Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
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Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
I recently installed Mint 9 on my laptop using an usb stick. And I don't know how but I somehow managed to get grub installed onto the usb, while the OS onto the hard-disk. So now I can't boot into my machine without using the usb drive.
I tried the standard way of reinstalling grub2. Also completely uninstalled grub2 and reinstalled it. These procedures worked without any errors but didn't solve the problem either.
Is there any way that I can resolve this issue without reinstalling the OS? I had put in far too much time into configuring Mint and would very much like to not do a reinstall.
Thanks
I tried the standard way of reinstalling grub2. Also completely uninstalled grub2 and reinstalled it. These procedures worked without any errors but didn't solve the problem either.
Is there any way that I can resolve this issue without reinstalling the OS? I had put in far too much time into configuring Mint and would very much like to not do a reinstall.
Thanks
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
varunrajan wrote:I recently installed Mint 9 on my laptop using an usb stick. And I don't know how but I somehow managed to get grub installed onto the usb, while the OS onto the hard-disk. So now I can't boot into my machine without using the usb drive.
I tried the standard way of reinstalling grub2. Also completely uninstalled grub2 and reinstalled it. These procedures worked without any errors but didn't solve the problem either.
Is there any way that I can resolve this issue without reinstalling the OS? I had put in far too much time into configuring Mint and would very much like to not do a reinstall.
Thanks
Can you boot up the computer, open the terminal, then do the following command, and post the output:
1. sudo fdisk -l
2. sudo parted -l print
3. do you know which partition on which drive is the Mint installation?
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
Output of "sudo fdisk -l"
Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x5f1d1c2b
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 2611 20972826 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 2612 6530 31472640 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 6530 10271 30049280 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 10271 60802 405889025 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 10763 35782 200967168 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 35783 60802 200966144 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda7 10271 10763 3954688 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Output of "sudo parted -l print"
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32.3kB 21.5GB 21.5GB primary ntfs
2 21.5GB 53.7GB 32.2GB primary ntfs
3 53.7GB 84.5GB 30.8GB primary ext4
4 84.5GB 500GB 416GB extended
7 84.5GB 88.5GB 4050MB logical linux-swap(v1)
5 88.5GB 294GB 206GB logical ntfs
6 294GB 500GB 206GB logical ntfs
Mint is installed on sda3, with swap in sda7. sda1 has XP and sda2 has win7. The others are data drives.
Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x5f1d1c2b
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 2611 20972826 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 2612 6530 31472640 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 6530 10271 30049280 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 10271 60802 405889025 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 10763 35782 200967168 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 35783 60802 200966144 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda7 10271 10763 3954688 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Output of "sudo parted -l print"
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32.3kB 21.5GB 21.5GB primary ntfs
2 21.5GB 53.7GB 32.2GB primary ntfs
3 53.7GB 84.5GB 30.8GB primary ext4
4 84.5GB 500GB 416GB extended
7 84.5GB 88.5GB 4050MB logical linux-swap(v1)
5 88.5GB 294GB 206GB logical ntfs
6 294GB 500GB 206GB logical ntfs
Mint is installed on sda3, with swap in sda7. sda1 has XP and sda2 has win7. The others are data drives.
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
fdisk -l did not show usb drive or usb stick, can you include everything on fdisk -l and parted -l print to show all drives? It must appear in fdisk -l.
now as you said, you must have usb drive in order to boot computer, that means usb drive has the MBR installed with grub2.
What is your setting on Bios boot order?
( CDROM/USB/harddisk etc in the proper order which determine how Bios would pass control to)
now as you said, you must have usb drive in order to boot computer, that means usb drive has the MBR installed with grub2.
What is your setting on Bios boot order?
( CDROM/USB/harddisk etc in the proper order which determine how Bios would pass control to)
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
I missed out the usb portion as I had unmounted it after booting. Here's the usb section:
Disk /dev/sdb: 1031 MB, 1031798784 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 3936 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000838bd
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 3936 1007600 b W95 FAT32
The boot order has hard disk first and usb second. When the usb is not plugged in, it simply shows a black error screen saying something to the tune of no disk found.
Disk /dev/sdb: 1031 MB, 1031798784 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 3936 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000838bd
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 3936 1007600 b W95 FAT32
The boot order has hard disk first and usb second. When the usb is not plugged in, it simply shows a black error screen saying something to the tune of no disk found.
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
ok, now you boot computer with usb , then it should work and get /dev/sda3 mounted since Mint was installed on /dev/sda3,
on terminal, type mount , the first line should read /dev/sda3 xxxx, just to confirm.
now assuming your Mint is really running on /dev/sda3, you should install grub2 onto the MBR which is /dev/sda
now on terminal, su to root and become root ( with # prompt), then
grub-install /dev/sda
on terminal, type mount , the first line should read /dev/sda3 xxxx, just to confirm.
now assuming your Mint is really running on /dev/sda3, you should install grub2 onto the MBR which is /dev/sda
now on terminal, su to root and become root ( with # prompt), then
grub-install /dev/sda
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
I have already confirmed that Mint is on sda3 using another live usb.
I have also tried grub-install /dev/sda. It gives no errors and shows a message that its successful, but this does not rectify the problem.
I have also tried grub-install /dev/sda. It gives no errors and shows a message that its successful, but this does not rectify the problem.
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
varunrajan wrote:I have already confirmed that Mint is on sda3 using another live usb.
I have also tried grub-install /dev/sda. It gives no errors and shows a message that its successful, but this does not rectify the problem.
I am not sure you are running installed OS
or running with usb stick
please confirm.
if you are running on usb stick or CD or DVD, which has bootable Mint iso, then you need to get into the terminal, become root, then command to reinstall grub2 are
1. mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
2. grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda
if no error, fine, unplug usb drive, reboot and check
if error mention to use --force, then the command to use is
2a. grub-install --force --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
I am sure that the its running from the hard disk because the usb I am using has Ubuntu 10.04 and not Mint .
grub-install is not giving any error. I have tried it both using liveusb and from Mint, but neither gave the desired results.
grub-install is not giving any error. I have tried it both using liveusb and from Mint, but neither gave the desired results.
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
varunrajan wrote:I am sure that the its running from the hard disk because the usb I am using has Ubuntu 10.04 and not Mint .
grub-install is not giving any error. I have tried it both using liveusb and from Mint, but neither gave the desired results.
If you are running off /dev/sda3, the mount command will show on first line
then, on terminal, with root, do a update-grub, this will let grub2 update itself
the terminal should see something like :
Code: Select all
root@-PC:/home/wayne# update-grub
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found background image: /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-grub.png
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-2-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-2-amd64
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-amd64
Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda1
Found Ubuntu 10.10 (10.10) on /dev/sda7
Found Linux for enlightened beings (2.0 ) on /dev/sda8
done
root@-PC:/home/wayne#
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
mount command does show /dev/sda3 as first line.
output of update-grub:
output of update-grub:
Code: Select all
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found Debian background: linuxmint.png
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-32-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-32-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Found Microsoft Windows XP Professional on /dev/sda1
Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda2
done
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
Ok, then, unplug usb, reboot, see what happen.varunrajan wrote:mount command does show /dev/sda3 as first line.
output of update-grub:Code: Select all
Generating grub.cfg ... Found Debian background: linuxmint.png Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-32-generic Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-32-generic Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin Found Microsoft Windows XP Professional on /dev/sda1 Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda2 done
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
Just a "Disk Error" message. Doesn't show the grub or boot.
Re: Can't access grub2 menu, select OS
varunrajan wrote:Just a "Disk Error" message. Doesn't show the grub or boot.
Well, if you went thru those instructions, and from reading also you had already done purging grub, reinstall grub, etc, yet you still have problem...
This leads me to think you might hit the bug listed on grub2-documentation
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2
Code: Select all
Selected Problems and Bugs
External Drive Installs and ''grub-pc'' Updates
Launchpad Bug 496435 Installs of Ubuntu on external drives can cause problems as grub-install uses device names (e.g. sda, sdb) rather than UUIDs in certain circumstances. If connected to another machine when an update of grub-pc is made, the upgrade may be written to the incorrect device and make the computer unbootable.
A workaround is posted on the bug link above.
External Drive Installs and MBR Selection
Launchpad Bug 414996
When installing Ubuntu to a USB drive, the potential exists for GRUB 2 to write to the hard drive's MBR or split the installation between the hard drive and the USB drive (rather than completely on the USB device). This can render the main drive unbootable.
Workaround: During the final stages of the install there is an "Advanced" button which allows the user to select the install location. See the bug report for more details.
1. Reinstall, but without USB drive attached, use DVD/CD to install, this way no external usb drive to confuse.
2. Try Mint 10, 11 that has higher version of grub2 ( 1.99) but it is hard to know if those bugs would surface to your hardware.
3. I think this one should be alright.
Use another CD to boot computer /dev/sda3, without USB drive attached, then when computer is booted up and running /dev/sda3, do grub install to /dev/sda, this should let internal hard disk to have grub2 installed.
Those that can do this are supergrub ( grub2 version), RIPLinux and many more recovery tools.
I always use RIPLinux, the procedure is, get iso from their website, burn bootable CD, use it to boot computer, on its menu, choose the line that boot partition of 32- of 64- bit with /dev/xxxx, tab it, move cursor back on xxxx and change it to sda3 and <enter> to boot computer,
once you are running on /dev/sda3, remember external USB drive is not attached, now you use the same command to install grub2 onto /dev/sda, hopefully it works.