noob ubu 8.1 install issues

[neuteredpuppy]

OK, Sorry guys, I know this will have been asked lots and I see others with similar problems (sort of), but I can't find a thread which helps.

Am new convert to linux from uncle bill and for no other reason than I liked the name, decided on ubuntu. did all the right stuff to dowload/burn a disk and lo and behold, works just fine as a live disk - can't quite free myself from windows yet though, so want to dual boot with vista (I know, should have stuck with xp)

So..... run through the ubuntu hdd install and try to manage the bootloader through easy bcd. Nada on reboot.

Details:

hdd to which I want to install ubuntu: one 100gb Vista partition, one 25 gig unallocated partition (for linux) one ntfs formatted (but empty) partition for files etc.

So, spin up ubuntu, use manual install to format free space into a swap area 1024 mb (dunno why I need this but it was recommended by ubu) rest as ext3 for the os. install grub to the partition with linux (as instructed here Ubuntu - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki)

restart, boot into vista, run easy bcd, find linux, let easy bcd do its stuff reboot and i have a choice of os! linux or windows. uncle bills product still boots fine, linux nothing - error message of can't load from hard disk. I have tried 5 or 6 install/reformat cycles with monor variations, still nada.

below the details from easy bcd I think it has to be something with editing grub to tell it where ubu is, but can't fugure out what i need to do.

Sorry for the long post, but its amazing how frustration can motivate.....

puppy


There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 30 seconds.
Default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista

Entry #1

Name: Microsoft Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry #2

Name: NeoSmart Linux
BCD ID: {00b86c92-e794-11dd-955f-001d7d070f7a}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NST\nst_grub-ADA2D3287AA5FD9E91005EBC80C1B0CB.mbr

[wastedfluid]

What does your partition layout look like? A Quick way to find this is:

"sudo fdisk -l" on a live cd, and paste that here.

I can't really help you if you're not using Grub. I'm not familiar with the EasyBCD. But If you install it off the LiveCD, and use Grub - you will probably be successful, and if not - it makes error messages really easy to find+fix problems.

[neuteredpuppy]

OK, still can't figure it out. repartitioned hdd into vista and free space. Installed ubu in the free space using 'guided greatest contiguous' installation seemed to go ok, ubiquity seemed to load grub.

reboot and straight into vista? wtf? I guess I have to edit/configure grub but cant see how or what I need to do.

puppy

[neuteredpuppy]

OK wf, here the fdisk output

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xffffffff

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 13090 105138144 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 13090 38913 207429632 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7804ed23

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 13055 104864256 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 13056 30401 139331745 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 13056 29691 133628638+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 29692 30401 5703043+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 64601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000001

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 1 37511 283575968 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc2 37511 64602 204808192 7 HPFS/NTFS
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

sdb is the disk with vista and the linus install. dunno why thee is an extended (logical?) partition on it.

still can't figure out how to get either vista bootloader to chainload or grub to manage boot options.

[D-cat]

The extended partition thing seems to be a new default for multi-os installs in Ubuntu 8.10. I don't like it, and I think it might be what confuses Grub, which obviously likes to load from a primary partition or the MBR. IOW, I suspect you are right.

Before I go too much further, I want to confirm, is the error message you're getting coming from Grub... as in you see a message that says Grub is loading before the whole thing panics? I just want to make sure there's not a problem with EasyBCD first, that's all.

Also, I'd like to see the contents of:
(/dev/sdb5)/boot/grub/menu.lst
" /boot/device.map
and the output of
ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid

and we'll see if we can identify the problem and solve it.

[neuteredpuppy]

OK D, thanks.

I habe moved on from the easybcd attempts and deleted the whole partition, reformatted and reinstalled ubu using the guided contiguous free space option, so that there was no human error in installation........ all seemed to load ok, bot on reboot, the system boots directly into vista now - no linux/grub option. anyhoo, here the relevenat bits you mentioned...

menu.lst - See: grub(, info grub, update-grub(
# grub-install(, grub-floppy(,
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

and

# ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic
uuid 59ec70c1-791c-4703-bf89-6bfc1a944262
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=59ec70c1-791c-4703-bf89-6bfc1a944262 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic (recovery mode)
uuid 59ec70c1-791c-4703-bf89-6bfc1a944262
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=59ec70c1-791c-4703-bf89-6bfc1a944262 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, memtest86+
uuid 59ec70c1-791c-4703-bf89-6bfc1a944262
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

and
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2009-01-24 20:44 1E5655AB56558505 -> ../../sdb1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2009-01-24 20:44 342E81942E814FB2 -> ../../sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2009-01-24 20:44 59ec70c1-791c-4703-bf89-6bfc1a944262 -> ../../sdb5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2009-01-24 20:44 5C9AC7AC9AC780CE -> ../../sdc2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2009-01-24 20:44 60AA092FAA090370 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2009-01-24 20:44 eec364e7-124c-41b5-9383-3e97de6da056 -> ../../sdb6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2009-01-24 20:44 F80EBCFA0EBCB2CC -> ../../sdc1
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

hope it means something to you 'cos I have no idea where to start...

puppy

[D-cat]

the system boots directly into vista now - no linux/grub option

Thank the extended partition. You can only boot from a primary partition unless you execute code in the MBR. You can't boot directly from an extended partition, which is where Grub is located. The fear with putting Grub in the MBR is that Windows doesn't play nice, and the first time you have problem, one of its first solutions is to wipe the MBR so you only use the Windows boot loader.

That's where EasyBCD comes in. Since the new Vista loader can chainload (hand the boot off to somewhere else), you can tell it to load grub from another partition instead of Windows. The built-in tool is a little hard to use and you have to know a few things before it'll work right, so some talented people came up with EasyBCD to detect and add the right entries to the Vista boot menu for you.

From what I'm seeing here, it looks like grub should load once the boot process is handed to it, but you'll need to run EasyBCD again in order to make that happen.

[yancek]

Your fdisk output shows an active/bootable vista partition on the first drive, first partition (sda1) and the second drive, first partition (sdb1). Do you have two versions of vista installed? Which drive is the vista OS on if only one?

Your fdisk shows sda with only windows on it. Is that the drive you are editing with EasyBCD? Which drive is set first in boot priority in your BIOS?

You're not getting to Ubuntu at all. The problem is with vista/Easy BCD. If you don't install Grub stage1 to the mbr, you need correct entries in the vista bootloader to access Grub.

[neuteredpuppy]

OK guys, thanks for your help , just to close this out I managed to get ubuntu to load.

Had to get pretty primitive on its ass though..... reformattedthe a whole disk (had too much storage anyway), cloned vista to a partition (thanks to seagate and MaxBlast!) reinstalled ubu using manual and created a 30 gig ubu partition (+ swap area, still don't know if it helps..) and happy days, grub does its job and offers up boot into vista or ubu.

now to play around with ubu a bit..

puppy