A fine mess... Partition help.

[Nesaskewatch]

Then I would like you to;

gksudo /etc/grub.d/40_custom

and copy/paste this into that file;

echo "Adding XP on sda1" >&2 
cat << EOF
menuentry "XP on sda1" {
    insmod ntfs
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 00acffe0acffcde2
    drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
    chainloader +1
}
EOF

When I put "gksudo /etc/grub.d/40_custom" into terminal, I get this;

dave@dave-laptop:~$ gksudo /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.
dave@dave-laptop:~$

I am confused... Where do I add lines? I was expecting a file to open. This merely appears in terminal.

Thanks. And sorry for being so green at this.

[4Orbs]

Since I'm already here, I'll butt in just to save a little time. The command should be:

gksudo gedit /etc/grub.d/40_custom

That will open the file in the text editor.

[ranch hand]

Ranch Hand... both of his Ubuntu installs are ver 10.04.

From the boot info script;

title        Ubuntu 9.10, kernel 2.6.31-15-generic
uuid        2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-15-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro vga=794
initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-15-generic
quiet

[4Orbs]

oops! How could I have missed that?

[ranch hand]

When I put "gksudo /etc/grub.d/40_custom" into terminal, I get this;

dave@dave-laptop:~$ gksudo /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.
dave@dave-laptop:~$

I am confused... Where do I add lines? I was expecting a file to open. This merely appears in terminal.

Thanks. And sorry for being so green at this.

Heck you could just open a new file (as root) in gedit or just replace every thing with this header and your entry;

#!/bin/sh
# This file is an example on how to add custom entries

echo "Adding Lounge on sda7" >&2 
cat << EOF
menuentry "Lounge on sda7" {
    set root=(hd0,7)
        linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda7 ro quiet splash
        initrd /initrd.img
}
EOF

from my custom menu.

You may want to edit the partition designations in my entry and try it for one of your installs. Never needs updating. Boots to the newest kernel on the partition called for.

I think all you really need is a file with the right kind of entry format and the right permission checked.

You could just put your entry in the 40_custom file below the other stuff. I skip a line to make reading easier.

[Nesaskewatch]

From the boot info script;

title        Ubuntu 9.10, kernel 2.6.31-15-generic
uuid        2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-15-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro vga=794
initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-15-generic
quiet

This is interesting... I should have two instances of 10.04. Weird... It is shown as 9.10 there though.

Back to work! I had to take out the trash and set up the barbie for the Mrs.

[Nesaskewatch]

OK. Here is the output from terminal for most of that;

dave@dave-laptop:~$ gksudo gedit /etc/grub.d/40_custom
dave@dave-laptop:~$ sudo nautilus
Initializing nautilus-gdu extension
Nautilus-Share-Message: Called "net usershare info" but it failed: 'net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare: cannot open usershare directory /var/lib/samba/usershares. Error No such file or directory
Please ask your system administrator to enable user sharing.

Nautilus-Share-Message: Called "net usershare info" but it failed: 'net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare: cannot open usershare directory /var/lib/samba/usershares. Error No such file or directory
Please ask your system administrator to enable user sharing.

^C      
dave@dave-laptop:~$ sudo update-grub
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Found Microsoft Windows XP Professional on /dev/sda1
Found Ubuntu lucid (development branch) (10.04) on /dev/sda5
done
dave@dave-laptop:~$ sudo grub-mkconfig
Generating grub.cfg ...
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
  set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then
    saved_entry=${chosen}
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,7)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  insmod gfxterm
  insmod vbe
  if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
    # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
    # understand terminal_output
    terminal gfxterm
  fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,7)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/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.
echo "Adding XP on sda1" >&2 
cat << EOF
menuentry "XP on sda1" {
    insmod ntfs
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 00acffe0acffcde2
    drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
    chainloader +1
}
EOF
### END /etc/grub.d/06_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic" --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd ro   quiet splash
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (recovery mode)" --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd
	echo	Loading Linux 2.6.32-19-generic ...
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd ro single 
	echo	Loading initial ramdisk ...
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.31-20-generic" --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic root=UUID=7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd ro   quiet splash
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.31-20-generic (recovery mode)" --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd
	echo	Loading Linux 2.6.31-20-generic ...
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic root=UUID=7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd ro single 
	echo	Loading initial ramdisk ...
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7fe67364-cd07-4ad6-a2a6-8546968ffcbd
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
Found Microsoft Windows XP Professional on /dev/sda1
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Professional (on /dev/sda1)" {
	insmod ntfs
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 00acffe0acffcde2
	drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
	chainloader +1
}
Found Ubuntu lucid (development branch) (10.04) on /dev/sda5
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (on /dev/sda5)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda5)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.31-20-generic (on /dev/sda5)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.31-20-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda5)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.28-15-generic (on /dev/sda5)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.28-15-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda5)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.28-11-generic (on /dev/sda5)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda5)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=2f45fe74-72b0-416a-9c9e-cb9fd881a420 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
done
dave@dave-laptop:~$

Looking good? Just want to check before I proceed with this;

Assuming it is right, just to make sure that the MBR is cleanly install upon;
Code:

sudo grub-install /dev/sda

reboot and see if it works.

If not you are going to have to recover the MS boot loader. Do not look to me for help on that. Haven't a clue and do not want one (yes there is a little hostility toward that fine bunch here).

Then you can re install grub on the MBR from your live CD.

You might want to check both your /etc/fstab files to make sure they match your new partition table. I haven't gotten that far yet.

Give the custom entry a whack and see if it helps.

[Nesaskewatch]

Well, I have a new entry in the menu for "xp on sda1", however, it still won't boot. There is the old entry that also does not work. I just get put back to the menu. All the Linux drives work. I guess the xp MBR is hooped.

Darn. I guess it's late, so I'll take this up again in the am.

Thanks guys. I really appreciate your help.

Manana!

[4Orbs]

That's a bummer. There are a couple of items in your boot info that seemed odd to me. First is that sda1 appears to have grub installed in that partition. I don't think that should be there but I'm not knowledgeable enough about grub to speak in absolutes. So this question: When you boot from the old grub entry to XP, and it returns to the menu... is that menu that you return to the "New" grub menu that has two entries for XP?

Second question: Did you perhaps use the Wubi installer (from inside Windows) to install one of your Ubuntu systems?

[ranch hand]

How about a new results from the boot script?

You really ought to get rid of some of those old kernels.

I bet if you look at the system monitor on your 10.04 you will see that there is no swap.

From the sda7 fstab;

# swap was on /dev/sda8 during installation
UUID=edb7393a-e1aa-4440-9187-7e1c7e5a17c7 none swap sw 0 0

I would change that to;

# swap was on /dev/sda8 during installation
## UUID=edb7393a-e1aa-4440-9187-7e1c7e5a17c7 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/sda6 none swap sw 0 0
[