GRUB RESCUE prompt

[Tufty]

Help, I'm so out of my depth here!
I have a descktop with two hard drives, one has windows XP on it the other has Ubuntu 9.? on it.
I've been using them fine for the past year or so, all I do is when the grub loader comes up I choose either Ubuntu or windows and away it goes.
In the past few days however someone talked me into trying to install Ubuntu 9.10 onto an 8gig USB stick.
After failing to get it to work other ways, I loaded the 9.10 CD and installed it from there having first partitioned the stick with 7.5gig main partition and .5 gig swap partition.
It took forever to install, but eventually finished sucessfully and asked me to re-boot.
When I rebooted I got a flashing line character in the top left of the screen (which you often do see for a very short while) but this just continued flashing with nothing happening.
Eventually I removed the stick to see if that would interupt it, but it had no effect at all.
So, giving up on the idea, I decided to reboot as before without the stick installed.
Now all I can get (unless I boot from the CD) is a GRUB RESCUE prompt.
I searched online to try to find what commands there might be to this command mode & how to use them, but I can't find anything that works.
'ls' works and shows my partitions, but when I try to use the 'root' command as someone suggested, I just get command not found.

All my data is on the windows system, I really need to be able to get it booting again.

HELP!

Dave.

[presence1960]

Let's get a better look at your setup & boot process. Boot the Ubuntu Live CD/USB. Choose "try ubuntu without any changes", when the desktop loads come back here and use the link in my signature to download the Boot Info Script 0.34 to the desktop. Once on desktop open a terminal and run this command

sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script*.sh

This will create a RESULTS.txt file on the desktop. Paste the entire contents of that file back here. Once pasted highlight all text and click the # sign on the toolbar to place code tags around the text.

[Tufty]

Here you go!

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

 => Grub1.97 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks for 
    (UUID=3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf)/boot/grub.
 => Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb
 => No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc

sda1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows XP
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  Windows XP
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sdb1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext3
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 9.04
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/menu.lst /etc/fstab

sdb2: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  

sdb5: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  

sdc1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  

sdc5: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  

sdc2: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 9.10
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xbeebbeeb

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sda1    *             63   234,372,284   234,372,222   7 HPFS/NTFS


Drive: sdb ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 27.3 GB, 27329101824 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3322 cylinders, total 53377152 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2f2f2f2e

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sdb1                  63    53,014,499    53,014,437  83 Linux
/dev/sdb2          53,014,500    53,367,929       353,430   f W95 Ext d (LBA)
/dev/sdb5          53,014,563    53,367,929       353,367  82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdc ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdc: 8086 MB, 8086618112 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 983 cylinders, total 15794176 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000be5f5

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sdc1          14,795,865    15,791,894       996,030   5 Extended
/dev/sdc5          14,811,930    15,791,894       979,965  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc2                  63    14,795,864    14,795,802  83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________

/dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs" 
/dev/sda1: UUID="E0B8293CB8291298" LABEL="115Gig" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sdb1: UUID="3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567" TYPE="ext3" 
/dev/sdb5: UUID="9ab2fc77-b4bb-4b1d-b4ac-60a00857302f" TYPE="swap" 
/dev/sdc2: UUID="3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sdc5: UUID="fe0c8468-6646-4a68-8511-1f801ca30592" TYPE="swap" 

=============================== "mount" output: ===============================

aufs on / type aufs (rw)
none on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
/dev/sr0 on /cdrom type iso9660 (rw)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (rw)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
none on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
none on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /lib/init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/ubuntu/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=ubuntu)
/dev/sda1 on /media/115Gig type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,default_permissions,blksize=4096)
/dev/sdb1 on /media/3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 type ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=devkit)
/dev/sdc2 on /media/3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf type ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=devkit)


================================ sda1/boot.ini: ================================

[boot loader]

timeout=05

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


=========================== sdb1/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=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567

## 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

## specify if running in Xen domU or have grub detect automatically
## update-grub will ignore non-xen kernels when running in domU and vice versa
## e.g. indomU=detect
##      indomU=true
##      indomU=false
# indomU=detect

## 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 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro quiet splash 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic (recovery mode)
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro  single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-14-generic
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-14-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro quiet splash 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-14-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-14-generic (recovery mode)
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-14-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro  single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-14-generic

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-13-generic
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-13-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro quiet splash 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-13-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-13-generic (recovery mode)
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-13-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro  single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-13-generic

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro quiet splash 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro  single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title		Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid		3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
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/sda1
title		Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
rootnoverify	(hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader	+1


=============================== sdb1/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
#  -- This file has been automaticly generated by ntfs-config -- 
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>

proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdb1 :
UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# Entry for /dev/sdb5 :
UUID=9ab2fc77-b4bb-4b1d-b4ac-60a00857302f none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

=================== sdb1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


    .0GB: boot/grub/menu.lst
    .0GB: boot/grub/stage2
    .0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
    .0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-13-generic
    .0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-14-generic
    .0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
    .0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic
    .0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-13-generic
    .0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-14-generic
    .0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic
    .0GB: initrd.img
    .0GB: initrd.img.old
    .0GB: vmlinuz
    .0GB: vmlinuz.old

=========================== sdc2/boot/grub/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 /boot/grub/grubenv ]; then
  have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
  saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
  save_env saved_entry
  prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd2,2)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf
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
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/white
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
        recordfail=1
        if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
	set quiet=1
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd2,2)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf ro   quiet splash
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode)" {
        recordfail=1
        if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd2,2)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf ro single 
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (on /dev/sda1)" {
	insmod ntfs
	set root=(hd0,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set e0b8293cb8291298
	drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
	chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-14-generic (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-14-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-14-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-14-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-13-generic (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-13-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-13-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-13-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-13-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-13-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+ (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root=(hd1,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3f1a642f-3baf-41ef-9ec0-ea5dd2338567
	linux /boot/memtest86+.bin 
}
### 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 ###

=============================== sdc2/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
# / was on /dev/sdc2 during installation
UUID=3d0e1676-2bce-44d8-b575-da15573c41bf /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sdc5 during installation
UUID=fe0c8468-6646-4a68-8511-1f801ca30592 none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/scd0       /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0
/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0

=================== sdc2: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


    .0GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
    .0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
    .0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
    .0GB: initrd.img
    .0GB: vmlinuz

[Tufty]

I'm happy for anyone else reading this to help if they can. I really need to get the PC booting again ASAP.

[presence1960]

I'm happy for anyone else reading this to help if they can. I really need to get the PC booting again ASAP.

Is your machine's BIOS capable of booting from USB? If so this is what I would do. I would restore Windows bootloader to MBR of sda, then I would put GRUB 0.97 on MBR of sdb & finally GRUB 1.97 on MBR of sdc (USB disk) this way that GRUB will take over when you boot from USB. I would also put GRUB 0.97 on MBR of sdb, then set sdb as first in the hard disk boot priority in BIOS. What that will accomplish is when you boot without the flash disk GRUB (0.97) from 9.04 will take over and you can boot Jaunty or Windows. If you boot with the flash disk GRUB 1.97 will take over and you can boot Karmic.

This how I would do it. Boot your XP install disk and do this, following instructions for XP. Next boot the 9.04 Live CD/USB and choose "try Ubuntu without any changes", when the desktop loads open a terminal and do this:

1. Boot your computer up with Ubuntu CD
2. Open a terminal window or switch to a tty.
3. Type sudo grub. Should get text of which last line is grub>
4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd1,0)". 
   Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines.
5. Type "root (hd1,0)", or whatever your hard disk + boot partition 
   numbers are for Ubuntu.
6. Type "setup (hd1)", to install GRUB to MBR
7. Quit grub by typing "quit".
8. Reboot and remove the bootable CD.

When rebooting go into BIOS and set sdb (27GB) as first disk to boot in the hard disk boot order. Save changes to CMOS and continue booting into Ubuntu 9.04. Open a terminal and run this command

gksu gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

scroll down the bottom and change the windows entry to this:

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title		Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
rootnoverify	(hd1,0)
map             (hd0) (hd1)
map             (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader	+1

Note sda becomes (hd1) because you just switched it prior to second in hard disk boot order in BIOS!
Click Save at the top on the toolbar & close file. Reboot and see if you can boot into windows. If successful you can now put GRUB 1.97 on MBR of sdc.

see this: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Gr...0from%20LiveCD

remember to have your flash disk with the Ubuntu install plugged in when you do this. You want to put GRUB 2 (1.97) on MBR of sdc.

sorry about the delay, I was out all day with my daughter.

[Tufty]

Oh wow... that looks soooo complicated & full of potential ways to destroy stuff...

Before I do anything, you asked me if I can boot from USB.
That's the whole reason all of this has happened. I CAN boot from USB as long as there is a valid bootable USB device attached.
To prove this, when I set my bios to look as USB first, and put in an ordinary memory stick the machine halts with some message like 'no boot record on disk'
So I know I CAN boot from USB, but if you read my initial message, when I set UBUNTU up on the USB stick, it set it all up OK but the WOULDN"T boot from it. It just sat with a flashing character in the top left of the screen.

Can you confirm that you fully understand this & it's possible implications. It seems that my PC WILL boot from USB but for some reason it doesn't want to boot Ubuntu from USB.

Does that change all the above possible solutions?

[ubankan0819]

I'm happy for anyone else reading this to help if they can. I really need to get the PC booting again ASAP.

Such a problem I faced last week. I couldn't get my hd with ubuntu 9.10 to mount. When starts my pc was showing: GRUB loading error:unknown filesystem grub rescue> I used 'Super Grub Disk bootable cd' and loged on to Ubuntu 9.10. Then I typed "sudo grub-install /dev/sda" Result came out: Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub Installing GRUB to /dev/sda as (hd0)... Installation finished. No error reported. This is the contents of the device map /boot/grub/device.map. Check if this is correct or not. If any of the lines is incorrect, fix it and re-run the script `grub-install'. (hd0) /dev/sda Now my pc is loading perfectly.

[cpcpcp]

my Acer netbook with 10.4 installed will now only book from USB distro stick otherwise Grub rescue pops up. Despite my bet efforts all my data is still in place. When it first happened I installed 9.10 followed by 10.4 netbook version I confuse myself and the install by having a SD disk which confused the installation.
Here is teh result of boot info script

                 Boot Info Script 0.55    dated February 15th, 2010                    

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

 => Lilo is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda
 => Syslinux is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb

sda1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda2: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  

sda5: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  

sdb1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  Fat32
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files/dirs:   

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 8069 MB, 8069677056 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 981 cylinders, total 15761088 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sda1    *          2,048    14,983,167    14,981,120  83 Linux
/dev/sda2          14,985,214    15,759,359       774,146   5 Extended
/dev/sda5          14,985,216    15,759,359       774,144  82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 4002 MB, 4002910208 bytes
32 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3878 cylinders, total 7818184 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sdb1    *             63     7,818,047     7,817,985   b W95 FAT32


blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL                         

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs                                 
/dev/ramzswap0                                          swap                                     
/dev/sda1        1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba   ext4                                     
/dev/sda2: PTTYPE="dos" 
/dev/sda5        409bf295-8888-4a4d-b477-25f9643d800d   swap                                     
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos" 
/dev/sdb1        0C7D-1D30                              vfat       KINGSTON                      
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos" 

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev  output: ===========================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

aufs             /                        aufs       (rw)
/dev/sdb1        /cdrom                   vfat       (ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)


=========================== sda1/boot/grub/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 ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  insmod gfxterm
  insmod vbe
  if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
    # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
    # understand terminal_output
    terminal gfxterm
  fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba
set locale_dir=($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/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-24-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic root=UUID=1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba ro   quiet splash
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-24-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba
    echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-24-generic ...'
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic root=UUID=1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba ro single 
    echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba ro   quiet splash
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba
    echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba ro single 
    echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba
    linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba
    linux16    /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
if [ ${timeout} != -1 ]; then
  if keystatus; then
    if keystatus --shift; then
      set timeout=-1
    else
      set timeout=0
    fi
  else
    if sleep --interruptible 3 ; then
      set timeout=0
    fi
  fi
fi
### 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 ###

=============================== sda1/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=1b6747b0-3fdd-4bf8-a61c-c84731eb3bba /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=409bf295-8888-4a4d-b477-25f9643d800d none            swap    sw              0       0

=================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


   4.5GB: boot/grub/core.img
   5.0GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
   5.9GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
   6.0GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
   5.6GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
   5.8GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic
   6.0GB: initrd.img
   5.9GB: initrd.img.old
   5.8GB: vmlinuz
   5.6GB: vmlinuz.old

As you can see it is a fine old mess.
Simple suggestions for a confused old soul please

[presence1960]

After failing to get it to work other ways, I loaded the 9.10 CD and installed it from there having first partitioned the stick with 7.5gig main partition and .5 gig swap partition.
It took forever to install, but eventually finished sucessfully and asked me to re-boot.

I asked if your BIOS is capable of booting from USB and if it was to follow the suggestions.

See the above, unless you worded it incorrectly you did not boot from USB, you booted a Live CD and installed Ubuntu on the flash disk. That is not the same as booting from a USB or Flash disk!

If you do not want to take any risks then leave it the way it is.

[TheHimself]

Let me add that if you want to install any kind of Linux on a USB derive (and you don't have anything on the derive) then you don't have to reboot your computer. Just use the package "unetboontin".