hi!, well I have ubuntu 8.04 and winows vista installed on my laptop and I was trying to change the look of the grub menu and I did it but now I can't enter to vista! The option is there in the menu but when I choose vista it takes me to the old grub menu and I can't enter to vista.

Any idea??

Thanks!

Could you post your /boot/grub/menu.lst.

-------------------
Steve Stites

ok this is my /boot/grub/menu.lst

gfxmenu /boot/grub/message.ubugrey
# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 10

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=698fdcde-7471-4269-b844-c3c21c1b62aa ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,5)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=698fdcde-7471-4269-b844-c3c21c1b62aa ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=698fdcde-7471-4269-b844-c3c21c1b62aa ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-18-generic
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-18-generic root=UUID=698fdcde-7471-4269-b844-c3c21c1b62aa ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-18-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-18-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-18-generic root=UUID=698fdcde-7471-4269-b844-c3c21c1b62aa ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-18-generic


title Ubuntu 8.04, memtest86+
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Windows Vista(loader)
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

The problem may be the savedefault command near the bottom of your menu.lst. Try this experiment to see if savedefault is the problem:

edit menu.lst and make savedefault into a comment:
#savedefault

Then boot twice in a row. The first time boot into Ubuntu. Then shutdown and boot into Windows.

---------------
Steve Stites

jailbait I did what you specify but didn't work. I think it has to be something with sudo grub-install /dev/...
the tutorial I used said that it has to be /dev/"where the grub is installed" and I think thats the part I messed up.

thanks

Go to http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=224351
to see how to reset the grub boot menu, as it is possible that you changed the options in menu.lst but if the changes are not written to the MBR by grub then they will not be there.

The link I give is a step by step instruction guide which I have found extremely helpful on many occasions.

thanks Avuora but didn't work either
Any chance I can re-install vista without damaging ubuntu?

Depends upon what you mean by 'damaging Ubuntu'. vista will definitely overwrite your mbr. You could re-install Grub to the mbr if you need to do this. You might change your vista entry from

title Windows Vista(loader)
root (hd0,0)

to:

title Vista
rootnoverify (hd0,0)

ok what I want to know is that re-installing vista will solve my problem

Well, re-installing Vista will solve your "can't boot vista" problem, but there may be a way to get Vista back without reinstalling (which should save you time and frustration). Do a search for discussions of dual-booting Linux + Vista (on this site as well as the Ubuntu site). I remember on some previous posts people have mentioned that Vista has a different bootloader (no longer ntldr) and that instructions for dual-booting with Vista differ from dual-booting XP and previous WinDuhs systems.

The entry below, which you posted as part of your menu.lst won't work.

title Windows Vista(loader)
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

As I indicated in my earlier post, this needs to be changed to "rootnoverify (hd0,0)", assuming vista on the first partition. You shouldn't need the 'savedefault' and the 'makeactive' entry would only need ed if the partition is not marked as active. You can check that with fdisk looking for the *.

The (hd0,0) part tells Grub where the bootloader is and the noverify part tells Grub not to try to mount it because it is outside the area of the disk that Grub can read. See this link: http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/man...tnoverify.html

This would be the correct entry but I'm a little confused by the statement below in your initial post?

Are you saying you have multiple menu.lst files?

When I have this sort of problem th first thing I read (again!) is this page - http://www.swerdna.net.au/linhowtoboot.html

Scroll down and read th bits about the Vista boot loader carefully.