grub error 24

[PyramidOfmars]

Hello all,
I am very new to the Linux environment. I installed Ubuntu 9.04 along side Windows XP and everything was working fine until i used Paragon software to partition the Linux section. After the partitioning, whenever I start my laptop the booting get stuck at stage1.5 with grub error 24. I have been searching solutions and trying things out but nothing has worked so far. Here is some of the commonly requested info:

sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xbac32136

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 784 6297448+ 12 Compaq diagnostics
/dev/sda2 * 785 5034 34138125 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 5035 12161 57247627+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 5035 6688 13285723+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 6689 11979 42499926 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda7 11980 12161 1461883+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
The above line of command returns a blank menu.lst file

I have also tried the following:

grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
Error 15: File not found

How can I boot up to XP where all my important files are? Please help.

[reed9]

The menu.lst being empty seems like a problem.

You should be able to restore grub using something like supergrubdisk.

You can also boot into a live linux CD, to access and backup your windows files. You should always back up critical files before messing with partitions.

[yancek]

i used Paragon software to partition the Linux section.

What were you trying to do with the Paragon software? Your fdisk output shows your Linux system files on sda5 and a swap partition on sda7.

Mount sda5 to see if your boot files are there. First create a mount point:

sudo mkdir /mnt/ubuntu
sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/sda5 /mnt/ubuntu
sudo ls /mnt/ubuntu/boot/grub/

I'm not sure if you need the sudo before each line, I don't use Ubuntu. If this works you should see a number of files in the Grub directory similar to output below:

default installed-version menu.lst.previous stage2
device.map jfs_stage1_5 minix_stage1_5 xfs_stage1_5
e2fs_stage1_5 menu.lst reiserfs_stage1_5
fat_stage1_5 menu.lst~ stage1

Post back with the output of above.

Here's Grub Error 24:

Attempt to access block outside partition
This error is returned if a linear block address is outside of the disk partition. This generally happens because of a corrupt filesystem on the disk or a bug in the code handling it in GRUB (it's a great debugging tool).

Looks like something went wrong when you were using the Paragon software.

[PyramidOfmars]

Here is the result of mouting:

sudo mkdir /mnt/ubuntu
sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/sda5 /mnt/ubuntu

mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda5,
missing codepage or helper program, or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so
The message above suggests I run dmesg and here is the result of that:

dmesg | tail

[ 1761.720562] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read page, block 6db95ac, size 1e620
[ 1761.721000] SQUASHFS error: sb_bread failed reading block 0x1b75e
[ 1761.721005] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read fragment cache block [6db95ac]
[ 1761.721011] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read page, block 6db95ac, size 1e620
[ 1761.721440] SQUASHFS error: sb_bread failed reading block 0x1b75e
[ 1761.721445] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read fragment cache block [6db95ac]
[ 1761.721451] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read page, block 6db95ac, size 1e620
[ 1761.721866] SQUASHFS error: sb_bread failed reading block 0x1b75e
[ 1761.721871] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read fragment cache block [6db95ac]
[ 1761.721877] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read page, block 6db95ac, size 1e620

Thanx

[Jonathan183]

I installed Ubuntu 9.04 along side Windows XP and everything was working fine until i used Paragon software to partition the Linux section. After the partitioning, whenever I start my laptop the booting get stuck at stage1.5 with grub error 24. ...
How can I boot up to XP where all my important files are? Please help.

Use SuperGrub to restore Windows code to the disk MBR. I suspect the repartition has trashed the Linux partition - I use PartedMagic CD for partitioning. You could run fsck on the Linux partition from a live CD - which may or may not fix the partition. Don't be too suprised if you are unable to recover the Linux partition as a failed partition resize can easily trash data on the partition. Incase fsck fails to fix the partition a reinstall of Ubuntu is probably the quickest way to fix the issue.

[PyramidOfmars]

I tried fsck and here are the results:

sudo umount /dev/sda5
umount: /dev/sda5: not mounted
sudo e2fsck -fpC 0 /dev/sda5
/dev/sda5: Superblock has an invalid journal (inode .
CLEARED.
*** ext3 journal has been deleted - filesystem is now ext2 only ***

/dev/sda5: Resize inode not valid.

/dev/sda5: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
(i.e., without -a or -p options)

***As suggested by the above message, I ran e2fsck without the options and following is the output: should I say yes to Recreate inode?

sudo e2fsck /dev/sda5
e2fsck 1.41.4 (27-Jan-2009)
e2fsck: Group descriptors look bad... trying backup blocks...
Resize inode not valid. Recreate<y>?

[PyramidOfmars]

Hello to all those who are having "Grub Errors". I have tried many things and here is a quick fix that works for any grub error. Use the "supergrubdisk". I am very new to Linux and here is what i have learned from my mistakes:

When you're having stage1.5 grub errors, your laptop or pc or whatever you are using can not boot and you are stuck.

1. You can use Ubuntu LiveCD (that's what i'm using) to access your computer/files you may urgently need.
To fix the grub error:
1. Go to the "supergrubdisk" website and ownload their ISO image file.
2. Burn the file you just downloaded to a CD. If your CD burning software can't burn ISO image files, google for "free ISO image burner".
3. Leave the SGD(supergrubdisk) CD in the CD drive and turn off your computer and turn it back on (reboot with the SGD).
4. Follow the onscreen instructions. You may want to find a document on how to use the supergrub disk. I just followed the instructions and booted to windows and worked for me.

Good luck and thank you all for your help.