Problems Linux 12 Booting

[crosenblum]

I am a dual booter.

I have winxp and linux mint 12.

I have problems booting in linux mint 12.

The grub screen show's linux 12, linux 12 recovery, and memory tests, and winxp boot options.

If i try either of the linux boot options, it just stays at an empty screen...No matter which of the linux options i pick, i just get a black screen.

How can i recover linux mint 12, without reformatting or reinstalling? I did make backups.

Any suggestions?

[wayne128]

just try this:
1. boot from Mint 12 DVD/CD, run Live
2. open a terminal, type this command

sudo os-prober

look at the Mint line and get the proper /dev/sdXY

3. type next command, replace /dev/sdXY by actual number you get from os-prober
sudo mount /dev/sdXY /mnt

4. next command

sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

hope for the best.

[Prescottech]

You think grub became corrupt on install?

Also, i would do a media check on the cd/dvd you used to install mint.

[crosenblum]

i can't boot from cd, something about how my drives are setup, i can however boot from usb, and i have a usb thumb drive with the latest linux mint 12 iso on it.

[wayne128]

i can't boot from cd, something about how my drives are setup, i can however boot from usb, and i have a usb thumb drive with the latest linux mint 12 iso on it.

Just boot from USB thumb , once it runs live , it is the same as Live CD/DVD

[crosenblum]

My linux partion is not the 1st partition, is there an easier way to map the partion names vs the internal names, so that i know which is wich?

[wayne128]

My linux partion is not the 1st partition, is there an easier way to map the partion names vs the internal names, so that i know which is wich?

Map name?
May be you meant Label parition name?

in gui method, use gparted
run Linux Live, then gparted, select your partition, then navigate to find Label,, type in your 'name' appy..

in command method,

tune2fs -L name_of_partition /dev/sdXY

[crosenblum]

Okay, I am atm, booted via usb to linux mint live.

When I do sudo os-prober i get this:

/dev/sdb1:Windows 7 (loader):Windows:chain
/dev/sdb3:Linux Mint 12 Lisa (12):LinuxMint:linux

I tried to do the sudo grub-install but that failed.

mint@mint ~ $ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda3
grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /boot (is /dev mounted?).
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /mnt/boot/grub (is /dev mounted?).

Now when I looked at the boot menu it indicated that the partition for linux mint was /dev/sda3

But when I am booting from usb, it doesn't seem to find that partition.

Is there a way to repair grub without having to do a reinstall?

[wayne128]

your mint and windows os appeared in second HDD. /dev/sdb

not sure what is your first HDD, because computer boots to first boot drive, which is usually /dev/sda

may be you can do this

boot and run from usb thumb, open terminal, type

sudo fdisk -l
sudo parted -l print

hopefully all HDD, internal and external show up.

what was your bios setting on which HDD is the first boot drive?

[crosenblum]

I found out that my linux mint partition is /dev/sdb3, and when i booted to usb, it had it mounted already with a long string of alphanumeric characters.

My first hard drive is my winxp partition, which is the boot partition.

i have 3 partitions on my main hd, which is 1.5 tb, and my 2nd one is 500 gigs.

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 63 316426319 158213128+ 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2 462418045 1603293256 570437606 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sdb3 316428288 462415871 72993792 83 Linux
/dev/sdb5 462418047 1603293256 570437605 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Model: ATA WDC WD10EARS-00Y (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32.3kB 162GB 162GB primary ntfs boot
3 162GB 237GB 74.7GB primary ext4
2 237GB 821GB 584GB extended lba
5 237GB 821GB 584GB logical ntfs


Model: SanDisk Cruzer Edge (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 16.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 16.4kB 16.0GB 16.0GB primary fat32 boot, lba

Does that help? I think this confirms that sdb3 is my linux partition.

Now how do i fix it lol? Thank you.

[wayne128]

you see, when you boot computer, it get to MBR of winXP drive.. which is /dev/sda

but you install grub on /dev/sdb or even last command you put /dev/sdb3 ( root partition)..

here is what you do, pray that it works

Install grub2 onto your first boot drive's MBR, which is your winXP drive..

1. boot and run live USB
2. sudo os-prober, to confirm Mint is at /dev/sdb3
3. sudo mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt
4. sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

pls note, item 4 above, it is /dev/sda, not like /dev/sdb, not /dev/sdb3.. it is /dev/sda

then, reboot, and just hope

[crosenblum]

grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /boot (is /dev mounted?).
Installation finished. No error reported.

That is the error message I get. I rebooted, and still can't boot into linux.

Is there a way to fix this so i do not have to reinstall? Because i spent so much time setting everything up.

Altho i do have backups on a different drive that has the home and /etc folders in the backups.

Any thoughts?

[wayne128]

Of course there is a way.
I could not track what actually you typed and response of terminal so cannot guess what could have happened.

As this simplest method of reinstall grub2 does not work, you have a few other methods

1. use chroot method, this is more involved.
read grub2 documentation and follow the official procedure

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2

2. use another method to boot such as

super-grub

RIPlinux

for example, if using RIPlinux, boot computer, select to boot /dev/sdb3 and see what happen

3. Can you still boot from Win7?
if can, install easybcd from NeoSmart, then add entry of grub2 and see if it boots


edit: by the way, when you boot computer with usb stick, on unetbootin menu there is another option to boot hard disk, that could also find your /dev/sdb3 and attempt to boot the installation

[crosenblum]

Actually it's winxp, not sure why it says win7 loader.

But yes i can still boot to winxp just fine.

Can i download and install any recovery software, while booted via usb?

Because of my hard drive layout, i am unable to boot to cd or dvd.

Would it help if i showed a screenshot instead? I can do that. I am willing to be provide whatever it takes to help fix this problem, and maybe help it for other people with similar problems.

[wayne128]

As I have not seen any info from fdisk -l for winXP drive, I am not sure what are system partition there. sometime it can give problem on booting linux

I am shooting in the dark..

I am going out soon for 2 hours.. haha

but then, one quick way is
get winXP , first drive out of the equation first,
just unplug the winXP first drive cable

then now you have only one internal drive, it will become /dev/sda
boot from usb stick
redo the steps
and reinstall grub2 into the MBR of this drive.
and see what happen

going out haha..login 2 hours later

[crosenblum]

Let me explain my hard drive setup.

My first drive is 1.5 tb, and it has 3 partitions

1st is WinXP
2nd is Linux Mint 12
3rd is used for storage/media/movies etc

2nd Hard Drive has all my backups.

So i can't exactly remove my winxp drive.

Linux is installed as the 2nd partition of my main boot hard drive.

I really don't want to have to reinstall again.

So any thoughts? before you go lol. thanks again for the effort.

[marsh20]

Hiya,

Another option maybe to make the Lisa HD the primary and the XP the secondary HD and then update grub. This will let GRUB control the boot sequence. This works well for me.

[wayne128]

first drive become /dev/sdb..... well...

may be better to let the kernel says what it sees

boot from usb, on terminal, do

sudo fdisk -l

sudo parted -l print

and post ALL the results of terminal

then run gparted, capture image of /dev/sda and /dev/sdb and post them here for other to see

[crosenblum]

sudo fdisk -l

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
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0c998324

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 976768064 488384001 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x166780ae

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 63 316426319 158213128+ 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2 462418045 1603293256 570437606 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sdb3 316428288 462415871 72993792 83 Linux
/dev/sdb5 462418047 1603293256 570437605 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdc: 16.0 GB, 16008609792 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1946 cylinders, total 31266816 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x095ea2bc

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 32 31266815 15633392 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


Model: ATA ST3500630A (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32.3kB 500GB 500GB primary ntfs boot

sudo parted -l print

Model: ATA WDC WD10EARS-00Y (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32.3kB 162GB 162GB primary ntfs boot
3 162GB 237GB 74.7GB primary ext4
2 237GB 821GB 584GB extended lba
5 237GB 821GB 584GB logical ntfs


Model: SanDisk Cruzer Edge (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 16.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 16.4kB 16.0GB 16.0GB primary fat32 boot, lba

Attached are the two screenshots you requested.

/dev/sda

dev_sda.png (41.21 KiB) Viewed 798 times

/dev/sda

dev_sda.png (41.21 KiB) Viewed 798 times

[wayne128]

Well,

It seems when you installed Linux , 1TB is first boot drive.
Now it had become second.. so grub is messed up.
May be you have swapped cable? or bios setting had change with opposite boot order?
or some intelligent update/upgrade did something?

I think if you swap back the drive order you should be back to booting.

However, you can also pull out the grub . cfg info, check, and make some changes, without cable swap, and hopefully you can get back bootable Linux by changing all sda to sdb... hope is high

Rearrange a bit:

What the kernel see

1. First disk , /dev/sda, is 500G, ntfs, Label = backup

Code: Select all

Model: ATA ST3500630A (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  500GB  500GB  primary  ntfs         boot

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *          63   976768064   488384001    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT


2. Second disk , /dev/sdb, is 1TB, partition 1,3, 2 (5)

Code: Select all

Model: ATA WDC WD10EARS-00Y (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End    Size    Type      File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  162GB  162GB   primary   ntfs         boot
 3      162GB   237GB  74.7GB  primary   ext4
 2      237GB   821GB  584GB   extended               lba
 5      237GB   821GB  584GB   logical   ntfs



Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x166780ae

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *          63   316426319   158213128+   7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2       462418045  1603293256   570437606    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sdb3       316428288   462415871    72993792   83  Linux
/dev/sdb5       462418047  1603293256   570437605    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Partitions are in good shape, at least fdisk did not complain.


Now, lets see what was in the grub.cfg of the Linux partition.
To find out, do this

boot usb linux, open terminal and type this commands:
then copy the command as well as terminal output to post here.
put results in 'code' so that it is easier to read.

1. sudo grub-install -v
2. sudo mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt
3. ls /mnt/boot
4. cat /mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg



next one I hope to understand,
when you boot computer, what did you see from grub menu?
an image would be nice.
something like this
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2 ... ub2.sm.png

or
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2 ... rub.sm.png