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Thread ID: 75883	2007-01-13 09:49:00	Curly one, Linux/windows boot failure	PPp (9511)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
515514	2007-01-15 06:48:00	OK How does "up and running" sound"? It just seemed to me that you would need some sort of OS installed before being able to change or reinstall another(really installed) systems files even if it was a clone. Another thing that concerns me does GRUB automatically detect the previous settings or wipe them out with an overinstall? Or am I asking too many questions?(tries a smiley)	PPp (9511)
515515	2007-01-15 06:49:00	If you run the commands I gave you from the live CD you will install a version of GRUB from the live CD that will boot the live CD only. You need to boot to the first CDROM or the DVD from the distribution you have installed (as indicated above) - this will alerady know the partitions you have and re-write the correct boot loader configuration.	johnd (85)
515516	2007-01-15 07:03:00	OK How does "up and running" sound"? It just seemed to me that you would need some sort of OS installed before being able to change or reinstall another(really installed) systems files even if it was a clone. If you follow the instructions above you do have an OS running - you boot from the CD using a kernel on the CD rather than the HDD. Another thing that concerns me does GRUB automatically detect the previous settings or wipe them out with an overinstall? Or am I asking too many questions?(tries a smiley) It doesn't so much automatically detect - it reads the settings in the plain text file '/boot/grub/grub.conf'. This should still have the origional settings when you dual booted Win98 and Ubuntu.	johnd (85)
515517	2007-01-15 08:36:00	Ok time to review and restate. 1.Original installation of Ubutu was from a "live" CD., that is the live CD was running when I took the option to install it on my HD (on a second partition). After a lot of Q&A the installation went ahead No rescue disk or convention installation disks involved. 2. I cannot access any OS on my HD(with the exception previously noted) 3 The BOOT: prompt I discovered was prior to the system being installed(in memory) and did not respond to any commands tried( as noted) except	PPp (9511)
515518	2007-01-15 09:21:00	Ok time to review and restate. 1.Original installation of Ubutu was from a "live" CD., that is the live CD was running when I took the option to install it on my HD (on a second partition). After a lot of Q&A the installation went ahead No rescue disk or convention installation disks involved. 2. I cannot access any OS on my HD(with the exception previously noted)(I'm posting on a second computer) 3 The BOOT: prompt I discovered was prior to the system being installed(in memory) and did not respond to any commands tried( as noted) except Esc pressed many times resulted in a default installation (in memory). I suspect the prompt may have only responded to installation options, but that is a totally ill informed opinion based on total ignorance! 4 tried Graham L's solution with no change of result. His premis that I had no important data on Ubuntu was correct and I can reinstall at a later date. I presume Grub is now the only remaining component to delete.(the live CD is still able to start W98) 5 Question is, can I access some system from the live CD fully installed(in memory), to delete grub or reinstall the W98 boot. It strikes me that all the help you have given me about the prompt commands sounds very reliable and consistant, its just I have to access the right prompt somehow, and that will be 90% of the way there, sorry to be so ignorant. Just as an aside can anyone recommend a Linux for ABSOLUTE beginners site?	PPp (9511)
515519	2007-01-15 09:40:00	Ok time to review and restate. 1.Original installation of Ubutu was from a "live" CD., Sorry - I didn't understand from your original post that the install was from a live CD. I am sure that this is recoverable i.e. Windows and Linux but I have never done this.	johnd (85)
515520	2007-01-15 10:17:00	I havent read all the posts in detail, but if you are still having problems, try this. You need a Windows 98 Boot floppy. If you havent got one, there are sites on the net to download a copy. Restart your machine, access the Bios and make sure that boot from floppy is the first boot option. Save the setting, insert the floppy, at the A:\ prompt enter as follows. A:\> FDISK.EXE /MBR This will repair the Master Boot Table and wipe out Grub in the process. You will now be able to Boot into Win98 as normal. Once back into Windows download and install Ext2IFS. This will allow you to browse your Linux Partitions. The next step I havent done this myself but I think you might be able to delete the contents of your linux partitions which will allow you to reinstall linux, or in other words you are back where you started before you began playing around.:thumbs: Ian	i-gordon (962)
515521	2007-01-15 23:17:00	I have a method (taken from the GRUB manual) here to solve your problem. It requires several steps and you should report back to us here if anything unexpected happens. It is quite important to be careful when dealing with this so it's better to ask than make a mistake. The prompt it sounds like you've been typing at is actually the boot prompt, which is for booting the computer ("boot: "). This is the wrong command prompt for the commands people have been suggesting so far. You need to boot the Ubuntu live CD normally then open a command prompt window, in which you should type this: sudo grub I don't have a copy of Ubuntu to test this on, but if all goes well you should have a prompt: grub> All further commands must be typed at this prompt. We will need to explicitly state the boot partition and the location to install to since these will both probably be set to the CD by default when running in live mode. Please type this at the GRUB menu: find /boot/grub/stage1 This should return something like (hd0,2), possibly more than one though. This command will give a list of valid boot partitions in grub notation. You should report the result of this back here before doing anything else. It is entirely possible that this will also show the CD drive's boot "partition" and it is essential to choose the correct one. After getting the right boot partition you then need to run the following from the grub prompt, replacing (hd0,2) with the value of the correct boot partition. root (hd0,2) setup (hd0) This would tell grub that your boot partition is (hd0,2) and order it to install at the start of the first hard drive. Of course (hd0,2) will be whatever the correct partition is for you. If all goes well then you should have a valid GRUB installation from which you can try booting.	TGoddard (7263)
515522	2007-01-16 05:20:00	For I Gordon from Graham L's Post Boot into DOS from a W98 boot floppy and do "FDISK /MBR". That will make it bootable into W98. Then use FDISK to delete the "Non DOS" partitions. (Leave the W98 alone ) I have done this ,still no access. For T Goddard from my last post 5 Question is, can I access some system from the live CD fully installed(in memory), to delete grub or reinstall the W98 boot. It strikes me that all the help you have given me about the prompt commands sounds very reliable and consistant, its just I have to access the right prompt somehow, and that will be 90% of the way there, I have no idea how to "open a command prompt" in Ubuntu. Its probably a simple thing but I can't find anything about it on the help files etc. I'm pleading complete ignorance!!	PPp (9511)
515523	2007-01-16 08:26:00	Hey "back to basics" did a google and came up with Accessories/Terminal. "To run a command as administrator(user"root") use "sudo <command>". See "man sudo_root" for details. ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ Does this sound right for what I need to do?????????????	PPp (9511)
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