DualBoot Xp/Ubuntu Grub Problem

sheabarbacci · 11-18-2008, 05:55 PM

I've got a sony viao with xp. I decided to install Ubuntu (hardy) and dual boot. Now when I select windows xp in the grub menu, It doesn't load xp but rather sends me to a grub-terminal like thing.

"Grub >"

Everything is partitioned right, what is the problem??

**wmorri** · 11-18-2008, 06:19 PM

Welcome to TSF!!

I would like you to boot into ubuntu for me. Then you need to open up a Terminal session. After that I would like you to type:

Code:

 gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

This will bring up a text file. Then I would like you post everything that is in that file in your next post, so that we can see what is going on.

The menu.lst file list all the information that tells GRUB what OS to start, and which partition the data is on.

Cheers!

sheabarbacci · 11-19-2008, 05:20 PM

Well, I ended up trying to take matters into my own hands.

Xp had previously been installed on an extended partition, so i reinstalled it on a primary partition with no real reasoning behind my actions. Now my grub menu is gone, and any attempts I make to bring it back are failures.

I tried reinstalling grub from the ubuntu live boot cd with this technique:

1. Boot from a Live CD, like Ubuntu Live, Knoppix, Mepis, or similar.

2. Open a Terminal. Go SuperUser (that is, type "su"). Enter root passwords as necessary.

3. Type "grub" which makes a GRUB prompt appear.

4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0)" or in my case "(hd0,3)". Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines.

5. Type "root (hd0,3)".

6. Type "setup (hd0,3)". This is key. Other instructions say to use "(hd0)", and that's fine if you want to write GRUB to the MBR. If you want to write it to your linux root partition, then you want the number after the comma, such as "(hd0,3)".

7. Type "quit".

8. Restart the system. Remove the bootable CD.

The output in the terminal made it seems like my efforts resulted in success, but when I rebooted I still was brought to the Windows Boot Loader. I frowned.

**Bartender** · 11-20-2008, 08:59 AM

"Xp had previously been installed on an extended partition, so i reinstalled it on a primary partition with no real reasoning behind my actions."

What's that you say? I've been told over and over that Windows CANNOT boot from an extended partition. I accepted that as gospel and now you're saying that's not true?

Oh, I feel it coming on. One of those "There's no solid ground to stand on" moments...

You've reinstalled Windows? Instead of messing around with CLI grub commands, why not just try reinstalling Ubuntu from scratch?

better yet, wipe the drive clean with a GParted LiveCD (GPLCD),
create a primary partition for Windows.
Format it as ntfs.
create an extended partition out of the remaining space.
create a logical partition inside the extended, format it as ext3.
Pop in your XP disc, install to the ntfs partition (Windows installer should ignore the extended partition)
Install all the Sony drivers so that Xp is working fine.
Then pop in your Ubuntu disc and install to the logical partition.

GRUB really should install where it's supposed to.

Is there any chance the Ubuntu disc isn't 100%? If you don't need the "test drive" function of the LiveCD, I'd suggest downloading the "alternate install" version and burning that to a good-quality, CD-R at a low speed (4X to 8X) and installing from the alt-install CD. For some people the alt-install works when the Live didn't.

Search this forum for "GParted LiveCD" or "GPLCD" Numerous discussions in the past.

**wmorri** · 11-20-2008, 02:32 PM

Hi,

Please follow these instructions line for line. This will allow you to partition your hdd. You will need two things, an ISO file from

Gparted, and a program that will allow you to burn a LiveCD. I would recommend CDburnerXP, or Finalburner. Unless you have a cd burner that will burn ISO files. A regular cd burning program won't work. It must have an ISO burning function.

Go to GParted, then download an ISO file for the latest version.
Download a copy of CDburnerXP or Finalburner or an ISO burner of your choice.
Burn a LiveCd

Let me know when you have that done and I will help you with the next step.

Cheers!

shuuhen · 11-20-2008, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheabarbacci

Well, I ended up trying to take matters into my own hands.

Xp had previously been installed on an extended partition, so i reinstalled it on a primary partition with no real reasoning behind my actions. Now my grub menu is gone, and any attempts I make to bring it back are failures.

I tried reinstalling grub from the ubuntu live boot cd with this technique:

1. Boot from a Live CD, like Ubuntu Live, Knoppix, Mepis, or similar.

2. Open a Terminal. Go SuperUser (that is, type "su"). Enter root passwords as necessary.

3. Type "grub" which makes a GRUB prompt appear.

4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0)" or in my case "(hd0,3)". Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines.

5. Type "root (hd0,3)".

6. Type "setup (hd0,3)". This is key. Other instructions say to use "(hd0)", and that's fine if you want to write GRUB to the MBR. If you want to write it to your linux root partition, then you want the number after the comma, such as "(hd0,3)".

7. Type "quit".

8. Restart the system. Remove the bootable CD.

The output in the terminal made it seems like my efforts resulted in success, but when I rebooted I still was brought to the Windows Boot Loader. I frowned.

That's the manual way of installing GRUB - which should work fine. There's also a handy utility called grub-install. You generally want the bootloader to be in the MBR. Are the two operating systems on the same drive? If so, try what you did before but with (hd0) instead of (hd0,3). I suspect you're getting the Windows loader, since it's in the MBR and nothing's set up to point to GRUB from there.

sheabarbacci · 11-21-2008, 06:10 PM

Quote:

What's that you say? I've been told over and over that Windows CANNOT boot from an extended partition. I accepted that as gospel and now you're saying that's not true?

I was saying that must be true, and I learned it the heard way.

I reinstalled xp on a primary partition and booted the Ubuntu Live Cd. Then I removed Grub.

Quote:

sudo apt-get remove grub

Then I installed the super special Grub with all the fancy colors and graphics and stuff, and my problem just king of went away. WHOOHOO!

shiningpathb4me · 11-25-2008, 08:26 PM

I give each linux distro it's own drive and install grub in the MBR of the second drive. I switch the boot order in the BIOS, so my computer looks there (on the 2nd drive) for a boot record. Grub can't screw up my windows boot. If grub doesn't behave, all I have to do is reset my BIOS/reboot to load from C:\ and fix whatever seemed to be the problem.

11-18-2008, 05:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
sheabarbacci Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Ubuntu Hardy	DualBoot Xp/Ubuntu Grub Problem I've got a sony viao with xp. I decided to install Ubuntu (hardy) and dual boot. Now when I select windows xp in the grub menu, It doesn't load xp but rather sends me to a grub-terminal like thing. "Grub >" Everything is partitioned right, what is the problem??

11-18-2008, 06:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
wmorri Moderator Alt. Computing Join Date: May 2008 Location: /etc/pm Posts: 1,224 OS: Vista Basic SP1/Ubuntu 8.04/Fedora 10	Re: DualBoot Xp/Ubuntu Grub Problem Welcome to TSF!! I would like you to boot into ubuntu for me. Then you need to open up a Terminal session. After that I would like you to type: Code: gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst This will bring up a text file. Then I would like you post everything that is in that file in your next post, so that we can see what is going on. The menu.lst file list all the information that tells GRUB what OS to start, and which partition the data is on. Cheers! __________________ If I have posted on your thread and haven't replied within 48hrs please PM me. I will try to be as prompt as possible! Linux Forever! Learning is doing, not being able to follow steps put forth by others. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier.

11-19-2008, 05:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
sheabarbacci Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Ubuntu Hardy	Re: DualBoot Xp/Ubuntu Grub Problem Well, I ended up trying to take matters into my own hands. Xp had previously been installed on an extended partition, so i reinstalled it on a primary partition with no real reasoning behind my actions. Now my grub menu is gone, and any attempts I make to bring it back are failures. I tried reinstalling grub from the ubuntu live boot cd with this technique: 1. Boot from a Live CD, like Ubuntu Live, Knoppix, Mepis, or similar. 2. Open a Terminal. Go SuperUser (that is, type "su"). Enter root passwords as necessary. 3. Type "grub" which makes a GRUB prompt appear. 4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0)" or in my case "(hd0,3)". Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines. 5. Type "root (hd0,3)". 6. Type "setup (hd0,3)". This is key. Other instructions say to use "(hd0)", and that's fine if you want to write GRUB to the MBR. If you want to write it to your linux root partition, then you want the number after the comma, such as "(hd0,3)". 7. Type "quit". 8. Restart the system. Remove the bootable CD. The output in the terminal made it seems like my efforts resulted in success, but when I rebooted I still was brought to the Windows Boot Loader. I frowned.

11-20-2008, 08:59 AM	#4 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,231 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	Re: DualBoot Xp/Ubuntu Grub Problem "Xp had previously been installed on an extended partition, so i reinstalled it on a primary partition with no real reasoning behind my actions." What's that you say? I've been told over and over that Windows CANNOT boot from an extended partition. I accepted that as gospel and now you're saying that's not true? Oh, I feel it coming on. One of those "There's no solid ground to stand on" moments... You've reinstalled Windows? Instead of messing around with CLI grub commands, why not just try reinstalling Ubuntu from scratch? better yet, wipe the drive clean with a GParted LiveCD (GPLCD), create a primary partition for Windows. Format it as ntfs. create an extended partition out of the remaining space. create a logical partition inside the extended, format it as ext3. Pop in your XP disc, install to the ntfs partition (Windows installer should ignore the extended partition) Install all the Sony drivers so that Xp is working fine. Then pop in your Ubuntu disc and install to the logical partition. GRUB really should install where it's supposed to. Is there any chance the Ubuntu disc isn't 100%? If you don't need the "test drive" function of the LiveCD, I'd suggest downloading the "alternate install" version and burning that to a good-quality, CD-R at a low speed (4X to 8X) and installing from the alt-install CD. For some people the alt-install works when the Live didn't. Search this forum for "GParted LiveCD" or "GPLCD" Numerous discussions in the past.

11-20-2008, 02:32 PM	#5 (permalink)
wmorri Moderator Alt. Computing Join Date: May 2008 Location: /etc/pm Posts: 1,224 OS: Vista Basic SP1/Ubuntu 8.04/Fedora 10	Re: DualBoot Xp/Ubuntu Grub Problem Hi, Please follow these instructions line for line. This will allow you to partition your hdd. You will need two things, an ISO file from Gparted, and a program that will allow you to burn a LiveCD. I would recommend CDburnerXP, or Finalburner. Unless you have a cd burner that will burn ISO files. A regular cd burning program won't work. It must have an ISO burning function. Go to GParted, then download an ISO file for the latest version. Download a copy of CDburnerXP or Finalburner or an ISO burner of your choice. Burn a LiveCd Let me know when you have that done and I will help you with the next step. Cheers! __________________ If I have posted on your thread and haven't replied within 48hrs please PM me. I will try to be as prompt as possible! Linux Forever! Learning is doing, not being able to follow steps put forth by others. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier.

11-25-2008, 08:26 PM	#8 (permalink)
shiningpathb4me Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 32 OS: XPPro	Re: DualBoot Xp/Ubuntu Grub Problem I give each linux distro it's own drive and install grub in the MBR of the second drive. I switch the boot order in the BIOS, so my computer looks there (on the 2nd drive) for a boot record. Grub can't screw up my windows boot. If grub doesn't behave, all I have to do is reset my BIOS/reboot to load from C:\ and fix whatever seemed to be the problem. __________________ ECS Crossfire KA1MVPAth64 - Powercolor X800GT- 3X(SATA HD) - WinXP Pro - Fedora Core 7 - Mandriva 2009.