L 99 99 boot error

[werdigo49]

I've screwed up the boot process and can't get beyond a screen half full of "L 99 99 99 ...". There's a lot of advice from a Google search but a lot of it is very old and not Kubuntu-specific. I have it set to boot from /sda, with / on sda1.

Glad I have this old laptop!

--W49

[Snowhog]

A quick google search ( kubuntu grub boot error L 99 99 99 ) indicates that this is a Lilo, not a Grub error. We are going to need details about the affected PC and what was on it and what you did. Do you have more than one HDD in the PC?

[werdigo49]

There are 4 disks: the 500G original (sda) and three that I've added: a 2T (with 2 partitions), a 250G IDE (my old data backup disk, using an IDE-SATA adapter), and an external USB case with an IDE disk. I had this 12.04 setup working great until I installed another 2G of RAM tonight (it tests fine) and must have rebooted when it wasn't seated, or some cable had been knocked loose, or something.

[Snowhog]

Verify that the HDD boot order in the BIOS indicates the HDD that has Grub installed to it.

[werdigo49]

How to I verify this? Boot from the DVD?

[Snowhog]

Reboot your PC and enter the BIOS Setup. You see that on the initial screen when you power-up, usually in the lower left corner of the screen, but it varies. You have to press that key (or keys) immediately; you only have about 1-2 seconds to enter the BIOS setup before the boot process continues.

[werdigo49]

Reboot your PC and enter the BIOS Setup. You see that on the initial screen when you power-up, usually in the lower left corner of the screen, but it varies. You have to press that key (or keys) immediately; you only have about 1-2 seconds to enter the BIOS setup before the boot process continues.

Thanks for your infinite patience, Snowhog. I have no manual for the machine or motherboard, but finally found something on the internet --- DEL is the key to use; I tried a lot of others! Finally found that my external USB drive was set as the first HD. I changed it to the 500G internal SATA and K12.04 booted right up.

Thanks again --- you've helped me before with other matters.

[Snowhog]

Cool. Glad it was a simple fix.