How do I boot Ubuntu manually from GRUB?

**Ceaserian Øgly** · November 14th, 2009

I am having a problem with booting Ubuntu. When I try to do so, I am met with a GRUB commandline. I have the feeling that I have to boot the kernel manually from there, by typing "linux [kernel name]". If this is the case, would anyone know what I should type as the name of the kernel?

I use a dual boot with Ubuntu 9.10, installed by Wubi. I did force quit before this problem occured, because I had problems with rebooting. I also had this problem when I first installed Ubuntu 9.10 (I reinstalled it instead of upgrading from 9.04), but I solved it by reinstalling it again, because it was an option back then.

**Mark Phelps** · November 15th, 2009

You said you installed 9.10 using Wubi -- so which MS Windows OS did you install it inside? XP, Vista, or Seven?

**undecim** · November 15th, 2009

Try this.

Code:

    insmod ext2
    set root=(hd0,1)
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=/dev/sda1 ro   quiet splash
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic

This is assuming that Ubuntu is installed on the first partition of the first drive in the machine. If it isn't, you will need to edit the (hd0,1) and root=/dev/sda1 parts accordingly. Also, if you have a previous kernel version, you will need to type your version.

**Ceaserian Øgly** · November 16th, 2009

Originally Posted by Mark Phelps

You said you installed 9.10 using Wubi -- so which MS Windows OS did you install it inside? XP, Vista, or Seven?

I suppose that would be relevant information. It was XP Professional.

Originally Posted by undecim

Try this.

Code:

    insmod ext2
    set root=(hd0,1)
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=/dev/sda1 ro   quiet splash
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic

This is assuming that Ubuntu is installed on the first partition of the first drive in the machine. If it isn't, you will need to edit the (hd0,1) and root=/dev/sda1 parts accordingly. Also, if you have a previous kernel version, you will need to type your version.

Thank you, but it didn't work. I probably typed in the wrong kernel version. I don't know exactly what version I have. Is there any way to find out through GRUB or a live-CD? I downloaded it on 31 October, if that can be used to find it out.

I notice that I accidentally labelled this with "kubuntu" instead of "ubuntu. Why do I always appear so silly when I join a new forum?

**JoelOl75** · November 16th, 2009

Tab completion may help you not misspell.

**JBAlaska** · November 16th, 2009

And if your on a laptop with a recovery partition you may have to modify the lines as so:

Code:

insmod ntfs
set root=(hd0,2)
loopback loop0 /ubuntu/disks/root.disk
set root=(loop0)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root+/dev/sda2 loop=/ubuntu/disks\ /root.disk ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic

**Ceaserian Øgly** · November 24th, 2009

When I try to boot my kernel with the linux command, the file is not found. Tab completion doesn't work.

I don't know what kernel version I have, and I don't know whether I have a recovery partition or not. I do however know that I have a laptop. How do I find out about my kernel and partition?