boot-repair

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v6itja

Re: boot-repair

Post by v6itja »

Hi all!

I hope it's the right place to ask a question about booting and partitions.
I have a 120GB SSD drive on my laptop and I installed first the Windows Vista onto it (in case if I REALLY need to get some Windows app working, like a Kaspersky decrypting tool) - created a 24 GB NTFS partition for this.
Secondly I installed LM 18 to another partition, 48 GB in size.
Thirdly - LM 17.3 onto another partition.

Now what happened is, that I tried upgrading 17.3 to 18 and it failed. I might have done something wrong, not sure, but now the 17.3 does not go further from the login screen. But as 18 works perfectly on this Dell Latitude E4300, I decided to stick with it.

But now - I would like to get rid of the non-working 17.3 partition, but safely. And this is where I am asking for help now. How to do it, so that I would not mess up my booting system. Now I have the GRUB working like this, that when boot happens, the default is the 17.3 partition, and down under in the list are LM 18 and Vista choices.

How can I reconfigure the grub bootloader to defaultly boot into LM18 and would give the second option for Vista?
And how can I delete the 17.3 partition and set the partitions to 24 GB for /DEV/SDA (Vista) and all the rest of the disk space (plus swap, of course) to be used for LM 18?

Screenrecording of the partitions can be seen here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8yd7qoe7v7s5d ... .webm?dl=0

Thank you for your help in advance and be blessed!
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austin.texas
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

v6itja wrote: when boot happens, the default is the 17.3 partition, and down under in the list are LM 18 and Vista choices.
This means that 17.3 is the Grub that you are using. To fix it, boot into Mint 18, open a terminal and enter:

Code: Select all

sudo grub-install /dev/sda
I am assuming your hard drive with Mint 18 is sda, not sdb

After that you can safely use the gparted program to delete the Mint 17.3 partition - or format it for other use.
After deleting 17.3, you can run the command:

Code: Select all

sudo update-grub
to remove the 17.3 menu item from the Grub menu, (or to add Vista if that is not there).
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

Ok, folks - I did it (also)...
I am using Mint 17.3 (?) since a year successfully from a USB-Stick.
In an attempt to copy this tool for a friend, I worked with unettbootin and somehow,
it seems like I destroyed my boot sector?
My IBM PC detects the flash drive in BIOS - but when it comes to booting,
it stops at 'no operation system found'!
The data seems to be present on my 64GB stick - but I am lost...

Hope you can help?
Thank you
Christian
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

ChristianR wrote:it seems like I destroyed my boot sector?
My IBM PC detects the flash drive in BIOS - but when it comes to booting,
it stops at 'no operation system found'!
The data seems to be present on my 64GB stick - but I am lost...
Hope you can help?
SuperGrub2 CD :arrow: viewtopic.php?f=46&t=227391&p=1200530#p1200530
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

I downloaded as recommended!
(Seems like I should have had this long time ago?)
But somehow it does not seem to boot?
Tried to copy the ISO on the USB stick and tried USB-image creator from this (LiveCD) menu - neither works... :(
ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

Actually, when I click on the USB it says (from this LIVE-CD now)
Error mounting /dev/sdc1 at /media/mint/ISOIMAGE: Command-line `mount -t "iso9660" -o "uhelper=udisks2,nodev,nosuid,uid=999,gid=999,iocharset=utf8,mode=0400,dmode=0500" "/dev/sdc1" "/media/mint/ISOIMAGE"' exited with non-zero exit status 32: mount: block device /dev/sdc1 is write-protected, mounting read-only
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sdc1,
missing codepage or helper program, or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so
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austin.texas
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

I just use a CD, because they are inexpensive. If you have a CD/DVD drive that is the way I would recommend.
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

Yes - of course...
But I am using the CD-drive for the Live-CD.
The Rescue-Stuff is on the stick - have just one drive... :(
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

I just tried it the way you described. I downloaded the "Recommended Download" - Super Grub2 Disk (CD & USB in one) 2.02s4 (ISO)[Mirror #1]
( super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s4.iso )

I used the "USB Image Writer" to write it to an 8GB USB drive. Booted from the USB, and used that to boot into my Mint 18. It all worked as expected.
Are you on a UEFI system?
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

My syslog says
Aug 13 11:29:21 mint kernel: [ 0.000000] DMI: FUJITSU SIEMENS ESPRIMO E /D2344-A3, BIOS 6.00 .11.2344.A3 5/23/2007
ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

Works!
Download and copying to USB works, detected as ISOIMAGE - but does not boot... :?
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

ChristianR wrote:Works!
Download and copying to USB works, detected as ISOIMAGE - but does not boot... :?
Copy to USB will not work. You need to use the "USB Image Creator"
Do not download the .iso to a USB drive. Download it into your Downloads folder. Using the live DVD, it will be stored in ram, but it is only 13.7MB, so that is no problem.
My USB partitions are also labeled "ISOIMAGE", (and it does boot).

Alternatively, you can use the chroot method for repairing Grub.
See: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/grub ... ocId905459

The next possibility is to use the live DVD to install Mint to your Mint USB drive again. Start the Mint installation program and chose the "Something Else" option. Install to your Mint USB without formatting the partition.
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

I tried the second option.
Worked and shows as 16 GB Volume (just like my 'old' _unusable_ one), showing as 64 GB Volume.
The second shows in BIOS, the new one does not - neither do they boot.. :(
I am not confident enough to try you first recommendation - too many possibilities to go wrong?
Thank you, anyway!
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

ChristianR wrote:Worked and shows as 16 GB Volume (just like my 'old' _unusable_ one), showing as 64 GB Volume.
The second shows in BIOS, the new one does not - neither do they boot..
I think this means that you have a 16GB root partition on a 64GB USB drive. (?)
The drive would show in your BIOS. The partition would not.

Please post the result of the Boot Info Script.
Boot your live Mint and install boot-info-script:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install boot-info-script
Then run the script:

Code: Select all

sudo bootinfoscript --stdout | pastebin
Post the resulting URL link that displays in the terminal.
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

mint@mint ~ $ sudo bootinfoscript --stdout | pastebin
http://paste.linuxmint.com/view/s3uo
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

You said you were using the live Mint DVD, but the boot info script shows Mint 15 on sda1 as your / partition. That is OK.

The pastebin has a file size limit, and you have so many kernels installed to Mint 15 that the Boot Info Script is cut off after 789 lines (after listing 18 different kernels) - so we don't have all the information.

Just to be certain... is your Mint on the 64GB USB drive a live Mint or a full installation?
The live Mint would have the "Install Mint" icon on the desktop.
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

I am using the live-CD. The 64 GB is the one, I am trying to fix!
(There may be a non-operational on /dev/sda1!) But I am using the 64 GB...
And I have the BIOS set to boot it - as the /dev/sda1 I am only using for data safe.
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

ChristianR wrote:I am using the live-CD. The 64 GB is the one, I am trying to fix!
So the answer to the question, "Is the MInt on the 64GB a full installation, or a live Mint?" ... would be "it is a full installation" ?
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

Yes, the 64GB is a full version/installation (which I am trying to fix).
And I am typing this from a LiveCD. running from my CD drive...
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

Please try your SuperGrub2 USB on a different computer to see if it boots, if possible.
If you can't get that to work, you might have to tackle the chroot method I mentioned previously.
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