8.10 Installation problem

[4uvak91]

Hello,

I just made dualboot on my new computer. I have Win Xp and i installed ubuntu in a same HDD but on new partition. the problem is that the boot menu won't appear...and i didn't find any settings in my BIOS everything looks like OK... ( i have ASUS P5Q PRO motherboard). So what I need to do??

PS. I have installed ubuntu befero and never get any that kind problems.

[ddrichardson]

Did you install the boot loader on the MBR or first Ubuntu partition? You don't mention if it boots into Ubuntu or Windows.

[4uvak91]

MBR what it's?? i didn't instal at all any boot loaders...doesn't ubuntu 8.10 live cd must have GRUB preinstalled on it??

[4uvak91]

well first i installed win xp and then ubuntu...after installation it boots on win xp...

[ddrichardson]

The boot loader is grub. Which OS runs - Windows or Ubuntu?

[4uvak91]

after ubuntu isntallation it runs win xp

[ddrichardson]

Ah you snuck in another post while I was typing. If you boot the LiveCD, can you see if there is an installed Ubuntu partition?

[4uvak91]

what do you mean?? well now i have deleted the partiton so i have 1 empty partiton now with win xp partiton...i thought to install 8.04 and then update to 8.10

[ddrichardson]

Generally its easier to install the latest rather than upgrade. If you have no Linux partition, did you actually install or just run the LiveCD?

[4uvak91]

lol of course. i installed it...i made ext2 partition for / and swap partiton...

[ddrichardson]

Then you say you deleted it?

[4uvak91]

noo...i tried to sort out my problem, thats why i ask help...then i deleted it, i wanan start from fresh table..

[4uvak91]

so can you help me??

[ddrichardson]

If you follow the install process then you should end up with two working OS but there are a couple of general points to observe:
If you use Vista, then resize the Windows volume in Vista, to avoid some issues that may arise. Install Ubuntu last, because Windows overwrites the Mater Boot Record (where the boot loader is).

There is a very good guide here (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot).

[4uvak91]

i know that already the problem is GRUB doesn't work....

[ddrichardson]

I'm sorry, I'm trying to assist you but I don't know what steps you have taken, for example how your hard disk is laid out.

As you've deleted the installation, I can't get you to check any of grub's configuration options or to confirm certain checks. Once you have reinstalled, if the problem persists, come back to us.

[4uvak91]

ok i try to reinstall it soon....

[elkuco009]

hi, Im very new to the LINUX World. But after I saw the video of Youtube Vista vs Ubuntu I was already sold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC5uEe5OzNQ

OK. My problem is that I am trying to install Ubuntu on my Laptop (ACER Aspire 4720Z).

It already has Win XP.
Then, I installed Ubuntu 8.10 to have dual boot.
When I start the computer, it automatically boots on Win XP. I checked the hard drive size on WinXP and It says 75 GB which is half of the size of my hard drive.

I need help to installing Ubuntu 8.10 or to make the computer to ask me which OS I want to boot from.

Thanks in advance :popcorn:

[caljohnsmith]

Elkuco009, how about booting your Live CD, open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal), and please post the output of:

sudo fdisk -lu
Also, for each of the drives fdisk lists, like sda, sdb, etc, please post the output of:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda count=1 2>/dev/null | strings | grep -ie grub -ie "missing operating system"
So replace "sda" above with each of your drives. And finally, for each command above that returns "GRUB", please post:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda bs=1 skip=1049 count=2 2>/dev/null | hexdump
And replace sda with the drives that previously returned "GRUB". That will greatly clarify what your setup is like. :)

[elkuco009]

Honestly, I tried that prior to my reply and I didnt know how to use that that´s why I post for help.

I already fixed the problem. Thanks \\:D/
Now, the other problem is that I need to make the WinXP the primary boot.
I mean, that if I start the computer it should automatically select WIN XP if I dont press any buttom instead of Ubuntu.

Thanks in advance. :popcorn:

[ddrichardson]

Edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. There is an entry that reads default=0, change the 0 to whatever position Windows XP is in.

For example, if your menu is
Ubuntu 2.4.2
Ubuntu 2.4.1
Windows XP

Then change the default to 2.

You can edit it by typing:

gksudo /boot/grub/menu.lst

[elkuco009]

Thanks,

I tried typing
gksudo /boot/grub/menu.lst

then, it asked me for password.
i entered the password and then i didnt see anything happens.

[ddrichardson]

Oops sorry

gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

[elkuco009]

thank you very much,

I think, the way you told me to do it, it is the way to do it on the previous version.

Because, I didnt select which OS to be the default. All i did was to move the order they were sort out.

for instance.

ubuntu 8.10
ubuntu 8.10 (recovery mode)
other Operating System
WinXP

so i just change the order to

WinXP
other Operating System
ubuntu 8.10
ubuntu 8.10 (recovery mode)

once again, thank you for your help

[ddrichardson]

Ok thanks for letting me know, I upgraded rather than reinstalled.

[gurogarry]

Hello!

I'm a fairly new linux user and I am having the same problem with dual booting. I also installed XP first followed by Ubuntu following the instructions on the main Ubuntu documentation web page "Dual-booting with Windows", but I also boot directly into XP.

I've tried to use this thread to solve this problem to no avail. Here's some info that was asked for in this thread:
............................................

fdisk -lu

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xdcbfdcbf

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 97659134 48829536 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda2 97659135 156296384 29318625 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 97659198 101562929 1951866 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 101562993 117194174 7815591 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 117194238 156296384 19551073+ 83 Linux
.......................

gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Gedit opens up with a blank page.

....................................

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

Substituting /sda 1,2,5,6, and 7 sucessively for /sda in the above command returned nothing.

................................................

Can anyone help me with this problem?

Thank you in advance.

G.B.

[4uvak91]

Elkuco009, how about booting your Live CD, open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal), and please post the output of:

sudo fdisk -lu
Also, for each of the drives fdisk lists, like sda, sdb, etc, please post the output of:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda count=1 2>/dev/null | strings | grep -ie grub -ie "missing operating system"
So replace "sda" above with each of your drives. And finally, for each command above that returns "GRUB", please post:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda bs=1 skip=1049 count=2 2>/dev/null | hexdump
And replace sda with the drives that previously returned "GRUB". That will greatly clarify what your setup is like. :)


Well I have OS on sdb, so should i use sdb instead of sda?

[caljohnsmith]

Gurogarry, from your Live CD, try this:

sudo grub
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
grub> find /grub/stage1
One of the above commands should return your main Ubuntu partition (or /boot partition if you have one) in the form of (hd0,X) where X should be either 5 or 6, but use whatever it returns as follows:


grub> root (hd0,X)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit
Please post the output of the above commands, reboot, and let me know what happens.

[caljohnsmith]

Well I have OS on sdb, so should i use sdb instead of sda?
If you have both sda and sdb drives, run the commands for both sda and sdb. Also make sure to post the fdisk command output too. And lastly, please post the output of:

sudo grub
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
grub> find /grub/stage1
grub> quit

[4uvak91]

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
Disk identifier: 0xf4b9b1e5

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda2 * 16065 976768064 488376000 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 16128 976768064 488375968+ b W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x14077d09

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 63 184313744 92156841 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 184313745 312576704 64131480 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 184313808 301507919 58597056 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 301507983 312576704 5534361 82 Linux swap / Solaris
please answer i\m online....

[4uvak91]

grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
(hd1,4)

grub> find /grub/stage1

Error 15: File not found

[4uvak91]

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 8104
0000002
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo dd if=/dev/sdb count=1 2>/dev/null | strings | grep -ie grub -ie "missing operating system"
Missing operating system
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo dd if=/dev/sdb bs=1 skip=1049 count=2 2>/dev/null | hexdump
0000000 ff04
0000002
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

[caljohnsmith]

4uvak91, can you set your BIOS to boot the sdb drive on start up? If so, that would be ideal, and you can install Grub to the MBR (Master Boot Record) of sdb with:

sudo grub
grub> root (hd1,4)
grub> setup (hd1)
grub> quit
Please post the output of those commands, reboot, set your sdb drive to boot first, and you should get a Grub menu when you boot sdb. Let me know if you can get that far or if you run into problems.

[4uvak91]

why SDB there is no os...i can\t boot at all then...

[4uvak91]

grub> root (hd1,4)

grub> setup (hd1)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd1)"... 16 sectors are embedded.
succeeded
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd1) (hd1)1+16 p (hd1,4)/boot/grub/stage2
/boot/grub/menu.lst"... succeeded
Done.

grub>

[4uvak91]

k ty dude it works...i changed my settings in bios to boot sdb disk first and then i worked

[4uvak91]

i got new problem...

I runned ubuntu and updated packages and installed driver for ati radeon hd 4850. After rebooting my screen blank coz my resolution is 74,5/60hz my max. monitor res. is 60hz...so how can i fix this :S??