Ubuntu 12.04 won't load

I have a similar problem - after choosing the Ubuntu in the grub menu I get a black screen.

Started the live CD and can see the partitions (windows and Ubuntu ) but cannot startup into Ubuntu.

tried reinstalling 12.04 from live cd.. but it does not recognize any partitions anymore (do not know if this is a related or different problem).

Any help - advise welcome.

Boot to liveCD and fsck the partition, may help

What is fsck and what partition should be fsck-ed?

>________________________________
> From: actionparsnip <email address hidden>
>To: <email address hidden>
>Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 12:55:41 PM
>Subject: Re: [Question #195032]: Ubuntu 12.04 won't load
>
>Your question #195032 on apt in Ubuntu changed:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>    Status: Open => Answered
>
>actionparsnip proposed the following answer:
>Boot to liveCD and fsck the partition, may help
>
>--
>If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
>know that it is solved:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032/+confirm?answer_id=1
>
>If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
>following page to enter your feedback:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>
>
>

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SystemAdministration/Fsck

fsck the system partition

I booted to the live Ubuntu 12.04 LTS CD and chose Install. I could not find fsck that you mentioned but the following appeared:

Installation
   sda1 (ntfs)       sda2 (ntfs)    [a green square appeared to the left of sda1 partition and an orange one to the left of sda2 partition]
   486.4 GB        13.7 GB

Device             Type    Mount point    Format?        Size                        Used
/dev/sda1         ntfs                                                    486377 MB            351763 MB
/dev/sda2         ntfs                                                    13727 MB                11805 MB
/dev/sdf
/dev/sdf            fat32                                                 8160 MB                    33 MB

New Partition Table ...        Add        Change ...        Delete        Revert

Device for boot loader installation:
/dev/sdf    Flash Drive        SK_USB20 (8.2 GB)                             [with a down arrow head here]

I assumed that sda1 (ntfs) is Windows C: drive and sda2 (ntfs) is Windows D: drive. My computer has one 500 GB hard drive installed originally partitioned into C: and D: drives by HP. I thought /dev/sdf fat 32 is the Ubuntu drive which I hilited and tried to install Ubuntu 12.04 into. I got this message menu:

No root file system
    No root file system is defined.
    Please correct this from the partitioning menu.
                                                                    OK

I could not find out how to do that. But maybe sda2 (ntfs) is the Ubuntu partition since there is an orange square to the left of it. I do not want to mess up Windows so I need to know what to do for sure.

>________________________________
> From: actionparsnip <email address hidden>
>To: <email address hidden>
>Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 12:55:41 PM
>Subject: Re: [Question #195032]: Ubuntu 12.04 won't load
>
>Your question #195032 on apt in Ubuntu changed:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>    Status: Open => Answered
>
>actionparsnip proposed the following answer:
>Boot to liveCD and fsck the partition, may help
>
>--
>If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
>know that it is solved:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032/+confirm?answer_id=1
>
>If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
>following page to enter your feedback:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>
>
>

fsck is a command you run in the terminal. What you are trying to do at the moment is potentially dangerous, so ensure you have all data backed up. It is all too easy to make a mistake and destroy data in all or any of your partitions. Ubuntu always goes onto an ext2 3 or 4 partition if installed in the regular way. We need to know how you installed your 11.10. It sounds to me as though you either put it on top of Windows using wubi (the thing that autoruns from the live-CD under Windows) or you did something else less conventional. Boot into Windows and take a look at the fat32 partition - you'll almost certainly find that HP put it there as a rescue partition.

If you did do a wubi installation over Windows, then you need advice that I can't give as I've never used wubi. Make absolutely certain you have the means to re-install Windows if that is important to you as well as backing up data. I can't be too heavy with a note of extreme caution here.

Originally, I dual booted Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit with Windows 7 64-bit from the Ubuntu install site using the Windows installer which is wubi.exe onto my HP computer. Both Ubuntu and Windows booted up independently (one or the other, not both together) without problems. When I tried to update to Ubuntu 12.04 while in Ubuntu 11.10 the download of the update seemed to be going OK although it was extremely slow and took many hours. Near the end of the 12.04 update installation stage it stopped the install and informed that were too many errors but it went
on to needing a restart of my computer, which I did. After the restart the Grub boot system seems OK and offers for me to boot to Windows 7 or Ubuntu. So I booted into Ubuntu (or at least, tried to) and it takes me to the menu needing my password as normal; however, after I enter my password and hit the
Enter key I get this message, "No
system tray detected on this system. Unable to start, exiting".

If I can be sure of which partition is the Ubuntu partition, then I can try to reinstall Ubuntu 12.04 into it from the Ubuntu 12.04.iso file that I downloaded and burned to a CD. I have tried this by putting the .iso CD into the DVD and rebooting and that is where I got the previous information on this question regarding the partitions on the 500 GB hard drive in my computer.

The Windows 7 D: drive is HP's Restore partition and, yes, I need to be cautious because Windows 7 is important to me since I am trying to learn Ubuntu and will not use it exclusively until I am well versed with Ubuntu.

>________________________________
> From: Barry Drake <email address hidden>
>To: <email address hidden>
>Sent: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 4:15:39 AM
>Subject: Re: [Question #195032]: Ubuntu 12.04 won't load
>
>Your question #195032 on apt in Ubuntu changed:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>    Status: Open => Needs information
>
>Barry Drake requested more information:
>fsck is a command you run in the terminal.  What you are trying to do at
>the moment is potentially dangerous, so ensure you have all data backed
>up.  It is all too easy to make a mistake and destroy data in all or any
>of your partitions.  Ubuntu always goes onto an ext2 3 or 4 partition if
>installed in the regular way.  We need to know how you installed your
>11.10.  It sounds to me as though you either put it on top of Windows
>using wubi (the thing that autoruns from the live-CD under Windows) or
>you did something else less conventional.  Boot into Windows and take a
>look at the fat32 partition - you'll almost certainly find that HP put
>it there as a rescue partition.
>
>If you did do a wubi installation over Windows, then you need advice
>that I can't give as I've never used wubi.  Make absolutely certain you
>have the means to re-install Windows if that is important to you as well
>as backing up data.  I can't be too heavy with a note of extreme caution
>here.
>
>--
>To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
>this email or enter your reply at the following page:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>
>
>

Hi,

my problem was of an other kind - which i solved.
best solution for you is to launch into the trial version on the live cd - and in the folders menu look at the different partitions listed in top left. Should show you all hard drives... from there you will see how big each section is - and the data on the drives..
is there any data on the Ubuntu partition that ou require? can you access that data? if yes copy it onto a external device. if not please let me know.. easy fix to get to it.
the run the live cd again - this time install Ubuntu onto the partition which corresponds with the size that ou just now checked- might also be labelled in the installer.

hope this helps.
regards
Eagle

Problem - you don't actually have aseparate partition for Ubuntu. Ubuntu has been installed under Windows in a pseudo filesystem created somewhere in one of your NTFS partitions. If you try to do anything, you will almost certainly end up with no access to anything at all. At the moment, can you boot into Windows? If so, it is really difficult to suggest what to do for the best. Get the up-to date live-CD iso and burn a DVD. Try this to see if wubi makes any sensible suggestions. If it offers to re-install 12.02 that might work - but you could damage all your stuff including Windows. Be prepared to do a re-installation of Windows WITHOUT keeping your original system. After that, use the live-CD as a boot CD and use that to re-install Ubuntu as a clean install.

Your statement that "you don't actually have a separate partition for Ubuntu.
Ubuntu has been installed under Windows in a pseudo filesystem created
somewhere in one of your NTFS partitions", is quite interesting.
In Programs and Features in Control Panel in my Windows 7 64-bit on my computer, Ubuntu appears as an installed Program 11.10- rev245. This is the way that I wanted Ubuntu 11.10 to be installed on my computer which is one of the options provided on the Install Ubuntu page. That method of running Ubuntu on Windows (where it is not physically using a partition on my hard drive) is what I wanted. Why it would not upgrade as any other program in Windows usually does is a mystery to me. Do you know if I can uninstall Ubuntu 11.10 using Programs and Features in Control Panel in Windows and will it also uninstall what appears to be Grub if I need to do that or is it too risky?
I have previously dual booted an old version of Ubuntu on my old computer where the Ubuntu .iso disk partitioned my hard drive on that old computer. This installation on my Windows 7 64-bit computer appeared to be installed the same way as a separate partition of my hard drive for Ubuntu 11.10,  but that is not so. It is only installed as a program.The reason it looked like a dual boot on a separate partition is the way my Windows 7 64-bit computer boots up giving me the option to boot to Windows or Ubuntu (which I think or guess is done by Grub) since it looks much the same as it did on my old computer dual boot.

I like the install as a program if I can get Ubuntu to work again.

>________________________________
> From: Barry Drake <email address hidden>
>To: <email address hidden>
>Sent: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 3:30:49 PM
>Subject: Re: [Question #195032]: Ubuntu 12.04 won't load
>
>Your question #195032 on apt in Ubuntu changed:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>    Status: Needs information => Answered
>
>Barry Drake proposed the following answer:
>Problem - you don't actually have aseparate partition for Ubuntu.
>Ubuntu has been installed under Windows in a pseudo filesystem created
>somewhere in one of your NTFS partitions.  If you try to do anything,
>you will almost certainly end up with no access to anything at all.  At
>the moment, can you boot into Windows?  If so, it is really difficult to
>suggest what to do for the best.  Get the up-to date live-CD iso and
>burn a DVD.  Try this to see if wubi makes any sensible suggestions.  If
>it offers to re-install 12.02 that might work - but you could damage all
>your stuff including Windows.  Be prepared to do a re-installation of
>Windows WITHOUT keeping your original system.  After that, use the live-
>CD as a boot CD and use that to re-install Ubuntu as a clean install.
>
>--
>If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
>know that it is solved:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032/+confirm?answer_id=8
>
>If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
>following page to enter your feedback:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>
>
>

In Programs and Features in Control Panel in my Windows 7 64-bit, Ubuntu appears as an installed
Program 11.10- rev245. This is the way that I wanted Ubuntu 11.10 to be
installed on my computer which is one of the options provided on the
Install Ubuntu page. That method of running Ubuntu on Windows (where it
is not physically using a partition on my hard drive) is what I wanted.
Why it would not upgrade as any other program in Windows usually does is a mystery to me. Do you know if I can uninstall Ubuntu 11.10 using
Programs and Features in Control Panel in Windows and will it also
uninstall what appears to be Grub if I need to uninstall Ubuntu 11.10- rev245 or is it too
risky?
I have previously dual booted an
old version of Ubuntu on my old computer where the Ubuntu .iso disk
partitioned my hard drive on that old computer. This installation on my
Windows 7 64-bit computer appeared to be installed the same way as a
separate partition of my hard drive for Ubuntu 11.10,  but that is not
so. It is only installed as a program.The reason it looked like a dual
boot on a separate partition is the way my Windows 7 64-bit computer
boots up giving me the option to boot to Windows or Ubuntu (which I
think or guess is done by Grub) since it looks much the same as it did
on my old computer dual boot.

I like the install as a program if I can get Ubuntu to work again.

>________________________________
> From: R-thorsten-r <email address hidden>
>To: <email address hidden>
>Sent: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 2:30:59 PM
>Subject: Re: [Question #195032]: Ubuntu 12.04 won't load
>
>Your question #195032 on apt in Ubuntu changed:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>    Status: Open => Needs information
>
>R-thorsten-r requested more information:
>Hi,
>
>my problem was of an other kind - which i solved.
>best solution for you is to launch into the trial version on the live cd - and in the folders menu look at the different partitions listed in top left.  Should show you all hard drives... from there you will see how big each section is - and the data on the drives..
>is there any data on the Ubuntu partition that ou require? can you access that data? if yes copy it onto a external device. if not please let me know.. easy fix to get to it.
>the run the live cd again - this time install Ubuntu onto the partition which corresponds with the size that ou just now checked- might also be labelled in the installer.
>
>hope this helps.
>regards
>Eagle
>
>--
>To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
>this email or enter your reply at the following page:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>
>
>

Thanks for your help. I do have my data backed up on Windows and have the required disks to reinstall Windows if necessary but I think I may try to learn how to use Redo Backup and Restore to get Ubuntu and Grub off this computer's hard drive and give up on Ubuntu.

>________________________________
> From: Barry Drake <email address hidden>
>To: <email address hidden>
>Sent: Wednesday, May 2, 2012 5:16:00 AM
>Subject: Re: [Question #195032]: Ubuntu 12.04 won't load
>
>Your question #195032 on apt in Ubuntu changed:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>    Status: Open => Answered
>
>Barry Drake proposed the following answer:
>If Windows offers an option to completely uninstall you could go for
>that.  Windows doesn't understand grub at all, so you might find you can
>still boot into Windows and re-install using the updated version.  It is
>unknown territory as far as I am concerned though.  Don't do anything
>unless you can reinstall everything including Windows.  Personally I
>really really advise getting a dual boot installation running in two
>partitions.  It's safer and possibly faster as well.  And Ubuntu running
>is a separate partition can re-install and repair grub for you.  And
>version upgrades will always present danger just as they do in Windows,
>so if you re-do the wubi installation, you'll have the same problem next
>version around.
>
>--
>If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
>know that it is solved:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032/+confirm?answer_id=11
>
>If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
>following page to enter your feedback:
>https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+question/195032
>
>You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>
>
>

Thanks Barry Drake, that solved my question.