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Gad 06-28-2013 02:01 AM

Grub Error with Mint Debian over Ubuntu 12.04 with Win7 Dual Boot Grub Error
 
Hi Guys,

There has been alot of speculation over the spyware included with Ubuntu which makes me uncomfortable to use it anymore.

I currently have a system with Win7 and Ubuntu 12.04

I have decided to install Linux Mint Debian Mate 32bit over the Ubuntu installation.

The process i assumed would be to install over Ubuntu and write a new Grub loader but unfortunately that has not seemed to work. If i re install Ubuntu the Grub is back with my Win7 installation aswell but when installing Mint i get a "Grub not Found" error.

Additionally while installing Mint they ask me to install the Bootloader which i have tried on
/dev/sda
/dev/sda3

The partition layout is as follows:

sda1 = Win7 system partition
sda2 = Win7
sda3 = Ubuntu ( Which i am trying to overwrite with Linux)

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated,


If there is anything that i have missed or not explained please don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks
Marios

Ztcoracat 06-28-2013 04:48 AM

Hi:

Before you install your new distro you may want to back up all of your files. I do--

If you haven't already you may want to check the size of your Win's parttion. It may be that you will have to shrink the Win's
partition first before proceeding with the Linux Mint Debain install. Unless; of course you already did that-;)

The Linux Mint Debian distribution that you want to install; should; during the installation process include a 'partition manager'
to allow you to delete the 'Ubuntu' partition. This is most likely the 'manual' or 'expert' option.

With some distributions (Fedora) the installer automatically installs/configures the partitions of the distro for you.

Once you delete that Ubuntu partition you can use the free space to 'create a new partition' for your Linux Mint Debian distribution.
When you create the new partition your should choose to make it a "ext4" journaling file system.
And than make another partition for your Linux 'swap' 1 GB should be sufficient 2 GB may be overkill-

During the Linux Mint Debian installation Grub, the bootloader should already be configured for you and you should see a message during the
install that says something like: 'Configuring the bootloader'

In order to view the partitions on your computer; if you could, post the output of this command:as 'root'
Code:

fdisk -l
It shows all of the partitions in a readable table.

Is this a Desktop or a laptop?

Ztcoracat 06-28-2013 05:00 AM

The Mint website might be helpful too-;)

http://linuxmint.com/rel_debian.php
http://www.linuxmint.com/documentation.php

Gad 06-28-2013 09:14 AM

Ztcoracat,

Thanks for your valuable feedback,

I have managed to install Linux Mint thank you. However a new issue has arisen.

I cannot see my Windows installation in the Grub Menu. From what i know i think it has to do with /etc/fstab and manually adding the O.S

The output your requested is as follows which should be a good output for my new issue.

Code:

Device Boot      Start        End      Blocks  Id  System
/dev/sda1  *        2048      206847      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2          206848  107888855    53841004    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3      107890688  128370687    10240000  83  Linux
/dev/sda4      128370688  156299263    13964288    5  Extended
/dev/sda5      128372736  130469887    1048576  82  Linux swap / Solaris

Thanks again!

Marios

yancek 06-28-2013 11:36 AM

Quote:

I cannot see my Windows installation in the Grub Menu
If you are unable to boot windows because there is no menuentry in the Grub menu, open a terminal in Mint and run: sudo os-prober.
Watch the output to see if windows is found. If it is, run: sudo update-grub.
If you want to access windows files from Mint you will need to either manually mount it or if you want that option available, put an entry in the /etc/fstab file. You would first need to create a mount point. An example would be to create a win7 directory under /mnt.

sudo mkdir /mnt/win7, name it whatever you want. The link below gives a pretty good explanation of the various options which should help you to create the entry as you wish.

http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/fstab.html

Ztcoracat 06-28-2013 11:23 PM

You are Welcome; mariose!

These are your Windows partitions:
Code:


Device Boot      Start        End      Blocks  Id  System
/dev/sda1  *        2048      206847      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2          206848  107888855    53841004    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

One of them (most likely: 'sda2') is your 'Windows Recovery Partition'

Other than that; follow: yancek's instructions. His councel is wise.

Cheers;)

Gad 06-29-2013 01:13 AM

Thank you both for you expert input. I will most certainly look into it!

Thanks again,
Marios

Gad 07-01-2013 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yancek (Post 4980322)
sudo os-prober.
Watch the output to see if windows is found. If it is, run: sudo update-grub.

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to say all is back to normal. I am dual booting back to normal with Linux Mint and the same previous Windows installation I had.

Thank you both for your assistance,

Regards
Marios

Ztcoracat 07-01-2013 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mariose (Post 4981618)
Hi Guys,

Just wanted to say all is back to normal. I am dual booting back to normal with Linux Mint and the same previous Windows installation I had.

Thank you both for your assistance,

Regards
Marios

Enjoy your Linux Mint and have a good week! ;)


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