Removing a broken Ubuntu install

[FreddieJones]

Hi,

Being a novice with Ubuntu, I accidentally broke an install of ubuntu, I installed another copy on another partition but I want to know of an easy way to delete the broken version without having to install loads of programs on windows 7.

What would the best way to do this be?

[Jonathan183]

post the output of

mount
sudo fdisk -l

the -l has a small L

[FreddieJones]

It's been a month or so since I last tried using linux, but when I selected ubuntu this time on the first boot screen between Windows and Ubuntu, it didnt take me to a second boot screen with all of the linux options available (i.e. both installs as well as safe modes for each or something similar).

Instead I just got this

Try (hd0,0): NTFS5 : No ang0
Try (hd0,1): NTFS5 : No ang0
Try (hd0,2): Extended:
Try (hd0,3): Invalid or null
Try (hd0,4): EXT2

tried pressing all the buttons on the keyboard, nothing does anything, the only thing I could do was press the power button on the pc and turn off

[Jonathan183]

We need to know if it's a Wubi install or if you really setup separate partitions on the hard drive o install Ubuntu. You should boot from a live CD and post the fdisk output.

If you did a Wubi install then you should be able to uninstall it using instructions from the Wubi website here.
if you created partitions on the hard drive then I suggest you use the PartedMagic CD to restore the Windows bootloader code to the MBR using Supergrub) and use the partitioner tool to delete/reformat the Linux partitions to something that Windows 7 is able to use eg FAT32,NTFS etc,

[FreddieJones]

They're on 3 separate partitions but all on one HDD, I've got EasyBCD installed, is there anyway to use that to change the windows boot loader code or should I just download the CD?

[Jonathan183]

From the website it looks as though easybcd will do the job of fixing Window bootlader ... I have not used it myself but sounds like you should be OK.
You can probably reformat the Linux partitions from Windows, so you should not need to download PartedMagic to do that ... personally I prefer using PartedMagic for resizing/modifying partitions but use what works best for you.

[FreddieJones]

I'm currently using a ubuntu live USB and this is the output that I get

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ mount
aufs on / type aufs (rw)
none on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
/dev/sdb1 on /cdrom type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437, iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (ro,noatime)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
none on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
none on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/ubuntu/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=ubuntu)
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
18 heads, 4 sectors/track, 27132294 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 72 * 512 = 36864 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x04c8a0ff

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 29 2873 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 2873 25710024 925457408 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 25710052 27132274 51200001 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 25710052 26833892 40458240 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 26833921 27105167 9764864 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 27105195 27132274 974848 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 4051 MB, 4051697152 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 492 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0006cf0e

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 493 3956608 b W95 FAT32
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(491, 254, 63) logical=(492, 148, 40)

[Jonathan183]

I'm currently using a ubuntu live USB and this is the output that I get

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *          29        2873      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            2873    25710024   925457408    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3        25710052    27132274    51200001    5  Extended
/dev/sda5        25710052    26833892    40458240   83  Linux
/dev/sda6        26833921    27105167     9764864   83  Linux
/dev/sda7        27105195    27132274      974848   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 4051 MB, 4051697152 bytes
Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1         493     3956608    b  W95 FAT32

OK sda5 and sda6 have Linux partition types but can't tell from this which is root ... assuming one is root and other is for home try

mount both partitions using

sudo -s
mkdir /media/sda5 /media/sda6
mount /dev/sda5 /media/sda5
mount /dev/sda6 /media/sda6
ls /media/sda5
ls /media/sda6
blkid

post output from ls and blkid commands here

[FreddieJones]

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo -s
root@ubuntu:~# mkdir /media/sda5 /media/sda6
root@ubuntu:~# mount /dev/sda5 /media/sda5
root@ubuntu:~# mount /dev/sda6 /media/sda6
root@ubuntu:~# ls /media/sda5
bin    dev   initrd.img  lib64       mnt   root     srv  usr
boot   etc   lib         lost+found  opt   sbin     sys  var
cdrom  home  lib32       media       proc  selinux  tmp  vmlinuz
root@ubuntu:~# ls /media/sda6
bin    dev   initrd.img  media  proc  selinux  tmp  vmlinuz
boot   etc   lib         mnt    root  srv      usr
cdrom  home  lost+found  opt    sbin  sys      var
root@ubuntu:~# blkid
/dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs" 
/dev/sda1: LABEL="System Reserved" UUID="9660BEA260BE888F" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda2: UUID="7AF0D0A1F0D06543" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda5: UUID="8f221ef6-0757-4227-8fe9-cac860b5a5c9" TYPE="ext3" 
/dev/sda6: UUID="8c9d64bb-a760-4f61-8ba8-243fa56231ac" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda7: UUID="f9c8a989-528a-46f8-bdb3-b01d50687e46" TYPE="swap" 
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="PENDRIVE" UUID="BC19-48A2" TYPE="vfat"

[yancek]

Looks like full install on both sda5 and sda6. Your ls output shows lib64 in the output so is your computer 64 bit capable?

This command should tell you: grep flags /proc/cpuinfo

look for "lm" in the output, if you see it it should be 64bit.

I'm not sure what you are trying to do. When you say you "broke an install" are you referring to an incomplete installation attempt? or messing up a system installed already?

From your second post, it seems you are booting with windows in the mbr, correct?
Are you still able to boot windows?
Do you know which partition is messed up? I guess not.
Are you able to boot the new version of Ubuntu you installed?
If so, how? Do you get a windows boot menu which gives the Ubuntu Grub? or not?