[Boot-Repair] Graphical tool to repair the PC boot in one click

[YannBuntu]

If you want help reviewing your summary report from Boot-Repair, post new thread with link to pastebin.
http://ubuntuforums.org/newthread.ph...ewthread&f=333

"Boot-Repair" is a small graphical tool to repair frequent boot problems.

- repair the boot when an OS does not boot any more after installing Ubuntu
- repair the boot when access to GRUB and any OS is lost (maybe due to a Windows software that wrote into the MBR gap, or a OEM MBR lock),
- reinstall GRUB bootloader easily
- create a Boot Info Summary in 1 click !
- restore a generic bootsector (MBR), or the original MBR if it has been saved by Clean-Ubiquity



Get a CD including Boot-Repair:
- Boot-Repair-Disk is a CD that automatically runs Boot-Repair at start-up.
- or: Boot-Repair is also included in all Linux Secure disks.

Install and run Boot-Repair in Ubuntu (in case you can't burn a CD):
just type in a Terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && (boot-repair &)

Boot-Repair can be installed & used from any Ubuntu session (normal session, or live-CD, or live-USB).
PPA packages are available for Ubuntu versions precise(12.04LTS), trusty(14.04LTS), utopic(14.10), vivid(15.04).

Use Boot-repair:
Launch it from System->Administration->Boot-Repair menu if you use Gnome, or search "boot" in the dash if you use Unity. Then follow the menus...

You can contribute by :
- translating (now ~60 languages)
- voting on Launchpad for these bugs: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
- suggesting improvements

If you want help reviewing your summary report from Boot-Repair, post new thread with link to pastebin.
http://ubuntuforums.org/newthread.ph...ewthread&f=333

[drs305]

Thank you. I haven't tried all Boot Repair's capabilities yet but it is a welcome addition to the slowly growing list of helpful Grub 2 graphical apps.

[TheGrave]

Great stuff, thanks a lot! I assume that the latest version is included in the Ubuntu Secure 11.04:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...51&postcount=1

Is this ISO for x64 or i386? I messed up my x64 server at home and now I have to send somebody that hasn't seen Linux in his life to repair it. The GUI will definitely decrease the process length in terms of hours. I upgraded from 10.10 to 11.04 and got the grub_env_export error. Now, as I think of it again, maybe I did the stupidity to install grub in the partition itself instead in the MBR (used to be in the MBR with 10.10). This situation should be corrected with your tool, right?

I reinstalled grub using method 1 in the past without an issue:

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

I'm still not sure if the chroot method is necessary in my case. Any idea?

[YannBuntu]

Thank you for your encouragements

If the GRUB you want to repair is located in a 64bits distribution, you need to install & use Boot-Repair from a 64 bit distribution.

As the "Ubuntu Secured" ISO are all 32bits ISO, just use any normal 64bits *Ubuntu CD, install Boot-Repair on it, and use it to repair your 64 bit distro GRUB.

[manickaselvam]

Hi YannBuntu, Trying to download "Boot-repair" but with very little success. Can you please enlighten me? I'm stuck with "grub rescue>" after upgrading from Karmic to Natty!! (Along with Win7).

[YannBuntu]

Hi manickaselvam,

I understand from your message that your PC does not give access to any OS (nor Windows, nor Ubuntu) any more, I am right ?

If that is the case, you will need to :

FIRST STEP
either:
- if your broken Ubuntu was 32bits, get a Ubuntu 32bits CD, or better : Ubuntu Secured CD (32 bits)
- if the broken Ubuntu was 64 bits, get a Ubuntu 64bits CD, or better : Ubuntu Secured 64 bits CD
and burn it on a CD from another computer.

SECOND STEP
Then, when you have this CD, put it into your computer's CD driver, boot your PC on it, choose "Try Ubuntu" at first screen, there a "live-session" (Ubuntu desktop running on RAM) will appear.

THIRD STEP
From this "live-session" :
- If you are using a Ubuntu Secured CD, Boot-repair is already installed into it.
- If you are using a standard version of Ubuntu, Download/Install Boot-Repair in it by either : add ‘ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair’ to your Software Sources via the Software Centre or by typing the 2 following commands in a Terminal session:
* sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
* sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install boot-repair-ubuntu

FOURTH STEP
From the "live-session" :
Search Boot-Repair in the Applications menu, and run it with default options (this will reinstall GRUB in sda), except if your BIOS is configured to boot on another disk.
Then shutdown your PC, remove the CD, and reboot the PC to check if it worked.

If it did not work, please open a new thread HERE (describe exactly what you did and what happened when upgrading from Karmic to Natty, your hardware description, and the output result of the bootinfoscript), and then give us the link here so that we can follow the discussion.

[TheGrave]

My mother became a Linux admin with 5 hours of tutoring over the phone and a million commands sent via SMSes. She managed to reinstall GRUB using the CHROOT method Next thing I know she is preparing for RHCE I didn't have to use your tool but I'm very willing to see it in the next installer. Making a backup of the MBR is a great feature that HAS to be in Ubuntu. First time I installed it on the same drive with Windows I got totally f*cked up because I didn't reboot in Windows after resizing its partition and it took me a few days to find the right tool to restore it. From now on - Windows only on VMWare Player!

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for writing this great tool and I hope it gets approved for the next release installer. Is it able to perform the CHROOT method as well by the way? Should be just a few extra lines of code.

[YannBuntu]

Hello TheGrave, thank for your encouragements !
I agree with you that Ubuntu should backup the MBR, like many other Linux distro already do since a long time.
Yes Boot-Repair uses the chroot method by default, except when it cannot (when you reinstall the GRUB that is on the system currently in use).

@all : if you also want the MBR to be automatically saved when installing Ubuntu, please vote (login, "Does this bug affect you? -> Yes) for this inclusion request : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ty/+bug/747279

[drs305]

@all : if you also want the MBR to be automatically saved when installing Ubuntu, please vote (login, "Does this bug affect you? -> Yes) for this inclusion request : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ty/+bug/747279

I know the Grub devs have discussed this and some want to automatically create a backup, so they are aware of the issue. I don't know the status of that option, so keep those 'bug' requests coming.

[YannBuntu]

Indeed, I proposed it a long time ago (you can vote for this one too )

Important : just saving the MBR would be a first improvement, but Clean-Ubiquity does better : when Clean-Ubiquity saves the MBR, it also links (via UUID) the backup to the Linux installation that erased the MBR, so that the OS-Uninstaller tool can work.