Ubuntu
grub2 package

[X] Installing Ubuntu wrecked XP that was already installed

Asked by wrekced

There is no "incoherance" READ IT AGAIN:

This is a Dell XPS M1210
I partitioned my drive for three OS's
I installed the OEM windows (Both versions) Media Center and Media Direct
They worked fine
Then I installed 10.04.1 on a separate partition
Now neither version of XP will boot.

NOT EVEN IN SAFE MODE!

They just hang and the keyboard does nothing
To shut off from trying to boot Media Direct, I had to unplug it and wait for the battery to die because the power button did nothing!
Any idea how to fix this?

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: grub (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-25.44-generic-pae 2.6.32.21+drm33.7
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-25-generic-pae i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: i386
CheckboxSubmission: 8b165174a0fb0d6216bb80ec6e909ff6
CheckboxSystem: d00f84de8a555815fa1c4660280da308
Date: Sat Oct 2 16:28:50 2010
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20100816.1)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: grub

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu grub2 Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
wrekced
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:

This question was originally filed as bug #653849.

Revision history for this message
Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi) said : 		#1

grub restore

Revision history for this message
Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi) said : 		#2

There is an incoherence
-neither version of xb boot
-it boot in safe mode
When you choose to boot window from grub and it don't return any error mean that it has linked the winsows loader, then the problem is in windows.
But assuming that grub is seriously damaged, you can try to restore it following this:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Grub2#Recover Grub 2 via LiveCD

Revision history for this message
Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi) said : 		#3

Follow the chapter 6

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#4

Do you have Grub menu which allows you to select Windows or Ubuntu ?

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#5

Do you have Grub menu which allows you to select Windows or Ubuntu ?

Revision history for this message
wrekced (wrekced) said : 		#6

I did have a Grub menu to select the various OS's
When I selected either version of Windows, They would start to boot then hang
Trying to boot into safe mode hangs at the selection screen for safe mode or normal windows

I have just re-installed XP
I am going to try to fix my Ubuntu installation with the above mentioned fix
More later

Revision history for this message
wrekced (wrekced) said : 		#7

Apparently re-installing Windows wipes Ubuntu off the drive.
Windows was running fine: All updates and booted and re-booted several times
Then I re-installed Ubuntu.
I was able to boot Windows once after installing Ubuntu.
Then I did the updates for Ubuntu.
Now it's back to the same state:
Neither version of Windows will boot
This time I get a BSOD so I'm not sure why this is happening.

I am going to try to repair the Windows installations without wiping Ubuntu.
Then I will try to repair Grub and see what that does.

More later

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#8

You can repair XP at two levels:
1) MBR (first disk sector and following 32kB)
2) Partition boot (two first sectors of partition, and multi-boot loader of XP, which is NTLDR
To see how to restore the Ubuntu/XP/Vista/7 boot loader, go on this site
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1014708

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#9

What's the status of this question ?
If it solved, could you mark it solved in Launchpad.
If a specific question solved the issue, could you mark it.
Else I will have some time tomorrow to look at it.

Revision history for this message
wrekced (wrekced) said : 		#10

I have finally gotten around this by not installing the embedded version of XP. Not really a fix but I'll live with it that way I guess. Thanks for all the help guys!