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Thread: Unable to reinstall GRUB

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    Unable to reinstall GRUB

    My dual booting Unbuntu/windows computer is failing to boot. I have tried to reinstall GRUB but have so far been unsuccessful.

    I used the Ubuntu Secured 64bits live CD to run “Boot Repair” and this reported:

    “There is no boot backup on this computer. This will reinstall GRUB bootloader. Do you want to continue?”.

    On continuing, "Boot Repair" reported under "Last Confirmation/Advanced Options":

    “(Requires internet) Manually purge and reinstall the GRUB of: Ubuntu 11-04 (sdb1)”.

    When I click “Apply”, Boot Repair asks me to enter the following in a terminal:

    sudo chroot /mnt/clean/sdb1 apt-get install -y grub-pc

    However, the terminal then responds:

    chroot: failed to run command ‘apt-get’ : No such file or directory.

    Which was quite disappointing!

    I have also tried Super Grub2 Disk and Rescatux and these also failed.

    I entered "sudo fdisk -l" and this seemed to identify all the disks and partitions corrected (I will supply the terminal output in a following post). The only issue is that I expected sdb1 to be indicated as Boot, but it wasn't.

    I would be very grateful for any help or advice.

    Kind regards,

    Adrian

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    5,636

    Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    Try with this.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    14

    Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    Hi TeoBigusGeekus,

    Many thanks for your quick reply.

    This is the report I got when I entered sudo fdisk -l:
    Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x79372110

    Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    /dev/sda1 * 1 19458 156288000 7 HPFS/NTFS

    Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x8c4021f0

    Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    /dev/sdb1 1 57325 460456960 83 Linux
    /dev/sdb2 57325 60801 27925025+ 5 Extended
    /dev/sdb5 58337 60801 19800081 82 Linux swap / Solaris
    /dev/sdb6 57325 58336 8124416 82 Linux swap / Solaris

    Partition table entries are not in disk order
    (I'm really sorry about the formatting above but I don't seem to be able to get it any better; the only thing [I think] it really shows is that I would have expected sdb1 to be shown with * to indicate Boot.)

    I followed the guidance that you kindly supplied and entered:
    sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
    And the report I got back was:
    mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sdb1,
    missing codepage or helper program, or other error
    In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
    dmesg | tail or so
    I also entered dmesg | tail and this showed:
    [ 5514.780924] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Sense Key : Aborted Command [current] [descriptor]
    [ 5514.780932] Descriptor sense data with sense descriptors (in hex):
    [ 5514.780936] 72 0b 00 00 00 00 00 0c 00 0a 80 00 00 00 00 00
    [ 5514.780953] 34 c0 08 08
    [ 5514.780960] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Add. Sense: No additional sense information
    [ 5514.780967] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] CDB: Write(10): 2a 00 33 81 21 60 00 00 08 00
    [ 5514.780982] end_request: I/O error, dev sdb, sector 864100704
    [ 5514.781013] ata4: EH complete
    [ 5514.781030] JBD: recovery failed
    [ 5514.781047] EXT4-fs (sdb1): error loading journal
    So I appear to be stuck on the very first step of the guidance you provided.

    Any advice/guidance very welcome.

    Kind regards,

    Adrian

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    5,636

    Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    Check the disk for errors
    Code:
    sudo fsck /dev/sdb1
    and try again.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    14

    Smile Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    Hi TeoBigusGeekus,

    Many thanks again for your response!

    I entered sudo fsck /dev/sdb1 and the response I got was:
    fsck from util-linux-ng 2.17.2
    e2fsck 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
    /dev/sdb1: recovering journal
    fsck.ext4: unable to set superblock flags on /dev/sdb1
    Which I assume means that the disk wasn't able to be checked for errors for some reason?

    Kind regards,

    Adrian

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    5,636

    Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    I think you have a disk failure there; either a hardware one or your data is totally messed up.
    Unless anyone else has a better idea, I'd go with a reinstallation.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    14

    Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    Hi TeoBigusGeekus,

    Many thanks for your time and advice!

    You could well be right that there is a problem with the the disk although Disk Utility says the disk is healthy. However, I have been doing quite a lot of things to try to get my computer to boot (at one stage I was mistaenly tryinmg to install GRUB instead of GRUB2); so I have probably made the problem worse!

    I saw another thread which made reference to a Boot Info Script so I'll try running that and post the results here later.

    Thanks and best wishes!

    Adrian

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    14

    Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    I ran the Boot Info Script and this is the result:

    Code:
                    Boot Info Script 0.60    from 17 May 2011
    
    
    ============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
    
     => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 1 of 
        the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and uses an 
        embedded config file:
        
        ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        search.fs_uuid e1bce359-b3b5-47b9-859b-74531cd9c746 root 
        set 
        prefix=($root)/boot/grub---------------------------------------------------
        -----------------------------.
     => Grub Legacy (v0.97) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks on the 
        same drive in partition #1 for /boot/grub/stage2 and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
    
    sda1: __________________________________________________________________________
    
        File system:       ntfs
        Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
        Boot sector info:   No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
        Operating System:  Windows Vista
        Boot files:        /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe
    
    sdb1: __________________________________________________________________________
    
        File system:       ext4
        Boot sector type:  -
        Boot sector info:  
        Mounting failed:   mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sdb1,
           missing codepage or helper program, or other error
           In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
           dmesg | tail  or so
    
    
    sdb2: __________________________________________________________________________
    
        File system:       Extended Partition
        Boot sector type:  Unknown
        Boot sector info:  
    
    sdb5: __________________________________________________________________________
    
        File system:       swap
        Boot sector type:  -
        Boot sector info:  
    
    sdb6: __________________________________________________________________________
    
        File system:       swap
        Boot sector type:  -
        Boot sector info:  
    
    ============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
    
    Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________
    
    Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
    Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    
    Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System
    
    /dev/sda1    *          2,048   312,578,047   312,576,000   7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
    
    
    Drive: sdb _____________________________________________________________________
    
    Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
    Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    
    Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System
    
    /dev/sdb1               2,048   920,915,967   920,913,920  83 Linux
    /dev/sdb2         920,918,014   976,768,064    55,850,051   5 Extended
    /dev/sdb5         937,167,903   976,768,064    39,600,162  82 Linux swap / Solaris
    /dev/sdb6         920,918,016   937,166,847    16,248,832  82 Linux swap / Solaris
    
    
    "blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________
    
    Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL
    
    /dev/loop0                                              squashfs   
    /dev/sda1        4244E25B44E250E9                       ntfs       
    /dev/sdb1        e1bce359-b3b5-47b9-859b-74531cd9c746   ext4       
    /dev/sdb5        fe6ca925-3d23-4a9b-87f2-90b10994fd39   swap       
    /dev/sdb6        41bef6a5-9317-4a11-83d4-fe258270e2f2   swap       
    
    ================================ Mount points: =================================
    
    Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options
    
    /dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)
    /dev/sda1        /mnt                     fuseblk    (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)
    /dev/sr0         /cdrom                   iso9660    (ro,noatime)
    
    
    ======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ========================
    
    Unknown BootLoader on sdb2
    
    00000000  68 99 7b a9 30 31 77 62  80 01 00 00 ff fb 94 64  |h.{.01wb.......d|
    00000010  04 0c 83 17 4c 54 9b 38  12 f0 39 66 ea e3 2d 03  |....LT.8..9f..-.|
    00000020  5c 4c 4d 33 52 6d bc ab  c8 db 1d 6b 9c 92 8d 71  |\LM3Rm.....k...q|
    00000030  e1 3f 44 23 99 b7 34 59  a7 4a 17 1d 9d 95 cd c5  |.?D#..4Y.J......|
    00000040  e0 bb 75 a9 24 9e ee d8  86 66 e1 e5 b7 c0 63 05  |..u.$....f....c.|
    00000050  b4 c8 1e 6a 59 67 24 98  e5 6d e1 70 71 ab 95 ac  |...jYg$..m.pq...|
    00000060  6a 63 72 7b b9 d9 04 53  3b 18 a5 57 95 8c 62 a6  |jcr{...S;..W..b.|
    00000070  cc eb bb ab ff fd 11 11  b3 3a 48 71 6c b7 25 10  |.........:Hql.%.|
    00000080  fd 7f ed e1 c5 7f d2 ae  0f 27 1a 00 53 6e 05 92  |.........'..Sn..|
    00000090  1a 3d ac 24 ea ab ff fa  99 e6 67 a3 c3 a5 00 32  |.=.$......g....2|
    000000a0  ea bd 77 36 cd c0 fa 7f  c3 ca 35 2c ff a5 25 26  |..w6......5,..%&|
    000000b0  56 32 c9 aa b7 7f e9 37  76 7e 1b 17 cc bc 10 eb  |V2.....7v~......|
    000000c0  06 1f 8a 7f 00 05 c9 b8  70 cc 20 b4 58 5c d7 40  |........p. .X\.@|
    000000d0  0a a2 87 1c 06 9f 34 ae  9c 3d 28 ec 66 f5 bd 39  |......4..=(.f..9|
    000000e0  a2 5f 2b 9c a4 38 ab 05  db 71 1a 56 a3 d4 2c 31  |._+..8...q.V..,1|
    000000f0  a9 dc 75 1a 05 d4 d5 dd  23 5f 31 7b cf ed 54 9d  |..u.....#_1{..T.|
    00000100  e8 7e 56 91 1f ee a6 26  ef 57 69 56 8f 3b 51 3d  |.~V....&.WiV.;Q=|
    00000110  2c a6 f7 39 0f 31 9a 8e  b5 6d cb e7 62 b9 aa d6  |,..9.1...m..b...|
    00000120  ea e1 4e f8 b2 f5 0c 00  33 fd c0 8e b8 92 80 dd  |..N.....3.......|
    00000130  42 bf e5 56 5b d1 19 0e  ac 38 60 32 21 d2 95 d4  |B..V[....8`2!...|
    00000140  9f db d7 bf a6 fd cd 4c  ce b5 9f 3d e5 4b 7d e1  |.......L...=.K}.|
    00000150  b5 22 cb ec cd 12 fc fc  dd a7 47 3c 16 0a 00 06  |."........G<....|
    00000160  f7 e1 69 18 47 83 c5 82  70 0c 4a 3c 68 d9 9c 7d  |..i.G...p.J<h..}|
    00000170  52 dd 90 bc 2e 4e 2e db  3a 62 c5 f0 57 4e 88 ca  |R....N..:b..WN..|
    00000180  67 8d a8 03 4d 58 b9 70  85 bd 4b b8 30 30 64 63  |g...MX.p..K.00dc|
    00000190  25 03 00 00 00 00 01 b6  94 3e fc 11 2a 7f fa d4  |%........>..*...|
    000001a0  3e a2 8c aa ab 7a 5a a9  63 a9 13 53 2d 55 a3 d3  |>....zZ.c..S-U..|
    000001b0  af af a7 52 c1 6c 48 38  99 f5 b3 d2 5f 5d 00 fe  |...R.lH8...._]..|
    000001c0  ff ff 82 fe ff ff 21 f4  f7 00 22 40 5c 02 00 fe  |......!..."@\...|
    000001d0  ff ff 05 fe ff ff 01 00  00 00 01 f0 f7 00 00 00  |................|
    000001e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
    000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa  |..............U.|
    00000200
    
    
    =============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================
    
    unlzma: Decoder error
    Any advice on being able to boot my system welcome!

    Kind regards,

    Adrian

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    SW Forida
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Kubuntu

    Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    If you want to try file checks one more time:

    #From liveCD so everything is unmounted,swap off if necessary, change sdb1 to your partition(s)
    #e2fsck is used to check the ext2/ext3/ext4 family of file systems.
    sudo e2fsck -C0 -p -f -v /dev/sdb1
    #if errors:
    sudo e2fsck -f -y -v /dev/sdb1

    Remove first inode to use alternative superblock:
    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1682038
    Using alternative superblock to check ext3
    http://planet.admon.org/using-altern...to-check-ext3/
    List backup superblocks:
    sudo dumpe2fs /dev/sdb1 | grep -i backup
    then use backup superblock, 32768 just an example, try several
    sudo fsck -b 32768 /dev/sdb1
    One user could not get partition unmounted (may have needed swapoff), but used another live distro
    UEFI boot install & repair info - Regularly Updated :
    https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
    Intro to Discourse: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/welco...and-help/49951

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Beans
    14

    Re: Unable to reinstall GRUB

    Hi oldfred,

    Many thanks for your help. I was able to boot my system after following your guidance.

    I didn't seem to be getting the desired responses from the commands but I persevered as best I could.

    My system rebooted on the second restart. Once I got it started I reinstalled/updated Grub (I don't know if this was necessary) and everything has been working fine for for the last two days.

    I'm not exactly sure what the problem was (all I can say is that it appeared that, for some reason, the disk/sdb1 wouldn't mount) but your guidance seemed to do the trick (but I'm not exactly sure how; I guess, somehow, it got the disk/sdb1 to mount)!

    Many thanks for your time and advice!

    Kind regards,

    Adrian

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