Ubuntu 11.10 "No operating system found" after installation
Hi,
First of all I wanna say that I'm new to Linux and Ubuntu. Yesterday I decided to try and install Ubuntu 11.10 on my laptop (Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Si3655). I didn't want the dual-boot option so I removed my Windows Vista OS from the computer.
So the installation went fine, but after restarting computer (and thus removing the installation CD) I can't get it to boot. All I get is a black screen with a message saying "No operating system found". I have now tried to re-install Ubuntu 11.10 three times but the problem persists.
Searching the web and these forums I found that this is a quite common problem. So these are the suggested solutions that I have already tried WITHOUT success:
- Re-installing the OS.
- Installing and running the boot-repair tool (from the "try Ubuntu without installing it"-mode).
I have also made a Boot Info Script which can be found at: http://
I would really appreciate some help with this, I'm completely stuck!
Best regards
Johan
Question information
- Language:
- English Edit question
- Status:
- Solved
- For:
- Ubuntu grub2 Edit question
- Assignee:
- No assignee Edit question
- Solved by:
- Johan Svensson
- Solved:
- 2011-12-25
- Last query:
- 2011-12-25
- Last reply:
- 2011-12-22
| Chris (fabricator4) said : | #1 |
"No operating system found" sounds more like a BIOS error message than a grub or linux one. If you made changes to get the machine to boot off the CD or USB, make sure you change it back so that it can boot off the hard drive. If you're not sure the easiest thing to do is just reload all defaults in the BIOS and save. Do NOT select "failsafe defaults" as this will make the machine run quite slowly.
If you draw a blank on this, then it seems that grub was not properly installed. the GRand Unified Bootloader is required to load the Linux Kernel to start the boot process.
Do you only have one hard drive in the computer?
You can install grub and get it configured by booting off the LiveCD and following these instructions:
=======
First thing to do is identify what the device name of the Live file system is. In most cases this will be /dev/sda, especially if it's the only hard drive in the computer.
A little more complicated is to identify which partition Ubuntu lives on. This will depend on exactly how you installed Ubuntu so it's best to check and be sure. Once you've booted the LiveCD use either Disk Manager or Gparted to look at the hard drive and identify the Ubuntu root (/) partition that you set up. You would be looking for an ext4 partition of the correct size. In this case, since you probably told ubiquity (the installer) to use the whole drive there's a good chance that the correct partition is /dev/sda1
For the purposes of these instructions I'm going to assume the correct device (drive) is /dev/sda and that the partition is /dev/sda1. You should substitute the correct device names as appropriate.
Firstly, mount Ubuntu root partition:
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
Next, export the LiveCD filesystem to the root filesystem on the drive:
sudo mount ‐‐bind /dev /mnt/dev
sudo mount ‐‐bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo mount ‐‐bind /sys /mnt/sys
Now change the root filesystem to the hard disk:
sudo chroot /mnt
Now install grub2 to /dev/sda
sudo grub-install /dev/sda
Next you have to update the grub loader so that it can find and list any operating systems it finds:
sudo update-grub
and it will find all OS's on your system and add them to the grub menu. You can now reboot and enjoy your new Ubuntu system:
sudo reboot
:-)
Chris
| Johan Svensson (johans2) said : | #2 |
Hi Chris!
Thank you for your fast and very detailed answer! However, I followed your instructions for installing and configuring grub (the commands executed without any error messages), but I still got the same problem once I try to start the computer without the LiveCD.
One thing worth noting though is that when I start my computer with the CD inside, I have the option of booting from the first hard drive, which works perfectly fine! But as I said, when I start my computer without it I still get the "No operating system found" message. And yes, I only have one hard drive, which is named exactly as you suggested, including the partitions.
So this might be a "noob"-question, but how do I reload all the defaults in the BIOS? Can I do it from inside Ubuntu?
Best regards
Johan
| Chris (fabricator4) said : | #3 |
It definitely a BIOS problem, but I can't tell exactly what it is, or how it came about. I take it from your question that you did not actually go into BIOS to change the defaults so that it would boot off CD?
You can only reset the BIOS from inside the BIOS setup program itself. To get into BIOS setup you normally press a key at the time it's displaying the OEM logo on the screen. Typically this key is F2, Del, Esc, or something similar. It can depend on the BIOS manucturer. Try resetting it to defaults and see if it helps.
Chris.
| Johan Svensson (johans2) said : | #4 |
No I didn't. I managed to get into the BIOS and use the "Setup defaults", but the problem persists.
When I look at the "Boot priority order" the HDD is on fifth place, after the USB, DVD and so on.. do you think this has something to do with it?
| Chris (fabricator4) said : | #5 |
It could be, if it thinks it's found something else that might be a boot device. Put the HDD at the top of the list and see how you go.
Chris
| Johan Svensson (johans2) said : | #6 |
Hi again Chris,
I managed to solve th problem by reinstalling Ubuntu and manually configuring the partitions, telling the system from where it should boot. No idea why this worked really. Anyway thank you so much for the help and the quck replies!
Merry Christmas :)
//Johan
