Kubuntu update fails

[jimf]

Hi, I just finished doing an update to Kubuntu on my laptop (many,many updates), some did not install because of some download problems.
Although many did install ok, I was prompted to do a reboot.
Did that, and now on boot up, I'm getting

Booting Ubuntu, Kernel 2.6.15-54-386
root (hda,2)
ERROR 23: Error while parsing number

I have dual boot, so from within GRUB selecting Windows ( hda,0) it boots xp ok.
My grub displays 3 different unbuntu kernel levels and a recovery selection for each, but any selection results in the error message, all pointing to hda,2 as the target.

I have an Ubuntu live cd on hand for recovery, if necessary

Is it possible that I need to fix my grub? If so, how to proceed?

Any suggestions on how to recover?

[alpha-X-geek]

Bit strange to get that error after merely upgrading your system. You can repair GRUB with your Live CD, but I can't find the site and instructions I used a few months ago. Paste the contents of /boot/grub/menu.lst here so we know more.

[jimf]

thanks for your reply alpha-X-geek.
I think I've found the instructions here on another forum:
How to install Grub from a live Ubuntu cd. - Ubuntu Forums

Looks like these instructions may do the job. I'll try that later tonight

[alpha-X-geek]

Yup, that was the method I used, but from a different source. The post is quite old now, but I doubt the commands have changed.

[devils casper]

Its not a GRUB problem at all because Windows OS is booting up fine through GRUB. Boot up from Ubuntu LiveCD and mount / partition of Ubuntu. Post the contents of /boot/grub/menu.lst file and output of sudo fdisk -l command here.

sudo fdisk -l

* Its small L in fdisk -l.

[jimf]

Problem solved!

It appears after the updates, somehow my menu.lst got populated with incorrect menu items
root (hda,2)
It should have been
root (hd0,2)

The message suggests it could not parse the 'a' in hda,2. It was expecting a numeric value.

How I determined that, was when at the grub menu, I selected one of the entries that failed and pressed "e" to edit, It was here I saw the 'root (hda,2), so I selected that line and hit 'e' to edit it.
I changed the 'hda,2' to 'hd0,2' hit enter, then 'b' to boot, and bingo! It booted up OK.

Because this is only a temporary change, I'll need to edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst while in sudo to make the changes permanent.

IMPORTANT: once one edits the menu.lst, one should run 'sudo update-grub' to finalize the changes.

[devils casper]

Press Alt+F2 and type this

gksu gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

It will open menu.lst file in Gedit with root privileges.

[jimf]

Devils Casper,
Thanks for the quick tip. I'll use that in future.
(I did it the long way)

[alpha-X-geek]

The command to edit menu.lst in Kubuntu is, ''kdesudo kwrite /boot/grub/menu.lst'', not ''gksu gedit''. Peace.

[devils casper]

The command to edit menu.lst in Kubuntu is, ''gksudo kwrite /boot/grub/menu.lst'', not ''gksu gedit''. Peace.

gk is for Gnome based only. Its kdesu or kdesudo in KDE ( Kubuntu ).