USB HDD Install fails to boot on 1 of 2 desktops [woops :(]

[Tunnelrat81]

I recently found an old 80Gb 2.5in HDD with an external USB2.0 enclosure, and decided to try out an external install of Linux Mint KDE. I have an old Dell E310 Desktop currently dual booting Mint 13 mate and Solusos 1.2. My second (main) computer is a solely windows 7 machine, home-build computer with Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Processors on a nforce 680i SLI Mobo. Both computers are fully functioning in their roles, and have been perfectly reliable.

I did the initial installation of Mint 14 KDE from the quad core Windows machine by booting into a Live DVD and doing the graphical installation to the 80Gb external drive, making sure to include Grub on the same drive. My hope is to be able to boot to this drive without disrupting the boot process on the existing Windows 7 install. I've done this successfully with other Linux OSes via full installs on an 8Gb thumb drive (Solusos 1.2 full install).

At the completion of the install, the computer failed to re-boot, going to a black screen after chosing "Linux Mint" from the grub screen, and stayed black. After a couple more tries to make sure, I unplugged the drive and took it to my other Desktop (the one currently dual booting Linux, No windows installed there) and was without incident able to boot directly into my new Mint 14 KDE. I was then able to do all needed updates and get it running smoothly on the (older, slower) Dell Desktop. I run lighter-weight DE's on that computer, but really wanted to give the newest KDE a turn on my newest machine. I understand that grub.cfg will include HDD identifiers for each of the HDDs and their linked OS information, but no matter how I number the drives in grub.cfg, they always boot on the old Destkop, and never on the New one. The older desktop is a single internal HDD machine, and the new one is running dual SATA drives internally.

As a test, I even updated the BIOS on the new computer in case it was having a hard time with the 80Gb size on the USB drive, with no change. I have access to boot into the Mint KDE install to provide any file printouts needed, but I would like some help on this if possible. Even "it's not going to work for 'x' reason " etc.. Thanks so much for your help.

-Jeremy

[wayne128]

Hi, Jeremy

Since you said solus can install onto USB drive and boot your new computer, so we can rule out any thing like raid/UEFI/GPT on the new computer.

May be we can start by checking the grub config file.
Here I would suggest you do this

1. Use you old computer, boot from USB and run the Mint14 from USB, then open a terminal, do this

cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg

and post the terminal output in code tags here

2. Now go to the new computer
plug in USB drive
load the Mint14 DVD, boot the computer from DVD and run live.
open a terminal and type a few commands, post their output

sudo parted -l
sudo fdisk -l
sudo os-prober


3. from your info

I did the initial installation of Mint 14 KDE from the quad core Windows machine by booting into a Live DVD and doing the graphical installation to the 80Gb external drive, making sure to include Grub on the same drive. l.

When you boot from Mint14 DVD and run Live, is there any graphic issue ? Do you boot DVD using the default? or recover mode?

[Tunnelrat81]

Thank you for the quick reply. Below is the grub.cfg file from on the USB drive, running on the old computer. *Edited* In this printout, the Mint Maya and SolusOs OSes reside on the internal HDD (hd0, msdos1 & msdos3 respectively), and the external drive is listed as "hd1,msdos1" I'll have to get you the other stuff a bit later from the new computer. *end edit

I had no trouble booting to the default Live session on the new computer, so no graphical stuff going on..

Oh, and as far as the raid/UEFI/GPT stuff, I'm not familiar with that, and thus can't rule it out. I never ran SolusOs from this HDD though, only an 8Gb Patriot XPorter XT thumb drive, and I assume USB HDD's are handled somewhat differently than flash cards. The HDD is power off of two USB ports also, so perhaps the fact that it's not externally powered is creating a problem?

I have realized that if I wait long enough on the blank screen (like minutes) I'll eventually get a message at the top saying something like "error:attempt to read or write to disk other than hd0. press any key to continue" and waiting a few seconds more would bring me right back to the grub menu. After seeing that, I tried hitting "e" to edit the "Linux Mint" entry on the grub menu and then edit each the the (hd0,msdos1) entries to hd1, or hd2 etc...with boots in between to make sure grub was looking in the right place for the image file. Changing that only eliminated the 'error :attempt to ..." message and the black screen never changed, eventually running to a scrolling/looping set of (I think) 3 udev errors that would fill the screen and run indefinitely until I switched off the machine.

Also, it may be the same issue, but I didn't mention that before formatting and installing Mint KDE to the drive, I'd partitioned half of it and attempted to install CrunchBang. In the same way, it booted every time without delay on the old desktop, but would throw an error and dump me back to shell, saying something about the uuid not matching. I've run

Code: Select all

blkid

and the uuid matches what's in grub.cfg.

Hope this isn't too much meaningless ramble. Just trying to give you everything I've found.

Code: Select all

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
  menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
  menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi                                                                               
}                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                                             
function load_video {                                                                                                                                                        
  if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then                                                                                                                               
    insmod all_video                                                                                                                                                         
  else                                                                                                                                                                       
    insmod efi_gop                                                                                                                                                           
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod ieee1275_fb
    insmod vbe
    insmod vga
    insmod video_bochs
    insmod video_cirrus
  fi
}

if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
   font=unicode
else
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1  3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
fi
    font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
  set lang=en_US
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
if background_color 0,0,0; then
  clear
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=white/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
function gfxmode {
        set gfxpayload="${1}"
        if [ "${1}" = "keep" ]; then
                set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=7
        else
                set vt_handoff=
        fi
}
if [ "${recordfail}" != 1 ]; then
  if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
    if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
      if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
        set linux_gfx_mode=keep
      else
        set linux_gfx_mode=text
      fi
    else
      set linux_gfx_mode=text
    fi
  else
    set linux_gfx_mode=keep
  fi
else
  set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode
if [ "${linux_gfx_mode}" != "text" ]; then load_video; fi
menuentry 'LinuxMint' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7' {
recordfail
        gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd1,msdos1'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1  3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
        fi
        linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-22-generic root=UUID=3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7 ro   quiet splash $vt_handoff
        initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.5.0-22-generic
}
submenu 'Advanced options for LinuxMint' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7' {
        menuentry 'LinuxMint, with Linux 3.5.0-22-generic' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.5.0-22-generic-advanced-3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7' {
        recordfail
                gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd1,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1  3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux 3.5.0-22-generic ...'
                linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-22-generic root=UUID=3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7 ro   quiet splash $vt_handoff
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.5.0-22-generic
        }
        menuentry 'LinuxMint, with Linux 3.5.0-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.5.0-22-generic-recovery-3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7' {
        recordfail
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd1,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1  3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux 3.5.0-22-generic ...'
                linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-22-generic root=UUID=3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7 ro recovery nomodeset 
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.5.0-22-generic
        }
        menuentry 'LinuxMint, with Linux 3.5.0-17-generic' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.5.0-17-generic-advanced-3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7' {
        recordfail
                gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd1,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1  3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux 3.5.0-17-generic ...'
                linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-17-generic root=UUID=3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7 ro   quiet splash $vt_handoff
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.5.0-17-generic
        }
        menuentry 'LinuxMint, with Linux 3.5.0-17-generic (recovery mode)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.5.0-17-generic-recovery-3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7' {
        recordfail
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd1,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1  3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux 3.5.0-17-generic ...'
                linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-17-generic root=UUID=3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7 ro recovery nomodeset 
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /boot/initrd.img-3.5.0-17-generic
        }
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd1,msdos1'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1  3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
        fi
        linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd1,msdos1'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1  3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3fb405bb-f8e9-4560-98c7-79598ed59dd7
        fi
        linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry 'Linux Mint 13 Maya (13)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-simple-b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff' {
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,msdos1'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff
        fi
        linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic root=UUID=b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff ro quiet splash $vt_handoff
        initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-23-generic
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Linux Mint 13 Maya (13)' $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-advanced-b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff' {
        menuentry 'Linux Mint 13 MATE 32-bit, 3.2.0-23-generic (/dev/sda1) (on /dev/sda1)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic--b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff' {
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff
                fi
                linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic root=UUID=b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff ro quiet splash $vt_handoff
                initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-23-generic
        }
        menuentry 'Linux Mint 13 MATE 32-bit, 3.2.0-23-generic (/dev/sda1) -- recovery mode (on /dev/sda1)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic-root=UUID=b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff ro recovery nomodeset-b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff' {
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff
                fi
                linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic root=UUID=b258eb8b-1586-4fe5-8cb5-84ef194d93ff ro recovery nomodeset
                initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-23-generic
        }
}

menuentry 'SolusOS Eveline (1.2)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-simple-4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd' {
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,msdos3'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos3 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos3 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos3  4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd
        fi
        linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.3.6-non-pae-solusos root=UUID=4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd ro quiet splash vga=792
        initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.3.6-non-pae-solusos
}
submenu 'Advanced options for SolusOS Eveline (1.2)' $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-advanced-4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd' {
        menuentry 'SolusOS GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.3.6-non-pae-solusos (on /dev/sda3)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-3.3.6-non-pae-solusos--4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd' {
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,msdos3'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos3 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos3 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos3  4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd
                fi
                linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.3.6-non-pae-solusos root=UUID=4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd ro quiet splash vga=792
                initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.3.6-non-pae-solusos
        }
        menuentry 'SolusOS GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.3.6-non-pae-solusos (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda3)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-3.3.6-non-pae-solusos-root=UUID=4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd ro single-4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd' {
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,msdos3'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos3 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos3 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos3  4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd
                fi
                linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.3.6-non-pae-solusos root=UUID=4770cc7f-32cb-4c75-9876-6d0969235dfd ro single
                initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.3.6-non-pae-solusos
        }
}

### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
  source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

[wayne128]

First thing is to isolate a possible hardware issue caused by loading of the USB power.
To do that, unplug all USB devices that drain powers, leaving only
1. usb mouse, usb keyboard, usb monitor
2. the offending USB drive.

Please confimr your offending USB drive is 2.5in design.
Also does that USB drive come with a straight USB cord or a y-cord?
a y-cord need to be powered with two USB slots.

If you do these, do you see the same issue described in your Original post?

[Tunnelrat81]

Firstly,

Please take note of my edit above. I think I was writing it while you gave your response. I ran update-grub after plugging in the old desktop's internal drive, and re-printed the grub.cfg file for you to see.

I only have the USB Mouse, USB Keyboard and the external drive plugged into USB, and have for all testing. The external drive is a 2.5 inch drive, and comes with what you're calling a "Y" cord, which does in fact require that I plug it into two USB slots. I do this on both computers. I'll be out for a bit to walk the dogs, but will boot into the Live Session and get your other requests for you once I'm back. Thanks again for your help.

-Jeremy

[Tunnelrat81]

To your first reply, here are the printouts from the New Desktop running Mint KDE Live:

Code: Select all

mint@mint ~ $ sudo parted -l
Model: ATA ST3160023AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 160GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  160GB  160GB  primary  ntfs         boot


Model: ATA WDC WD5001AALS-0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  394GB  394GB  primary  ntfs         boot
 2      394GB   500GB  106GB  primary  ntfs


Model: IC25N080 ATMR04-0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 80.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  80.0GB  80.0GB  primary  ext4         boot


Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr0 read-write (Read-only file system).  /dev/sr0
has been opened read-only.
Error: Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sr0.         
Ignore/Cancel? i                                                          
Model: Memorex MRX-550L v5 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sr0: 1098MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 2048B/2048B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start  End  Size  Type  File system  Flags

Code: Select all

 
mint@mint ~ $ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 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: 0xe98d764c

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048   312578047   156288000    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Disk /dev/sdb: 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: 0xa5753d9d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *        2048   770144255   385071104    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2       770144256   976769023   103312384    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Disk /dev/sdc: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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: 0x0000bf80

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1   *        2048   156301311    78149632   83  Linux

Code: Select all

mint@mint ~ $ sudo os-prober
/dev/sda1:Windows 7 (loader):Windows:chain
/dev/sdb1:Windows 7 (loader):Windows1:chain
/dev/sdc1:Linux Mint 14 Nadia (14):LinuxMint:linux

[wayne128]

To your first reply, here are the printouts from the New Desktop running Mint KDE Live:

Model: ATA ST3160023AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 160GB

Model: ATA WDC WD5001AALS-0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 500GB


mint@mint ~ $ sudo os-prober
/dev/sda1:Windows 7 (loader):Windows:chain
/dev/sdb1:Windows 7 (loader):Windows1:chain

Your new Desktop have two internal hard disk? 160G Seagate and 500G WDC
and you have win7 installed in both of them,

However , there is no USB drive... any connection issue on USB drive? or contact issue on the USB ports?

[Tunnelrat81]

The new Desktop has two HDD, The 160Gb Seagate is just storage, with Windows 7 only being installed on the first partition of the WDC drive.

-Jeremy

[Tunnelrat81]

Something's different about how the new desktop boots up though. Even with the functional SolusOS Thumb Drive that I use on it (and any other live sessions I've run from thumb drives) always hang on startup for an extra 30-45 seconds just after selecting "boot from USB device" before actually beginning to boot. Once the boot is initiated, things seem to progress at normal speeds, and the OS once started runs just fine.

-Jeremy

[Tunnelrat81]

Just noticed what you were asking about. I need to look into removing the boot flag from that drive, but I should probably confirm that the WDC is booting fine without it first. I'd hate to damage my existing system. What's strange is that I can boot my WIndows 7 by choosing to boot from the Seagate drive, despite the fact that the OS is located on the WD HDD. Hmm. No idea how that happened.

If I find that it's safe to remove the flag from the Seagate...I'll make that change from inside windows, rather than messing with it from the partition editor inside a live mint session.

-Jeremy

[wayne128]

Finish my own installation of Mint14KDE on USB drive. for testing and checking..

Using old computer, two internal hard drives, one USB flash as source iso, and installed to USB drive. Thus this USB drive has designation of /dev/sdd2 during installation.
and the grub2 stanza look almost the same as yours except the Mint stanza is (hd3,msdos2).

Tested, it boots up 6 desktops/laptops... without much issue.
One of the 6 tested is a UEFI capable laptop...
At least it said that as far as Mint14KDE is concerned, installed into USB drive should expect it to work out of the box for several PCs..

Something's different about how the new desktop boots up though. Even with the functional SolusOS Thumb Drive that I use on it (and any other live sessions I've run from thumb drives) always hang on startup for an extra 30-45 seconds just after selecting "boot from USB device" before actually beginning to boot. Once the boot is initiated, things seem to progress at normal speeds, and the OS once started runs just fine.

This might be quite normal.
USB boots had longer response, because bios/driver and sometime detecting partitions on USB drive needs other stuff to be running first.
Even on USB flash can take long , for some distros it can take 2 minute delay ( built in by that distros).

Just noticed what you were asking about. I need to look into removing the boot flag from that drive, but I should probably confirm that the WDC is booting fine without it first. I'd hate to damage my existing system. What's strange is that I can boot my WIndows 7 by choosing to boot from the Seagate drive, despite the fact that the OS is located on the WD HDD. Hmm. No idea how that happened.

I do not think it is necessary to do anything on the 'flag'.
Keep them intact, as long as Windows OS boots, leave it alone

All my Linux OS do not use 'boot flag'.



Now back to your issue

1. please confirm that your USB drive is actually working on USB ports of the New computer. Perhaps boot to your Windows 7 and do a sanity check

2. use your bios, check if USB drive is always detected upon several reboot..

3. using Mint14KDE DVD, boot computer as usually, check the USB drive again, your last post I read do not have the USB-80G showing up in fdisk and parted. something is not right if it was already plugged into the USB ports before rebooting computer.

[Tunnelrat81]

Ok, Sorry about that. I've edited the command outputs in my previous post, now with the 80Gb drive plugged in and running...and everything seems to be accounted for.

-Jeremy

[Tunnelrat81]

I do know that after one or two (failed) attempts at booting to the external drive on this new Desktop, the drive stops showing up in bios. Booting into windows 7 and then shutting down seems to reset things and it shows back up again. Starting from scratch, however, the external drive seems to show up every time in bios as a bootable drive under "Hard Disks" after "Esc" ing to select boot option.

Both the USB Thumb Drive (SolusOs) and this USB HDD show up under "Hard Disks" in bios, not "USB Device"...if that matters.

-Jeremy

[wayne128]

Both the USB Thumb Drive (SolusOs) and this USB HDD show up under "Hard Disks" in bios, not "USB Device"...if that matters.

-Jeremy

No, it does not matter.

I do know that after one or two (failed) attempts at booting to the external drive on this new Desktop, the drive stops showing up in bios. Booting into windows 7 and then shutting down seems to reset things and it shows back up again. Starting from scratch, however, the external drive seems to show up every time in bios as a bootable drive under "Hard Disks" after "Esc" ing to select boot option.

It seem your bios have some special way of handling your USB drive.

I do not know how you can get over it, all depends on your bios to boot USB.

If booting from USB drive is too inconsistent or not even working, you can consider a work around,, do not boot from USB, just boot from internal hard disk as you already did, no change to Win7 boot loader, win7 is controlling MBR as usual.

Install a windows boot manager, such as the free community version of EasyBCD from Neosmart, then chainload into the Mint installation in the USB drive.

After installing EasyBCD to win7, run it with USB drive working, add an entry of grub2..
EasyBCD should add grub2 menu into your familiar Win7 boot menu.
Upon reboot, select the Grub2 line, it will chainload into it and show you all the familiar grub2 boot menu.. select Mint or any other Linux OS in the USB drive and enjoy running OS from portable USB drive.


There is possible problem as you have made some changes to grub.cfg, if you cannot chainload by EasyBCD, you would need to 'repair grub' by reinstalling grub to its root partition, so that EasyBCD can chainload into the root partition.

[Tunnelrat81]

Thanks again for your help with this. I'll Keep poking around on it and will post here if I find a solution. I'll sift back through my Bios settings again to make sure I'm not missing something.

-Jeremy

[Tunnelrat81]

Would it be worth taking a look at the SolusOS Thumb Drive's grub.cfg to see how it compares to the Mint 14 on the external drive? I'd be happy to post that up tonight if it would be helpful.

I'd be willing to try the EasyBCD option, just to make sure, but I have a question. If it doesn't end up working, can it be completely removed, leaving me back where I started? Or will I be stuck having to go through a menu every time I start the computer up?

-Jeremy

[Tunnelrat81]

SOLVED !!

I'm happy to report that with the help of EasyBCD, I was able to boot into my External HDD and am posting this from Mint 14 KDE. I still don't know what the hold-up was, but by adding Grub2 to the Windows 7 Bootloader, the computer finally decided to go ahead and boot to the drive.

For a few moments I suspected the same outcome as before, but after the blank screen for a bit, my display signal actually cut off (not just a blank screen, but the monitor switched off as if no signal), and when it came back on 10 seconds or so later I was at the login screen. =)

I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to wayne128 for all your help with this. In the end, it was your suggestion of trying EasyBCD that made the difference. And I see now that removing the boot option for Linux Mint in that software is just as easy as it was to add, so I can revert back to standard "Windows only" use if my wife takes issue with the extra 5 second pause at the menu during startup. This computer rarely shuts down (unless of course I'm tweaking around with it) anyway, so it'll likely just stay on Windows unless I'll be using it for a stretch and I'll boot into Mint.

This really is a great forum. Thank you!

Now how do I mark this thread as solved in the title?

-Jeremy

[wayne128]

Jeremy,

It is nice to know you have this solved.

To mark it [Solved], you need to go back to your first , original post, edit the title with [SOLVED].

[Tunnelrat81]

Thanks, The other forums I use don't allow editing titles, so I didn't think to try.

-Jeremy

[Tunnelrat81]

It turns out I spoke too soon. I still have no idea how it booted in that one time, but upon subsequent tries, each one has failed, with the bios detecting the external HDD each time, just refusing to load it. The HDD is running (humming), but not 'working'(sounds of seeking/reading etc.) with the screen blank...no activity. Racking my brain trying to remember what was different about the one successful boot, and the only thing I can think about is that I dropped a hand-held screw driver on the keyboard some time after selecting Mint from the grub menu, and perhaps it somehow had an impact. Problem is that I don't know which key it hit, and the screen was blank the whole time anyway, so no feedback whatsoever. Everything else seems to be identical to attempts made before using EasyBCD to edit the Windows Bootloader.

This is going to drive me crazy. KDE was looking and running beautifully (and fast, as hoped), and shut down normally. Anyway, I'll keep poking around as time allows. I've spent quite a bit of time working on this over the last couple of days, which only fleeting success.

Thanks again for the help, and I'll update this thread if I discover any more clues. I apologize for the premature claim of success.

-Jeremy