boot-repair

Questions about Grub, UEFI,the liveCD and the installer
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ChristianR

Re: boot-repair

Post by ChristianR »

ok...
Rebel Dog

Re: boot-repair

Post by Rebel Dog »

In past I find the information posted in the very first post here works great.
I also have a little tool I like, GRUB CUSTOMIZER , It says its for Ubuntu but I don't know if it works in Linux Mint? Have any of you used this in Mint?

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install grub-customizer
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austin.texas
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

Rebel Dog wrote:In past I find the information posted in the very first post here works great.
I also have a little tool I like, GRUB CUSTOMIZER , It says its for Ubuntu but I don't know if it works in Linux Mint? Have any of you used this in Mint?
I reported my dislike for what Grub Customizer does in this thread :arrow: viewtopic.php?f=90&t=190245&p=1085698#p1085698
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Cosmo.
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Re: boot-repair

Post by Cosmo. »

austin.texas showed the problem: Grub Customizer does some changes, which are hard to undo, if something goes wrong. As long as it works as expected, all is good, but if not, you might end with an unbootable system. That all for a screen, which you most likely see for just 10 seconds. The relation between what it gives and the risk is unhealthy.
ort

Re: boot-repair

Post by ort »

Just wanted to thank the OP for this info and thread. Did a fresh install over an old install that I finally managed to screw up over the course of a few years heavy use. Install seemed to go fine but when I tried to boot the new install....NOTHING. Panic time. Came here and went to "Installation & Boot" and your thread was in the # one spot on that list. Installed the program for boot repair that you recommended and BINGO. So thanks. :P
AaronZ

Re: boot-repair

Post by AaronZ »

boot repair produced the following:
http://paste2.org/PBJFHJ8H

Unfortunately I'm unable to boot into either Windows 10 nor Linux Mint
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austin.texas
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

AaronZ wrote:boot repair produced the following:
http://paste2.org/PBJFHJ8H

Unfortunately I'm unable to boot into either Windows 10 nor Linux Mint
There seems to be multiple problems with your partition structure.
Do you have any sort of RAID set up?
The linux partitions do not show up in the blkid or parted, and neither OS is detected by os-prober, and no Mint grub.cfg or fstab is shown. Those are all serious.
I would use the standard Windows tools to repair the Windows boot. Then delete the linux partitions and re-install Mint.
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AaronZ

Re: boot-repair

Post by AaronZ »

At this point I'll just clean and reformat the entire drive, just trying to hopefully rescue some of my files. Unfortunately Windows repair does nothing. Using the command prompt and diskpart shows two volumes without drive letters (one of them is most likely the C drive, the other is most likely a Windows partition at 512MB large).

Originally I had two drives (C and D) roughly 460GB each and the plan was to shrink D for Linux Mint.

UPDATE: Using testdisk I deleted the partition table and now have access to the files on my D drive. Still no luck on the C drive but I'm happy to at least recover some of my stuff so far.

UPDATE 2: Alrighty, after deleting partition table and doing a deep scan, I am now seeing all of my data on C also. Now to back this up and learn my lesson: ALWAYS backup before messing with partitions lol
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Re: boot-repair

Post by mike acker »

austin.texas wrote:Actually, there is more to it. In addition to referencing the UUID number, Grub also uses the (hd0,msdos2) code to record partitions.
(hd0,msdos2) is sda2
(hd1,msdos2) is sdb2
But in at least one specific example I have encountered, those references don't seem to be the deciding factor.
question:

in the LINUX document "How to rescue a non-booting grub 2 on linux" the author directs:

Making Permanent Repairs: run these commands to fix GRUB permanently:

# update-grub
...
# grub-install /dev/sda

noting that /dev/sda -- is sysres -- and -- I expect I would use sudo for these;

now the question: should it be ok to do this on a normally running system?

i want to cycle the GRUB update on the LMDE/2 box to see if it affects the adjacent system disks; these are not mounted and should not be accessible.
¡Viva la Resistencia!
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austin.texas
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

You can run sudo update-grub anytime you want, with no bad effects.
You can install grub (or re-install) with the command sudo grub-install /dev/sdX anytime you want, to install Grub to the MBR of any drive you chose.
"sdX" = sda or sdb or sdc or sdd...
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austin.texas
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

mike acker wrote:i want to cycle the GRUB update on the LMDE/2 box to see if it affects the adjacent system disks; these are not mounted and should not be accessible.
It is not going to affect other drives, other than the one where you are installing Grub.
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Re: boot-repair

Post by ddalley »

I have used Boot-Repair many, many times, but right now, I can't get it to install or work properly.

I have tried LM 18 KDE and Xfce 32-bit discs, but both of them fail to either install it properly or to run it properly.
Boot-Repair never gets populated into the list of installed programs.

If it does run, the MBR functions are missing - there is nothing to choose.

Does anyone know what is going on with Boot-Repair?
gax58

Re: boot-repair

Post by gax58 »

AllanPen wrote:I can't recall where I got this, but the following was dead simple even for me. This is assuming Mint is installed and Grub2 has been messed up or over written by Windows:
1. Boot live Linux (Mint) and run "Gparted". When it loads you should see all the partitons that are on the hard drive. Linux Mint partitions will probaly be EXT4 and the windows partitions will probaly be NTFS.

2. "sudo mount /dev/sda? /mnt"

3. "sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sda" (no number)

Close and reboot

There was one thing that confused me and I thought it hadn't worked. I got an error message after the Grub install that I can't remember the wording; something to do with "can't locate COW". Bottom line though; it worked.
thanks for the hint
I just tried that, and after
"sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sda"
got the following message:
"grub-probe: error: failed to get canonical path of `/cow'."
and after a little while (something like 20 seconds)
"Installing for i386-pc platform.
Installation finished. No error reported."

hope it'll work now
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Re: boot-repair

Post by curtvaughan »

I realize this is an old thread, but in any case, an annoying problem I've encountered the last few years regarding grub is when one of my multi-boot Linux systems (on several laptops I own) updates the kernel and then updates grub, often tossing all systems other than the one most recently updated. Boot-repair has been my savior, and I generally install and run it from the only bootable system remaining (most recently upgraded). This has happened several times with Ubuntu (most often), Mint, and Manjaro. I wouldn't even use Ubuntu except that my most recent laptop, a Dell XPS 13/Developer Edition, came stock with Ubuntu. I keep the original system around as it most cleanly allows me to do EFI/BIOS updates in the firmware. The great developer of rEFInd offers some great suggestions as to preventing grub updates with kernel upgrades. I intend to pursue some of those. In any case, every time I've used boot-repair, it's been a godsend. It's just a hassle to have to use it over and over with Linux system updates. Cheers, just a comment ...
Move from rim to hub: know the wheel.

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Re: boot-repair

Post by curtvaughan »

curtvaughan wrote:I realize this is an old thread, but in any case, an annoying problem I've encountered the last few years regarding grub is when one of my multi-boot Linux systems (on several laptops I own) updates the kernel and then updates grub, often tossing all systems other than the one most recently updated. Boot-repair has been my savior, and I generally install and run it from the only bootable system remaining (most recently upgraded). This has happened several times with Ubuntu (most often), Mint, and Manjaro. I wouldn't even use Ubuntu except that my most recent laptop, a Dell XPS 13/Developer Edition, came stock with Ubuntu. I keep the original system around as it most cleanly allows me to do EFI/BIOS updates in the firmware. The great developer of rEFInd offers some great suggestions as to preventing grub updates with kernel upgrades. I intend to pursue some of those. In any case, every time I've used boot-repair, it's been a godsend. It's just a hassle to have to use it over and over with Linux system updates. Cheers, just a comment ...
And I swear to God, I just had to do boot-repair again after an Ubuntu update. This is repetitive and should not continue to happen. Okay, just saying ...
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undivide

Re: boot-repair

Post by undivide »

restarted my system yesterday and noticed it now boots up differently. no LM logo, it says ubuntu 18.1 in plain text with 4 little dots below representing loading the os. then it boots to an error message telling me the login took longer than 10 seconds then passes me to another main login screen where it continues to attempt a login under my username which I'm surprised is still recognized. loaded my mint install disc and ran boot-repair but its still acting funny. this issue making me want to jump ship and go try debian or straight ubuntu, whichever wont have this issue going forward.
number of times I've had windows 10 mess up on my wife's laptop - zero
kukamuumuka

Re: boot-repair

Post by kukamuumuka »

undivide wrote:restarted my system yesterday and noticed it now boots up differently. no LM logo, it says ubuntu 18.1 in plain text with 4 little dots below representing loading the os. then it boots to an error message telling me the login took longer than 10 seconds then passes me to another main login screen where it continues to attempt a login under my username which I'm surprised is still recognized. loaded my mint install disc and ran boot-repair but its still acting funny. this issue making me want to jump ship and go try debian or straight ubuntu, whichever wont have this issue going forward.
number of times I've had windows 10 mess up on my wife's laptop - zero
Download rEFInd usb, and boot using rEFInd usb, and reinstall and update grub.
http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/getting.html
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Re: boot-repair

Post by Mark Phelps »

I need to repair the Boot on my Linux desktop.

I have two Linux distros installed -- Mint 18.1 and Ubuntu. A few days ago, I replaced the Ubuntu 16.10 version with 17.04 in the same partition.

When I was done, when I rebooted the PC, the GRUB splash that is displayed is the Ubuntu one, not the Mint GRUB splash.

Basically, GRUB is installed in each OS, with a different GRUB splash screen for each.

I though booting into Mint and doing update-grub would switch the GRUB boots so that I would see the Mint screen and GRUB menu, but it did not.

I know there is a way to do this, but I can't remember what it is.

Would like some help ... thanks
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austin.texas
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Re: boot-repair

Post by austin.texas »

Mark Phelps wrote:I though booting into Mint and doing update-grub would switch the GRUB boots so that I would see the Mint screen and GRUB menu, but it did not.
I know there is a way to do this, but I can't remember what it is.
Would like some help ... thanks
"update-grub" is the first part.
The next step is

Code: Select all

sudo grub-install /dev/sda
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smudge
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Re: boot-repair

Post by smudge »

phd21 wrote:Hi hagensieker,

This program "boot-repair" is also called "boot-repair-disk" and is a great utility program to have on a bootable CD or USB flash drive.

For boot-up problems: You could try the great "boot-repair-cd" program, and or the great "super grub2 rescue disk". You have to download the ".iso files and burn a CD or DVD or USB flash drive, then reboot to either one and run it. You can also boot up to your live DVD of Linux Mint and repair it that way, from console terminal prompt, type in: sudo update-grub

boot-repair-cd (disk) - easiest boot repair program
http://sourceforge.net/projects/boot-repair-cd/files/

Super Grub2 and Rescatux programs - Super Grub2 allows you to boot into your system even with a corrupt Grub or MBR boot issue(s), usually.
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/

gParted Live - great bootable disk partitioning program
http://gparted.org/download.php
Can I not use the Linux Mint live DVD to repair a messed up dual boot? If I try to repair the grub once booted up this will only affect the live experience won't it? I tried to tidy up the menu but left an entry that was void relating to a sudo apt get upgrade for grub that I replaced rather than leaving the same (note to self, always read everything with Linux, it's not Windows!)
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