bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

[jprimero]

Hi, I installed kubuntu 7.04 on my dell latitude d505 laptop by cd. It worked fine for a day where after booting i would get a screen asking which OS i wanted to use. The next day though, after booting the dell bootup screen just kept on reloading. This happens right after it shows "Grub loading stage 1.5". Any help please? Thanks.

[Runn3r.cze]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

try to boot from a live cd and check the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. there you can specify the systems you want to be able to boot and also the timeout before booting the default system

[Qqmike]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

Yeah, it sounds like it got corrupted somehow, if it was working OK before.
You might try to re-install GRUB. Use the methods of the following How-To:

How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0

You will have to know what partition your Kubuntu is on. It sounds like you have just the one hard drive (if so, it will be called (hd0)).
Find out what partition you put Kubuntu on, say it is (hd0, y), then use the How-To to do a re-install of GRUB to the MBR of your hard drive, like:
grub> root (hdx, y)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit
$ exit
then re-boot to test it.

It should work, assuming all your original files are ok.

(See the How-To for all the exact details. And note that the bootloader GRUB counts hard drives and partitions starting at zero. So, for example, if your Kubuntu is on the first hard drive, the second partition, that would be (hd0, 1):
hard drive (hd0) is the first hard drive, and the "1" indicates the second partition.)

[Qqmike]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

Since you can’t get into your Kubuntu, just use your Live CD Kubuntu to get into Kubuntu (Live).
Get a terminal (K-Menu > System > Konsole), and from there get a GRUB prompt, grub>, by typing sudo grub. Again, the How-To explains this.

[jprimero]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

Thanks QGMike for the help! Got it to work now.

[Qqmike]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

That's great, jprimero! Congratulations!
GRUB is very easy to work with in basic setups like most people have. If you get a few of those methods of the How-To, you'll always be in control of your boot menu and will never have to worry about it, even if you add more operating systems!

--Mike

[jprimero]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

Hi, unfortunately Im having new problems which seem worse than before. For the past couple of days it seems that when I boot my computer in the morning the same reboot loop keeps happening. Now this is weird since it works perfectly fine during the day whenever I reboot. Anyways, when this happens, I just load from my kubuntu CD and reinstall GRUB and everything works fine then. Last night I left my computer on in windows only to find in the morning that somehow it rebooted itself and was now in the reboot loop again. Only this time, loading the kubuntu CD doesnt work. It just keeps looping again. Any help? Thanks.

[dibl]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

I hate to say it, but it sounds like a hardware problem, especially the part where it mysteriously rebooted itself. Hard to tell exactly what's wrong -- could be as simple as a loose IDE data cable (you hope!).

[penguin.ch]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

It just keeps looping again.

Where exactly stops the (re-)boot process? Does GRUB appear? Does the Kubuntu logo?

[jprimero]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

When the Kubuntu cd is not in, it restarts immediately after "Grub loading stage 1.5". When I have the cd in, it seems to try load from the cd but then also immediately restarts after "Grub..." (didnt catch what it actually says). No Kubuntu logo ever shows up.

[penguin.ch]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

Mumble, mumble ... what is the layout of your harddisk (order and size of partitions) ...?

[jprimero]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

ummm, dont exactly remember the layout of the harddisk. I believe that the order of the partitions is 1.fat 2.ntfs 3.ext3 4.something else. I dont remember the sizes tho.

[penguin.ch]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

Hmmm ... are you able to boot "manually" as decribed on this page ...?

[Qqmike]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

Very strange and puzzling. I’m thinking along with dibl about hardware. Even then, if it is a hardware problem, it could be anything, especially power supply, CPU heat issues, hard drive issues, video card, or even motherboard faults/shorts - - Or, just some simple cable is loose/faulty (data or power). (I’ve had the p/s, the heat, and the hard disk problems myself, and they can be real foolers). I don’t know just now what this is.

Along with UnicornRider’s suggestion, my favorite is configfile for booting directly/manually. (That’s in both the How-To and in the bigpond reference UnicornRider gave you.)

So, with the Kubuntu Live CD, you would open Konsole, type sudo grub, get the GRUB prompt, grub>,
and at that grub prompt type:

grub> configfile (hdx, y) # and press Enter

You must provide values for x and y:
(hdx, y) is where your Kubuntu root files are, which is where your GRUB files, like boot/grub/menu.lst, probably are also (for your setup).

And again, as UnicornRider says, you need your disk layout.

Example, if you have just one hard drive, then that would be x = 0 for hd0 (numbering of hard drives and of partitions starts at zero). If your Kubuntu root files are in the third partition, then y = 2 (counting 0, 1, 2), so it would be:
grub> configfile (hd0, 2)/boot/grub/menu.lst # press Enter and you’ll get the boot menu
(note the space after configfile)
From that boot menu, then try choosing Kubuntu.

[penguin.ch]

Re: bootloader corrupted after installing kubuntu 7.04?

I’m thinking along with dibl about hardware.

And both of you may be right - even though to me this looks as if, when "jumping" from stage 1 to 1.5/2, the boot loader were getting lost somewhere in the "digital nowhere" (which is why, if this were my machine, I'd even consider relocating the whole boot loader incl. all stages to an external medium ...).