Ubuntu
grub package

grub error 21

Asked by drskartik

I have a laptop running Jaunty 9.04. I loaded ubuntu jaunty into an external USB hard drive using a live cd. Somehow it seems to have altered my boot options and made the OS in the ext hard drive the default OS and and I am unable to boot into my computer without using the external hard drive. Error 21 flashes when I boot in without the ext hard drive.
This has probably been answered before but I am unable to solve it.
This is the output from /boot/grub/menu.lst which has not mentioned kernel 2.6.28-11 int the ext hard drive
title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4$
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
quiet
title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic (recovery mode)
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4$
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4$
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4$
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

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zvacet
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zvacet (ivicakolic) said : 		#1

Is that all from /boot/grub/menu.lst ? Try with

cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

Post it here.You can read http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/p15.html#21 and see is it helpful to you.

Revision history for this message
drskartik (drskartik) said : 		#2

This is what I get with cat /boot/grub/menu.lst:
there is no mention of OS in sdb though it is connected, and I dont know how to get across uuid!
regards
Kartik
 menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 10

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## specify if running in Xen domU or have grub detect automatically
## update-grub will ignore non-xen kernels when running in domU and vice versa
## e.g. indomU=detect
## indomU=true
## indomU=false
# indomU=detect

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic (recovery mode)
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid e4efcae9-079b-48b4-bbb7-d2206348f839
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda6.
title Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-24-generic (on /dev/sda6)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-24-generic root=UUID=58ed3522-8d1d-4a1f-a309-6956196a0f9d ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-24-generic
savedefault
boot

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda6.
title Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-24-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda6)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-24-generic root=UUID=58ed3522-8d1d-4a1f-a309-6956196a0f9d ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-24-generic
savedefault
boot

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda6.
title Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic (on /dev/sda6)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic root=UUID=58ed3522-8d1d-4a1f-a309-6956196a0f9d ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic
savedefault
boot

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda6.
title Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda6)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic root=UUID=58ed3522-8d1d-4a1f-a309-6956196a0f9d ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic
savedefault
boot

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda6.
title Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS, memtest86+ (on /dev/sda6)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
savedefault
boot

Revision history for this message
Best zvacet (ivicakolic) said : 		#3

You can try to reinstall grub following http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=224351 .

Revision history for this message
drskartik (drskartik) said : 		#4

Thanks,
I entered the above link and booted from a live cd, followed the instructions. I am back to the original settings and no longer require my ext hard drive to boot up.
I have realised that the ubuntu live cd has got far too many uses other than just installing a new OS!!!
regards
Kartik