Chainloading TrueCrypt with GRUB2

**no_angst** · November 4th, 2009

Well, for some reason I also lost the ability to mount my TC partition in Ubuntu, so last night I used the TC boot CD to decrypt Vista. Not what I wanted, but I guess file or folder level encryption (or a TC container) will have to do for now.

<ubuntu9.10rant>
Why on _earth_ do they let out a new version of ubuntu out with a beta-version bootloader and known broken 3G modem support?

The least I expect is that things that worked the previous version still will...
</ubuntu9.10rant>

<BOLD><AT TOP OF LUNGS><!!!!> AGREE 100%!!! </!!!!></AT TOP OF LUNGS></BOLD>

**robpower** · November 6th, 2009

I add myself to the list of people interested in a solution.
Here's my grub.cfg that bring me to a truecrypt error that says the truecrypt bootloader is corrupted.
Note:
(hd0,1) is sda1, Ubuntu /boot partition,
(hd0,3) is sda3, Windows Partition

Code:

#!/bin/sh
echo “Adding Windows” >&2
exec tail -n +3 $0
# 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 "Windows XP" {
        insmod chain
        set root=(hd0,3)
	parttool (hd0,3) boot+
        chainloader (hd0,1)/truecrypt.mbr
}

And here is the old menu.lst section of grub-legacy:
Note: partition numbering convention is [grub2] = [grub-legacy]+1, so here
(hd0,0) means sda1, Ubuntu /boot partition,
(hd0,2) means sda3, Windows Partition

Code:

title Windows Vista/Longhorn
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
makeactive
chainloader (hd0,0)/truecrypt.mbr
boot

If anyone knows anything that could helps, we would really appreciate.

**plut0** · November 7th, 2009

I have the same error, looking for a solution also.

**Spliff85555** · November 15th, 2009

Same problem here.
Is there a fix / work-around / solution already?

**benzinerwin** · November 17th, 2009

The problem is:

legacy-grub works fine with truecrypt when you install just the tiny loader into the mbr that in turn loads the other loader-stages from the boot partition.

grub2 installs into the mbr, embeds the core.img (24KB) starting at sector 1 and thus overwriting parts of the truecrypt loader.

I cannot find a way to make grub2 not persist on embedding the core image. The doc & wiki aren't helping at all.

However, there must be a way - otherwise grub2 is basically worthless.

**ranch hand** · November 17th, 2009

If you read the link in my sig you will learn a little of how grub2 works. The first 3 links in it are great, in depth treatments on the subject.

The first link, I know, does have some discussion on encrypted drives. The second one is a live thread by the guy in the best position to help you.

I am pretty useless here as I do not use encryption and therefore don't know much about it.

**sq377** · December 17th, 2009

For anyone still looking, I think I found a simple solution.

If the TrueCrypt Boot Loader is frequently damaged (for example, by inappropriately designed activation software) or if you do not want the TrueCrypt boot loader to reside on the hard drive (for example, if you want to use an alternative boot loader/manager for other operating systems), you can boot directly from the TrueCrypt Rescue Disk (as it contains the TrueCrypt boot loader too) without restoring the boot loader to the hard drive. Just insert your Rescue Disk into your CD/DVD drive and then enter your password in the Rescue Disk screen.

How to make grub2 boot an iso

**dpsousa** · June 20th, 2010

Originally Posted by sq377

For anyone still looking, I think I found a simple solution.

How to make grub2 boot an iso

I am probably late on this, but since it looks like this problem is still unsolved, the solution you pointed out, does NOT work for the Truecrypt or any other common ISO.

From your link:
"PLEASE NOTE: grub itself can NOT boot CDROM images/ISOs. Neither version 1 nor version 2 of grub. Grml provides this feature via its isofrom bootoption. Grub2 strongly simplifies this setup with its loopback option but grub alone will NOT be enough. It’s the live system (as for example grml) that has to support this “boot from ISO” feature."