grub rescue prompt after install

[arsenic_n_lace]

Just installed Ubuntu from the LiveCD and on restart received msg

error : hd0,1 out of disk
grub rescue>



It is several years since I last 'played' with Linux and I've never used Ubuntu before so I simply selected to use the whole hard disk and let it to what it wanted with the partitions.

As far as I remember 'ls' from the grub rescue prompt should return a list of devices that grub can find (?) but the command returns nothing (as in, absolutely nothing).

If I boot with the LiveCD I can see my linux partitions, but here's the thing - Following advice I received from a self-proclaimed 'guru', I booted with the CD again, mounted my newly installed system, chrooted into it and ran grub-install on /dev/sda .... this all appeared to happen as it should (no error messages), but on restart I get the same error as before. Even worse, for some reason since taking that action I've been unable to boot with the CD again... or any other CD for that matter (I've tried a Super Grub CD, the Ubuntu Live CD and a Fedora Live CD). The CD appears to be loading for a while, seems to finish and then hangs (on the little Fedora symbol after the balloon fills up or on the Ubuntu loading screen with all the little dots filled in red).

Basic computer stats follow....

Dell Vostro 200
Intel Core2 Duo 2.83 GHz
ATI Radeon HD 3650
Ubuntu Live CD version 10.04 LTS

Given that I can't seem to boot from the hard disk or from CD and don't have a floppy drive, I'm now completely lost. Is there any way to recover from this??

It's been a long time since I posted to one of these forums so I apologise if I have provided too much/not enough info...

[Segfault]

Can you boot from Windows install CD.
A friend of mine tried to install Linux on his Dell laptop. His Dell had TPM module activated by Dell.

Trusted Platform Module - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[devils casper]

Boot up from Ubuntu LiveCD, open Terminal and execute this

sudo fdisk -l

Post output here.

*** Its small L in fdisk -l.

[genomega]

If you have access to another box download gparted iso and burn to a disk. Use the disk to boot and partition and format the disk. Grub2 is not ready for prime time, it can't count.

[arsenic_n_lace]

thanks devils casper - would love to comply (and actually did that the first time the system failed to boot - to confirm that the linux partitions had been created - but failed to save the output to usb at the time, thinking I could just do it again...) but I can't seem to boot from the CD since attempting a Grub install from terminal. Suspect I won't be able to boot from a gparted disk either (as genomega suggested) because 3 functional disks have thus far been failed to boot the system, but I will give them both a shot and post my results......

[arsenic_n_lace]

Can you boot from Windows install CD.
A friend of mine tried to install Linux on his Dell laptop. His Dell had TPM module activated by Dell.

Don't actually have a windows cd at the moment (my laptop didn't come with one)... I will try the other 2 suggestions here though and if unsuccessful I will 'acquire' a windows disk and try it.

[arsenic_n_lace]

Update: As a little girl down a hole once said; curiouser and curiouser...

This is starting to look less like a linux/grub issue and more like a hw issue. When I powered up to try and boot from the cd again the comp hung at the Dell splash screen. Powered down, powered up, same thing. Suspecting a bad piece of hw I opened the box, unplugged everything, powered up again. This time went past the splash and told me there were no devices (no sh!t, sherlock). Proceeded to plug in the hdd. Hang at splash. Unplugged the hdd and pluggued in the dvd drive. Hang at splash. Unplugged the dvd drive again. Hang at splash. Repeated several times.

Eventually, with nothing plugged in, it progressed as far as this message: Previous attempts at booting this system have failed at checkpoint 50. Please contact Dell support etc, etc.

Wouldn't it be nice if I could find a list of checkpoints that told me where exactly it was failing? I can't of course. The Dell support site tells me to note the number and call tech-support... apparently only Dell support techies are allowed to see the list in question.

Having read posts on other forums about similar errors (though not the exact checkpoint number) I have now whipped out my CMOS battery. Will put it back tonight after I finish work (I'm already late!).

NOTE: I realise that all this is pretty off-topic but I figured since I have your attention I should probably update you on what's going on. Aaaand I've written an essay. Sorry.

[petaflot]

This is starting to look less like a linux/grub issue and more like a hw issue.

don't be sorry! this may just show that hardware issues are more frequent than expected, and surely more vicious than software errors. it will work once, then not, then again with different results...

checking the hardware is a MUST when weird problems arise. trying more disks was the right thing to do, and you'll probably all admit it's actually not so hard (but yes, you must take out the screwdriver, pull the box from under your desk or wherever it lies, find spare hardware... and that often takes time).

this actually emphasizes the need to have A CLEAN SETUP, where maintenance is made easy not only for the software but also for the hardware, and NEVER MAKE ANY ASSUMPTIONS that something is working unless you have proved it is. and again, what is true for an OS is also true for the hardware: THE SIMPLER THE BETTER. the less you have, the less can break.

and yes, I totally agree error codes are too obscure. guess some lobying is needed for this.. this is where the choice of a manufacturer with the right philosophy matters

now I feel like I'm talking like an old schmuck.. I guess it's life!

[tangent]

hello community, I have ran into this same "grub rescue>" issue. My situation is as follows:

About a month ago, I installed Ubuntu 10.4 on my machine, been dual booting since then (ubuntu/windows 7).

Ubuntu requested that I installed some updates. Following the updates i was asked to restart the system.

Following my restart, on boot up, the system hangs right after the Board manufacturer page and displays:

"error: no such device - "a long Hex string"
"grub rescue>"

I tried creating a live usb (but my pc apparantly isnt able to boot from a usb key)
ive also tried creating a live cd, but im not able to assign anything as "primary master" in the bios.

As a result, the live cd doesnt get read on reboot, and the system just goes into the "grub rescue>" prompt.

Im not sure what else to try here, or maybe more specifically, how to get my bios to recognise the cd.