I did something bad, and now I can't boot (GRUB Error 17)

[orangerainrevolt]

I thought my Kubuntu partition was too big, so I reformatted it. I now know that this was a bad idea. I get a GRUB error 17, and I don't really understand the solutions.

So, if someone could explain it, in layman's terms, I would really appreciate it.

[Snowhog]

Re: I did something bad, and now I can't boot (GRUB Error 17)

HOW TO: GRUB Methods - Toolkit

Search on Error 17.

[orangerainrevolt]

Re: I did something bad, and now I can't boot (GRUB Error 17)

HOW TO: GRUB Methods - Toolkit

Search on Error 17.

Yes, but I know what the problem is. What I don't understand is how to fix it.

[Snowhog]

Re: I did something bad, and now I can't boot (GRUB Error 17)

Reformatting a partition(s) causes the UUID for the partition(s) to be updated. Open a console and type:

sudo blkid

Compare the results to your /boot/grub/menu.lst file root= entries and correct as required. You will also need to correct the UUID entries in your fstab file - assuming you are using UUID in that file.

[orangerainrevolt]

Re: I did something bad, and now I can't boot (GRUB Error 17)

Yes, but I don't understand how to do half of these things. How do I open a console when I can't get further than the BIOS start-up image? I assume I have to boot from a CD?
And I just change the files to whatever sudo blkid outputs?

[orangerainrevolt]

Re: I did something bad, and now I can't boot (GRUB Error 17)

I don't have /boot/grub/menu.lst.

[Fintan]

Re: I did something bad, and now I can't boot (GRUB Error 17)

I don't have /boot/grub/menu.lst.

You don't? Are you sure? Where and how did you look?

With a live cd:
Boot live kubuntu cd, open system settings->advanced->harddrives&files (or similar, mine is german)
right click on the partition holding you kubuntu install.
Choose "edit" and give it a mount point like:
/media/kubuntu and activate that partition.
Now open konqueror and navigate to /media/kubuntu (or whatever name you gave it) and open up /boot/grub/menu.lst and /etc/fstab in kate as root. Keep it open.

Now open a terminal and do:

sudo blkid

make the necessary uuid changes in both files and save them.
Reboot and enjoy