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**Qqmike** · Feb 16, 2008, 07:11 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

First off, this should be entirely routine with no problems. However, since there are problems, I really suspect the Windows H <-- C thing. Can you fix that? (I am not very Windows proficient, though I do run XP now and then

).

That's the only thing I can see right now.

Can you get into Kubuntu and at Konsole run the command
sudo fdisk -lu
for us?

No question: Disk error => suspicion re the H & C switch. But your Kubuntu installer would not make H & C switch – something else must have happened.

As for the reduced gigs on home, I'm not sure I'd believe the installer.
Can you get GParted Live CD and see how it sees your drive?
Or, install it in Kubuntu and run it?

Or run
df -h -T
in Kubuntu Konsole.

GParted in Kubuntu:
K > System > Adept Manager
type
gparted
expand the > on the left
Request Install
Apply

You'll then find it under K > System

Or, download GParted Live CD from:
GParted: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

I'll be in and out for awhile, but many folks here can get this, too.
sudo fdisk -lu will help us.

**synaptik** · Feb 16, 2008, 07:36 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll try to take this step by step.

Can you get into Kubuntu and at Konsole run the command
sudo fdisk -lu
for us?

Here is the result:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x12341234

  Device Boot   Start     End   Blocks  Id System
/dev/sda1  *     63  78959474  39479706  7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2    283258080  312576704  14659312+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3    277346160  283258079   2955960  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4    78959475  277346159  99193342+ 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Just to clarify, I don't believe the Kubuntu installer made the C > H switch. After I installed XP and was installing programs and so forth, I noticed that what is typically my C: drive (local disk) was labeled H: and the C: was for a removable media (card reader). I thought it was strange then, but didn't think that much of it since everything seemed to work fine in Windows.

I would fix change this, but the only way I know how to do it is by actually being in Windows. :P

Or run
df -h -T
in Kubuntu Konsole

The result is:

Code:

Filesystem  Type  Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda2   ext3   14G 2.9G  11G 22% /
varrun    tmpfs  756M 140K 756M  1% /var/run
varlock   tmpfs  756M   0 756M  0% /var/lock
udev     tmpfs  756M  88K 756M  1% /dev
devshm    tmpfs  756M   0 756M  0% /dev/shm
lrm     tmpfs  756M  34M 722M  5% /lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/volatile
/dev/sda4   ext3   94G 321M  89G  1% /home
/dev/sda1 fuseblk   38G  11G  28G 29% /media/sda1

**Snowhog** · Feb 16, 2008, 08:00 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

Reading your initial post, you say you also have another HD - 320G - yet your fdisk -lu doesn't show it, nor does df -h -T. Was this drive connected when you did your installation? Why is it not connected now?

**Qqmike** · Feb 16, 2008, 08:21 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

Hard telling.

Get into Kubuntu.
Open Konsole.
Type
sudo grub
Get a grub> prompt
explore your drive using the command geometry to be sure you know what is where:
grub> geometry (hd0)
Windows on (hd0,0)?
Kubuntu on (hd0,1)?
(maybe you can't quite be sure...?)

Let's just re-install GRUB (it should not hurt to do so, and we hope it will help—if it doesn't help, geez, we'll have to dig into this!)

Just for the heck of it:
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1

Does that return (hd0,1)?
We hope so. If so, then:

grub> root (hd0,1)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit
exit
re-boot to test it

**synaptik** · Feb 16, 2008, 08:29 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

@ Snowhog:
I only have the 1 hard drive, which is 320GB. Which is why I am so confused that the total of my partitions is only ~160GB. Where is the rest of my hard drive? I don't know! lol

Code:

grub> geometry (hd0)
drive 0x80: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808, /dev/sda
  Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
  Partition num: 1, Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
  Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82
  Partition num: 3, Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83

And next...

Code:

grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
 (hd0,1)

And now I will reinstall GRUB. Back in five! (I hope

)

**synaptik** · Feb 16, 2008, 08:37 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

After reinstalling GRUB, I still have the same problem with not being able to boot into Windows (and still getting the same error). Booting into Kubuntu still works fine though, hooray.

Is there a way for me to change the drive letters for Windows, without being inside Windows?

**Qqmike** · Feb 16, 2008, 09:12 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

Yeah, even geometry is only seeing half as many sectors as it should (x 512 bytes/sector = 160 gigs as you said, half of what it should be). Windows is taking up 40 GB, is that right? and 14-15 GB for Kubuntu home.

Disk read error: BIOS and/or GRUB (?) is only seeing half this 320 GB drive.
Boy, that won't fly, I don't think.
I don't know how that happened. The partition table in the MBR is going to be messed up.

Now, TestDisk (google on it) might be able to fix the partition table of that MBR -- a free download; but, testdisk is also on GParted Live CD. Problem is, you got to read the testdisk site to learn how to run it, although I don't think it's too hard (I've read but not had time to do it, and that project sits right here on my desk as I type this).

There's another guy here who might see something, but, fact is, BIOS/GRUB must see the correct partition table and disk or there will probably be this problem we have here => gotta fix that disk (or its partition table), then re-install GRUB again (that part is easy).

**Qqmike** · Feb 16, 2008, 09:33 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

If XP set the (64 bytes-) partition table of the MBR, that may be what has slipped here. (And GRUB simply installed its initial program loader in the other 446 bytes of the MBR; which leaves the 2 bytes for the MBR hex signature.).

It would be interesting to see how GParted sees this drive; and/or an analysis from TestDisk.

**synaptik** · Feb 16, 2008, 10:15 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

I am reading the TestDisk site now....have some printing to do it looks like. :P

I have both Gparted Live CD and System Rescue CD, so pretty sure I've got that tool on one of them at least. I will finish looking through the documentation here, and run TestDisk and let you know what I come up with.

**synaptik** · Feb 17, 2008, 12:08 AM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

Woohoo! I made it into Windows!

I used TestDisk to rebuild the boot sector (said the boot sector was bad). And then rebooted into Windows. It ran chkdsk, of course, and there were no errors thankfully.

I just rebooted into Kubuntu now, so GRUB was preserved.

Thanks for helping me with that!! I really can't thank you enough.

Now... the question of where my missing Gigabytes are. When I was in TestDisk I found the following:

Code:

/dev/hda - 160GB / 149 GiB
/dev/hdc - 54MB / 52MiB (RO)

The hda bit is where my partition table as I configured it resides, and there is no partition table to be found on the hdc thing. (Sorry, I don't really know what that refers to.)

Also, I found this....

Code:

Incorrect number of heads/cylinders 240 (NTFS) != 250 (HD)
1 * HPFS - NTFS     0  1  1  4914  254  63  78959412
2 P Linux        4915  0  1 17263 254 63 198386685
3 P Linux Swap   17264 0 1  17631 254 63 5911920 
4 P Linux       17632  0 1  19456 254 63 29318625

I have no idea what any of that means, but "Incorrect number of heads/cylinders" sounds like a problem.

**Qqmike** · Feb 17, 2008, 05:27 AM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

This:

/dev/hda - 160GB / 149 GiB
/dev/hdc - 54MB / 52MiB (RO)
Looks like you have another drive connected as hdc, small, 54 MB, read-only?
Don't know what that could be.

As for the second table, looks familiar; did it come from TestDisk? P is primary partition. That 63 is right (first partition starts there, after the MBR in sector 1 of the 1st “track”). But, again, the BIOS (and therefore GRUB since GRUB gets its disk info from BIOS) is not reading that disk right. The 254 is a head count (should it be 255?) and the 4914, 4915, 17263, 17264, 17631, 17632, and 19456 are cylinder counts, and yours read like a 160 GB drive! (A cylinder = 255*63 = 16,065 sectors and 1 sector = 512 bytes). The 0 1 1 is cylinder/head/sector; Starman is the reference for all that kind of stuff, but I'm afraid you'd spend a week there and be even more confused.

If it is working for now, I'd just use it.
We might sort out that table data, BUT so what! The issue is: Can TestDisk fix this? It has to do with (I think) incorrect partition table.

Ideally: I would use it. Meanwhile I'd make back ups of all my data to save safely somewhere OFF that drive. I would zero-out the entire drive (using dd command or its equivalent). Then I would repartition it using GParted Live CD and re-install both XP (probably with a call to Bangalore?) and Kubuntu.

Here's an example of what can happen, similar to your case. Say you copy a small hard drive to a larger hard drive, Master Boot Record and all. Now, the larger hard drive will think it is smaller than it is because its “new” MBR (which came from the smaller drive) says so! I can give other examples, but you get the idea. Somehow, sometime, your drive got some incorrect setup information on it. BIOS knows it, and GRUB sees that BIOS has a problem with it. I'll bet TestDisk can fix it (under repair partition table or some such thing). But be prepared for a fresh install of everything. Your actual data (the bytes) on the disk are probably OK; it's probably only those 4 (16-byte-)partition table entries that are messed up in the MBR.

FIRST: Check TestDisk.
Here's a couple of my How-To's that address the zero-out stuff (but don't get side-tracked right now with these!):
dd Command (to zero-out a drive)
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3090824.0
Privacy Cleanup 101
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde....msg115011#new
Reply #8: How to Delete Data from Your Hard Drives & USB Drives
SeaTools has a low-level format utility on it, too, to zero-out a drive.
Smart thing to do in this case, or if you catch a virus/Trojan.

**synaptik** · Feb 17, 2008, 03:02 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

The second table is the output from TestDisk, that's correct.

I tried the "search" and "deeper search" options in TestDisk for locating missing/deleted partitions on /dev/hda but it did not find anything.

As for the /dev/hdc, I really have no idea what that is. I have a bargain basement PC with only one 320GB hard drive. Actually, here is the product specs page for my PC. I ordered mine with 320GB hard drive, however, not the 160GB that is listed. I have also increased the RAM to ~1.5GB (1GB x 512MB). Other differences...I don't have a floppy drive, and I replaced the DVD-RW drive two years ago and it's now in the lower bay (I'm sure that doesn't make any difference but more information can't hurt, right?). Also, mobo specs.

One thing I want to bring to light here: As I was reading this post, my computer suddenly powered off with no warning, no beeps, no errors, just shutdown out of the blue. That happened to me once before (maybe 9-12 months ago). At that time, I couldn't get it to power back on so I let it sit for a day and then I was able to power it back on, and everything was normal like nothing had happened.

So at the moment, I am just letting it sit there...to rest, I guess. I know that is not normal, but I don't know much about hardware so I'm not sure what that is supposed to tell me. Problems with power supply? CPU? hard drive? I don't know how to determine which.

I read through your DD Commands post, and I didn't understand anything in the first post, lol, but I think Experiment #1 is what I am looking at doing, correct?

So, for example, I might do this:

1. Reboot using Helix Live CD (it has a GUI, I am excited about that)
2. At command-line, I would type fdisk -lu
3. Then dcfldd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda <--?
3a. Should I do that as well with /dev/hdc?
4. Wait for it to zero out the drive...
5. Then reboot using Gparted Live CD and repartition/format - or should I use Windows setup CD? - Or repartition using Gparted, and then use Windows setup CD?

I am not worried about data, as I have all my files on an external hard drive far, far away from my haywire PC. In fact, I haven't even plugged it into my PC after this installation mishap for fear of the madness spreading through the USB port. lol

Believe it or not, I actually possess a physical retail CD (legitimate, even) of a full Win XP Pro setup, so hopefully no call to Bangalore in my future.

**Qqmike** · Feb 17, 2008, 05:06 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

Have you looked at that disk using GParted Live CD? GParted is quite reliable.

Then this:
3. Then dcfldd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda <--?
3a. Should I do that as well with /dev/hdc?

The first statement 3. looks right except it is sda, right?
dcfldd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda
Also, if it is a Seagate drive, there is a utility on the SeaTools CD for doing it (but I rather doubt it's a Seagate? other makers may have their CD, also). The dcfldd is safe and works good.
As for 3a, ha! lol on that one! Since sdc is not showing up using sudo fdisk -lu, let's assume there is no sdc! So, no need for step 3a.

“5. Then reboot using GParted Live CD and repartition/format - or should I use Windows setup CD? - Or repartition using Gparted, and then use Windows setup CD?”

I would use GParted Live CD, BUT I am not very familiar with how flexible the XP installer is; that is, will it let you specify a new sda1 partition for XP of say 50 GB and not mess with the rest of sda? I don't know. For sure, after XP is installed to sda1, then use GParted for partitioning the rest of drive sda. It won't hurt to run GParted FIRST, making just one partition sda1 for XP, then see what the XP installer says about your drive. You can use GParted at any time, at any step, to do any task. Some people let XP install itself on the ENTIRE drive, then use GParted to shrink XP down to a smaller partition (I've done that). But that seems inefficient and takes time (2-3 hours).

Your PC looks like a good one; the 845 chipset is good.
I wonder, does your BIOS support that 320 GB hard drive? Or is there some BIOS setting to adjust to make sure it sees the hard drive correctly? I am not the expert on that. For sure, your BIOS doesn't seem to see the entire drive. Does this have anything to do with an LBA (Logical Block Addressing) setting in BIOS? I don't know.
No mention of the power supply brand – that's not unusual. The P/S is important. Antec is good, as are some others. Your symptoms could be indicative of a faulty power supply. I've had one go bad on me, and the symptoms can be subtle and irregular. And I've read several similar posts at a hardware site (www.hardwareguys.com – the forum there) Of course, as we all know, the problem could be many things, like the motherboard. There are P/S testers you can buy ($20-$50), or take it into a shop.

**Snowhog** · Feb 17, 2008, 05:11 PM

Re: Help: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error&quot

I think Qqmike may have something with his question:

I wonder, does your BIOS support that 320 GB hard drive?

Booting and entering the BIOS, check to ensure that the 320G HD is actually identified as such. It may be that your BIOS is incorrectly set to see it as a 160G HD.

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Solved: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error")

Solved: Cannot boot into Windows after installing Kubuntu ("disk read error")

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