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

[jcm69]

Hi everybody !
I've installed ubuntu 14.04 on an old win XP partition. Since then, Windows has disepeared from the grub menu at boot time. I'm afraid a king of windows loader that was present on the XP partition (it was offering to choose between XP and 7) has been destroyed by the ubuntu 14.04 installation...
I've tried update-grub, boot repair, windows repair from CD etc. Nothing worked. I'd prefer not to re-install since everything is here, on my disk !
Any idea anybody ? this would be greatly appreciated. See boot info below.
http://paste.ubuntu.com/7293309/
Cheers

[oldfred]

Boot-Repair cannot fix major Windows issues.

Windows only boots from a primary partition. And second installs of Windows move boot files to the first install with the boot flag. In your case your XP really had the Windows 7 boot files and added an entry to the BCD to also boot XP in the same partition.

You will need to create a new primary NTFS partition with the boot flag. Then use your Windows repair CD or flash drive to add the boot files to the new partition. You need at the minimum bootmgr and the BCD.

Windows BIOS Boot files:
WinXP
/boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM
Vista/7/8 (with 7or 8 the first two files are usually in a separate 100MB boot partition) or in your case another Windows install.
/bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

[ajaxmike]

I just upgraded from 13.10 to 14.04 and the system won't boot (it's not dual boot). Ran boot-repair from Linux Secure Remix disc. Tried both recommended and advanced, but I keep getting a message to "close all package managers..." I don't think any package managers are running (I checked system monitor). Since it doesn't complete,I don't get a pastebin. I see that others are having this error, but they are running dual boot, so all of the answers seem to deal with that.

[jcm69]

Many thanks for your mail !

Boot-Repair cannot fix major Windows issues.

Windows only boots from a primary partition. And second installs of Windows move boot files to the first install with the boot flag. In your case your XP really had the Windows 7 boot files and added an entry to the BCD to also boot XP in the same partition.

You will need to create a new primary NTFS partition with the boot flag. Then use your Windows repair CD or flash drive to add the boot files to the new partition. You need at the minimum bootmgr and the BCD.

Shall this partition contain my windows 7 (i.e. I create a new partition and move windows 7 in there) or can it simply be a new partition where Windows repair will copy the needed files ?
Cheers
jc

Windows BIOS Boot files:
WinXP
/boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM
Vista/7/8 (with 7or 8 the first two files are usually in a separate 100MB boot partition) or in your case another Windows install.
/bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

[jcm69]

Forget my preceding post ! it worked ! it worked ! IT WORKED !!!!
I just created a new empty primary partition, defined it as boot partition and ran windows repair. Then I ran boot-repair to update the grub config. ant IT WORKED ! So happy !!!
Many, many thanks for your help. I did not know the partition should be primary... Fortunatly, there are guys like you to help guys like me !
Have fun and take care
jc

Many thanks for your mail !


Shall this partition contain my windows 7 (i.e. I create a new partition and move windows 7 in there) or can it simply be a new partition where Windows repair will copy the needed files ?
Cheers
jc

[oldfred]

@ajaxmike

Can you boot with Supergrub?
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wiki/Main_Page

Or can you run bootinfoscript which is actually the first part of the bootinfo report.


Boot Info Script courtesy of forum members meierfra & Gert Hulselmans
Boot Info Script 0.61 is released April 2, 2012
boot_info_script.sh" file renamed to "bootinfoscript
http://sourceforge.net/projects/boot...atest/download
Page with instructions and link to above new download:
http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/
Paste contents of results.txt in a New Reply, then highlight entire file and click on # in advanced edit panel(code tags) to make it easier to read.
Or You can generate the tags first by pressing the # icon in the New Reply Edit toolbar and then paste the contents between the generated [ code] paste here [ /code] tags.

[ajaxmike]

@ajaxmike

Can you boot with Supergrub?
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wiki/Main_Page

Or can you run bootinfoscript which is actually the first part of the bootinfo report.


Boot Info Script courtesy of forum members meierfra & Gert Hulselmans
Boot Info Script 0.61 is released April 2, 2012
boot_info_script.sh" file renamed to "bootinfoscript
http://sourceforge.net/projects/boot...atest/download
Page with instructions and link to above new download:
http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/
Paste contents of results.txt in a New Reply, then highlight entire file and click on # in advanced edit panel(code tags) to make it easier to read.
Or You can generate the tags first by pressing the # icon in the New Reply Edit toolbar and then paste the contents between the generated [ code] paste here [ /code] tags.

Supergrub did not work (I just get the grub 2.00 menu and grub> prompt)

sda is a gpt drive, system is legacy bios

Results.txt below:

                  Boot Info Script 0.61      [1 April 2012]


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

 => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 2048 
    of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and 
    looks in partition 112 for .

sda1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       BIOS Boot partition
    Boot sector type:  Grub2's core.img
    Boot sector info: 

sda2: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        /grub/grub.cfg

sda3: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
    Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab

sda4: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        

sda5: __________________________________________________________________________

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

sda6: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        

sda7: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        

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

Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 3000.6 GB, 3000592982016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 364801 cylinders, total 5860533168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sda1                   1 4,294,967,295 4,294,967,295  ee GPT


GUID Partition Table detected.

Partition    Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors System
/dev/sda1           2,048         4,095         2,048 BIOS Boot partition
/dev/sda2           4,096       516,095       512,000 EFI System partition
/dev/sda3         516,096    51,716,095    51,200,000 Data partition (Linux)
/dev/sda4      51,716,096    61,956,095    10,240,000 Data partition (Linux)
/dev/sda5      61,956,096    70,344,703     8,388,608 Swap partition (Linux)
/dev/sda6     130,768,896 2,083,536,895 1,952,768,000 Data partition (Linux)
/dev/sda7   1,174,986,752 2,639,306,751 1,464,320,000 Data partition (Linux)

/dev/sda6 overlaps with /dev/sda7
"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs   
/dev/sda2        a827a0e4-11f2-41b6-a1d4-3f407476b74c   ext4       boot
/dev/sda3        c953c970-ba9a-4cfd-8cab-16c55ee5b37f   ext4       root
/dev/sda4        181f2cf5-cf2d-47f3-8a65-ef0b4f139dd9   ext4       var
/dev/sda5        9f3289c6-be8f-4e2b-9d88-925d0b0c0b94   swap       swap
/dev/sda6        96e72497-e6c8-437c-8df8-ef5eb9a68ae2   ext4       files
/dev/sda7        a67a5054-05cc-490a-b53c-f7e8252ff349   ext4       mythtv
/dev/sr0                                                iso9660    Linux Secure 13.04 64bit

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)
/dev/sda3        /media/ubuntu/root       ext4       (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks2)
/dev/sr0         /cdrom                   iso9660    (ro,noatime)


============================= sda2/grub/grub.cfg: ==============================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by 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
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
  menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
  menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

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
}

function load_video {
  if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
  else
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod ieee1275_fb
    insmod vbe
    insmod vga
    insmod video_bochs
    insmod video_cirrus
  fi
}

if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
   font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt3'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt3 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt3 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt3  c953c970-ba9a-4cfd-8cab-16c55ee5b37f
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root c953c970-ba9a-4cfd-8cab-16c55ee5b37f
fi
    font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
  set lang=en_US
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=5
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 ###
function gfxmode {
    set gfxpayload="${1}"
    if [ "${1}" = "keep" ]; then
        set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=7
    else
        set vt_handoff=
    fi
}
if [ "${recordfail}" != 1 ]; then
  if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
    if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
      if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
        set linux_gfx_mode=keep
      else
        set linux_gfx_mode=text
      fi
    else
      set linux_gfx_mode=text
    fi
  else
    set linux_gfx_mode=keep
  fi
else
  set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###

### 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 ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
  source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sda2: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

   0.010018349 = 0.010757120    grub/grub.cfg                                  1

=========================== sda3/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by 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
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
  menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
  menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

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
}

function load_video {
  if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
  else
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod ieee1275_fb
    insmod vbe
    insmod vga
    insmod video_bochs
    insmod video_cirrus
  fi
}

if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
   font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt3'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt3 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt3 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt3  c953c970-ba9a-4cfd-8cab-16c55ee5b37f
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root c953c970-ba9a-4cfd-8cab-16c55ee5b37f
fi
    font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
  set lang=en_US
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=10
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 ###
function gfxmode {
    set gfxpayload="${1}"
    if [ "${1}" = "keep" ]; then
        set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=7
    else
        set vt_handoff=
    fi
}
if [ "${recordfail}" != 1 ]; then
  if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
    if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
      if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
        set linux_gfx_mode=keep
      else
        set linux_gfx_mode=text
      fi
    else
      set linux_gfx_mode=text
    fi
  else
    set linux_gfx_mode=keep
  fi
else
  set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###

### 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 ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
  source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============================== sda3/etc/fstab: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' 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>
# / was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=c953c970-ba9a-4cfd-8cab-16c55ee5b37f /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /backup_drive was on /dev/sdb1 during installation
UUID=78e4958d-1709-449e-a00d-eb5bcff4ff5f /backup_drive   ext2    defaults        0       2
# /boot was on /dev/sda2 during installation
#UUID=5dd8e900-ffc0-4208-811f-c18753a74b9c /boot           ext2    defaults        0       2
# /files was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=96e72497-e6c8-437c-8df8-ef5eb9a68ae2 /files          ext4    defaults        0       2
# /mythtv was on /dev/sda7 during installation
UUID=a67a5054-05cc-490a-b53c-f7e8252ff349 /mythtv         ext4    defaults        0       2
# /var was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=181f2cf5-cf2d-47f3-8a65-ef0b4f139dd9 /var            ext4    defaults        0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=9f3289c6-be8f-4e2b-9d88-925d0b0c0b94 none            swap    sw              0       0
#UUID=5dd8e900-ffc0-4208-811f-c18753a74b9c    /boot    ext2    defaults    0    2
#UUID=a827a0e4-11f2-41b6-a1d4-3f407476b74c    /boot    ext4    defaults    0    2
#UUID=a827a0e4-11f2-41b6-a1d4-3f407476b74c    /boot    ext4    defaults    0    2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sda3: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

   4.379150391 = 4.702076928    boot/grub/grub.cfg                             1

========= Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive: =========

sdb sdc sdd sde 

=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

  No volume groups found

[oldfred]

You are showing a boot flag on sda2. But that is your /boot partition.
In gpt partitioning the boot flag with gparted is only to be on the efi partition. Although with some Intel motherboards we have to have a partition with the boot flag as the BIOS does not let you even start to boot.

Your fstab has all the mounts of /boot commented out. Did you reinstall without a separate /boot partition?
Generally most desktops do not need the separate /boot partition, but those with RAID or LVM may.

Both grub.cfg in /boot partition and install, do not show any kernels. Or the kernels may still be in /boot partition with without using boot partition you do not have them? Either reimplement /boot partition, cp -a the /boot folder from /boot partition to /boot folder in your install (to remove separate /boot partition) or reinstall without /boot partition. You may be able to chroot into your install and reinstall kernels, but it just may be quicker and easier to totally reinstall Ubuntu. If you want to learn how to repair system then one of the other choices is an option.

[ajaxmike]

This the same partitioning used in 13.10 before the upgrade, although perhaps the /boot partition did not have a boot flag as you say that would be invalid. I don't remember. It is gpt but also legacy BIOS, so no efi partition. I will remove the flag.

I did not reinstall, just upgraded. Either the install or boot-repair commented out /boot in fstab. The machine is a server, hence the /boot partition, so I would rather leave it there. How about running boot repair without the boot flag and if that fails a non-destructive reinstall into the existing partitions? I suspect the kernels may be there.

[oldfred]

@ajaxmike
If you did not tick the seperate /boot partition in Boot-Repair it may have commented out the entry in fstab. If it is really a /boot partition and not an efi partition, then you may just need to run Boot-Repair again with the /boot partition ticked and defined.
You can run a re-install without checking the format and it will overwrite only the new files. I might be sure to have a good backup as if you had manually configured anything those configuration files may get overwritten.