[SOLVED] Installs, but wont boot?

[ZHoob2004]

I recently installed kubuntu the first time on an old computer of mine. it installed fine, said nothing of system reqs, or anything and installed the bootloader etc. after the install completed and the computer restarted (cd removed etc.) the computer booted up and said no boot record found on the hdd. I am wondering if this could be a bios problem that it's not compatible with linux and would there be some workaround (ie: to use a dos/windows bootloader to load linux?)

Any help would be really appreciated.

[Snowhog]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

When you installed, where did you tell it to install grub? I'm assuming that the HD you installed to doesn't have any other OS than Kubuntu. Is that correct?

[ZHoob2004]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

yes, its the only os. but i don't remember seeing an option of where to instal grub. oh, i forgot to mention that when i put the hdd into another computer it boots fine.

[Snowhog]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

when i put the hdd into another computer it boots fine.

Into Kubuntu?

[ZHoob2004]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

yes

[Qqmike]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

Super GRUB Disk will probably boot it for you. You'll have to use the CD drive each time to do so, of course.
Experiment?
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/

[ZHoob2004]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

would i be able to install the windows bootloader, have a seperate boot partition, and use the windows one to open grub from there?

[Qqmike]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

Don't know. I've never booted Linux from Windows, but people do it.
Here's my stash on that (though, you probably have seen much of this):

Boot Linux from Windows
http://www.vsubhash.com/writeups/multiboot_os.asp
He’s a Windows guy, getting NTLDR to load Linux; if you dump Linux, easy to reverse.
Moral Volcano: Multi-boot OSs.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p9.html
“This webpage is to explain how I set up boot.ini in Windows and install WinGrub to boot either Windows via its own bootloader NTLDR or Linux via WinGrub, without touching the MBR.”

Ed’s Software Guide on Linux:
http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux...w2k-HOWTO.html

Technique is clearly described in Chapter 4 of Linux in a Nutshell.
Chapter 4 happens to be the freely downloadable sample chapter.

[ZHoob2004]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

thank you very much. i don't have time to try it right now but i'll be saving those links for future use.

[cantab]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

If you have a floppy drive, you could try SmartBootManager

http://sourceforge.net/projects/btmgr/

It's pretty good - though not entirely sure if it will work for what you want.

[ZHoob2004]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

ok. those links by Qqmike were just what i needed. second question: could i install windows 2000 onto a partition, then delete the windows folder and resize the partition just so it can boot linux?

[aged hippy]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

What partitions are on there at the moment?

If you paste sudo blkid into a terminal/console and give it your password, it will tell precisely.

[ZHoob2004]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

i am currently planning to partition it as follows:


sda1 = windows 2k partition (as small as possible) i wish to use it's boot loader and that's it.
sda2 = linux root partition (with grub installed as boot loader) (as large as possible)
sda3 = swap space (512MB)

[Qqmike]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

question

Can you not do the partitioning first, before installing all the OSs?

That is, use GParted Live CD to delete all partitions, create new ones, then run the 2k installation (putting it into the first partition), then the Kubuntu installer?


Partitioning—how to, Rog131:
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3090704.0

GParted: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
GParted how-to: http://www.howtoforge.com/partitioning_with_gparted

[cantab]

Re: Installs, but wont boot?

the computer booted up and said no boot record found on the hdd.

There are a few places you can install grub.

Normally, people install it to the Master Boot Record (MBR) - this should always work

Sometimes it's installed to the 'superblock' of the boot partition (usually same as the root partition). The partition then needs to be marked as bootable (only one partition can be such). Most partitioning tools can do this, and it's never a destructive option.

So try booting the liveCD, going into GParted, and making your Linux partition bootable.

And in answer to Qqmike's last question, yes you can do that. However you then need to make sure you choose manual partitioning in the installer, and make it use your existing partitions.
Also, you should in general install Windows first if you want a dual-boot system. If you install Linux then Windows Windows will clobber the bootloader with it's own and you'll be unable to boot Linux until you configure it. Most Linux installers should recognise Windows partitions and add Grub entries for them.