Ubuntu

No operating system found when trying to install 12.04 after 11.04 stopped booting

Asked by John Tanner

11.04 stopped booting at password stage, so I tried to fix it and update the system at the same time by installing 12.04 from DVD. I'm no expert and bungled the start, and on retrying got the message 'no operating system found'. I didn't get the update message, so how do I now proceed to install 12.04 without erasing all of the existing data files on the disk?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Did you try and upgrade the Natty install to Precise or did you clean install Precise and wipe out the old install first?
Did you MD5 test the ISO you downloaded?
Did you burn the CD as slowly as possible?

I suggest you run a final backup of the data then do a clean install

Far easier.

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N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nicktux) said : 		#2

Thank you for taking the time to report this issue and helping to make Ubuntu better.
You can also find help with your problem in the support forum of your local Ubuntu community http://loco.ubuntu.com/ or asking at http://askubuntu.com or http://ubuntuforums.org .
Do not forget to mark this question as "solved" when this done, by clicking the button "This solved my question" in the appropriate answer.

Please read some answers here for an effective way to upgrade your EOL Ubuntu distribution.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/203301/how-to-safely-upgrade-from-an-older-ubuntu-version-to-a-newer-one

Best Regards
    NikTh

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John Tanner (sarnau) said : 		#3

I tried to upgrade Natty to Precise, but in the early stages decided to abort, as I wasn't sure how to proceed to make sure that no data was lost. I clicked 'back' buttons, but somewhere went wrong as a 'Fatal error' message appeared. After that the 'no operating system found' message is presented if I try to install Precise, so I'm not given the choice of upgrading to save existing data.

I have a poor slow internet connection with a tight data volume restriction, so I purchase disks when needed. The Precise disk is fine as it has been used successfully on other machines.

How exactly do I do the final backup to which you refer?

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N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nicktux) said : 		#4

Hello,

you will boot from the Live Precise image (CD/DVD or USB-stick) and you should see the option for upgrade to precise in the installer's window. By clicking this option you should not lose any personal data.
If you want to backup your personal data (for double safety) you can plug an external HDD and copy them there.

The copy procedure is easy at that:

Open the file manager , navigate to your home directory and copy all your precious data into a directory on external HDD.
Or
you can copy the whole /home directory into external HDD.

Best Regards
    NikTh

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