Dual-boot, Grub errors, linux mint

SuperMechaCow · 11-19-2011, 10:32 AM

Hey. I'm trying to dual-boot vista and linux mint 11 together.

My first attempt was the obvious: Install Vista, then use the automated installer for Mint to install it alongside Vista.

When I rebooted, I got the error

Code:

grub error: unknown filesystem

followed by a grub rescue prompt.

A little bizarre that that would not work.

I set that hard drive aside and started a new one, this time partitioning the disk manually. I set aside half the disk for Vista and installed a new copy, then booted to my Mint Live CD to install Linux. I made a 3gb swap partition and a third partition (Ext3 primary) with the remaining space for root. This set up has always worked for me in the past without fail.

After installing and rebooting, I get the error again.

Of course the very first thing I do (and what any sane person would do) is immediately start scouring Google for a solution. The majority of hits I get pretty much are the same scenario, "I deleted my linux because I wanted more room for Windows". That's obviously not my issue.

I've tried all sorts of solutions. I've mounted my linux /dev and reinstalled grub. I tried using the rescue console but it was barely functional, at best.

Even more odd is that I receive different results than all other solutions I've followed, even those addressing Linux Mint 11 specifically. It seems as though GRUB cannot recognize any filesystems or can locate a list of partitions for configuration. It's almost as though I'm installing GRUB 2, which then looks at my disk and says, "OK? It's a disk. Good job."

A lot of the commands keep mentioning missing references. Folders that have content on my Live CD are missing in the installation of Mint, such as "proc" and "sys". Also, I have a boot folder INSIDE my boot folder (/boot/grub and /boot/boot/grub) which contains just the splash image for my GRUB. That doesn't seem right, but I don't think it would matter, would it?

I'm at my wits end. I normally never post on forums until I've exhausted all resources. Can anyone help?

Larry Webb · 11-19-2011, 12:58 PM

First I presume Vista will run flawless when installed by its self. From your Mint live cd terminal

'fdisk -l' (small -L) and post the results.

SuperMechaCow · 11-19-2011, 01:37 PM

Yes, Vista has no trouble when installed by itself. Mint has no trouble installing by itself. Vista is a little picky in that it will only install to the first partition on the disk, which is why I install it first. I guess since I already have the space allocated for partitions i could install Vista after Linux, but if my GRUB isn't installing correctly I dont think that would make a difference, right?

But anyways, I don't have the computer nearby, but in the meantime is there a way I can output a log of a terminal session to a text file? That would probably make this whole process a lot easier.

Larry Webb · 11-19-2011, 03:08 PM

I am using mint 10 so for now all I can point you to is the tutorial that I use for referring to grub2 repairs and mods from live cd. Use section 12

grub2

The only thing I can think of is your /dev/partitions numbers are getting changed for one reason or another. Try booting your installed Mint from the live cd. (the reason for fdisk -l)

Will download Mint 11 tonight.

SuperMechaCow · 11-19-2011, 03:36 PM

Yea, I've been using that tutorial and I find it mildly confusing. I had this exact same setup using Mint 7 aged ago without trouble, but that was using Legacy GRUB.

And that's another peculiar thing about this (in my opinion. This is all new to me), my partitions should be windows ntfs, swap, /boot ext4 primary, and root ext4 logical as sda1, sda2, sda3, and sda4 respectively. Or at least that's my latest failed attempt. However, when follow the instructions in that tutorial in grub rescue, the partitions are listed (hd0)(hd0,msdos3)(hd,msdos2)(hd,msdos1). Even stranger is that was how they were displayed before i made the new boot partition. Furthermore, if i follow the tutorial none of them appear to have grub loaded or at least visible to the grub rescue. So either the user or the computer is obviously doing something very wrong.

The key seems to be that GRUB, be it in terminal or in rescue, cant recognize any of the partitions as filesystems that it can read.

I'll get you and official fdisk as soon as I get home

Larry Webb · 11-19-2011, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperMechaCow

Yea, I've been using that tutorial and I find it mildly confusing.

There is a difference between grub2 and legacy but believe me grub2 does all that legacy does plus more.

Quote:

I'll get you and official fdisk as soon as I get home

Make sure and use 'sudo fdisk -l'

SuperMechaCow · 11-19-2011, 08:58 PM

Whoa! This is bizarre! This is not what I was getting earlier. I wonder if this is a product of me trying to manually install grub and I messed it up, or if something else is causing this.

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 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: 0x0008c87d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1       19210   154296320    7  HPFS/NTFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2           19210       19705     3976192   82  Linux swap / Solaris
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda3           19705       19765      488448   83  Linux
/dev/sda4           19766       38914   153807873    5  Extended
/dev/sda5           19766       38914   153807872   83  Linux

sda1 is obviously Vista, which is messed up
sda2 is obviously my swap, which is also messed up
sda3 is my /boot ext4 primary
and I don't know what's going on with sda4 and sda5
One of them is supposed to be my /root (sda5?), but they both start and end at the same block. I never had an sda5 at the time of install. Looking at the installer now, it lists sda1, sda2, sda3 and sda5. Originally it was sda4.

Something I totally overlooked while installing all of this is the "Device for boot loader installation" drop-down menu. Does this make a MAJOR difference? By default it's set to /dev/sda. It doesn't make much sense to me that you can install software to a storage device, but not to any particular partition. Shouldn't I have selected /dev/sda3 (my /boot partition)?

Little side note, if I can just skip the extra partitions for /boot, /home, etc. and just use /root that would be ideal for me. To the best of my knowledge, anyways.

jmc1987 · 11-19-2011, 09:10 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong but
/dev/sda4 is an extended partition not a real partition
/dev/sda5 is a real logical partition. So I think thats why it start on the same block.

never seen sda1/sda2 do that befor. But you can install your linux system on a root / partition you still would want a swap partition. Basically it should look like this

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 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: 0x9f659f65

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1        9482    76164133+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            9483        9731     2000092+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3   *        9732       19458    78125056   83  Linux

/dev/sda1 is my windows xp
/dev/sda2 is my 2x ram swap
/dev/sda3 is my root / partition including {home,var} and all that other good stuff is on /dev/sda3.

SuperMechaCow · 11-19-2011, 10:21 PM

Yea I had my disk configured just like yours. For some reason I thought adding a boot partition would help.

I did notice that your sda3 is marked as boot. Mine is sda1 as boot. Maybe GRUB was installed on my Windows partition, and its looking at the ntfs file system and expecting a Linux file system, and that's causing the unknown file system error.

So, maybe all I need to do is clean everything, install windows, then install mint and specify my linux partition as the device for boot loader. That would make my disk partition look like yours. Then all I need to so is boot to linux from the hard drive and run the update grub command and I'm done, right?

Larry Webb · 11-20-2011, 06:06 AM

Using your live mint cd from terminal

Presuming / is /dev/sda3

sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt

sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

SuperMechaCow · 11-20-2011, 05:58 PM

Yea I had done that before to no avail.

I did it again this morning, and got this:

Code:

Booting from local disk...
GRUB Loading stage1.5.

GRUB loading, please wait...
Error 18

I tweaked it some more and ended up with Error 17 instead.

What I should have done is look for resources for Error 18 / Error 17, but instead completely wiped my hard drive and started again. I installed a different copy of Vista (now I actually have a repair option), then installed Mint. This time I selected my Linux partition as the device for bootlader.

When I rebooted, it started Vista. So at least ONE of my OS's were working. I booted back to the Live CD AGAIN, and did this:

Code:

mint@mint ~ $ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 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: 0x0008c87d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1       19011   152700928    7  HPFS/NTFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2           19011       19903     7168000   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3           19903       38914   152700928   83  Linux

mint@mint ~ $ sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt

mint@mint ~ $ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

grub-probe: error: cannot stat `aufs'.
Installation finished. No error reported.

To clarify, sda1 is Vista, sda2 is swap, sda3 is linux.

When I rebooted I got unknown filesystem again.

So, I uninstalled GRUB using this command:

Code:

sudo apt-get purge grub-pc

I rebooted just to test, still got the unknown filesystem and grub rescue prompt.

This has completely stopped making any sense.

jmc1987 · 11-20-2011, 06:08 PM

I think I found part of your problem. When you install your Windows on /dev/sda1 its marked bootable because windows run its bootloader. But when you install linux on /dev/sda3 that partition needs to be marked as bootable since that where the grub files are. Also you are opting to install to MBR right?

yancek · 11-20-2011, 06:57 PM

Quote:

and I don't know what's going on with sda4 and sda5
One of them is supposed to be my /root (sda5?), but they both start and end at the same block.

jmc1987 has it right. sda4 is your last primary partition which is being used as an Extended partition with which you can create logical partitions. You have your logical partition, sda5 which is your / filesystem and is the same size as the Extended, not a problem just a choice.

Quote:

Something I totally overlooked while installing all of this is the "Device for boot loader installation" drop-down menu. Does this make a MAJOR difference?

Not something you should over look. This tells Grub where to install and if you select sda, it will install Grub to the master boot loader. If you install it to a boot or root partition you will have to have some other bootloader in the master boot record to boot whatever you have on a boot or filesystem partition.

Linux does not need to have its boot or root (/) partition marked as bootable.

You should not be getting a message Grub loading stage 1.5 because that file does not exist with Grub2 which is the default with Linux Mint.

Probably the best thing to do at this point is to download and run the bootinfoscript and post the output here.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net

Larry Webb · 11-20-2011, 07:26 PM

I am very confused, where do you all see sda4 or sda5? See post #6.

Quote:

mc1987 has it right. sda4 is your last primary partition which is being used as an Extended partition with which you can create logical partitions.

It is my understanding that most linux distros may be installed in a single partition, primary or logical. I do not recommend this

I do agree his next step is he should run bootinfoscript.

Let me apologize to all, just read all of the fdisk -l, did not see the scroll and the rest of the partitions.

SuperMechaCow · 11-20-2011, 07:59 PM

To be clear, when I turn on my PC I want it to boot to linux by default, but maintain the ability to choose Vista in GRUB.

Quote:

Also you are opting to install to MBR right?

Quote:

This tells Grub where to install and if you select sda, it will install Grub to the master boot loader.

I'm doing what he's saying, so yes.

Also, I rearranged my partitions so the sda4 and sda5 are no longer an issue. sda1, sda2, and sda3 are vista, swap, and mint respectively.

First thing I noticed about this is that GRUB is looking at "sector 1" aka "(hd0,msdos3)" for the GRUB data. Isn't that sda1? That would mean it's looking at Vista, not linux. That's what I had asked earlier and got no response to.

Code:

                  Boot Info Script 0.60    from 17 May 2011


============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================

 => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 1 of 
    the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks 
    for (,msdos3)/boot/grub on this drive.

sda1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7
    Boot sector info:   No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  Windows Vista
    Boot files:        /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda2: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  

sda3: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  Linux Mint 11 Katya
    Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sda1    *          2,048   305,403,903   305,401,856   7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2         305,403,904   319,739,903    14,336,000  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3         319,739,904   625,141,759   305,401,856  83 Linux


"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs   
/dev/sda1        691461947DB9B9D4                       ntfs       MechWin
/dev/sda2        d4ef5726-9e06-49df-845d-3dd0a1c93e44   swap       
/dev/sda3        7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118   ext4       

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)
/dev/sda1        /media/MechWin           fuseblk    (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions)
/dev/sda3        /mnt                     ext4       (rw)
/dev/sr0         /cdrom                   iso9660    (ro,noatime)


=========================== sda3/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
  insmod vbe
  insmod vga
  insmod video_bochs
  insmod video_cirrus
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=10
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118
insmod png
if background_image /boot/grub/linuxmint.png; then
  true
else
  set menu_color_normal=white/black
  set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
  if background_color 44,0,30; then
    clear
  fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118
insmod png
if background_image /boot/grub/linuxmint.png ; then
  set color_normal=white/black
  set color_highlight=white/light-gray
else
  set menu_color_normal=white/black
  set menu_color_highlight=white/light-gray
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
if [ ${recordfail} != 1 ]; then
  if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
    if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
      if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
        set linux_gfx_mode=keep
      else
        set linux_gfx_mode=text
      fi
    else
      set linux_gfx_mode=text
    fi
  else
    set linux_gfx_mode=keep
  fi
else
  set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode
if [ "$linux_gfx_mode" != "text" ]; then load_video; fi
menuentry 'Linux Mint 11, 2.6.38-8-generic (/dev/sda3)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(/dev/sda,msdos3)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118 ro   quiet splash vt.handoff=7
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic
}
menuentry 'Linux Mint 11, 2.6.38-8-generic (/dev/sda3) -- recovery mode' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(/dev/sda,msdos3)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118
	echo	'Loading Linux 2.6.38-8-generic ...'
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118 ro single 
	echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(/dev/sda,msdos3)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(/dev/sda,msdos3)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" --class windows --class os {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ntfs
	set root='(/dev/sda,msdos1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 691461947DB9B9D4
	chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows Recovery Environment (loader) (on /dev/sdb1)" --class windows --class os {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod fat
	set root='(/dev/sdb,msdos1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 087a-7547
	drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
	chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============================== sda3/etc/fstab: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=7304c5bc-5b82-4142-a9c5-5b83cbbc8118 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=d4ef5726-9e06-49df-845d-3dd0a1c93e44 none            swap    sw              0       0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sda3: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

 190.604030609 = 204.659519488  boot/grub/core.img                             1
 190.603881836 = 204.659359744  boot/grub/grub.cfg                             1
 152.995117188 = 164.277256192  boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic               2
 190.596168518 = 204.651077632  boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic                  1
 152.995117188 = 164.277256192  initrd.img                                     2
 190.596168518 = 204.651077632  vmlinuz                                        1

=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

unlzma: Decoder error