LinuxMint 13 won't boot up without bootable USB

[ryanbayona]

Hi,

So I installed LinuxMint 13 using a bootable USB . Everything went well except when i removed the bootable USB and restarted my computer, it doesn't boot up. If I plug in the bootable USB and select it as the primary HDD in BIOS the computer boots and goes straight to my LinuxMint install.

Please help.

Thank you!

[zerozero]

boot from the liveUSB and

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sudo su

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mount /dev/sdax /mnt

(here you have to replace the x in sdax with the letter where your installation is)

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

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exit

reboot and you should be able to boot into the comp without the usb

(be very careful copying the commands above, respect all the spaces and do the relevant correction according to your installation)

[ryanbayona]

Thanks for the reply. When I boot up using the live USB , how do i switch to the console?

[ryanbayona]

boot from the liveUSB and

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sudo su

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mount /dev/sdax /mnt

(here you have to replace the x in sdax with the letter where your installation is)

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

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exit

reboot and you should be able to boot into the comp without the usb

(be very careful copying the commands above, respect all the spaces and do the relevant correction according to your installation)

This worked as expected. Thank you very much. May I ask why didnt the grub installed on my hard disk during LinuxMint installation?

[zerozero]

hi,
i'm glad to see that it worked
why that happened in the first place?
- when installing from an USB, sometimes, not always, the installer gets confused and places grub in sdb (the USB) instead of sda (the hard drive where it should).

[redjan]

I have also got this problem and I want to follow the instuctions given but I am not sure where my installation is. I am sorry for being ignorant.

I searched the forum for how to find it and I ran a routine as attached but I still don't know which one it is.

I am new to Mint but I think it's fantastic I'm really impressed. I just want to be able to boot up without the USB.

Thanks

Selection_016.png (104.77 KiB) Viewed 853 times

[zerozero]

hi
welcome to mint and sorry to hear that you are having problems, i think we can fix that easily
1- boot from the live-(usb-dvd)
2- open a terminal
3- in your situation the commands are

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sudo su

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mount /dev/sda5 /mnt

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

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exit

this should so it

[redjan]

Hi zerozero,

Thanks for your welcome.

Sorry for the late reply I have not had a minute to return to the forum and as the USB does get me booted up I was doing just that!

I ran your instructions (thank you) and when I tried to boot from the hard drive I got an error:

ERROR FILE NOT FOUND
GRUB RESCUE>

unfortunately I didn't know what to do. Please could you help me again?

Thanks

[zerozero]

no worries
my question is: did you copy&paste the above commands exactly as they are in the post (with all the spacings and all the rest?) if you miss a space (or misspell something it will simply not work.

[redjan]

Hi,

Thanks again

I copied and pasted but I'll try again just in case.

I thought I did it right but I'll go again and let you know.

[zerozero]

while you're there please do again

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sudo su

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fdisk -l

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mount /dev/sda5 /mnt

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

and paste all the output here in the forum

[redjan]

Ok thanks,

here it is:

redjan-Aspire-5738 redjan # fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 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: 0xeca8eca8

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 2048 26626047 13312000 27 Hidden NTFS WinRE
/dev/sda2 * 26626048 26830847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3 26830848 375138533 174153843 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda4 375140350 625141759 125000705 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 375140352 616765439 120812544 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 616767488 625141759 4187136 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 4194 MB, 4194304512 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 509 cylinders, total 8192001 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: 0x0d0c0b0a

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 63 8177084 4088511 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
redjan-Aspire-5738 redjan # mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
redjan-Aspire-5738 redjan # grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda
Installation finished. No error reported.

[zerozero]

redjan-Aspire-5738 redjan # fdisk -l

ok you are doing this from the installed system, please do the same steps from a live-usb or live-dvd

[redjan]

Sorry to seem dim but how do I do that?

[zerozero]

you should have an option in the bios to boot from usb, select that, otherwise the system is going automatically from the usb to the installed system;
once you are in the live system (if you open the terminal you have to see mint@mint and not your personal prompt) follow the steps above (copy&paste the output here)

[redjan]

I have had the boot from USB selected since the system wouldn't go straight into Mint on startup. I have two other usb choices in the bios and I have tried both (with my bootable USB connected) and I go straight into redjan.

Have I done something wrong?

[zerozero]

since we already installed grub in sda (and without errors according to the outputs) there's a couple things you can try:
- first and easiest: set the bios to boot from the internal hdd and try again to boot without the usb plugged in

- second (if that one doesn't work): boot as you have been doing until now, remove the usb stick and issue these commands

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sudo apt-get install --reinstall grub-common grub-pc

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sudo update-grub

this last one shouldn't be needed because the previous should do this
on reboot set the bios to boot first from the internal hdd and remove the usb

[redjan]

Hi again.

Thanks for your help and patience on this and sorry for the late reply.

I followed your instructions but when I try to boot without the USB I am still getting the error:

ERROR FILE NOT FOUND
GRUB RESCUE>

[redjan]

Now I can't boot up to anything without the key. Before it was just Mint but now it is also Windows.

If the key is attached, I have the choice to go to the Windows loader if not I get the error:

ERROR FILE NOT FOUND
GRUB RESCUE>

Help would really be appreciated.

Thanks

[chitsume]

Hi redjan! The same thing happened to my Dell Inspiron 1525 (replaced Vista with Linux Mint 13). In my case, I used a Plop boot CD to make sure it goes in the live system, resulting in getting the mint@mint prompt at the terminal.

I got the boot manager here: http://usbtux.hostzi.com/plop.