I just keeps booting Windows with the Windows bootloader. I tried using SGD but it was no good. I tried pretty much everything on that disk.

Someone here who likes to troubleshoot ?

Thanks

[Azrael90]

forgot to post that if it is helpfull


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x451e1658
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 5100 40960048+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2 * 5101 7531 19527007+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 7532 7774 1951897+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Disk /dev/sdb: 300.0 GB, 300069052416 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36481 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x3edae12e
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 36480 293025568+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

What does "Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary." mean ?

[caljohnsmith]

OK, please post the output of:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda count=1 2>/dev/null | strings | grep -ie grub -ie "missing operating system"
sudo dd if=/dev/sda bs=1 skip=1049 count=2 2>/dev/null | hexdump

So have you tried setting your BIOS to boot sda first on start up? If so, what happens?

[Azrael90]

So have you tried setting your BIOS to boot sda first on start up? If so, what happens?

Sorry but I can set my BIOS to boot a special partition ? only did that with SGD but it did have no effect it just said that "SGD has not done it !:(".

Here are the results:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo dd if=/dev/sda count=1 2>/dev/null | strings | grep -ie grub -ie "missing operating system"
GRUB
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo dd if=/dev/sda bs=1 skip=1049 count=2 2>/dev/null | hexdump
0000000 ff01
0000002

[caljohnsmith]

According to the output of those commands you posted, it appears you have Grub correctly installed to your sda drive. If you are still getting Windows on start up, you must be booting your sdb drive. You originally said:

I am installing on a 260 GB SATA hdd with another windows partition on it and another 300 GB SATA hdd for data storage.
So you are saying Windows is on sda and your sdb is data storage? Unless your Windows boot files are on sdb, I don't see how Windows could be on sda and not sdb. In order to help clarify some of this, please post:

sudo dd if=/dev/sdb count=1 2>/dev/null | strings | grep -ie grub -ie "missing operating system"
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda1 /mnt/sdb1
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb1
ls -l /mnt/sda1 /mnt/sdb1

Note the "-l" is a lowercase L, not a one.

[Azrael90]

The results:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo dd if=/dev/sdb count=1 2>/dev/null | strings | grep -ie grub -ie "missing operating system"
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/sda1 /mnt/sdb1
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb1
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls -l /mnt/sda1 /mnt/sdb1
/mnt/sda1:
total 2095178
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-12 17:02 AUTOEXEC.BAT
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-12 17:02 CONFIG.SYS
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 86 2008-09-12 19:28 CSB.LOG
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-09-12 17:05 Dokumente und Einstellungen
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-10-01 12:35 DVDVideoSoft
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-12 17:02 IO.SYS
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-12 17:02 MSDOS.SYS
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-12 19:18 MSOCache
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 219 2008-10-18 01:45 new file
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 162 2008-10-18 01:19 new file~
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-12 17:44 NVIDIA
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 2145386496 2008-10-18 01:27 pagefile.sys
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16384 2008-10-01 19:59 Programme
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-10-17 11:41 QUARANTINE
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-26 18:22 RECYCLER
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 347 2008-09-12 19:27 RHDSetup.log
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-09-12 17:05 System Volume Information
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 36864 2008-10-17 22:17 WINDOWS
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8192 2008-09-12 19:38 xampp

/mnt/sdb1:
total 6632558
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 10888 2008-10-17 09:21 1208550806-Save90.rar
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8192 2008-10-17 09:06 Assassin's Creed
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 2186435 2008-10-17 09:06 AuctioneerSuite-5.1.3607.zip
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4952 2001-08-18 10:00 bootfont.bin
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 210 2008-09-12 18:45 boot.ini
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-25 20:21 CAMERA
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-10-17 17:20 COD4
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-29 13:36 I Pod
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 33249 2008-09-27 16:51 jcsave.zip
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-09-26 18:31 Just Cause
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 73728 2006-09-25 20:00 JustCause_DT_SkOssInO.exe
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 436856 2008-10-17 09:06 MailboxComplete14.zip
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8192 2008-10-17 11:41 MT-X
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 3037334 2008-10-17 09:09 mt-x_1000_setup.rar
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 47564 2004-08-03 20:38 NTDETECT.COM
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 251184 2004-08-03 20:59 ntldr
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 2147483648 2007-11-06 10:19 pro-cod4.B00
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 2147483648 2007-11-06 10:24 pro-cod4.B01
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 341147648 2007-11-06 10:25 pro-cod4.B02
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 2147483648 2007-11-06 10:15 pro-cod4.B6I
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4966 2007-11-06 10:08 pro-cod4.B6T
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-15 15:46 Programme
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-09-28 01:37 QuestParser
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-21 01:45 RECYCLER
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1940992 2008-08-03 22:00 SharePod.exe
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 609 2008-10-01 19:11 SharePod.log
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 6427 2008-10-01 19:27 SharePodSettings.xml
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-09-12 17:05 System Volume Information
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-10-01 12:03 urlaub
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20480 2008-10-16 22:56 World of Warcraft
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12288 2008-09-25 17:52 WoW
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-10-01 12:05 Wow addons
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8192 2008-10-17 13:34 WoW Real
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-12 19:32 Wow *HAD TO EDIT*
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-10-16 22:47 YouTube


Is it normal that the boot.ini is on the hdd without the OS ?

[caljohnsmith]

That's interesting, your Windows boot files are indeed on your sdb drive, so it is clear you are booting from your sdb drive at this point.

Sorry but I can set my BIOS to boot a special partition ? only did that with SGD but it did have no effect it just said that "SGD has not done it !
I'm not sure what you mean by that. The best way to get your set up working would be set your BIOS to boot the sda drive on start up instead of the sdb drive, and then you can move your Windows boot files back to the sda drive. You should be able to press some function key on start up (F10, F12, etc) so that you can access your BIOS and change sda to boot first. If you don't know which function key will take you into BIOS, you could either consult the documentation that came with your computer, or if you just press as many of the function keys as you can on start up that might work. :)

If you absolutely can't boot from your sda drive, there are many other options available to get your setup working, but it will be much, much simpler and ideal if you can just boot your sda drive. Try that and let me know how it goes. :)

[Azrael90]

I will try that. Sorry but I mixed sda and hda I thought you meant booting a special partition instead of the other hdd.

ofc I know how to enter the BIOS.

I will report back as soon as I am finished.

[Azrael90]

Okay,
I tried booting from the other drive. It loads GRUB but while loading it throws error 17 at me.

[ShinobiTeno]

I will try that. Sorry but I mixed sda and hda I thought you meant booting a special partition instead of the other hdd.

ofc I know how to enter the BIOS.

I will report back as soon as I am finished.

Just a side-info i know. Lastest libata driver thats used to access S/Pata disks, marks PATA as SD* as well. They did it, so its easier to migrate to sata. So you might find old PATA to become sda on Ubuntu, shifting all original sata disks down a letter and still remaining hda on knoppix cd,say, 5.0.

[Azrael90]

Just a side-info i know. Lastest libata driver thats used to access S/Pata disks, marks PATA as SD* as well. They did it, so its easier to migrate to sata. So you might find old PATA to become sda on Ubuntu, shifting all original sata disks down a letter and still remaining hda on knoppix cd,say, 5.0.

Thanks but that is not the case.

Is there a way I can just set the boot.ini to have linux in there as well?

I tried to install grub on the drive again with
"sudo grub-install /dev/hdg3" and do this "sudo dd if=/dev/hdg3 of=grub.mbr bs=512 count=1"
but it did not even install.
it says:

Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
Could not find device for /boot: Not found or not a block device.


So I could not copy it to the boot.ini or include it.

[caljohnsmith]

You could add your Grub boot sector to the Windows boot loader like you suggest, but I would not recommend it as I think we can get your sda drive booting just fine. When you get the Grub error 17, do you get that before you see a Grub menu, or after you get the Grub menu and select Ubuntu? Also, when you start up, does it say "press ESC to see menu" or something like that? If so, try repeatedly pressing ESC on start up and see if that gives you the Grub menu.

Also, please post:

sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
cat /mnt/boot/grub/menu.lst

[Azrael90]

going to post that.

the error occurs while loading grub so menu at all. it just says something like loading grub stage 1.5 and then error 17.

the only thing I see before is the ram counting and my graphic cards spec as well as the screen to enter the BIOS.

[Azrael90]

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ cat /mnt/boot/grub/menu.lst
# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

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

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 10

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

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

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

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

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

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

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

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=a1ed6d93-0408-422a-a807-b57127741b7f ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,1)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=a1ed6d93-0408-422a-a807-b57127741b7f ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=a1ed6d93-0408-422a-a807-b57127741b7f ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, memtest86+
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sdb1
title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root (hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1

[caljohnsmith]

How old is your computer and its BIOS? Your Ubuntu partition starts at about the 40 GB mark but extends to near the end of that 250 GB HD, and some BIOSes can't access anything past either 8 GB or 137 GB, depending on how old the BIOS is. So if your BIOS has one of those limitations, that could be why Grub can't mount the Ubuntu partition (that's what an error 17 is) since the Ubuntu partition could be outside of the range of BIOS. Sometimes you can get a Grub error 17 when the Ubuntu partition's file system is corrupt, and that's why Grub can't mount it; but since your partition mounted fine when you printed the menu.lst, then it's not likely that is the problem, but we should at least eliminate that as a possibility I think.

So with that in mind, please do the following and let me know if the "fsck" command returns any errors:

sudo umount /dev/sda2
sudo fsck -y /dev/sda2
If it doesn't return any errors, then try the following to see if it changes Grub's behavior on start up:

sudo grub
grub> root (hd0,1)
grub> install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) /boot/grub/stage2 p /boot/grub/menu.lst
grub> quit
If the above commands do not return any errors, then reboot and let me know what happens. :)

[Azrael90]

looks promising.


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo umount /dev/sda2
umount: /dev/sda2: not mounted
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fsck -y /dev/sda2
fsck 1.40.8 (13-Mar-2008)
e2fsck 1.40.8 (13-Mar-2008)
/dev/sda2: clean, 108121/1220608 files, 605530/4881751 blocks
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.

[ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For
the first word, TAB lists possible command
completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
completions of a device/filename. ]

grub> root (hd0,1)
root (hd0,1)
grub> install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) /boot/grub/stage2 p /boot/grub/menu.lst
install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) /boot/grub/stage2 p /boot/grub/menu.lst
grub> quit
quit


after rebooting I get into GRUB console.

looks like this

[ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For
the first word, TAB lists possible command
completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
completions of a device/filename. ]

grub>

[caljohnsmith]

Since you got dropped into the Grub command line on start up, I think Grub was able to access its stage2 file successfully but not the menu.lst; it looks more likely that you have the 137 GB BIOS limitation that is giving us the problems.

I think your best bet would be to use Grub4DOS to boot your Windows and Ubuntu. Grub4DOS is just like Ubuntu's Grub but with more features, and you can put it inside your Windows NTFS partition; so it should be within range of your BIOS.

Here are the steps to install it:

Download the Grub4DOS package to your Ubuntu desktop from here (http://download.gna.org/grub4dos/grub4dos-0.4.3.zip).
Open a terminal, and do:

sudo mkdir /mnt/sda1 /mnt/sda2
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2
cd ~/Desktop
unzip grub*.zip
cd grub*
sudo cp glrdr /mnt/sda1/.
sudo cp /mnt/sda2/boot/grub/menu.lst /mnt/sda1/.
sudo dd if=grldr.mbr of=/dev/sda bs=440 count=1
sudo dd if=grldr.mbr of=/dev/sda skip=1 seek=1

NOTE: if any of the above commands return an error, please do not proceed with the rest of the commands. Also make sure to copy and paste the dd commands as those can be dangerous if you make even a small typo.

After that, reboot, and you should hopefully see your Grub menu on start up. You may have to edit your menu.lst to get Windows and Ubuntu booting OK (and also move your Windows boot files back); but see if you can get as far as getting the Grub menu on start up, and we'll work from there. :)

[Azrael90]

well I seriously doubt the 137 gb thing.
My comp is not very old only a good year so the BIOS is not any older. and since it supports my dual core 6 ghz prozessor I think it should be able to handle the stuff you speak about.

and on a sidenote I had linux running before with ubuntu on this comp. although grub had some problems with it I had to use SGD to boot.
the only thing that changed since then is that I am not using IDE hdd and a raid controller anymore but SATA drives only.

[caljohnsmith]

Have you ever been able to boot off your sda drive, or have you always booted off your sdb drive? If you haven't yet successfully booted your sda drive, the problem could be something as simple as how it is configured in BIOS (LBA, CHS, RAID, AHCI vs. IDE, etc). I would recommend changing your HDD BIOS settings one by one and seeing if it makes any difference booting the drive (and I would write down the original settings so you can revert back if necessary). It would be most ideal to boot from your sda drive, but if you just want to get things working, you could install Grub4DOS to your sdb drive and boot everything from that drive. The disadvantage of that is of course you won't be able to boot any of your OSes if anything happens to sdb.

[Azrael90]

well I did not know that I was booting from the sdb drive since yesterday. I mean how should I have known that stupid old windows put the files on the wrong hdd ?
What do you think about total fresh install of both systems ?
Could that help ?
I need to reinstall my windows every now and then anyway because it is getting kinda slow.

[caljohnsmith]

well I did not know that I was booting from the sdb drive since yesterday. I mean how should I have known that stupid old windows put the files on the wrong hdd ?
What do you think about total fresh install of both systems ?
Could that help ?
I need to reinstall my windows every now and then anyway because it is getting kinda slow.
As long as doing a fresh install is an option, I would say go for it. And just to ensure that you don't run into any BIOS limitation issues, I would recommend putting your Ubuntu partition before the Windows partition on the sda drive, or at least make a ~200 MB Ubuntu /boot partition before the Windows partition. Also I would make sure to install Windows to a primary partition and not a logical one, or Windows will definitely put its boot files on some other primary partition. If you can temporarily disconnect your sdb drive, that would be ideal to guarantee Windows behaves and stays on sda. And of course it is always best to install Windows first, then Ubuntu, or Windows will overwrite Grub in the MBR. Let me know how it goes or if you run into problems. :)

[Azrael90]

As long as doing a fresh install is an option, I would say go for it. And just to ensure that you don't run into any BIOS limitation issues, I would recommend putting your Ubuntu partition before the Windows partition on the sda drive, or at least make a ~200 MB Ubuntu /boot partition before the Windows partition. Also I would make sure to install Windows to a primary partition and not a logical one, or Windows will definitely put its boot files on some other primary partition. If you can temporarily disconnect your sdb drive, that would be ideal to guarantee Windows behaves and stays on sda. And of course it is always best to install Windows first, then Ubuntu, or Windows will overwrite Grub in the MBR. Let me know how it goes or if you run into problems. :)

Okay so how do I differ logical and primary partition ?

I planed on leaving some free space for linux while making the windows partition and install is taht okay ?

[Azrael90]

just noticed something while I wanted to install xp. it listed the 280 gb partition as C: which I guess is wrong. I am copying things on my external hdd and install the new OS and clean everything up

[Azrael90]

Okay I installed Windows and then Linux on the sdb drive because sda was not working.
Windows is ignoring Linux while booting. Again.

I will go and post fdisk

[Azrael90]

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x451e1658

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

Disk /dev/sdb: 300.0 GB, 300069052416 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36481 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x3edae12e

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 6374 51199123+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 6375 12453 48829567+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb3 12454 12696 1951897+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

[caljohnsmith]

OK, try the following:

sudo grub
grub> root (hd1,1)
grub> setup (hd1)
grub> quit
Reboot, and let me know what happens.

[Azrael90]

I am writing from my laptop now. cannot boot.

Grub loaded up on booting just fine and I get the right menu with ubuntu,memtest,recovery and windows but when I chose one of those options it says Error 22 : No such partition

[caljohnsmith]

OK, go ahead a reboot again, and when you get the Grub menu, select the first Ubuntu entry, press "e" to edit it, select the line that says "root (hdX,Y)" where X and Y are numbers, press "e" to edit it, change it to "root (hd0,1)", press return to save the change, then press "b" to boot. Based on the info you gave, I think that should be all it takes to boot Ubuntu. Note that the above change is not permanent, so you'll need to modify your menu.lst to make it permanent.

So if it works, when you get into Ubuntu, just do:

gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
And change the line that says "#groot=(hdX,Y)" to:

#groot=(hd0,1)
Also, the correct Windows entry should be:

title Windows XP
root (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
Save, quit gedit, then run:

sudo update-grub
And you should be all set. Let me know how it goes or if you run into problems.

[Azrael90]

Thanks it worked just the way you said. I booted some times to see if everything is saved and both OS are working and they really are !

Thank you for your time and effort.
I just love the fact that I can run compiz again. XP just sucks but I just need to play some games once in a while.

Greetings

Azrael90

[caljohnsmith]

That's great news it's all finally working. Cheers and have fun. :)

[Azrael90]

well there is kinda one problem

when booting windows it says something like "starting up...." but keeps like that forever so I cannot get into windows

I know I said it worked before but I only went this far and rebooted because I thought it would work if this shows up and would only need some time.

[caljohnsmith]

So after you installed Windows and Ubuntu to sdb, you were able to boot all the way into Windows before you installed Grub, is that true?

Go ahead and boot your Windows Install CD, go to the "recovery console", and do:

fixboot
chkdsk /r
Make sure you run chkdsk as many times as it takes until it reports no errors. Then try booting Windows again and let me know exactly what happens.

[Azrael90]

did that and it recovered some things. did again and no errors were found.

I still only get the "Starting up ..." when trying to boot windows. Linux works fine.

[caljohnsmith]

OK, next would be to rebuild the Windows boot sector so it will hopefully have the correct partition/file system parameters:

sudo apt-get install testdisk
sudo testdisk
After starting testdisk, choose "no log", choose the correct HDD and "proceed", choose "intel", choose "advanced", select the Windows XP partition, choose "boot", then choose "Rebuild BS"; if testdisk gives you an error about boot sectors not matching, then choose "write". After you are done doing the "rebuild BS" in testdisk, reboot and let me know what happens.

[Azrael90]

I did the testdisk thing just like you said and it did not give any errors and said that the boot sectors are ok and identical.
So I left out the write thing as you said.
But I am still getting stuck on the starting up screen.

[caljohnsmith]

I know I said it worked before but I only went this far and rebooted because I thought it would work if this shows up and would only need some time.
I think that restarting Windows right when it was booting up may be what is causing your problems; you could try doing a "Windows Repair" from your Win Install CD. To do that, you have to choose the "install Windows" at the first menu and then after that you will be given an option to repair Windows rather than reinstall it.

[Azrael90]

I think that restarting Windows right when it was booting up may be what is causing your problems; you could try doing a "Windows Repair" from your Win Install CD. To do that, you have to choose the "install Windows" at the first menu and then after that you will be given an option to repair Windows rather than reinstall it.

won't that kill grub ?

[caljohnsmith]

I have Windows XP Home Edition, and when I did a "Windows Repair" once, it fortunately didn't overwrite Grub in the MBR. But I read once where someone claimed that for a Windows XP Professional Edition, doing a Windows repair did overwrite Grub. Either way it doesn't matter, because if Grub gets overwritten, it will take only a few minutes to follow the steps in post #26 to reinstall Grub to the MBR.

[Azrael90]

okay now some strange this are happening. tried to boot from the cd and make the repair butit just set checking harware and then nothing. I currently searching another copy of my winxp disk and try again.

[Azrael90]

the cd is fine. gotta be something else wrong there.