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11-06-2009, 12:14 PM
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#1
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Member
Registered: May 2009
Location: London
Distribution: Xubuntu 14.04
Posts: 49
Rep:
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Grub Problem - Cannot Load Linux
Hi
I have a dual boot system with XP and Fedora and I made some changes to my XP partition and now rather than receiving the usual grub menu list I am taken to a grub prompt -> grub>
I have searched high and low for a solution to this and was able to come across some commands which have enabled me to log into Windows using the 'chainloader+1' command but I can no longer locate my Linux partition.
I tried using the fedora cd to repair my system but it could not find Linux on my system. I tried using the 'find /boot/grub/stage1' command but it could not find anything. I also used a mepis Live cd and ran the command
Fdisk -l with the output below
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 2294 18426519 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 2295 8031 46082448 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 8032 20779 102398309+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 8032 20779 102398278 7 HPFS/NTFS
My 3 windows partitions are fine on sda1,2 and 5 but there is no output for my Linux partition - Does this mean that my Linux install has gone forever or is there any way I can still rescue it?
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11-06-2009, 12:33 PM
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#2
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Member
Registered: Nov 2009
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Distribution: Gentoo, CentOs, Ubuntu, Debian
Posts: 182
Rep:
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Quote:
Does this mean that my Linux install has gone forever
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By your fdisk output it looks that way.
Quote:
...XP and Fedora and I made some changes to my XP partition
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Did you use windows to make those changes? If so, there is your problem.
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11-06-2009, 12:41 PM
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#3
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Member
Registered: May 2009
Location: London
Distribution: Xubuntu 14.04
Posts: 49
Original Poster
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ammorais
Quote:
Does this mean that my Linux install has gone forever
By your fdisk output it looks that way.
Did you use windows to make those changes? If so, there is your problem.
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Yes I did, but the change was only made to my primary partition.
So if I have now lost all of my Linux files, how do I get rid of grub - no point in prolonging the inevitable....
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11-06-2009, 12:48 PM
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#4
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Member
Registered: Nov 2009
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Distribution: Gentoo, CentOs, Ubuntu, Debian
Posts: 182
Rep:
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Code:
Yes I did, but the change was only made to my primary partition.
Windows as the bad habit of thinking is alone in the OS world. So the windows disk partitioner should only be used in 100% Windows machines.
If you had sensitive data on the linux partition it may still be possible to recover it, although you probably need some physical expert help.
To unninstall grub, here's a manual:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-h...ninstall-grub/
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11-06-2009, 01:02 PM
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#5
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Member
Registered: May 2009
Location: London
Distribution: Xubuntu 14.04
Posts: 49
Original Poster
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ammorais
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I wouldn't say it was sensitive data but it will definitely be a major pain to lose all of my configuration files and all of the tools I had installed - It took me a long time to get things working exactly the way I liked. Thanks for the link.
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11-06-2009, 02:23 PM
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#6
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Jul 2006
Location: Crystal Beach, Texas
Distribution: Suse for mail +
Posts: 5,100
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay88
I wouldn't say it was sensitive data but it will definitely be a major pain to lose all of my configuration files and all of the tools I had installed - It took me a long time to get things working exactly the way I liked. Thanks for the link.
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I know this may not help but it is easier the next time around. If you get it back up check out the different ways to create backups.
Larry
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11-06-2009, 03:36 PM
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#7
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Member
Registered: Mar 2008
Distribution: Ubuntu Lucid
Posts: 131
Rep:
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Hi
surely (can anyone please back me up on this) if you had the patience and the storage to do so, you could take an image of the entire disk. You'd need a live disc and another hard disk the same size or bigger than youre original. Doing this takes each byte and copies it to a new location.
it uses the "dd" command. another poster may be able to help you here
James
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11-06-2009, 03:37 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Registered: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,821
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Partition table...
You can try to restore your partitions with TestDisk. You might be advised to make a clone copy of your HDD with the command "dd" or with Clonezilla. This lets you try a restoration and fail without loosing data and gives you a chance to try again.
Do not write anything to the HDD.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step
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11-06-2009, 03:38 PM
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#9
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LQ Guru
Registered: Apr 2008
Distribution: Slackware, Ubuntu, PCLinux,
Posts: 11,231
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You might try SystemRescueCD which has TestDisk to recover data.
http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page
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11-06-2009, 03:45 PM
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#10
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Member
Registered: May 2009
Location: London
Distribution: Xubuntu 14.04
Posts: 49
Original Poster
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thorkelljarl
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Thanks I will have a look at TestDisk and SystemRescueCd.
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11-06-2009, 04:44 PM
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#11
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Member
Registered: May 2009
Location: London
Distribution: Xubuntu 14.04
Posts: 49
Original Poster
Rep:
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OK I think I might be almost back in business but I am still having the grub problem - The TestDisk utility recovered my Linux partitions and I have written them to disk but grub is still not loading.
My output from Fdisk -l in the mepix live cd is now -
Code:
Disk /dev/sda: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x497f497e
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 2294 18426523+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 2295 8031 46082452+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 8032 38912 248051632+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 8032 20779 102398278+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 20780 20804 200781 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 20805 38912 145452478+ 8e Linux LVM
Disk /dev/sdf: 2056 MB, 2056257536 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 7844 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xc73d6767
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdf1 * 1 7845 2008304 e W95 FAT16 (LBA)
Disk /dev/dm-0: 26.2 GB, 26239565824 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3190 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Disk /dev/dm-0 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/dm-1: 62.9 GB, 62914560000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7648 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Disk /dev/dm-1 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/dm-2: 1073 MB, 1073741824 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 130 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x30307800
Disk /dev/dm-2 doesn't contain a valid partition table
I can access the grub folder from a terminal in mepix but I am not sure what I should do next..
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11-07-2009, 05:08 AM
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#12
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Member
Registered: Mar 2008
Distribution: Ubuntu Lucid
Posts: 131
Rep:
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You probably need to reinstall grub.
You can do this by (if i remember correctly)
sudo grub-install /dev/sda (or sdX where X is your drive letter)
If this is wrong, can someone please let me know. Im almost sure there are more commands but i cant remember them
James
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11-07-2009, 08:56 AM
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#13
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Member
Registered: May 2009
Location: London
Distribution: Xubuntu 14.04
Posts: 49
Original Poster
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamwaffles
You probably need to reinstall grub.
You can do this by (if i remember correctly)
sudo grub-install /dev/sda (or sdX where X is your drive letter)
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I have already tried reinstalling using my Fedora cd but it did not work - not sure why..
I ran - chroot /mnt/sysimage to become root and then
grub-install /dev/sda6
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11-08-2009, 05:44 AM
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#15
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Member
Registered: Mar 2008
Distribution: Ubuntu Lucid
Posts: 131
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thorkelljarl
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I use the ubuntu CD when i break my system.
James
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