Bootig up kubuntu when MBR is missing

[cnc]

Hi,
Till recently I was working on a setup with windows xp and kubuntu installed and used grub as the main bootloader. The two os's were installed on two different hard drives. The MBR was set up in the drive with the windows installation.
Two days ago, my windows disk drive burnt up and I have lost all access to my kubuntu installation along with it.
Is there any way to setup a new MBR in my second disk drive in order to boot up kubuntu?
Are there any other methods which can be used to achieve this?

[integr8e]

Re: Bootig up kubuntu when MBR is missing

If you have the Kubuntu installation CD (either Live or Alternate), you can boot to it, mount your hard drives, and repair GRUB from there. You may want to have a look at Qqmike's HOWTO: GRUB Methods; there are other Windows bases bootloaders you can use, but I'm not very familiar with them.

If you need more help/information, I'll be here.

[Beren Camlost]

Re: Bootig up kubuntu when MBR is missing

Since you have the 2 OS'es on 2 different harddrives, chances are that your Kubuntu HDD is already set up with a Grub bootloader. Theoretically, all you have to do is set your BIOS to boot from your Kubuntu HDD.

[Qqmike]

Re: Bootig up kubuntu when MBR is missing

Follow the how-to that integr8e gave you.

Basically, all you have to do is install GRUB to the MBR of the second drive and then edit the boot menu/boot/grub/menu.lst.

Disconnect the first (failed) drive.
Use GParted Live CD to set the boot flag on the remaining, Kubuntu drive
(in GParted: Partition > Manage Flags > boot).

Set BIOS to boot from the Kubuntu drive.

Boot into Kubuntu (or, if necessary, use the Live Kubuntu CD to do this work).

In Kubuntu, get a GRUB prompt by typing at Konsole, sudo grub.
Then re-install GRUB to the MBR of the Kubuntu drive:
grub> root (hd0,y?)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit

(You may have to use the GRUB command
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1

==> that will tell you the (hdx,y) you need for the root statement.)

Then, in Kubuntu, edit the boot menu: Look for the part referring to your Kubuntu (after the *** Begin Automagic line and before the *** End Automagic line).
Make sure the root (hdx,y) statement is correct:
root (hd0,y?)
where y is the partition Kubuntu is on.

Notation (hdx,y):
GRUB counts from zero! So the first hard drive is hd0 (x=0), the first partition is y = 0, etc.

You can fix this. And we are here to help.

[cnc]

Re: Bootig up kubuntu when MBR is missing

Thanks for the excellent advice guys. I was able to get my kubuntu installation working again.
One problem I ran into was that grub wasn't installed in the MBR of the hard drive. When I did:
find /boot/grub/stage1
I got a message saying that the file could not be found.

So I had to do a grub-install and then follow the steps given by Qqmike.

Hats off mates