Multiboot system was fine, suddenly get NTLDR missing-no Linux
Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Multiboot system was fine, suddenly get NTLDR missing-no Linux
I have Linux Mint 17.2 as my main system, with boot options for W7 and my earlier (17.0?) Mint.
Due to a key application being inadvertently removed from my system (previously posted about this), I have been booting between the two Mint versions for the last 24 hours.
Suddenly on a routine restart I get NTLDR is missing. I haven't touched Windows recently, so not sure what has happened here.
If I F10 into my boot menu & select the hard disk, I get the GRUB menu OK & can choose the OS.
[QUOTE=JackDinn;5684348]what does grub-customizer say regarding your visible boot options if you run it and let it scan for entries ?
try using the customizer to re-install the multi-boot grub (Install to MBR).
Thanks Jack,
I installed it and the options are those which I'd normally see:
LM 17.2 then
2 Advanced options for LM 17.2,
2 x memtest, 2 x W7 ,
then LM17 plus
2 x advanced options for LM17
I put the default entry from "first in list" to LM 17.2 & saved to MBR.
Hopefully that will do the trick. I'll reboot to see....
hmm, did you not get your windows boot option show up for grub ?
I have much the same as you (mint 18 kde, mint 18.1 cinnamon, windows 10 UEFI) but my grub-cutomizer picks up my windows uefi boot option along with the linux ones:-
Quote:
savedefault
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt1 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt1 541E-BD1F
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 541E-BD1F
fi
chainloader /EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
no not meant for you to use per-say , its just the "edit" of my "Windows Boot Manager (on /dev/sda1)" but you might want to check yours looks about right (right click it and edit) of course yours will be different to mine.
I also see your windows is picked up, but im wondering why its listed twice (sda1 & sdb1) ? is it supposed to have 2 separate win7 installed ?
Finally when you reboot you do get the windows boot option but you still get the ntldr error message when you choose windows ? (is that both of the windows choices it errors on?)
I may have 2 x W7 installed or partly installed? I'm a bit woolly with boot stuff & this was all a while ago. I think I was concerned about deleting stuff as I wasn't sure what I wanted to lose & keep.
I haven't tried booting into Windows. Will try that in a mo.
Your "Windows Boot Manager" is what? The Windows entries in your Grub, or some other application (on WIndows?)
My LM 17 entry is
Quote:
recordfail
load_video
gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos3'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos3 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos3 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos3 6a3647a6-29a2-4285-892a-858ca3587f24
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 6a3647a6-29a2-4285-892a-858ca3587f24
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-38-generic root=UUID=6a3647a6-29a2-4285-892a-858ca3587f24 ro vga=775 splash quiet splash $vt_handoff
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.16.0-38-generic
is the line in red significant, pointing to DOS? for HD0
that script is from my grub-customizer (after its finished its scan for boot entries right click on Windows Boot Manager (on /dev/sda1) entry and hit "edit". It shows the script for that entry).
yea it looks like your going to have a lot of fun with this one, try a google search for "grub ntldr missing" and you'll see what i mean. I was just hoping that if you could get the grub re-ordered and re-installed using the customizer you would be done but it looks like its gone over my head now. Its possibly to do with UEFI/EFI and/or windows needing to be installed on the first partition ONLY (else will loose ntldr) but other people have mentioned other things too.
G luck.
p.s. you might try and disable the windows option temporarily with the grub-customizer just to see if your linux works, as it should do.
FWIW, Windows (at least the one I would use) booted fine.
Thanks for your help anyway, the boot customiser is a useful tool.
I had spent some time searching, but all my results were about screwed up fresh installations & not being able to start Windows. Adding GRUB to the search helps.
Cheers
Last edited by mogmog; 03-16-2017 at 06:10 PM.
Reason: clarity
On searching GRUB NTLDR missing I came across a thread referring to Boot Info Script & I installed this to see if that would shed more light. Among the results were:
Code:
=> 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
in partition 112 for .
=> Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks at sector 1 of
the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks
in partition 112 for .
=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd.
and
Code:
Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2,048 206,847 204,800 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 206,848 160,147,455 159,940,608 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda3 160,147,456 257,803,705 97,656,250 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 257,804,288 500,117,503 242,313,216 83 Linux
sda1: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD
sda2: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 7
Boot files: /Windows/System32/winload.exe
sda3: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela
Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab
Now JackDinn's report shows
Code:
set root='hd0,gpt1'
while mine shows
Code:
set root='hd0,msdos3'
Is this significant?
I had a search for gpt but couldn't get a definitive conclusion - is it a partition (number 1)?
How do I tell which partition LM 17.2 boots from?
If I reinstall GRUB2, will it just sort itself out?
Cheers
Hi, I can help with your wondering about the gpt1, its because im using UEFI boot for my win10.
Are you booting with UEFI, secure boot and/or legacy mode set on in your bios ? try tinkering with them settings if they are on try turning them off (on for legacy mode).
Are you booting with UEFI, secure boot and/or legacy mode set on in your bios ? try tinkering with them settings if they are on try turning them off (on for legacy mode).
I avoided UEFI as at the time I first moved lo Linux on my then new pc, there was a lot of talk of motherboards being bricked by installing non-Windows OS's (or something along those lines), so I stayed well clear.
Quote:
Hi, I can help with your wondering about the gpt1, its because im using UEFI boot for my win10.
Not using UEFI boot, so is gpt1 a Windows thing, and your equivalent to mine pointing to MSDOS3? So that a Windows reference is correct?
I have come across a repair utility, not sure if it is this one - I had to do some work as I had clients hopping up & down, so this got sidelined. I'm also swapping between OS's & it's hard to keep track of which tabs/resources are in which OS.
I'll try your suggestion as that gives it more credibility than something I just came across on the web.
Thank you.
I avoided UEFI as at the time I first moved lo Linux on my then new pc, there was a lot of talk of motherboards being bricked by installing non-Windows OS's (or something along those lines), so I stayed well clear.
Not using UEFI boot, so is gpt1 a Windows thing, and your equivalent to mine pointing to MSDOS3? So that a Windows reference is correct?
yea gpt is a file system format that UEFI boot OS's use as the boot drive so if you are sure you did not use uefi/secure boot then you would not have any gpt part's I can not say for sure what file-system you should have though i would assume if your's was working then its prob correct because its unlikely you have had a change in file-sys without noticing or accidentally.
you'll prob end up re-installing at least one OS (if not all of them)
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.