seize issues

[bcbc]

That part is all grub4dos. Wubi boots via grub4dos - two files: wubildr.mbr and wubildr.

When you see the message Try(hd0,0) that's wubildr.mbr (think of it as a bootloader) looking for wubildr in the root of the first partition /dev/sda1.

Wubildr.mbr is tiny as are all bootloaders so it needs to load it's 'second stage' that has the code to loop mount the root.disk and present the grub menu - and boot the wubi install.

Anyway that's a lot of mumbo jumbo, but the point is that grub4dos is running, and it's looking for a file on the NTFS partition - and apparently its taking a long time. This has nothing to do with the problems you were having and nothing likely to do with the readonly tool you used. More likely something funny on the NTFS partition. I've no idea why it worked fine before and suddenly stopped working (or how long you waited before rebooting - i.e. is it really hung up or just slow).

Maybe it's time to ditch Wubi and do a normal dual boot.

[GeoffNZ]

Yep i agree.

But I've been trying all fecking afternoon - I get stuck on the whole partition thing and have had no luck finding a simple explanation...

Why oh why can it not just do it itself??

Which partition has W7 on it? The big one? Why do all the guides show a 'free space' partition but mine doesn't?

I realise that this is now off-topic, but can someone please direct me to a user-friendly guide?

thanks,

Geoff

[bcbc]

The free space is what you make by splitting your windows partition. Assuming you don't already have 4 primary partitions (some HP computers come like that) it's not too complex.

In fact, the recommended way is to let Windows 7 split itself. Here's how: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/m.../gg309169.aspx

Basically you select C: and shrink it and what you get left with is the smaller C: and a free unpartitioned space.

You could also let the Ubuntu installer do it automatically, but some people have reported that Windows may require a repair CD to work afterwards. You should make a repair CD/USB beforehand to be safe whichever method you choose.

If you want help, post a picture of your partitions from the disk management console.

[GeoffNZ]

Awesome.

Shrunk drive C by 50 gig (very easy) and let the installer do the rest. 12.04 happily installed (although it won't save my wallpaper) on 50gig partition so we shouldn't have any space issues!

Season 5 of Breaking Bad is now down and a day on the couch is planned ...

...dedicated to the ubuntu community!

Thank you!!

(should I mark this as solved? Cos it wasn't really eh?)

[bcbc]

Great to hear! You don't need to mark it as solved - that's up to you.