got Windows XP pro and Ubuntu installed

krack3rz · 06-21-2010, 08:37 PM

So what happened was, i had Win. XP Pro. for a while and then decided its time for an upgrade and installed a nice fresh Ubuntu 9.04 on another Primary partiotion and now it doesnt load, not even GRUB loads to allow me to set which OS i want to boot from...

The way i installed Ubuntu was:

| 100GB - Win. | ~50GB unformatted | ~50GB - same as b4 | 50GB unallocated space - "future ubuntu space" |

I had ubuntu auto install on "most free space on hard disk ..." which was the same that windows is on. It made about 2.2 GB swap and ~49 GB ext4 root; set up in LVM.

*In case this matters*: It installed fine, also b4 asked if i wanted to install a driver, clicked ok, asked for a restart but i waited till install was complete.

Also: I installed from a live disk...

Please help!

John VV · 06-21-2010, 10:53 PM

? where did you install the linux bootloader????
on the MBR ( default) or someplace else

pop in the live disk and run

Code:

fdisk -l

This should output how the disk is partitioned .

krack3rz · 06-22-2010, 01:22 AM

ok so i did as you said and this is it:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xb5fcb6b5

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1       60801   488384001   42  SFS

Disk /dev/sdc: 750.2 GB, 750156374016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x5ced2385

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1               1       91201   732572001   42  SFS

Disk /dev/sdd: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xbc0ebc0e

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdd1               1      121601   976760001   42  SFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x778c778c

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1       19250   154625593+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2           19251       25782    52468290    6  FAT16
/dev/sdb3           25783       32156    51199155    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb4           32157       38913    54275602+   5  Extended
/dev/sdb5           32157       38631    52010406   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6           38632       38913     2265133+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

One thing tho, i did change a setting so that the partition that ubuntu is on is bootable - i checked a check box [that should be sdb5], this is after that fdisk -l... still no luck

yancek · 06-22-2010, 10:31 AM

The partition that Ubuntu is on being set as bootable is not necessary, only used with windows.

You neglected to mention in your first post that you had four physical hard drives which is pretty significant! As John VV asked, where did you install bootlader (Grub)? master boot record? of which drive? root partition? Which drive is set to first boot priority in the BIOS? Ubuntu 9.04 still uses Grub Legacy so you could install Grub to the mbr of sdb and set or select it to boot first in your BIOS.

krack3rz · 06-22-2010, 11:40 AM

i made a mistake, its Ubuntu 9.10 not 9.04, sorry i hadn't realized this sooner, maybe this will make it easier.

The installation was auto, i didn't select anything besides letting Ubuntu install itself on a unallocated space that I pre set before loading the live disk. I didnt install GRUB, it should have been automated since i asked for an auto install

I'll keep digging maybe somehow I'll find answers to those questions...

Oh i noticed something: Ubuntu doesn't see another 2 HDDs although they are just for storage, i think 1 may be broken, but the other works fine on me windows.

yancek · 06-23-2010, 09:45 AM

If you didn't install Grub, there is no way to boot Ubuntu. You generally have several options with Linux Grub. Install to mbr, install to root partition or not install. If you had installed to the mbr, it would likely boot both Ubuntu and xp. If you installed to the root partition, you would then have to manually edit the xp boot file (boot.ini) to have a line for Ubuntu. If you didn't install Grub at all, there is no way to boot. I'm not familiar with Grub2 and don't use it as it is still beta software but others here are familiar with it.