Booting issue after install, very confused

[mrufino1]

Hi, it's been a while since I was here but I decided to switch to KDE and plain kubuntu is a little rough (installed right now). I have mint 9 kde on a usb stick, running fine as a live distro. I have home on its own partition so i can keep my data, and when installing 9 it won't boot after a successful install- it goes right to memtest, which is the only grub entry. My system is such:
linux distro (hopefully mint, currently kubuntu) on one partition (16gb)
6gb swap
AV linux (for music production, based on debian) (18gb)
Home partiton (80gb)

This all started because I wanted to upgrade to av linux 4, and when reformatting the partition with the av installer my system became unbootable , which at the time was running ubuntu 10.04.

So after a few tries with mint, I thought maybe for some reason I needed to reformat the whole drive, but that didn't help, mint still did the same. The kubuntu installer worked with no issues.
I set it up the same way, and it is currently running kubuntu 10.04 and av linux 4, along with the home partition, which is empty but backed up waiting to be reinstated.

When installing mint (disk fresh, partitioned as I mentioned, or even if I just redo the partition with ubuntu and leave my av linux install), grub should be installed to sda, not sda1 (the mint partition on sda)? In other words, the default location that th emint installer chooses?

Any ideas? I now see why the reviews I read of kubuntu stated that kde was not too well integrated and mint just felt "complete." but I do need it to boot for it to be useful Thanks in advance.

[StanTheMan]

If you are setting up a system wit more than two OS s multi-booting , it is better NOT to let the installer choose partitions. You need to plan out all your partitions first , and preferably use a partition editor such as GPARTED running on a Live disk , in order to create your partitions first. And you will decide what to go on Primary partitions and what to go on Logical Partitions.
Your AV linux distro will likely work best on a Primary partition
I would then make all others Logical partitions.
You could make one swap Logical partitiion of 2 GB ,
then a data partition of 14 GB less than the space left. The data partition could be ext3 if one of your Linux distros is ext3 , or it could be ext4 if both of them are extx.
Then two 7 GB partitions for your two Linux distros.
The last one that you install will create a bootloader for the whole system.
Swap will be shared by all linux systems.
If you /home is to be shared between two systems, they should both be the same desktop type and both use the same type of e-mail clients (otherwise there would be conflict).
I personally do NOT share /home with two systems/ My second system only reads and writes data files and does NOT handle the e-mail account.

[mrufino1]

Hi, Sorry, maybe my post was unclear- I did set up my partitions myself. I have as follows: kubuntu (mint if I can get it to work) 16gb, 6gb swap, 18gb for av linux, the rest is my /home for kubuntu/mint only- In Av linux I don't use the same home partition, because it is only for music production, so home is only for configuration files and such. I have another internal drive on my laptop for my audio files.
I didn't have the primary partitions set the way you suggested, but my install before yesterday was ubuntu 10.04 and av linux 3.01 set up with one primary and the rest logical and all was fine.
But, mint was not booting even when AV was not yet installed, mint installs fine but then grub does not reflect that there is any OS installed- kubuntu installed correctly, but I'm not digging it, very very rough around the edges. I didn't feel the same way about ubuntu running gnome, but I was having some issues with nautilus that made me want to try kde. So I'd love to get mint 9 kde running if possible. Thanks for your input so far.

[dawgdoc]

You might be able to solve this from the liveCD with one command, in a terminal run

Code: Select all

sudo update-grub

Keep in mind that AV LInux uses legacy grub and Mint9 and Ubuntu 10.04 use Grub2 - from this pdf http://www.bandshed.net/pdf/AV4Software.pdf

AV Linux contains a few intentionally held packages including GRUB-legacy, a dist-upgrade will
overwrite these key held packages and force installation of some unwanted libraries that will
potentially break your existing installation. It is recommended to only use the Synaptic Package
Manager to administrate software other than the exceptions noted below.

This AV Linux pdf www.bandshed.net/pdf/AV4LiveInstall.pdf discusses dual booting with Ubuntu and therefore Mint, this is from page 6 of the pdf

submitted by ‘trulan’ an AV Linux user who dual boots with Ubuntu. In this
example sda1 is a primary ext3 partition with Ubuntu installed, Since Ubuntu uses the more recent
GRUB 2 bootloader it is used to boot both OS’s and has been installed to the MBR .

[mrufino1]

Yes, as I said, I have av linux currently running on this machine dual booted with kubuntu. The kubuntu installer installed kubuntu, then I installed av linux, when I rebooted, it booted into kubuntu, I did sudo-update grub, it found av linux 4, and everything works. The mint installer is not working correctly for me, it installs mint, but no entry to grub (if I can hit shift quick enough to see the grub menu, only memtest is there). When I use the live usb to try to edit grub, it is saying it cannot find where grub is (I don't remember the exact syntax, but basically it is not seeing my mint install for update grub).
AV linux really has nothing to do with the issue, I just mentioned it to see the full picture, but the mint problem occurred 3 times- 2 with just reformatting my ubuntu 10.04 partition, leaving /home but having mint see it (not reformat though), then once with blanking the whole drive and partitioning it manually, no formatted partition for av yet, just the blank space needed for it when it was time, so in essence, when mint was installed, there were 3 partitions- mint, swap, and /home, plus 18gb of unformatted space between swap and home for the eventual av install, but blank space shouldn't affect anything, as it did not when I installed kubuntu after the third mint fail.
I am installing from a usb stick made with unetbootin, which runs fine as a live usb, and I do not have a DVD burner right now so I couldn't install mint from a dvd anyway if that makes a difference.
Thanks for looking at the AV site, it's cool that you took the time to fully understand what AV is.
So really, the question is, why is the mint installer not installing grub correctly? It can't be a bug in the installer I would think or no one would ave installed mint 9 yet, or maybe no one did it from usb with the kde edition? I suppose I could try the mint gnome iso and see if it is any different, but I did all this because I wanted to move to KDE and installing the kubuntu desktop over my gnome install made for a very messy system and menus.
Thanks for your help and hopefully we can get to the bottom of this.

[dawgdoc]

I think to get a better picture of what is going on you may need to run the Boot Info Script and paste the results in a quote or code box here. Check this link on instructions for getting and running the script

[mrufino1]

That would work except I don't have a way to boot into mint once it is installed- during the install, at the end, it says "updating grub" but if you can get the grub menu, it lists only memtest86, nothing else. I can boot the live cd fine, and it says it installed fine, but then once installed will not boot. I think there may be some bug in the installer. I don't have mint installed right now because I can't blank my machine again in hopes that it will work, I want to know what the issue is first before doing it. I appreciate the help, I may have to try it though on my spare laptop though when I get home in order to see if it will actually work (I'm on vacation at the moment, be home tomorrow). Since the same thing happened 3 times in a row, then with kubuntu (same install options, same partitions) it was fine, the only thing I can think of is that there is some bug in the mint installer. 32 bit kde iso on a usb stick by unetbootin is what I used to install. Just downloaded the iso last week, so it is recent if there were ever any revisions, and it boots as a live usb, so it is not a checksum issue. Thanks.

[dawgdoc]

That would work except I don't have a way to boot into mint once it is installed-

The boot-info-script should work when installed on kubuntu, and probably AVLinux for that matter.

[mrufino1]

I'm sorry, I think we're not understanding each other. What boot info would I be looking for on kubuntu or AV linux? Is it hardware specific I am looking for? Kubuntu and AV are coexisting fine on this machine right now, both boot with no issues and they work without crashing. It is mint that I cannot get to boot once installed, and after 3 tries I went for kubuntu instead.

[dawgdoc]

Running the script would tell us:
1) where Grub2 is and where it looks for /boot/grub
2) where the boot files and directories for each OS are
3) If there are any errors in boot files and directories
4) the contents of grub.cfg
5) the location of files loaded by Grub


A sample result would look like this

Code: Select all

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in
    partition #5 for /boot/grub.

sda1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System: 
    Boot files/dirs:   /bootmgr /Boot/BCD

sda2: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  Windows 7
    Boot files/dirs:   /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda3: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  Unknown
    Boot sector info: 

sda5: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Operating System:  Linux Mint 9 Isadora
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda6: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 

sda4: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System: 
    Boot files/dirs:   /bootmgr /boot/BCD

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sda1    *          2,048       206,847       204,800   7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2             206,848   667,277,311   667,070,464   7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3         667,279,358   951,730,175   284,450,818   5 Extended
/dev/sda5         667,279,360   940,093,439   272,814,080  83 Linux
/dev/sda6         940,095,488   951,730,175    11,634,688  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4         951,730,176   976,771,071    25,040,896   7 HPFS/NTFS


blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL                         

/dev/sda1        74FCCDEAFCCDA6A8                       ntfs       SYSTEM                       
/dev/sda2        86C8CF72C8CF5ED5                       ntfs       HP                           
/dev/sda3: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda4        AA90E0CB90E09ED7                       ntfs       FACTORY_IMAGE                 
/dev/sda5        f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e   ext4                                     
/dev/sda6        2444f980-af1f-48ff-84e2-d8a386a3f528   swap                                     
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
error: /dev/sdb: No medium found
error: /dev/sdc: No medium found
error: /dev/sdd: No medium found
error: /dev/sde: No medium found

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev  output: ===========================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/sda5        /                        ext4       (rw,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sr0         /media/MONSTERS_VS_ALIENS udf        (ro,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,umask=0077)


=========================== sda5/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
  set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then
    saved_entry=${chosen}
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  insmod gfxterm
  insmod vbe
  if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
    # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
    # understand terminal_output
    terminal gfxterm
  fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e
insmod png
if background_image /boot/grub/linuxmint.png ; then
  set color_normal=white/black
  set color_highlight=white/light-gray
else
  set menu_color_normal=white/black
  set menu_color_highlight=white/light-gray
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Linux Mint 9, 2.6.32-21-generic (/dev/sda5)" --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
   recordfail
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,5)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e
   linux   /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e ro   quiet splash
   initrd   /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
menuentry "Linux Mint 9, 2.6.32-21-generic (/dev/sda5) -- recovery mode" --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
   recordfail
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,5)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e
   echo   'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'
   linux   /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e ro single
   echo   'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
   initrd   /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,5)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e
   linux16   /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,5)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e
   linux16   /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
   insmod ntfs
   set root='(hd0,1)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 74fccdeafccda6a8
   chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda4)" {
   insmod ntfs
   set root='(hd0,4)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set aa90e0cb90e09ed7
   chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sda5/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=f2910a0f-1cf2-4ab1-aa5f-3a65b22a291e /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=2444f980-af1f-48ff-84e2-d8a386a3f528 none            swap    sw              0       0

=================== sda5: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


346.0GB: boot/grub/core.img
419.6GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
348.1GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
347.1GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
348.1GB: initrd.img
347.1GB: vmlinuz
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader  on sda3

00000000  6e 9e 7e 17 49 43 51 70  c6 32 46 8e 99 47 a9 93  |n.~.ICQp.2F..G..|
00000010  d0 d8 fb 47 15 7f 7c 05  59 d4 05 09 3b f2 67 d7  |...G..|.Y...;.g.|
00000020  50 2b b1 4e 67 86 51 a0  8b 30 14 6d a0 76 ea 9c  |P+.Ng.Q..0.m.v..|
00000030  da 96 36 b4 06 5d 2a 83  bb 6f 80 71 6c f0 66 ec  |..6..]*..o.ql.f.|
00000040  e8 53 5c 8d 89 00 d6 f7  86 d1 34 c5 a3 29 a1 8b  |.S\.......4..)..|
00000050  d9 11 47 5c a7 7e 84 3c  05 a5 f1 e6 e5 29 f6 95  |..G\.~.<.....)..|
00000060  ea 5e 4a ee ac d0 09 45  3d 21 1b 0a 4c 9c c5 05  |.^J....E=!..L...|
00000070  6b 8e 98 2d 0a 72 81 dc  28 30 1b f0 68 46 1a 6d  |k..-.r..(0..hF.m|
00000080  57 b4 4d a0 63 9c c2 23  9e 5d 4d 88 06 a5 af 2c  |W.M.c..#.]M....,|
00000090  3f 3b 10 8f 7e 02 4a 2a  a0 d3 ed 7f 0a 67 63 7d  |?;..~.J*.....gc}|
000000a0  0a 8e f2 5e 7f e0 03 aa  d5 5c d7 b7 eb 30 a7 0a  |...^.....\...0..|
000000b0  d8 0e 11 91 0e ea 40 1c  e9 ca 53 32 69 f7 29 c8  |......@...S2i.).|
000000c0  fa 8b 15 89 6e a2 90 63  8b 10 ce 1a a8 17 0e c1  |....n..c........|
000000d0  93 2b a9 46 d0 a1 4a e4  ce fc 1d 09 3d 62 1b 38  |.+.F..J.....=b.8|
000000e0  c7 02 79 bb 36 70 0a 22  19 79 2f 6f 50 1d 96 27  |..y.6p.".y/oP..'|
000000f0  b0 7c 73 c6 c9 6a 60 7c  d5 0b 2e cf da 64 3e 07  |.|s..j`|.....d>.|
00000100  9a 21 eb 92 5c a9 87 d6  b4 3f 2f 95 19 d6 a6 d8  |.!..\....?/.....|
00000110  e5 50 76 58 85 dd b1 2d  bd a4 6f 80 37 f3 21 77  |.PvX...-..o.7.!w|
00000120  67 81 c9 37 92 a8 1f 6a  da d9 39 71 dc ac 79 a9  |g..7...j..9q..y.|
00000130  9f 3c 76 52 03 8c ad 9d  49 fa e1 15 1d 77 55 7d  |.<vR....I....wU}|
00000140  7f f4 4b d9 71 b8 72 22  fe 3f f5 da eb 9a 66 19  |..K.q.r".?....f.|
00000150  fc e3 b8 73 45 1c 4d 22  6c 5d 11 42 34 62 01 ff  |...sE.M"l].B4b..|
00000160  ee f3 69 70 9e 3f bd 1d  3e 1d ab 08 cd 05 04 31  |..ip.?..>......1|
00000170  26 92 1b 7b 0e 15 da 35  6e e2 03 a4 10 34 0a 12  |&..{...5n....4..|
00000180  fe 7e 36 6b a0 cf 09 a9  83 5d 6d f7 be 7a c3 ce  |.~6k.....]m..z..|
00000190  8e 32 ea c3 c2 17 10 29  ff 53 f6 bc b2 ae 25 6f  |.2.....).S....%o|
000001a0  b3 c6 2b 79 13 e7 aa 55  66 bc ef c9 03 b9 23 65  |..+y...Uf.....#e|
000001b0  c7 03 c1 75 c7 e9 8c 98  ef 86 88 28 84 58 00 ef  |...u.......(.X..|
000001c0  ff ff 83 ef ff ff 02 00  00 00 00 d0 42 10 00 ef  |............B...|
000001d0  ff ff 05 ef ff ff 02 d0  42 10 00 90 b1 00 00 00  |........B.......|
000001e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa  |..............U.|
00000200


=======Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive==============

sdb sdc sdd sde 

[mrufino1]

Gotcha, I wasn't understanding then.
Here is the output of that file:

Code: Select all

                Boot Info Script 0.55    dated February 15th, 2010                    

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

 => Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in 
    partition #1 for /boot/grub.

sda1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext3
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda2: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  Unknown
    Boot sector info:  

sda5: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  

sda6: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext3
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  
    Boot files/dirs:   

sda7: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext3
    Boot sector type:  Grub
    Boot sector info:  Grub 0.97 is installed in the boot sector of sda7 and 
                       looks at sector 62881251 of the same hard drive for 
                       the stage2 file. A stage2 file is at this location on 
                       /dev/sda. Stage2 looks on partition #7 for 
                       /boot/grub/menu.lst.
    Operating System:  Debian GNU/Linux squeeze/sid
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/menu.lst /etc/fstab

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sda1    *          2,048    31,250,431    31,248,384  83 Linux
/dev/sda2          31,252,478   234,440,703   203,188,226   5 Extended
/dev/sda5          31,252,480    43,751,423    12,498,944  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6          80,144,384   234,440,703   154,296,320  83 Linux
/dev/sda7          43,761,123    80,132,219    36,371,097  83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL                         

/dev/sda1        7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff   ext3                                     
/dev/sda2: PTTYPE="dos" 
/dev/sda5        292a16ab-d257-4cf8-86db-8f5dda03c705   swap                                     
/dev/sda6        57db7d28-d77b-4da7-b388-22f3b302395a   ext3                                     
/dev/sda7        6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0   ext3                                     
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos" 

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev  output: ===========================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/sda1        /                        ext3       (rw,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda6        /home                    ext3       (rw)


=========================== sda1/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
  set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then
    saved_entry=${chosen}
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  insmod gfxterm
  insmod vbe
  if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
    # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
    # understand terminal_output
    terminal gfxterm
  fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-24-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic root=UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff ro   quiet splash
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-24-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff
	echo	'Loading Linux 2.6.32-24-generic ...'
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic root=UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff ro single 
	echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff ro   quiet splash
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff
	echo	'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff ro single 
	echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae (on /dev/sda7)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae root=UUID=6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0 ro
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae
}
menuentry "Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae (single-user mode) (on /dev/sda7)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae root=UUID=6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0 ro single
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae
}
menuentry "Debian GNU/Linux, kernel memtest86+ (on /dev/sda7)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,7)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0
	linux /boot/memtest86+.bin 
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sda1/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff /               ext3    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=57db7d28-d77b-4da7-b388-22f3b302395a /home           ext3    defaults        0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=bbd6bd9b-c506-4b1e-8feb-803e3058cf1d none            swap    sw              0       0

=================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


  14.8GB: boot/grub/core.img
  14.8GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
  14.9GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
  14.8GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic
  14.8GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
  14.7GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic
  14.8GB: initrd.img
  14.9GB: initrd.img.old
  14.7GB: vmlinuz
  14.8GB: vmlinuz.old

=========================== sda7/boot/grub/menu.lst: ===========================

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-legacy-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not change this entry to 'saved' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default		0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		5

# Pretty colours
color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root		(hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader	+1
#
# title		Linux
# root		(hd0,1)
# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,6)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
##      lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(single-user) single
# altoptions=(single-user mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae
root		(hd0,6)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae root=UUID=6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae (single-user mode)
root		(hd0,6)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae root=UUID=6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel memtest86+
root		(hd0,6)
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

title		Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS (10.04), kernel-2.6.32-21-generic
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic

title		Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS (10.04), kernel-2.6.32-21-generic (single-user mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic


title		Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS (10.04), kernel-2.6.32-24-generic
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic root=UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic

title		Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS (10.04), kernel-2.6.32-24-generic (single-user mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic root=UUID=7dfe3c31-e47b-4588-b628-393e0b7b27ff ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic


=============================== sda7/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>

proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sda7
UUID=6dd58e62-1d96-4977-9a25-d0f0c7077cf0 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /dev/sda5
UUID=292a16ab-d257-4cf8-86db-8f5dda03c705 none swap sw 0 0
# cdrom
/dev/sdb1 /media/cdrom udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0


=================== sda7: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


  32.1GB: boot/grub/menu.lst
  32.1GB: boot/grub/stage2
  32.1GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae
  32.0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-rt21-avlinux-realtime-pae
  32.1GB: initrd.img
  32.0GB: vmlinuz
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader  on sda2

00000000  ec f4 78 0e 86 7a be 52  f2 ee bd 4b 89 de 02 ce  |..x..z.R...K....|
00000010  20 0f a7 e0 bd df 39 d3  16 b5 b1 43 11 20 99 46  | .....9....C. .F|
00000020  4b cb 76 c1 c6 dd 63 9d  eb 55 61 7d ff 2e 12 07  |K.v...c..Ua}....|
00000030  9e 6c 99 91 2a 97 6b f6  c1 b5 42 ea fb 47 f2 23  |.l..*.k...B..G.#|
00000040  89 f2 b2 72 f4 5d 2d 47  cc 87 0e 79 49 b1 66 b1  |...r.]-G...yI.f.|
00000050  42 fd 08 7b 0f ef 5a eb  a3 57 4b bd 2f c0 8b a9  |B..{..Z..WK./...|
00000060  c0 2c 42 0f af 94 4f 20  d5 1f 44 65 e1 e7 9c 15  |.,B...O ..De....|
00000070  8a 70 52 4d ae 4d 40 4e  2f a7 7a f7 2c df fa 9c  |.pRM.M@N/.z.,...|
00000080  a1 e3 a7 1c 06 d0 65 6e  72 7b f8 dc 88 2d 2a af  |......enr{...-*.|
00000090  79 3e 00 79 71 6b 2e 3e  3f 7a 94 8c c5 b9 dc 69  |y>.yqk.>?z.....i|
000000a0  ee 4d 28 1b 7e 90 ab 2e  d3 87 bb 90 7d f0 2d 2e  |.M(.~.......}.-.|
000000b0  4d 30 e3 fe 1f f1 15 a6  27 fa b5 6e 0d 00 16 c9  |M0......'..n....|
000000c0  03 de 9b 1f 69 08 2e a9  6c c2 67 67 9a 7b a9 66  |....i...l.gg.{.f|
000000d0  3e 9e 63 49 7e de dc be  23 27 3d d6 1b 45 76 de  |>.cI~...#'=..Ev.|
000000e0  8f 9a 99 59 e4 6a dc d1  df d4 38 a4 68 2e 8c 11  |...Y.j....8.h...|
000000f0  14 10 ae 6e f2 44 c4 fc  45 25 49 16 70 f2 4a dc  |...n.D..E%I.p.J.|
00000100  e2 69 9e 46 b3 82 93 f8  50 fe cb 5e b6 eb 8a 51  |.i.F....P..^...Q|
00000110  a7 49 12 f7 51 8c 0b 75  a6 56 d6 ab 25 36 56 83  |.I..Q..u.V..%6V.|
00000120  59 9e 3d 7d 89 2a 0d 7e  b1 70 77 c1 fb fe fb c7  |Y.=}.*.~.pw.....|
00000130  31 84 b5 a8 2b 33 78 89  09 1f 11 af 62 92 f5 c9  |1...+3x.....b...|
00000140  4a f4 f6 e0 84 c6 f3 b4  b1 ca 22 a4 41 74 71 d4  |J.........".Atq.|
00000150  e2 81 33 82 1f 39 82 e8  9e 01 f2 5b 3a 39 db 9c  |..3..9.....[:9..|
00000160  48 8a 52 1d a6 8d 97 b6  fb 6d 2e 0f 1a 67 17 47  |H.R......m...g.G|
00000170  56 f1 8f 98 4f 9c ba 95  53 a1 97 38 2b 01 4e 04  |V...O...S..8+.N.|
00000180  d9 10 fb f7 bd 6b 02 35  8f 64 2e 9f 3c 17 20 a8  |.....k.5.d..<. .|
00000190  f2 55 7a f5 b2 a2 2e 0e  e0 c5 77 fb 4e 54 d2 17  |.Uz.......w.NT..|
000001a0  1c ea 43 35 44 72 b7 a2  b1 cd b3 41 bb 3b af db  |..C5Dr.....A.;..|
000001b0  91 4f 0e d2 79 73 a3 23  cd 80 bd d5 41 be 00 fe  |.O..ys.#....A...|
000001c0  ff ff 82 fe ff ff 02 00  00 00 00 b8 be 00 00 fe  |................|
000001d0  ff ff 05 fe ff ff 7e d8  e9 02 84 8f 32 09 00 00  |......~.....2...|
000001e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa  |..............U.|
00000200

[dawgdoc]

The installer in Mint 9 and Ubuntu 10.04 is the same both use Ubiquity. So unless there is something wrong with your liveUSB of Mint you should be able to install Mint if you can install Ubuntu. You installed successfully from the Kubuntu LiveCD so I would think you know how to correctly create a LiveCD and install Mint from it.

As you described, your current setup has Ubuntu and AVLinux and the large partition you described as /home. There is no trace of Mint on the system. Actually, I would not have known you had Kubuntu installed of Ubuntu (Gnome) if you had not said so.

At this point what I would suggest is to remake your LiveUSB of Mint 9 kde and try to install it, probably on a small partition you make out of a part of your /home. During the install process in step 4, I believe, select manual and on one of the next pages you will have to select advanced so that you can have Mint put its installer on its root partition. Do not reformat the swap partition, just so Mint where it is. After the install process, successful or unsuccessful, run the boot-info-script again.

[mrufino1]

Not sure I followed exactly what you were saying. Mint is not installed right now, I wanted to install mint but when it wouldn't work (I redid the usb key with unetbootin a few times), then I did kubuntu instead because I had a CD of it (and at that point a blanked out, unbootable computer, so I couldn't make anything else on usb (on vacation, so my iso downloads are at home backed up-when I wiped the computer the ones I had were gone).
I am not looking to install mint alongside kubuntu but instead of it. Anyway, I'll see what I can do about it. I am typing this now from a mandriva live usb and really liking mandriva, just not sure if I want to switch to an rpm based distro, I'm so used to deb's and apt-get and such. But we'll see. I still want to check mint out more extensively first.

[dawgdoc]

What I was thinking was that at first you leave Ubuntu on the system until you can verify that Mint will install. That will leave you a working distribution from which to re-run the boot-info-script as a diagnostic if the Mint install does not complete. If it does install, and you verify that it behaves like it should, then you could go through the process of replacing Ubuntu with Mint. (A bit of extra work my way, but something to evaluate.)