failed to install grub

[bootdoc]

Installing kubuntu on a HP pavilion. I get "failed to install grub this is a fatal error". and install exits.

[dibl]

Re: failed to install grub

Yep, that's pretty fatal.

Tell more. What was previously installed on that?

[Qqmike]

Re: failed to install grub

Suspect:

> Bad CD? (checksums and Check This CD for Defects?)
> Some weird hidden partition from HP? (though, I don't see how that would cause this error ...)


I take it that you did install Kubuntu?
If so, I wonder if the GRUB files got installed under
/boot
(i.e., /boot/grub should contains a handful of weird files for stage 1, 1.5, 2, etc.)
Maybe the files are there but they were not used to install GRUB to the MBR of any hard drive (usually hd0) ... ?
You can use the Kubuntu Live CD to see.

If /boot/grub is not there, then I'd suspect a bad CD.

If they are there but the PC won't boot using GRUB, you might try manually installing GRUB using those files:
Live CD Kubuntu session.
K > System > Konsole
sudo grub
gives you a GRUB prompt: grub>.
Type
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
and press Enter.
That gives you a specific (hdx,y) IF, that is, you have those GRUB files!!!
Put that (hdx,y) here:
grub> root (hdx,y)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit
$exit
Exit out of the Live CD session and re-boot to test it.
You may still have a problem with the boot menu.lst (/boot/grub/menu.lst) and so may have to make one, which the guys here could help you copy theirs (just the title boot entries is all you need for Kubuntu and Recovery).

[bootdoc]

Re: failed to install grub

Windows vista previously. I had HH installed and working on Thursday. Then I don't know quite what happened. This installation is for a friend. I went home thursday night. He calls me with questions (minor problems) I figured could be fixed by upgrading to KDE 4.1. I tried to walk him through it over the phone but that was not going to work to well. So we try a reboot. We then get grub errror 17. I look through the forum for a fix for that. Too complicated to do over the phone. So I pick up the laptop and try to reinstall. There are 3 partitions on the disk. sda1 is /, sda3 is /home and sda2 is ntfs windows recovery. Don't ask me why the order is screwed. here is what the part's look like.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls /sda1
bin dev initrd lost+found opt sbin tmp vmlinuz
boot etc initrd.img media proc srv usr
cdrom home lib mnt root sys var

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls /sda2
$RECYCLE.BIN protect.czech
AUTOMODE protect.danish
BLOCK.RIN protect.dutch
DRECOVERY protect.ed
Desktop.ini protect.english
Folder.htt protect.finnish
HP protect.french
HPCD.sys protect.german
MASTER.LOG protect.greek
RCBoot.sys protect.hebrew
RECOVERY protect.hungarian
SOURCES protect.italian
System Volume Information protect.japanese
Tools protect.korean
USER protect.norwegian
WINDOWS protect.polish
boot protect.portuguese
bootmgr protect.portuguese brazilian
preload protect.russian
protect.chinese hong kong protect.spanish
protect.chinese simplified protect.swedish
protect.chinese traditional protect.turkish
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls /sda3
lost+found warren

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls /sda3/warren
Desktop PDF Videos limewire
Downloads Pictures Youcam rosegarden-1.7.2.tar.bz2
Google Public autosave warren.odt
Music Templates documents
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

[Qqmike]

Re: failed to install grub

Did KDE 4.1 mess this up somehow?

What about my post above ... /boot/grub files there?
If so, have you tried manually re-installing GRUB?

btw, is Vista still installed, or it's gone now?

heads-up to other helpers here:
I'm on my way out this morning to help the American economy (to shop!), and so hopefully you can jump in for bootdoc here

[dibl]

Re: failed to install grub

I'm on my way out this morning to help the American economy (to shop!)

You go, Mike! Don't hold back -- go ahead and spend it all!


Eh, well, I suspected a Vista installation might be lurking here. :P I'm not expert on that, but I have the impression that there are "special procedures" when working with Vista. I know, for example, that you are supposed to use the Vista partitioning tool to shrink the main Vista partition, prior to installing Linux, and also that Vista by default uses two partitions, thereby leaving the Linux user only a maximum of two more primary partitions.

Probably the installer is not seeing the Master Boot Record on that hard drive, due to whatever happened during the upgrade or reinstallation attempt, so it's bailing at the point where it is supposed to install grub, because it doesn't know where to put it.

I'd be using my Gparted Live CD to look at the hard drive and partitions, to find whether there is a "boot" flag set on the main Vista partition, to make sure the Linux partitions have the format I wanted, etc. It would also be possible to boot a Kubuntu Live CD, and then run KMenu > System > Partition Editor to do this, assuming the Partition Editor is present. With Internet, you could

sudo apt-get install gparted

in a Live CD session and have it that way too, if it happens not to be on your Live CD.

Or (what I would REALLY do if it were mine) you could come to a decision that life can go on without Vista, and then it gets really easy to fix ....

Hope there's some help in here somewhere ....

[bootdoc]

Re: failed to install grub

I wiped the main vista part and left the recovery partition. I tried the grub commandx above and got error 15 file not found.

[dibl]

Re: failed to install grub

There are 3 partitions on the disk. sda1 is /, sda3 is /home and sda2 is ntfs windows recovery.

This does not look right to me, although again I confess to not having worked with Vista.

My understanding is that Vista uses 2 partitions for itself, one as the main OS and one for "recovery". So that's two.

For Linux, you must have at least 2 partitions for a viable system -- one for "/" and one for swap (which I don't see in your list). So that's 4 total. But you say you also have one for "/home" in addition to "/". That would make five (if there were a swap partition), but the maximum number of primary partitions on a hard disk drive is four.

For the sake of the experiment, I would suggest you combine the ones you referred to as sda1 and sda3, or else change sda3 to a small (1GB) swap partition, enlarge sda1 as much as possible, and try again with the installation, putting the entire Kubuntu OS on one partition, and make sure you've got a swap partition.

[bootdoc]

Re: failed to install grub

just ran gparted and have this:
/dev/sda1 ext3 7.45gib boot
/dev/sda3 ext3 129.67gib
/dev/sda2 ntfs hprecovery 11.93gib

swap partitions are no longer required for linux.

as I said in previous post , i deleted the vista partition.

[toad]

Re: failed to install grub

swap partitions are no longer required for linux.

Any chance of verification there? It is a little like saying "you don't need alcohol to get drunk"...

[Snowhog]

Re: failed to install grub

As I understand it, a swap partition isn't "absolutely" necessary on today's modern PCs due to the "normally" large size of installed RAM - 1Gb or more. For that reason, establishing a swap partition probably won't result in a significant performance advantage. I've a 2Gb swap partition, and 1Gb of RAM. My swap partition is rarely, if ever, used by my system.

[toad]

Re: failed to install grub

Thanks for qualifying that comment, Snowhog. It read as though in the latest Kubuntu guidelines it says "you don't need..." - well, whatever.

Right, bootdoc, you have your three partitions - no swap. Have you tried the super grub disk? Google, download, boot and everything should start working as if by magic

[Qqmike]

Re: failed to install grub

Whooooaaa .... hold the horses ...
Error 15 File Not Found (upon doing: find /boot/grub/stage1)
=>
faulty installation
=>
bad disk? bad installation? failure to install GRUB because of weird stuff the installer saw? other issues?
=>
1 Check the installer CD (MD5sum and Check This Disk for Defects)
2 With a good disk (including yours if it is good), try again to install.

Make sure partitioning is right (as per the comments above and Rog131's How-To) Partition
and
all this stuff applies:
Burning ISO How TO: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto
especially MD5sum check and Check This CD for defects.


Summary Rx
Use GParted to get the disk clean and right (with root, swap and home partitions anew).
Check that the installer CD is OK.
Then try to install again.

[Qqmike]

Re: failed to install grub

Sorry, I just now noticed this "swap controversy." I haven't looked into it (not knowing about it!). For now bootdoc, let's consider that a side show as GBs are pretty cheap (haven't checked Newegg lately, but $100 USD for 300 GB is 33 cents/GB (USD). Hell, you could spring for 3 of those pups (= $1) and (probably) manage OK (financially)
(File: BTW; FWIW; IMO)

[toad]

Re: failed to install grub

Yeah, thanks Qqmike, it was late last night

But the partitioning seems basically alright. I haven't tried SGD for a while but it might recognise anything that is there and even be able to boot it Long shot, I know.

Another rescue attempt would be to boot a live CD, copy the grub package over to sda1, chroot into sda1 and install it.

Over and out on a bright and sunny Sunday morning