Ubuntu
grub package

How do I take care of a boot problem when I have two OS on the same hard drive, XP and utunbu?

Asked by Desperate Pensioner

I purchased the Ubuntu 6.10 amd CD and my son installed it on my second hard drive F, I was already using Windows XP which was installed on my first hard drive C(which has two other partitions D & E). The installation was successful and after restarts it was possible to select either Ubuntu or Windows XP during the boot up process. However when we tried to start the computer after a shut down we did not get this option and instead got this message GRUB loading - Please wait. Error 18. We eventually managed to get back into Windows XP by rebooting using the Ubuntu CD, taking the CD out during the closing down and selecting Ubuntu during the restart process, but this did not always work. After looking at various suggestions on Ubuntu websites we shut the computer down and my son restarted it using the Windows installation disc and typing fixmbr at some stage during the installation/start uo process. I was very impressed with Ubuntu 6.10 as an operating system and would like to try and install it again on my second hard drive providing I can get clear step by step instructions as to how to do it so that I can select either O S during the start up process from a shut down. Puzzled Pensioner 78!

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Ubuntu grub Edit question
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Solved by:
Marcello Semboli
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Best Marcello Semboli (dinogen) said : 		#1

Go in the BIOS setup and change the boot order.
Maybe you have floppy disk as first boot device.

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Marcello Semboli (dinogen) said : 		#2

Sorry, I was wrong.
Grub Error 18 occurs when BIOS can't reach the linear block disk address over 512 Mb (on old computers) or 8Bg in general.

You can:
1) upgrade your BIOS.
2) move or create Linux partition at beginning of disk.

I hope this help.

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Desperate Pensioner (ernesthagger) said : 		#3

User confirmed that the request is solved.

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Desperate Pensioner (ernesthagger) said : 		#4

Problem not solved yet as I would be grateful for a step by step guide to installation, especially about creating the partition, how big should it be?

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Marcello Semboli (dinogen) said : 		#5

You need two partition:
1) a swap area, make it a MB as much as your RAM.
2) a Linux or EXT3 partition, linked at "/" directory. Make it as big as possile.

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inverte (kendmix) said : 		#6

i put ubuntu and it doesn't read it when i start up my computer right after bios. but windows knows its there but won't read it

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mgterp (mterpnet) said : 		#7

My problem is that I have installed both XP and Ubuntu on one hard drive. This worked well until after my computer froze while I was installing an MP3 devise on my XP area of the hard drive. I am not able to boot either OS. I have tried to reinstall Ubuntu only to find that the installation set-up FAILED to create a swap space in partition #5 of the IDE1 master (hda). I am not concerned with reinstalling the XP, I would be very happy to be able to install the UBUNTU OS as my sole system on my computer. I am new to LINUX and need help.