Ubuntu 10.04 boots after I've installed 11.10

[sallymc]

This is really odd. I created an ISO disk of 11.10 and ran it, picking the option where I delete everything and start from scratch. The install process takes its time and then finishes, but when I reboot the machine, 10.04 opens! Any ideas?

[BC59]

What system was previously installed in the computer?

[sallymc]

10.04 was previously installed. I suspect it has something to do with partitions. 10.04 is on sdb2 and 11.10 is on sda1. I think the pc is booting from sdb2 and I need to change this to sda1. Any ideas how? Even better - I want to get rid of 10.04 and the partition completely - how do I do this? Thanks!

[BC59]

First check if it's like this, run in a monitor:

sudo parted /dev/sda print
sudo fdisk -l #(it's a lower case L)

and post the result.

[darkod]

First of all, in the partitioning step are you using manual option (Something Else) or one of the auto options.

If you use the Erase and use whole disk, that's what it will do.

If you want to set it up manually for bigger control, or to set up separate /home partition, you have to specify which partitions to use and for what (mount points).

[sallymc]

When I installed 11.10, I selected the auto option that supposedly deleted everything and then installed the new version. But I guess this doesn't remove additional partitions.

Output from the 2 commands requested:

sally@sally-pc:~$ sudo parted /dev/sda print
Model: ATA WDC WD740ADFD-00 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 74.4GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system     Flags
 1      1049kB  73.3GB  73.3GB  primary   ext4            boot
 2      73.3GB  74.4GB  1072MB  extended
 5      73.3GB  74.4GB  1072MB  logical   linux-swap(v1)

sally@sally-pc:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 74.4 GB, 74355769344 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9039 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: 0x00049fbe

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        8910    71564288   83  Linux
/dev/sda2            8910        9040     1046529    5  Extended
/dev/sda5            8910        9040     1046528   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 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: 0x0004821b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1         244     1951744   82  Linux swap / Solaris
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb2             244        5107    39062528   83  Linux
/dev/sdb3            5107       10578    43944960   83  Linux

[darkod]

Yes, that's what it does but you never said you have two disks. You installed 11.10 on the other disk, so now you have both the 10.04 and 11.10. You are booting the disk with 10.04 first so it boots the 10.04.

[sallymc]

Thanks Darkod. I'm definitely not clued up with this stuff. Two disks you say... do you mean 2 partitions or 2 physical discs? I don't know how to fix it. I'm not interested in 10.04. Ideally, I only want 1 partition with 11.10 on it. How do I do this? And how do I remove 10.04? Or how do I boot using 11.10? Thank you!

[BC59]

Do you have connected an external hard drive?

[sallymc]

No external hard drive - it's all inside the box!