I can now only start with the Grub2 Recovery disk

[Arran]

I installed a few days ago Kubuntu 12.10 and have structured the sdb new. Up to the point of new installation I had three partitions: sdb1: a faulty Kubuntu 12.04, sdb2 Linux Mint, sdb3 current working Kubuntu 12.04. I suspect my old grub was on sdb1.

First I erased with the partition tool sdb1 und sdb2 and created a new partition sdb1, with an empty space between, where eventually sdb2 will be created. Subsequently I installed the new Kubuntu 12.10 on sdb1, this will be my normal working version. Once accomplished, I will also erase sdb3. Each of these three partitions have about 37 MB space, no Swap-Partition.

When I start now, the BIOS starts and then after the usual infos, once the Grub used to offer me the selections, Bios restarts anew. This turns in an endless loop.

When I start with the Grub2 Rescue disk, I can first select (plus the usual other choices)

Detect any OS

and then I get the choices

Kubuntu 3.2.0-32
Kubuntu 3.5.0-29
Kubuntu 3.5.0-30
Kubuntu 3.5.0-17

I can start both Kubuntus without any problems, except some of my configuration is lost.

Now, I think this is not really the ideal setup to start a good system. I have done the «sudo update-grub» in both distros, but the problem remains.

sda is a pure data partition formated in NTFS, however I have no Windows OS on my computer. (TB, 5 partitions)

Has anybody a solution before I delete an almost finished installation and restart again? Thanks a lot for your attention

[Spadge]

Have you tried running the Boot Repair tool once you're in?

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

[oshunluvr]

Sounds like you just need to re-install grub. There's a couple hundred threads on here (exaggeration) on doing this.

In your case, since you want to boot to an already installed partition, you have to mount the host (the partition containing /boot that you want to use) and point the grub installer at it and at your hard drive Master Boot Record. The one thing I didn't see in your post is: are you booting to sda or sdb?

I'll assume you boot to sda but are going to use sdb1 as the grub host install.

Boot to the live USB/CD 12.04 and open Konsole. Then type:

sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda
sudo update-grub
sudo reboot

[Arran]

Thanks for your responses. No, I do not want anything concerning the system on sda. As I wrote, this is purely a data harddisk, which is also interchangable. The system must run too when the HD is not connected to the computer.

[oshunluvr]

Thanks for your responses. No, I do not want anything concerning the system on sda. As I wrote, this is purely a data harddisk, which is also interchangable. The system must run too when the HD is not connected to the computer.

I cannot understand how it can be a "purely data" hard disk and have Kubuntu installed on it.

[Arran]

Sorry, that I was not clear. I have two hd's:
· sda 1TB only for personal data like text files, pics, films, music, backups etc. in 5 partitions
· sdb 120 GB only for Linux distributions, sdb1: new Kubuntu 12.10, sdb2 not yet formatted and sdb3 with Kubuntu 12.04
I do not use /home for any files except the configuration files. I even have all Gimp ressources on sda1, as well as the profiles of Mozilla apps and other apps.
That is what I, as a native Swiss German speaker, write as «data», which maybe you do different in California ...
Therefore my /home/filenames are always empty, just the /home/.filenames are partially used (but not, when I can avoid it).

[oshunluvr]

The issue being grub, which drive grub is installed to matters only in that the computer must be able to boot to it. What confuses me is not your perfectly fine English, but rather the comment that sda is for "data only." In the example I gave there are no system files installed to sda, just the boot record of the drive - an area that cannot be used for data. No matter - let's move forward.

I believe you are stating the following:

sda functions as a removable drive.
sda may not be present at boot time.
sda may be present, but may not the same physical device each time.
The computer must be bootable in any configuration: sda present or not and with any of several sda devices.

As this is linux, this of course can be done but how it is done will depend greatly on the ability of your BIOS to handle the drive changes and control which drive it selects for boot.

In my opinion, this is an unnecessarily wild and complicated concept because if you simply made sda the system drive and sdb the data drive - none of this discussion would be required. Your linux system cares not which drive letter is assigned to what purpose, but your BIOS sure does.

Again - no matter - it is your system, thus the way in which it operates is your decision. I will help you if I can regardless of your reasons for doing so, if only so I can learn something new.

However, I do need to know in great and specific detail how your BIOS controls boot drive sequence in order to continue. Also, if any of my above assumptions about your desired outcome are incorrect, please explain further so that I may understand.

[oshunluvr]

By the way: Unless you are using the data drive in a windows machine on occasion - NTFS is almost the worst file system you could be using for data.

I'll assume you are using a windows machine on occasion - I hope you are making backups of any data you don't want to lose. I suspect that any NTFS drive being shuffled from one machine to another will not survive long without a corruption.

[Arran]

Thanks for your replies.

The easy one to answer first: It is correct, that in older times I used to have a third hard disk with XP on it. But about a year ago, this HD collapsed and I eliminated it. So now I am absolutely Windows free. I do have an external drive with 400 GB, which I can use as a temporary copy of all files on sda, then reformat this drive in any suitable and from you recommended format. The only condition: I want to be the master over my files, meaning no restrictions with the rights. The other user of my PC must have the right to read, change, create and delete files. This is only very occasionally my wife. (Perhaps only sudo could reformat or delete a partition.)

Now to the complicated one: I have never accorded the sdx name to any Hard drive, the programme does that by itself.

I am aware, that my system is not following general ideas about filing on computers. I want a strict and physical partition between the operating files and the user files. I have this now since more than 25 years of computing. The main reason is, with this way I can be sure no upgrade of any OS can ever destroy my files (I will use this word to refer to my pics, files, letters, etc) whatever happens on the OS data hard disk.
The standard way to put everything under the users /home is for me like the worst political cas in the last 50 years: the creation of the European Union. The problems we have in Europe are mainly due to some 500'000 bureaucrates with high salaries and therefore a need to produce legislation, identical in a geographical aera have the size of the US but with about 30 really different national characters who were at war each against each for the last 2000 years and all speak a different language. These people can not be forged into «one» nation in two or three generations. But exactly this is ongoing, hence the domination of the Krauts and the deep felt protests by the mediterranean people who have a completely differen outlook on their live.

But back to the topic:

My sdb is mounted in the computer. I used the words above to illustrate the kind of separation I apply. No operating system files on this HD. Since I work with various Linuxes, now about three years, this worked always OK.


EDIT 1:
I just remembered the first answer above. So I downloaded the Boot repair disk, burned the ISO to a DVD (no CD's in this household) and restarted the computer. Then once the interface appeared followed the steps and inside less than 3 minutes all was well again. The Grub is now on sdb1 and I have exactly what I wanted.

So thanks to both of you and sorry to make so much trouble with my non existant problem, if I only would not have overlooked that first response. Please forgive me. I drink an ice glass of wine to your health.

EDIT 2:
After finishing the recovery I got an URL with the report of the job. It seem, that everything is more or less OK, except it might be a very good reason to reformat the whole of sda and rearrange the partitions. The URL is http://paste.debian.net/203561. Anybody can feel free to look at it and if you think it worth wile to give any recommendations, I will be pleased to study them.

[Spadge]

EDIT 2:
After finishing the recovery I got an URL with the report of the job. It seem, that everything is more or less OK, except it might be a very good reason to reformat the whole of sda and rearrange the partitions. The URL is http://paste.debian.net/203561. Anybody can feel free to look at it and if you think it worth wile to give any recommendations, I will be pleased to study them.

"Please do not forget to make your BIOS boot on sdb (120GB) disk!" - If you do that, it should boot

You might also want to re-order your cables so that your boot disk is the first device in the list. That way, nothing will steal its drive letter(*) as the disk changes will occur after.

(*) in theory

[Arran]

Point 1 of your recommendation is working order since ages. Point 2 is a bit problematic, the 120 disk is with a wide cable connection (IDE?), the 1TB is Sata. Unless I have to exchange the hard disk, I'd rather not touch the system physically. I am sure that now as the systems works well, there will only one danger: heaven falls on my computer.... (as Asterix and Obelix keep saying).

[Spadge]

Alea jacta est.