[SOLVED] Multiple hdd's, boots to linux, but not XP

cuckooclocks · 03-20-2018, 09:36 AM

I have a multiple computers with multiple hdd's and all of them are working except one.

On this I have, I have 3 hard drives, I had 4 drives, but took one out to put it into another case, which the removal of it, may have caused the problem in this case.

For some reason, I can not get one of my window's drives to load. It boots fine to grub, but will not load windows xp.

Here are the specs.

HDD 1, (sdc) is a 2tb hdd that has windows xp loaded on it, with no other OP, however it has grub loaded and is the hdd my system boots to. Grub loads fine, but windows will not load.

HDD 2, (sda) is a 500 G containing 2 linux systems, Debian and Mint and both of them load and work fine.

HDD3 (sdb) has Windows XP on it and will NOT boot, but I can read it just fine and access the files through linux.

Here is my problem. I don't care about getting HDD 3 (sdb) booting, because I have it backed up and can reload XP . The HDD I need to get fixed is HDD1, (sdc) because I can not access it to get the files off of it.

I have already tried to “repair” windows with the xp cd and it would not even see the hdd.

Bottom line is I am looking for a “safe” way to access the mbr, so that I can retrieve a very important folder off the desktop. In the event it is not possible to gain access to the mbr, I would be interested in finding any other alternatives to retrieving the data.

BTW, I am a senior citizen with memory problems that is new to linux code, so please take me step by step through any procedure.

Thank you for your kind assistance.

Quote:

I have tried to mount sdc through Mint, and got the following error message.

unexpected clusters per mft record

1.8TB
UUID 7163cb49-01
Status: not mounted
/dev/sdc1
flags: BOOT
First sector: 63

Unexpected clusters per mft record (-127).
Failed to mount '/dev/sdc1': Invalid argument
The device '/dev/sdc1' doesn't have a valid NTFS.
Maybe you selected the wrong device? Or the whole disk instead of a
partition (e.g. /dev/hda, not /dev/hda1)? Or the other way around?

Unable to read the contents of this file system!
Because of this some operations may be unavailable.
The cause might be a missing software package.
The following list of software packages is required for ntfs file system support: ntfsprogs / ntfs-3g.

Here is my fdisk -l report

Code:

sudo fdisk -l

Quote:

Disk /dev/sda: 465.8 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x892780f6

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 2048 486291110 486289063 231.9G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 486291454 976771071 490479618 233.9G 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 972582912 976771071 4188160 2G 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 486291456 972582911 486291456 231.9G 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order.
Disk /dev/sdc: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x7163cb49

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1 * 63 3907007999 3907007937 1.8T 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Disk /dev/sdb: 465.8 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xc5c3b821

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 * 63 976768064 976768002 465.8G 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Code:

cat /etc/fstab

Quote:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
# / was on /dev/sdc6 during installation
UUID=2893194c-9b3e-4120-b75d-06cc68f664b5 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sdc5 during installation
UUID=0883cd24-ea9c-49d6-a7e6-7628fb8f4708 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/sr0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=129,devmode=664 0 0

I tried:

Code:

cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
cat: /boot/grub/menu.lst: No such file or directory

then I got

Code:

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc 

Disk /dev/sdc: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x7163cb49

Device     Boot Start        End    Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1  *       63 3907007999 3907007937  1.8T  7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

I also got

Code:

 sudo os-prober
/dev/sda1:Linux Mint 18 Sarah (18):LinuxMint:linux
/dev/sdb1:Microsoft Windows XP Professional:Windows:chain

and finally Here are Errors from dmesg

Quote:

[ 27.718823] vboxdrv: Found 2 processor cores.
[ 27.720415] vboxdrv: fAsync=0 offMin=0xdc2 offMax=0x2ebd
[ 27.721234] vboxdrv: TSC mode is 'synchronous', kernel timer mode is 'normal'.
[ 27.721240] vboxdrv: Successfully loaded version 4.3.40 (interface 0x001a000b).
[ 27.834553] systemd-logind[2378]: Failed to start user service: Unknown unit: user@120.service
[ 27.840988] systemd-logind[2378]: New session c1 of user lightdm.
[ 28.157141] vboxpci: IOMMU not found (not compiled)
[ 33.717030] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[ 65.851147] systemd-logind[2378]: Failed to start user service: Unknown unit: user@1000.service
[ 65.860760] systemd-logind[2378]: New session 1 of user
[ 394.959784] sdc: sdc1
[ 394.960664] sdb: sdb1
[ 394.996845] sdc: sdc1
[ 412.180483] sdc: sdc1
[ 693.801175] sdc: sdc1
[ 693.802365] sdb: sdb1
[ 694.315609] sdb: sdb1
[ 694.316809] sdb: sdb1
[ 3887.372604] device-mapper: uevent: version 1.0.3
[ 3887.373263] device-mapper: ioctl: 4.27.0-ioctl (2013-10-30) initialised: dm-devel@redhat.com
[ 3889.634542] SGI XFS with ACLs, security attributes, realtime, large block/inode numbers, no debug enabled
[ 3889.672781] JFS: nTxBlock = 8192, nTxLock = 65536
[ 3889.728449] ntfs: driver 2.1.30 [Flags: R/W MODULE].
[ 3889.768731] QNX4 filesystem 0.2.3 registered.
[ 3889.852913] raid6: mmxx1 1491 MB/s
[ 3889.920843] raid6: mmxx2 2827 MB/s
[ 3889.988781] raid6: sse1x1 1256 MB/s
[ 3890.056734] raid6: sse1x2 1853 MB/s
[ 3890.124666] raid6: sse2x1 2189 MB/s
[ 3890.192598] raid6: sse2x2 3143 MB/s
[ 3890.192600] raid6: using algorithm sse2x2 (3143 MB/s)
[ 3890.192603] raid6: using intx1 recovery algorithm
[ 3890.211837] xor: measuring software checksum speed
[ 3890.248531] pIII_sse : 3101.000 MB/sec
[ 3890.288488] prefetch64-sse: 3186.000 MB/sec
[ 3890.288494] xor: using function: prefetch64-sse (3186.000 MB/sec)
[ 3890.319952] Btrfs loaded
[ 3892.749491] EXT4-fs (sdc1): VFS: Can't find ext4 filesystem
[ 3892.754646] EXT4-fs (sdc1): VFS: Can't find ext4 filesystem
[ 3892.756864] EXT4-fs (sdc1): VFS: Can't find ext4 filesystem
[ 3892.765760] XFS (sdc1): Invalid superblock magic number
[ 3892.773670] FAT-fs (sdc1): utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!
[ 3892.773969] FAT-fs (sdc1): bogus number of reserved sectors
[ 3892.773977] FAT-fs (sdc1): Can't find a valid FAT filesystem
[ 3892.776177] FAT-fs (sdc1): utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!
[ 3892.776452] FAT-fs (sdc1): bogus number of reserved sectors
[ 3892.776457] FAT-fs (sdc1): Can't find a valid FAT filesystem
[ 3892.786896] VFS: Can't find a Minix filesystem V1 | V2 | V3 on device sdc1.
[ 3892.804294] hfsplus: unable to find HFS+ superblock
[ 3892.808289] qnx4: no qnx4 filesystem (no root dir).
[ 3892.811407] You didn't specify the type of your ufs filesystem

mount -t ufs -o ufstype=sun|sunx86|44bsd|ufs2|5xbsd|old|hp|nextstep|nextstep-cd|openstep ...

>>>WARNING<<< Wrong ufstype may corrupt your filesystem, default is ufstype=old
[ 3892.811904] ufs_read_super: bad magic number
[ 3892.816606] hfs: can't find a HFS filesystem on dev sdc1
[16936.966736] EXT4-fs (sdc1): VFS: Can't find ext4 filesystem
[16936.968806] EXT4-fs (sdc1): VFS: Can't find ext4 filesystem
[16936.974794] EXT4-fs (sdc1): VFS: Can't find ext4 filesystem
[16936.987870] XFS (sdc1): Invalid superblock magic number
[16936.995326] FAT-fs (sdc1): utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!
[16936.995605] FAT-fs (sdc1): bogus number of reserved sectors
[16936.995612] FAT-fs (sdc1): Can't find a valid FAT filesystem
[16936.997368] FAT-fs (sdc1): utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!
[16936.997625] FAT-fs (sdc1): bogus number of reserved sectors
[16936.997632] FAT-fs (sdc1): Can't find a valid FAT filesystem
[16937.003287] VFS: Can't find a Minix filesystem V1 | V2 | V3 on device sdc1.
[16937.007736] hfsplus: unable to find HFS+ superblock
[16937.014148] qnx4: no qnx4 filesystem (no root dir).
[16937.015487] You didn't specify the type of your ufs filesystem

mount -t ufs -o ufstype=sun|sunx86|44bsd|ufs2|5xbsd|old|hp|nextstep|nextstep-cd|openstep ...

>>>WARNING<<< Wrong ufstype may corrupt your filesystem, default is ufstype=old
[16937.015975] ufs_read_super: bad magic number
[16937.019756] hfs: can't find a HFS filesystem on dev sdc1

Thanks again for any ideas, suggestions and help.

jsbjsb001 · 03-20-2018, 11:05 AM

Do you have the ntfs-3g drivers installed?

To check;

Open your package manager and do a search for ntfs-3g. If it's not installed, install it and then try and access the drive.

You should also make sure the drive itself is ok. Open a terminal window and run the following command;

Code:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdc

Post the results using CODE tags.

cuckooclocks · 03-20-2018, 11:25 AM

Hi jsbjsb001,
Thanks for responding.
I already had the ntfs-3g package installed but tried to access the drive again, but was not able to.

On the

Code:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdc

the response I got was

Code:

sudo: smartctl: command not found

Do I need to update something else?
Thanks

jsbjsb001 · 03-20-2018, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cuckooclocks

Hi jsbjsb001,
Thanks for responding.
I already had the ntfs-3g package installed but tried to access the drive again, but was not able to.

On the

Code:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdc

the response I got was

Code:

sudo: smartctl: command not found

Do I need to update something else?
Thanks

Yeah, install smartctl through your package manager, the package your after is usually called something similar to "smartmontools".

As it sounds like either a file system issue or a bad drive.

cuckooclocks · 03-20-2018, 11:51 AM

Thanks for the update.Sorry for the delay, I had to change from an old version of debian to a newer version of mint in order find the gsmartcontrolpkg, but I got it downloaded and here are the results.
NOTE: The WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0 Hard Drive listed is NOT the 2tb Hard Drive I am trying to access. That WD500 is the Hard Drive that multiple linux systems are located on.

Code:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdc
smartctl 6.5 2016-01-24 r4214 [i686-linux-4.4.0-21-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital Caviar Green
Device Model:     WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0
Serial Number:    WD-WCAV91503162
LU WWN Device Id: 5 0014ee 1acd35fba
Firmware Version: 01.00A01
User Capacity:    500,107,862,016 bytes [500 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS (minor revision not indicated)
SATA Version is:  SATA 2.6, 3.0 Gb/s
Local Time is:    Tue Mar 20 11:44:46 2018 CDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x82)	Offline data collection activity
					was completed without error.
					Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0)	The previous self-test routine completed
					without error or no self-test has ever 
					been run.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection: 		(10200) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: 			 (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
					Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
					Suspend Offline collection upon new
					command.
					Offline surface scan supported.
					Self-test supported.
					Conveyance Self-test supported.
					Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003)	Saves SMART data before entering
					power-saving mode.
					Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01)	Error logging supported.
					General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time: 	 (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 ( 120) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 (   5) minutes.
SCT capabilities: 	       (0x303f)	SCT Status supported.
					SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
					SCT Feature Control supported.
					SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x002f   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       1
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   150   147   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       3458
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1350
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   026   026   000    Old_age   Always       -       54272
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       693
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       252
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   001   001   000    Old_age   Always       -       1180702
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   108   093   000    Old_age   Always       -       35
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0030   200   200   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       1
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0008   200   200   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged.  [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

jsbjsb001 · 03-20-2018, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cuckooclocks

Thanks for the update.Sorry for the delay, I had to change from an old version of debian to a newer version of mint in order find the gsmartcontrolpkg, but I got it downloaded and here are the results.
NOTE: The WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0 Hard Drive listed is NOT the 2tb Hard Drive I am trying to access. That WD500 is the Hard Drive that multiple linux systems are located on. [output snipped]

Oh, we really need to see the output for the drive in question. Your first post suggested to me that it was /dev/sdc that is the device node for the drive in question.

Run and post the output of the same command (smartctl) for the drive in question.

cuckooclocks · 03-20-2018, 12:04 PM

Sorry about the confusion, apparently linux changed the drive id when I changed to a different partition to download the smartctl.
Anyway, here is the correct readout for the HDD I am having trouble with.

Code:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda
smartctl 6.5 2016-01-24 r4214 [i686-linux-4.4.0-21-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     MB2000ECWCR
Serial Number:    Z1X2M7R6
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000c50 0675a1172
Firmware Version: HPG3
User Capacity:    2,000,398,934,016 bytes [2.00 TB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    7200 rpm
Form Factor:      3.5 inches
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   ACS-2, ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 6
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 3.0 Gb/s (current: 3.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Tue Mar 20 11:59:00 2018 CDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x82)	Offline data collection activity
					was completed without error.
					Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0)	The previous self-test routine completed
					without error or no self-test has ever 
					been run.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection: 		(  584) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: 			 (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
					Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
					Suspend Offline collection upon new
					command.
					Offline surface scan supported.
					Self-test supported.
					Conveyance Self-test supported.
					Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003)	Saves SMART data before entering
					power-saving mode.
					Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01)	Error logging supported.
					General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time: 	 (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 ( 240) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 (   3) minutes.
SCT capabilities: 	       (0x103d)	SCT Status supported.
					SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
					SCT Feature Control supported.
					SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000f   075   063   044    Pre-fail  Always       -       38532973
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   095   095   070    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   084   060   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       257994908
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   098   098   000    Old_age   Always       -       2166
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   097    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
180 Unknown_HDD_Attribute   0x003b   100   100   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       1740412353
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   037   049   000    Old_age   Always       -       37 (0 18 0 0 0)
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0033   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged.  [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

jsbjsb001 · 03-20-2018, 12:13 PM

While your output does say it's PASSED, this doesn't mean that it isn't failing. It does have some pretty high values for the Pre-fail attributes, which could be signs of it starting to fail.

Try doing a long test on it;

Code:

sudo smartctl -t long /dev/sda

This test will take some time to complete, it will tell you how long it's going to take.

Also, which file system is it formatted with?
Just to clarify.

yancek · 03-20-2018, 01:36 PM

You indicate that you have Mint and Debian installed, which is the primary one you boot from? Have you tried running: sudo update-grub on Mint?

You make a reference to the fact that there is no menu.lst file. That is correct, there should not be one as Mint has been using Grub2 for over 8 years and Debian has also been using it for several years. You would see a grub.cfg file in the /boot/grub directory.

To clarify the status, you have both Mint and Debian installed and both boot but neither of your xp installs boot off their respective drives, correct? I would suggest you go to the site below and download the boot repair software. Use the 2nd option to install it and once it is installed, run it per instructions on the page and be sure to select the option to Create BootInfo Summary which will provide a link which you can post here for others to review. THis will give some useful information on your systems, partitions and boot files. Do not try to make any repairs but simply post the link here.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

cuckooclocks · 03-20-2018, 02:19 PM

Hi yancek,
Thank you for your response.
I currently have that computer running a long test on the hdd. It should be finished in another 3 hours, then I will be able to run additional tests.

My primary boot from bios is the 2tb hdd, that ONLY has windows xp on it, however that hard drive also has grub installed on it, in spite of the fact that linux is NOT installed on the drive.

Once grub boots, it gives me a choice of loading a different hard drive containing a version of robolinux with debian 8.8 on one partition, or linux mint 18, using kernel 4.4.0.21, which is on a separate partition.

Grub also gives me the option of loading a third hard drive, that contains Windows xp, which will not boot successfully.

You stated,

Quote:

To clarify the status, you have both Mint and Debian installed and both boot but neither of your xp installs boot off their respective drives, correct?

That is a correct statement and while I am waiting for the long test on that hard drive, I will download the boot repair software you suggested onto a flash drive, using another computer, so that it will be ready to install once the testing is completed.
Thanks again for your suggestions and I will update this post in 2 to 3 hours, when I can use that computer again.

AwesomeMachine · 03-20-2018, 03:44 PM

You changed the existing drive designations when you removed the one drive. I think the boot loader just can't find the XP installation.

cuckooclocks · 03-21-2018, 08:14 AM

OK, I am back on line after conducting various testing.
First off, I ran a long test on the hard drive and it came back with no problems found.

Next, I removed the hard drive from that computer and placed it into another system, so there wouldn't be as many hard drives to confuse everyone. Now, it is in a system with only two hard drives. Ubuntu 16.4 on one drive and my 2tb problem drive is the other one.

The ubuntu 16.04 system works and boots fine, however when I tried to boot from the 2tb hdd, and it came up with the error,

Code:

error: no such device:
Entering rescue mode..
Grub Rescue>

Since I frequently move hard drives from one tower to another, I have worked with grub rescue problems in the past, and that got me to thinking. Since linux is NOT on that hard drive and I don't need it, what would happen if I removed grub from that HDD and how would I find the location of grub in order to remove it? It seems like I might have a better chance of restoring the xp boot or mbr if I don't have the conflict with grub.
Any thoughts or suggestions?

jsbjsb001 · 03-21-2018, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cuckooclocks

OK, I am back on line after conducting various testing.
First off, I ran a long test on the hard drive and it came back with no problems found.

Next, I removed the hard drive from that computer and placed it into another system, so there wouldn't be as many hard drives to confuse everyone. Now, it is in a system with only two hard drives. Ubuntu 16.4 on one drive and my 2tb problem drive is the other one.

The ubuntu 16.04 system works and boots fine, however when I tried to boot from the 2tb hdd, and it came up with the error,

Code:

error: no such device:
Entering rescue mode..
Grub Rescue>

Since I frequently move hard drives from one tower to another, I have worked with grub rescue problems in the past, and that got me to thinking. Since linux is NOT on that hard drive and I don't need it, what would happen if I removed grub from that HDD and how would I find the location of grub in order to remove it? It seems like I might have a better chance of restoring the xp boot or mbr if I don't have the conflict with grub.
Any thoughts or suggestions?

If you have GRUB installed on another drive, you can replace it with the Windows MBR (Master Boot Record), but you would have to go into your PC's BIOS and make sure that the drive GRUB IS installed on, is selected as the "boot device" and is FIRST in the boot list. Otherwise you would not be able to start Linux.

GRUB is usually installed to the MBR, however, it depends on where it was installed in the first place... that could be the MBR or the partition boot sector.

yancek · 03-21-2018, 08:30 AM

Before you remove Grub from the drive with your windows xp, I would suggest that you verify that you have Grub installed to the MBR of the drive on which you have now installed Ubuntu or you could end up in a situation in which neither is bootable. The simplest way to get this information is to run the boot repair software suggested above with the Create Boot Info Summary option. It will tell you on which drive you have windows code in the MBR (if any) or Grub code. Boot repair will output information on your drives, partitions, filesystems and boot file locations and contents and this is needed before any realistic suggestions can be made. If you don't understand the output of boot repair, post the link here for others to review.

Another possibility is to post the contents of the /boot/grub/grub.cfg file from Ubuntu, limit it to the section containing the menuentry information. This won't tell use which drive has which code in the MBR however.

cuckooclocks · 03-21-2018, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsbjsb001

If you have GRUB installed on another drive, you can replace it with the Windows MBR (Master Boot Record), but you would have to go into your PC's BIOS and make sure that the drive GRUB IS installed on, is selected as the "boot device" and is FIRST in the boot list. Otherwise you would not be able to start Linux.

GRUB is usually installed to the MBR, however, it depends on where it was installed in the first place... that could be the MBR or the partition boot sector.

Thanks for the reply.
I have grub installed on my ubuntu hdd, and can boot from it in bios, so I don't need it on the windows hdd, so I guess my next question is how to locate and remove grub from the windows hdd?