BIGTIME Startup issue... please help.

Sinani201 · 01-10-2009, 10:21 PM

I'm not sure if this belongs in Vista help or Linux help, but I felt is was more related to Linux, so I'll post it here.

Errr... OK. So there's this Linux I wanted to get, and it was free, so I got it. I made the partition in the hard drive, and everything worked fine. I had Dual Boot, so whenever I started up my computer, I could choose between gOS (the Linux distribution I got) or Vista.
I wasn't really using it, so I wanted to delete it because it was hogging disk space. I looked in gOS for some kind of uninstall, but there was none, so I just went into some kind of manager built into Vista in order to remove the partition manually. None of them had names, so I checked how much space gOS had, and it had 50.9GB. Then I deleted the partition with 50.9GB in the Vista partition thingy, by right-clicking it, and then just pressing delete.

Baaaaaaad idea.

Now, Whenever I start my computer, it's frozen on the following:
"GRUB Loading stage1.5.

GRUB loading, please wait...
Error 17"
So... ummmm... anyone know what to do here? I'm kinda stuck...

shuuhen · 01-10-2009, 10:51 PM

GRUB is the bootloader the Linux distribution installed. It doesn't know what to do since its configuration file is stored on the Linux side. This thread may help: http://www.techsupportforum.com/alte...rror-22-a.html

As for the partitions, Linux uses different filesystems. Windows ones should show up as FAT or NTFS, but Linux ones will be something else (like ext2, ext3 or various others).

**Bartender** · 01-11-2009, 06:26 AM

Sinani, Windows cannot start itself without a tiny bit of code at the "front" of the HDD called the Master Boot Record (MBR). I don't remember off the top of my head how small the MBR is, but it's dinky. Without that little scrap of data, Windows can't start itself up.

Linux distros need a packet of data to start up also. It's called a bootloader in the Linux world. There are several different bootloaders. The most popular are GRUB and Lilo. Gos apparently uses GRUB.

When people dual-boot, here's what typically happens. The Linux bootloader, which is more complex and smarter than the Windows MBR, is capable of modifying the Windows MBR so that Windows can still start up, but you get the screen that lets you pick whether to start Windows or Linux.

I'm pretty sure that the actual mechanics of it goes like this: the computer starts up to find GRUB Stage 1 instead of the Windows MBR. Stage 1 sends the computer to GRUB Stage 2, which is located on the Linux partition. If you pick Windows, GRUB Stage 2 is capable of sending the computer back to start up the Windows partition.

All the user sees of this behind-the-curtains activity is the DOS-like screen saying "Pick which OS you want to start"

When you removed Linux from your HDD, you removed GRUB Stage 2. So GRUB Stage 1 starts, but can go no further because Stage 2 is gone. That's when you get the error message.

All you need to do is reinstall the Windows MBR. There are a million posts on this subject. You can do it with a Windows disc or a SuperGRUB disc or etc.

01-10-2009, 10:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
Sinani201 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 7 OS: Windows Vista, Windows 7 Beta (switching to RC), Ubuntu, Kubuntu	BIGTIME Startup issue... please help. I'm not sure if this belongs in Vista help or Linux help, but I felt is was more related to Linux, so I'll post it here. Errr... OK. So there's this Linux I wanted to get, and it was free, so I got it. I made the partition in the hard drive, and everything worked fine. I had Dual Boot, so whenever I started up my computer, I could choose between gOS (the Linux distribution I got) or Vista. I wasn't really using it, so I wanted to delete it because it was hogging disk space. I looked in gOS for some kind of uninstall, but there was none, so I just went into some kind of manager built into Vista in order to remove the partition manually. None of them had names, so I checked how much space gOS had, and it had 50.9GB. Then I deleted the partition with 50.9GB in the Vista partition thingy, by right-clicking it, and then just pressing delete. Baaaaaaad idea. Now, Whenever I start my computer, it's frozen on the following: "GRUB Loading stage1.5. GRUB loading, please wait... Error 17" So... ummmm... anyone know what to do here? I'm kinda stuck... Last edited by Sinani201; 01-10-2009 at 10:23 PM.

01-10-2009, 10:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
shuuhen Manager Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 990 OS: Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS X 10.5.8, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 6.0, Gentoo Linux My System	Re: BIGTIME Startup issue... please help. GRUB is the bootloader the Linux distribution installed. It doesn't know what to do since its configuration file is stored on the Linux side. This thread may help: http://www.techsupportforum.com/alte...rror-22-a.html As for the partitions, Linux uses different filesystems. Windows ones should show up as FAT or NTFS, but Linux ones will be something else (like ext2, ext3 or various others). __________________ Has it been a few days since I replied to your thread? Don't panic! I'm a busy college student and may forget a post if I'm extra busy (or it might just take me a while to be able to do a decent reply). If you still need help and are awaiting my reply after a few days, PM me about it. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier.

01-11-2009, 06:26 AM	#3 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,285 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	Re: BIGTIME Startup issue... please help. Sinani, Windows cannot start itself without a tiny bit of code at the "front" of the HDD called the Master Boot Record (MBR). I don't remember off the top of my head how small the MBR is, but it's dinky. Without that little scrap of data, Windows can't start itself up. Linux distros need a packet of data to start up also. It's called a bootloader in the Linux world. There are several different bootloaders. The most popular are GRUB and Lilo. Gos apparently uses GRUB. When people dual-boot, here's what typically happens. The Linux bootloader, which is more complex and smarter than the Windows MBR, is capable of modifying the Windows MBR so that Windows can still start up, but you get the screen that lets you pick whether to start Windows or Linux. I'm pretty sure that the actual mechanics of it goes like this: the computer starts up to find GRUB Stage 1 instead of the Windows MBR. Stage 1 sends the computer to GRUB Stage 2, which is located on the Linux partition. If you pick Windows, GRUB Stage 2 is capable of sending the computer back to start up the Windows partition. All the user sees of this behind-the-curtains activity is the DOS-like screen saying "Pick which OS you want to start" When you removed Linux from your HDD, you removed GRUB Stage 2. So GRUB Stage 1 starts, but can go no further because Stage 2 is gone. That's when you get the error message. All you need to do is reinstall the Windows MBR. There are a million posts on this subject. You can do it with a Windows disc or a SuperGRUB disc or etc.