Ub 9.10/Win XP Dual Bootup Problem

Asked by srikumar

I have been using a Ub 9.10 / Win XP Dual Boot up for a long time.

This morning Ub 9.10 was upgraded to the latest version.

Thereafter I am able to boot into Ubuntu but cannot boot into Win XP. The error message from the Grub Boot Loader is as follows:-

error: invalid signature
press any key to continue....

The edit iof the entry for Win XP in the GRub boot loader is as follows:-

drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1

I run two programs on Win XP which I desperately need to access. Therefore I need to boot into Win XP.
Any suggestions?

Thank you
srikumar

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
srikumar
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
David Jones (dj) said :
#1

  You can always use the altF10 system restore to correct the problem. Or just simply insert the Ubuntu disk and restart your pc which will rewrite the entire disk.

 David
 in TN

Revision history for this message
srikumar (ssrikumar) said :
#2

At what point do I use altF10?

I do not wish to rewrite the entire disk since all data will be lost.

It seems that this problem is with the Grub Boot Loader. if so how to edit this? and what to edit?

any suggestions?

thank you
srikumar

Revision history for this message
srikumar (ssrikumar) said :
#3

The details of the Grub.cfg file are as follows:-
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s /boot/grub/grubenv ]; then
  have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
  saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
  save_env saved_entry
  prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
fi
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/white
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-20-generic" {
        recordfail=1
        if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
 set quiet=1
 linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic root=/dev/sdb5 ro quiet splash
 initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-20-generic (recovery mode)" {
        recordfail=1
        if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
 linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic root=/dev/sdb5 ro single
 initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-19-generic" {
        recordfail=1
        if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
 set quiet=1
 linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-19-generic root=/dev/sdb5 ro quiet splash
 initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-19-generic (recovery mode)" {
        recordfail=1
        if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
 linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-19-generic root=/dev/sdb5 ro single
 initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
        recordfail=1
        if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
 set quiet=1
 linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=/dev/sdb5 ro quiet splash
 initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode)" {
        recordfail=1
        if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
 linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=/dev/sdb5 ro single
 initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
 linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
 linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Professional (on /dev/sdb1)" {
 drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
 chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

any help?
srikumar

Revision history for this message
Tom (tom6) said :
#4

Hi :)

Please can you get to a command-line and give us the output of

sudo fdisk -l

where " -l" is a lower-case " -L"
This should hopefully show us that Windows is still on your system otherwise we might need to use this guide
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DataRecovery

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Revision history for this message
srikumar (ssrikumar) said :
#5

Dear Tom

I am able to access the partition with Win XP using the Ub 9.10 file manager. So I have been able to back-up the data.

the results of "sudo fdisk -l" are as follows:-

Disk /dev/sda: 20.4 GB, 20416757760 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2482 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x64276427

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 2481 19928601 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00043e85

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 6533 52476291 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 6534 19457 103812030 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 6534 18926 99546741 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 18927 19457 4265226 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdc: 1027 MB, 1027604480 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 3920 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2b2a1661

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 1 3920 1003504 e W95 FAT16 (LBA)
srikumar@srikumar-desktop:~$

I have 2 HDD's, the backup HDD is the 20GB, the main one is 160 GB with Ub 9.10 and Win XP in the 2 partitions.

any suggestions?
thank you
srikumar

Revision history for this message
srikumar (ssrikumar) said :
#6

It seems that the problem is with the Grub 1 being replaced by Grub 2 (Super Grub)when the system was upgraded to "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-20-generic" this morning.

The "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-20-generic" seems to have automatically replaced the Grub since "menu.lst" is missing and has been replaced by 'grub.cfg" .

Grub always seems to give a lot of headaches!

If an answer does not turn up soon, the HDD will have to be formatted and WinXP, Ub 9.10 and windows programs installed all over again. This is such a slow process and I would be glad to avoid it if possible.

srikumar

Revision history for this message
Tom (tom6) said :
#7

Hi :)

Well it looks as though the Windows stuff is probably all there. Certainly there are Windows partitions still there.

The fact that you cannot access them right now does not mean you have to wipe them. I really don't understand that way of thinking as it is very Windows style thinking. You do not need to "burn your bridges". Just work at being able to access the Windows.

If the issue is that you really need to be able to boot into Windows fast then setup a virtual machine inside Ubuntu (VirtualBox is good) and then install Windows into that. Doing so would add additional functionality to your machine and would still be useful even after you have managed to access you Windows dual-boot.

My own way of trying to solve this would be to install Grub through the package manager and see if i could get the older grub reinstalled and make that one the main one. Of course i would first backup the menu.lst in case it replaced that

cd /boot/grub
ls
sudo cp menu.lst menu.lst.050310
ls

Note that "ls" should give a LiSt of what is in the folder/directory and the 2nd time you enter it the file "menu.lst.050310" should have appeared.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Revision history for this message
Tom (tom6) said :
#8

Hi again :)

Formatting the hard-drive would be YOUR CHOICE, doing so would wipe the data that is still there. The data wouldn't have been lost due to Ubuntu as the data still seems to be there right now. If you lose data through this then that is YOU not the OS that lost the data.

Try going up to the top taskbar and click on "Places". You should see several entries saying things like "16.1 GB Media". If you click on a few of those you will see that 2 of them refer to your Windows install and you can navigate through to your data to retrieve it.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Revision history for this message
srikumar (ssrikumar) said :
#9

Dear Tom

The file "menu.lst" has automatically been deleted by the "new" Grub.

The output is attached.

srikumar@srikumar-desktop:/boot/grub$ ls
915resolution.mod efiemu64.o lspci.mod reiserfs.mod
acpi.mod efiemu.mod lvm.mod scsi.mod
affs.mod elf.mod mdraid.mod search.mod
afs_be.mod ext2.mod memdisk.mod serial.mod
afs.mod extcmd.mod memrw.mod setjmp.mod
aout.mod fat.mod minicmd.mod sfs.mod
ata.mod font.mod minix.mod sh.mod
ata_pthru.mod fs_file.mod mmap.mod sleep.mod
at_keyboard.mod fshelp.mod moddep.lst tar.mod
befs_be.mod fs.lst msdospart.mod terminfo.mod
befs.mod fs_uuid.mod multiboot.mod test.mod
biosdisk.mod gfxterm.mod normal.mod tga.mod
bitmap.mod gptsync.mod ntfscomp.mod true.mod
blocklist.mod grub.cfg ntfs.mod udf.mod
boot.img grubenv ohci.mod ufs1.mod
boot.mod gzio.mod part_acorn.mod ufs2.mod
bsd.mod halt.mod part_amiga.mod uhci.mod
bufio.mod handler.lst part_apple.mod unicode.pf2
cat.mod handler.mod part_gpt.mod usb_keyboard.mod
cdboot.img hdparm.mod partmap.lst usb.mod
chain.mod hello.mod part_msdos.mod usbms.mod
cmp.mod help.mod part_sun.mod usbtest.mod
command.lst hexdump.mod parttool.lst vbeinfo.mod
configfile.mod hfs.mod parttool.mod vbe.mod
core.img hfsplus.mod password.mod vbetest.mod
cpio.mod iso9660.mod pci.mod vga.mod
cpuid.mod jfs.mod play.mod vga_text.mod
crc.mod jpeg.mod png.mod video_fb.mod
datehook.mod kernel.img probe.mod video.mod
date.mod keystatus.mod pxeboot.img videotest.mod
datetime.mod linux16.mod pxecmd.mod xfs.mod
device.map linux.mod pxe.mod xnu.mod
diskboot.img lnxboot.img raid5rec.mod xnu_uuid.mod
dm_nv.mod loadenv.mod raid6rec.mod zfsinfo.mod
drivemap.mod loopback.mod raid.mod zfs.mod
echo.mod lsmmap.mod read.mod
efiemu32.o ls.mod reboot.mod
srikumar@srikumar-desktop:/boot/grub$ sudo cp menu.lst menu.lst.050310
cp: cannot stat `menu.lst': No such file or directory
srikumar@srikumar-desktop:/boot/grub$ ls

kind regards
srikumar

Revision history for this message
srikumar (ssrikumar) said :
#10

Dear Tom

The Grub Menu entry for WinXP was edited as follows:-

root hd(0,1)
chainloader +1

This permitted me to boot into WinXP without any problem.

However the old entries still appear in the Grub Menu entry for WinXP.
How to edit the Grub Menu and Save the changes.

kind regards
srikumar

Revision history for this message
srikumar (ssrikumar) said :
#11

Can the entries in "menu.cfg" be edited, although it says "do not edit"?

srikumar

Revision history for this message
Tom (tom6) said :
#12

Hi :)

I don't know anything about Grub2. I think the .cfg file should not be edited. With Grub-legacy it was possible to edited the menu during bootup when the menu appeared is this possible with grub2? Have you tried installing grub (legacy or original or grub1 or whatever we are supposed to call it)?

I think you might need to re-post this question now
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addquestion
and at ubuntuforums and at
http://www.linuxquestions.org

In the meantime i would seriously suggest installing "Virtualbox" as it is very easy to run as a virtual machine if you have never run one before.

I'm sorry i haven't been any help in this thread
Good luck with this, regards from
Tom

Revision history for this message
srikumar (ssrikumar) said :
#13

problem solved - See Q No: 103281

thanks for all assistance
srikumar

Revision history for this message
Tom (tom6) said :
#14

Hi :)

Brilliant, glad you have managed to find a good answer to this. I just thought i would add a url link for people that like to click without thinking
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/103281

Thanks and regards from
Tom :)