LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] Unknown filesystem, grub rescue mode. Win7, then Ubuntu were installed

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Unknown filesystem, grub rescue mode. Win7, then Ubuntu were installed

Hi guys!

A few days ago I decided to try a linux OS for the first time. Following a how-to advice, I created a ~80gb partition (on a 320 gb sata disk) for Win7 and installed it. Then I installed Ubuntu 10.04, chose to make partitions manually, created a primary ext4-partition (right after the one with Win7) for / and a 1024mb swap partition. So now the disk is parted this way: 512 booter - Win7 system, ~ 80gb ntfs - Ubuntu /, 8 gb ext4 - Ubuntu 1 gb swap - file storage, ntfs ~240 gb (created using Win7 bootable disk, but the issue from below started before this).

After the installation the boot loader failed to load any system, giving the error from the topic title. I tried several ways to reinstall/repair/reconfigure grub in the live-CD mode. Some of them didn't change anything, others were not completed because of an update-grub error ("cannot find a device for / (is /dev mounted?)").

Grub version is 1.98b. The disk with Win7 and Ubuntu is treated as hd0 in grub and sdd in Ubuntu.

Could anyone please help me with this issue?

Best regards,
Aleksey.
---------
Note: even though the thread is marked as SOLVED, the issue is actually not. I have managed to dual-boot Win7 and Ubuntu, but with partition configuration changes. And I'll still be glad if someone hints me at the solution (even though I will probably not be testing it anymore ).

On the install did you write to the MBR?

Grub must be in the MBR to get to rescue mode.
OP - does the Ubuntu disk work as a liveCD ("try it without installing") ?. If so, go to sf.net and get the bootinfoscript - here is the instructions how to run it.
Post the RESULTS.txt it creates so we can see what is trying to boot.

trist007, yes, to the disk I installed Win7 and Ubuntu to.

syg00, here it is:

Code:

                Boot Info Script 0.55    dated February 15th, 2010                    



============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================



 => Syslinux is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda

 => Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb

 => Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc

 => Syslinux is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdd



sda1: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      ntfs

    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7

    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.

    Operating System:  

    Boot files/dirs:  



sdb1: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      ntfs

    Boot sector type:  Windows XP

    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.

    Operating System:  

    Boot files/dirs:  



sdb2: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      ntfs

    Boot sector type:  Windows XP

    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.

    Operating System:  

    Boot files/dirs:  



sdb3: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      ntfs

    Boot sector type:  Windows XP

    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.

    Operating System:  

    Boot files/dirs:  



sdc1: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      ntfs

    Boot sector type:  Windows XP

    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.

    Operating System:  

    Boot files/dirs:  



sdd1: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      ntfs

    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7

    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.

    Operating System:  Windows 7

    Boot files/dirs:  /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe /grldr



sdd2: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      ext4

    Boot sector type:  Grub 2

    Boot sector info:  Grub 2 is installed in the boot sector of sdd2 and 

                      looks at sector 154078136 of the same hard drive for 

                      core.img, but core.img can not be found at this 

                      location.

    Operating System:  Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

    Boot files/dirs:  /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img



sdd3: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      swap

    Boot sector type:  -

    Boot sector info:  



sdd4: _________________________________________________________________________



    File system:      ntfs

    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7

    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.

    Operating System:  

    Boot files/dirs:  



=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================



Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________



Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 sectors

Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes



Partition  Boot        Start          End          Size  Id System



/dev/sda1    *            63  156,296,384  156,296,322  7 HPFS/NTFS





Drive: sdb ___________________ _____________________________________________________



Disk /dev/sdb: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24321 cylinders, total 390721968 sectors

Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes



Partition  Boot        Start          End          Size  Id System



/dev/sdb1    *            63  130,255,019  130,254,957  7 HPFS/NTFS

/dev/sdb2        130,255,020  260,493,974  130,238,955  7 HPFS/NTFS

/dev/sdb3        260,493,975  390,716,864  130,222,890  7 HPFS/NTFS





Drive: sdc ___________________ _____________________________________________________



Disk /dev/sdc: 750.2 GB, 750156374016 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders, total 1465149168 sectors

Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes



Partition  Boot        Start          End          Size  Id System



/dev/sdc1    *            63 1,465,144,064 1,465,144,002  7 HPFS/NTFS





Drive: sdd ___________________ _____________________________________________________



Disk /dev/sdd: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes

16 heads, 63 sectors/track, 620181 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors

Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes



Partition  Boot        Start          End          Size  Id System



/dev/sdd1    *          2,048  143,362,047  143,360,000  7 HPFS/NTFS

/dev/sdd2        143,362,048  159,571,967    16,209,920  83 Linux

/dev/sdd3        159,571,968  161,572,863    2,000,896  82 Linux swap / Solaris

/dev/sdd4        161,572,864  625,137,663  463,564,800  7 HPFS/NTFS





blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________



Device          UUID                                  TYPE      LABEL                        



/dev/loop0                                              squashfs                                

/dev/sda1        64240B3A240B0F2C                      ntfs      Highwind                      

/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos" 

/dev/sdb1        A26828AF6828845F                      ntfs      Всё подряд          

/dev/sdb2        9268DB2D68DB0EBB                      ntfs      Музыка™              

/dev/sdb3        266CB0E26CB0AE45                      ntfs      ћ                            

/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos" 

/dev/sdc1        01C962FF831761E0                      ntfs      Millenium Falcon              

/dev/sdc: PTTYPE="dos" 

/dev/sdd1        5A24520C2451EB8F                      ntfs                                    

/dev/sdd2        4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492  ext4                                    

/dev/sdd3        063fc3d4-6dd5-46a2-9be0-d73eeb9647ac  swap                                    

/dev/sdd4        62580F2B580EFE13                      ntfs                                    

/dev/sdd: PTTYPE="dos" 



============================ "mount | grep ^/dev  output: ===========================



Device          Mount_Point              Type      Options



aufs            /                        aufs      (rw)

/dev/sr0        /cdrom                  iso9660    (ro,noatime)

/dev/loop0      /rofs                    squashfs  (ro,noatime)

/dev/sdb1        /media/Всё подряд fuseblk    (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=512,default_permissions)

/dev/sda1        /media/Highwind          fuseblk    (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions)





=========================== sdd2/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================



#

# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE

#

# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates

# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub

#



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then

  load_env

fi

set default="0"

if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then

  set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}

  save_env saved_entry

  set prev_saved_entry=

  save_env prev_saved_entry

  set boot_once=true

fi



function savedefault {

  if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then

    saved_entry=${chosen}

    save_env saved_entry

  fi

}



function recordfail {

  set recordfail=1

  if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi

}

insmod ext2

set root='(hd3,2)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492

if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then

  set gfxmode=640x480

  insmod gfxterm

  insmod vbe

  if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else

    # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't

    # understand terminal_output

    terminal gfxterm

  fi

fi

insmod ext2

set root='(hd3,2)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492

set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale

set lang=en

insmod gettext

if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then

  set timeout=-1

else

  set timeout=10

fi

### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

set menu_color_normal=white/black

set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray

### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {

        recordfail

        insmod ext2

        set root='(hd3,2)'

        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492

        linux        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492 ro  quiet splash

        initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic

}

menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {

        recordfail

        insmod ext2

        set root='(hd3,2)'

        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492

        echo        'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'

        linux        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492 ro single 

        echo        'Loading initial ramdisk ...'

        initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic

}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {

        insmod ext2

        set root='(hd3,2)'

        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492

        linux16        /boot/memtest86+.bin

}

menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {

        insmod ext2

        set root='(hd3,2)'

        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492

        linux16        /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8

}

### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sdd1)" {

        insmod ntfs

        set root='(hd3,1)'

        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1894a37294a350d4

        chainloader +1

}

### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the

# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change

# the 'exec tail' line above.

### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###



=============================== sdd2/etc/fstab: ===============================



# /etc/fstab: static file system information.

#

# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' 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>

proc            /proc          proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0      0

# / was on /dev/sdd2 during installation

UUID=4687d7aa-8369-4ea2-a795-5e2977ffc492 /              ext4    errors=remount-ro 0      1

# swap was on /dev/sdd3 during installation

UUID=063fc3d4-6dd5-46a2-9be0-d73eeb9647ac none            swap    sw              0      0

/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0      0



=================== sdd2: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================





  77.9GB: boot/grub/core.img

  78.9GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg

  78.5GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic

  79.0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic

  78.5GB: initrd.img

  79.0GB: vmlinuz

hello,noigan. I THINK this is the most easy way for you :

First: Use Win7 install disk in rescue mode ,and make sure win7 can be boot.
Second: install easyBCD.
Third: add grub session in Win7 boot menu using easyBCD.
Four: reboot, and see what added in Win7 boot menu.

P.S. You have grub2 installed ,not grub.

Post a link to the howto you followed - that is not normal.

BILLYKANE, yes, if nothing else hepls, I'll have to use the Windows boot loader instead of Grub. But before I'd like to solve this - don't want my very first Linux experience to become a failure :)

syg00, installing Windows before Linux is recommended here, for example. Is this advice bad or is the way I created partitions?

Doing Windows first is the usual recommendation. That guide is really a bit poor for a Ubuntu site. It makes reference to another section ("Finishing Ubuntu Installation") that doesn't exist.
You did continue with the install I hope ?. If you stopped (rebooted) after the partitioning, that might explain this result.

syg00, I used only the advice to install Windows first from the above guide and some others. Of course, I passed the steps of introducing myself to the OS, docs and settings importing (with nothing to import) and rebooted only when the installer told me it was done with the installation.

Sorry - looking again at that RESULTS.txt, that was a stupid question of mine.
However, it looks like you may have attempted to install grub4dos. We need to know everything you attempted, and which howto you used.

Do you want to keep going with the Linux install, or abandon it and simply get Win7 back booting ?.

I used this manual, it differs from this one mostly in the Prepare disk space section. I also tried to install a boot loader (Step8, the Advanced button) to the sdd-disk and later to its sdd2 partition.

Right now I am able to restore the Windows MBR (and have already done so), but again, I want to get Ubuntu loading and working.

Quote:

Originally Posted by noigan (Post 4109948)

Right now I am able to restore the Windows MBR (and have already done so), but again, I want to get Ubuntu loading and working.

Glad to hear it - too many new users just want to give up.
I can't explain what's happening - where did you get the Ubuntu CD ?.
I was about to suggest the link win29 posted (here). But you'd need confidence the liveCD is good. Install to /dev/sdd (the device) - grub2 doesn't really like being installed into a partition (unlike legacy grub). The design doesn't allow grub2 to fit in the boot sector record - also causes issues on gpt disks.

syg00, I already tried to install Grub2 to /dev/sdd - that made no difference.

The .iso was downloaded from a local tracker, its md5 sum is equal to the one from here.

I have already tried this guide to reinstall Grub2 - it didn't help because sudo update-grub in the liveCD mode gives the "cannot find a device for / (is /dev mounted?)" error message.

My best guess was that the partition with Ubuntu's /boot is too far from the disk' start (considering this and info from several other sources).

I tried installing Grub2 to the sda MBR, which let me into a just-grub (not the Resque one) prompt. From there I realised grub doesn't distinguish the filesystems of the non-first partitions of the *problem* disk. And the all the partitions of all other disks are visible well enough.

sdb3 partition is *130 gb far fron the sdd disk start, so the problem is most likely about sdd disk being a sata one. All the disks' size is visible in full by the bios and OSes, so the problem not in LBA-like settings and its support. Some people suggested that the problem is that my bios doesn't support AHCI-mode for sata drives (IMHO, it's most likely so).

And I ended up moving the Win7 partition to the right of the hdd, creating a partition before it and installing Ubunto to it.

Thanks everyone for the help!

HELP ME!!!

Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in
partition #5 for (,msdos5)/boot/grub.
=> Syslinux is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb

sda1: _________________________________________________________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows Vista
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /boot/bcd /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda2: _________________________________________________________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 7
Boot files/dirs: /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda3: _________________________________________________________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr

sda4: _________________________________________________________________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb1: _________________________________________________________________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Vista: Fat 32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sdb2: _________________________________________________________________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Fat32
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sdb2 starts
at sector 0. But according to the info from fdisk,
sdb2 starts at sector 2048.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 2,048 531,388,415 531,386,368 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 531,388,416 718,107,627 186,719,212 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 950,392,832 976,766,975 26,374,144 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 718,108,671 950,392,831 232,284,161 5 Extended
Empty Partition

Drive: sdb ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 8019 MB, 8019509248 bytes
247 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1022 cylinders, total 15663104 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 2,097,152 11,218,943 9,121,792 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdb2 2,048 2,097,151 2,095,104 b W95 FAT32

blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 4A5B809158A945C3 ntfs
/dev/sda2 EE30583E30580FC7 ntfs New Volume
/dev/sda3 5C94862A9486072C ntfs RECOVERY
/dev/sda4: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 2A1A-9F3B vfat
/dev/sdb2 0CDB-B77F vfat restart
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"
error: /dev/sdc: No medium found

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)

=======Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive==============

sdc

error: unknown filesystem grub rescue

1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or an input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec.exe /FixMbr, and then press ENTER.

That’s it. Now when you reboot your PC, Vista will load automatically… You can now safely boot using your Ubuntu desktop CD, to use the built in Gnome Partition Manager to remove your Ubuntu partition!

Ubuntu 10.10 has no problem recognizing all partitions.

Did you try
"sudo os-prober"
"sudo update-grub"