kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

[pdemmert35]

hello everyone! im fairly new to linux, installed kubuntu about 8 months ago, dual booted with windowz xp and everything worked fine for a long time! then one day when i turned on my laptop and it asked me to select xp or kubuntu i did as always, went with kubuntu...and instead grub booted! it has never happend before, ive never had to even deal with grub

im having a lot of issues trying to boot the kernel, gone through a ton of forums for kubuntu and mainly for grub and everything and im just not having the greatest of times.

if anyone is willing to help just tell me what commands to pump out in grub and ill post what happens!


need my laptop back so..much appreciated!!!
linux ftw!

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

If it were me, first thing I'd try is to re-install GRUB:

How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0
SECTION 3: Re-installing GRUB: the cure for many problems.

Or, you might try Super Grub Disk live CD and see if it can fix/repair Linux boot. SGD will get you booted into your Kubuntu, for sure, where you could re-install GRUB; or you can re-install GRUB from the Kubuntu live CD. (All in the how-to.)

[pdemmert35]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

a kubuntu live cd just isnt working for me...it locks up.

so i did end up getting the super grub disk and the instructions were very shaky on the SGD website...a ton of the commands wouldnt even work

when i use the SGD:

sh:grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
error: unknown command 'find'

yeah i dont get it either


but just letting my computer normally try to boot into kubuntu and let it hit the grub menu i get

grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
Error 15: File not found

grub> find /boot/grub/stage 2
Error 15: File not found

ect. ect.

for
grub>geometry (hd0)
drive 0x80(LBA): C/H/S=1024/240/63, Sector Count/Size=15482880/512
Partition num: 0, active, Filesystem type is ntfs, partition type is 0x07
Partition num: 1, Filesystem type is fat, partition type is 0x12

thanks for your help

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

Hmmm ................

when i use the SGD:
sh:grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
error: unknown command 'find'

=> Looks like the version of SGD uses GRUB 2 (where find is not used anymore; instead it is "search"). I'm not sure why SGD would not know "find."


How many hard drives do you have? just the one?
If so, where is the Kubuntu OS?

You got this:

grub>geometry (hd0)
drive 0x80(LBA): C/H/S=1024/240/63, Sector Count/Size=15482880/512
Partition num: 0, active, Filesystem type is ntfs, partition type is 0x07
Partition num: 1, Filesystem type is fat, partition type is 0x12

Partition 0 is Windows. Partition 1 looks like a diagnostics/configuration partition used by the maker of your laptop. In particular, I see no partition for Linux/Kubuntu ... ?

Of course, your Error 15's are not good, as you know, indicating that GRUB files do not appear to be present; but as I say, it is not apparent that your Kubuntu partition is present?

[pdemmert35]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

well that doesnt make me all warm and fuzzy inside haha.

yeah i only have one hd and i actually have no idea where the kubuntu partition would be. i was really shakey with the partitioning in the beginning but im sure i did made a new partition for the kubuntu os before i installed it.

i dont understand how one minute it would be fine and another minute it just cant find anything...

...is it possible that my windowz and kubuntu are on the same partition? idk why that would be though...

...what is my next step?

thanks for the help

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

Very strange. I wonder if there's some corruption on the drive that "killed" the Kubuntu partition.
No, it is not possible that XP & Kubuntu are sharing the same drive (EDIT: it is not possible that XP & Kubuntu are sharing the same partition).
And you say that the Kubuntu live CD won't work, so we don't have that rescue option.
Now, I don't think you re-installed XP, right? (and accidentally wiped out Kubuntu?0

I wonder if anything works.

Try to boot into XP:
Re-boot.
Get the GRUB prompt
grub>
grub>chainloader (hd0,0)+1
grub>boot

See if it'll go into XP.
Maybe in XP you can try to see the partitions (under some disk mgt utility that XP may have).

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

btw,
you say that now the PC only boots grub.
I take it you mean that when you reboot, you do not see any boot menu but only see something like this:
grub>
Right?
(if so, that confirms that GRUB is unable to locate the boot menu, /boot/grub/menu.lst, located in the Kubuntu partition; so did /boot/grub disappear? or did all of Kubuntu partition get wiped out?)

TestDisk is another free program that would show you your partitions; it can also be used to recover lost/deleted partitions. It is included in GParted Live CD (also a free download iso and burn to CD), and started from a terminal in GParted (double click the Terminal icon) by typing
testdisk

But, first, let's see if you can boot into XP.

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

pdemmert35, I edited Reply #5, but I think you probably read what I intended anyway.

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

in case I get pulled away here (like to sleep for a few hours ) ...

GParted Live CD
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php
(re-boot with the GParted Live CD in the CD tray, get the GParted screen, double-click the Terminal icon at the top, at the terminal prompt, type sudo testdisk (you need sudo))


About/using TestDisk:

"TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy."

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
See (on that page):
Documentation
Using TestDisk

[pdemmert35]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

okay so i tried the chainloader and yes i can boot into windowz, although...
...surprise surprise, i forgot what finally drove me over the edge with my xp...it was asking me to activate my product or i couldnt use the os. haha, what a ms way of handling things...but i can...work around that? deffinately shouldnt say more haha. so ill be working on that tonight that tonight.

and also, when my laptop starts to boot up it gets the the point of asking me

"Please select the operating system to start:
Microsoft Windows XP
Kubuntu

use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.
Press ENTER to choose.

For troubleshooting and advanced startup options for windows press F8"

Then selecting Kubuntu as my os the GRUB4DOS 0.4.4 2009-04-20 lalalalala the grub menu comes up.
when i press escape at the grub menu it says

"find /ubuntu/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst
find /ubuntu/install/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst
find /menu.lst
find /boot/grub/menu.lst
find /grub/menu.lst
command line
reboot
halt"

find /ubuntu/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst
yeilds
Booting 'find /ubuntu/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst'
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /ubuntu/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst
Error 15: File not found
Press any key to continue..."

find /ubuntu/install/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst
yelids
just the normal the grub menu

find /menu.lst
yelids
just the normal the grub menu

find /boot/grub/menu.lst
yelids
just the normal the grub menu

find /grub/menu.lst
yelids
just the normal the grub menu

Edit: im also going to try to gparted disk now and see what happens

thanks!!

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

I'm not sure what that sequence of "find"'s is telling us.
One thing is that you are using GRUB4DOS--set up by your laptop maker--and I have no experience with it. It is being used as the "boot manager" (so it seems), while it is using GRUB as the "bootloader." So, I do understand the GRUB bootloader part of this.

Yes, see what GParted sees on your disk. It will show you graphically and in a text-list form all your partitions and their sizes and bytes used in each. Gotta explore that drive and find out IF and where your Kubuntu OS is!


Grub4dos tutorial
http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki...b4dos_tutorial

[pdemmert35]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

so its been a packed weekend, couldnt really sit down and get anything done.

so i got gparted and
sudo testdisk
create new log file
Disk /dev/sda - 60 GB / 55 Gib - ATA HTC426060G9AT00
[Intel]
[Analyse]

Disk /dev/sda - 60 GB / 55 Gib - ATA HTC426060G9AT00
Current partition structure:
Partition Start End Size in sectors
Warning: Incorrect number of heads/cylinder 240 (NTFS) !=255 (HD)
1 * HPFS - NTFS 0 1 1 6784 239 63 109000017
2 P Compaq Diagnostics 6784 240 1 7295 254 63 8210160

then it asks me to [Quick Search] or [Backup]
Try to locate partition

what should i do from here?



also
when i open gparted i find that i have
/dev/sda1
/dev/sda2

and /dev/sda1 has a little yellow triangle with a " ! " in it
so i right click on that and click information and i get

/dev/sda1
51.98 GiB

File system: ntfs
Size: 51.98 GiB
Flags: boot

Path: /dev/sda1
Status: not mounted
Label:
UUID: 1EA472AEA4728853

First Sector: 63
Last Sector: 109000079
Total Sectors: 109000017


! Warning:
ntfsresize v2.0.0 (libntfs 10:0:0)
Device name: /dev/sda1
NTFS volume version: 3.1
Cluster size: 4096 bytes
Current volume size: (55809 MB)
Curren device size: (55809 MB)
ERROR: This software has detected that the disk has at least one bad sector.
************************************************** ***************
*WARNING: The disk has a bad sector. This means physical damage on the disk*
*surface caused by deterioration, manufacturing faults, or other reason.*
*The realiablility of the disk may stay stable or degrade fast. We suggest*
*making a full backup urgently by running 'ntfsclone --rescue ...' then*
*run 'chkdsk /f /r' on Windows and rebooot it TWICE! Then you can resize*
*NTFS safetly by additionally using the --bad-sectors option of ntfsresize.*
************************************************** ***************
Unable to read the contents of this file system!
Because of this some operations may be unavailable.



Do you think ill have to do the full backup and run ntfsclone --rescue?
idk what my next move should be, at all loss!

[Qqmike]

Re: Help-Bad Sector! kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

TestDisk
I used it quite a bit a couple years ago (to perform miracles!) but can't recall the exact steps. TestDisk is pretty intuitive when you get into the menu, so you want it to search for another deleted partition. Check that TestDisk site how-to for tips to get started.

Kubuntu
Neither TestDisk nor GParted is picking up any Kubuntu partition--no sda2 or anything like that.

Bad sectors: requires immediate attention
Yep, you will want to fix that Windows partition using (I believe) chkdsk. Google it to get a step-by-step or wait for one of our Windows guys to chime in (you might post a bump giving it the title bad sector fix?). As for the backup, again, I have no clue about that command, but you WILL want to get your personal data copied off that disk (photos, documents, email & browser profiles, etc.) before running chkdsk.

I don't see how the bad sector issue in Windows would affect the "lost partition" issue with Kubuntu--seems they may be two independent problems. I don't know where your Kubuntu could have gone ... ?

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

btw pdemmert35, you can (I think) do this repair right there from GParted Live CD by opening a terminal
(double-click the Terminal icon at top). If you need root, use sudo.

[Qqmike]

Re: kubuntu booted fine, now only boots grub

One more quick thought while everyone seems to be at dinner. The maker of your HD (e.g., Seagate) may have good info re the bad sectors (Seagate does, indeed, along with SeaTools disk). I know this, though: You may be able to quell the "bad sector" rebellion and things will be fine. OR, worst case, it may signal the end of the disk! It's a bit of a crap shoot. That bad sector(s) can be set aside, outside the "use" area of the disk and all may be well. Or, there could be more serious physical problems with the disk itself. Thus, in any case, timely backups are an absolute must, especially for any personal data (as for the OS, worst case, you can always use the install CD to re-install it, then get updates from Microsoft, though a bit of a time-consuming hassle). Still a mystery where that Kubuntu partition went.