[SOLVED] reaplace GRUB

#1 December 14, 2008

hello, I have not been able to boot into my vista, and I realized that i had a recovery cd that would allow me to change the bootloader back to vistas. Should i do it? or should i stay with grub and configure it. i always get "error 12: invalid device requested"

#2 December 14, 2008

I would stick with Grub if that is what you are currently using. How about booting your Live CD, download the attached "boot_info6.sh.txt" file to your desktop, open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and do:

sudo sh ~/Desktop/boot_info6.sh.txt

That will create a "BootInfo.txt" file on your desktop; please attach that to your next post, or simply copy/paste the contents to your next post. That will greatly clarify your setup and what your problem might be about booting Vista.

#3 December 14, 2008

/dev/sda:Grub:07ff sda1 :ntfs:BS: Vista:OS Vista: sda3 ::BS: None:OS : sda5 :ntfs:BS: XP:OS Vista: sda6 :ntfs:BS: Vista:OS : sda7 :swap:BS: None:OS : sda8 :ext3:BS: None:OS Linux: /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot /boot/grub

Disk /dev/sda: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24321 cylinders, total 390721968 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x1ddd1ddc

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 * 2048 62363647 31180800 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/sda3 62364330 390716864 164176267+ 5 Extended /dev/sda5 68517288 244332584 87907648+ 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/sda6 310022144 390715391 40346624 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/sda7 62364456 68517224 3076384+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/sda8 244332648 310006304 32836828+ 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

partition table of /dev/sda

unit: sectors

/dev/sda1 : start= 2048, size= 62361600, Id= 7, bootable /dev/sda2 : start= 0, size= 0, Id= 0 /dev/sda3 : start= 62364330, size=328352535, Id= 5 /dev/sda4 : start= 0, size= 0, Id= 0 /dev/sda5 : start= 68517288, size=175815297, Id= 7 /dev/sda6 : start=310022144, size= 80693248, Id= 7 /dev/sda7 : start= 62364456, size= 6152769, Id=82 /dev/sda8 : start=244332648, size= 65673657, Id=83

sda8/boot/grub/menu.lst

menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)

grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),

grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub

and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

default num

Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and

the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.

#

You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry

is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.

WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your

array will desync and will not let you boot your system.

default 0

timeout sec

Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry

(normally the first entry defined).

timeout 3

hiddenmenu

Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)

hiddenmenu

Pretty colours

color cyan/blue white/blue

password ['--md5'] passwd

If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing

control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the

command 'lock'

e.g. password topsecret

password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/

password topsecret

#

examples

#

title Windows 95/98/NT/2000

root (hd0,0)

makeactive

chainloader +1

#

title Linux

root (hd0,1)

kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro

#

Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified

by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## Start Default Options ##

default kernel options

default kernel options for automagic boot options

If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z

where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.

e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro

kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro

kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro

kopt=root=UUID=1869fedd-4125-4bbc-94ff-65c782c2f77c ro

default grub root device

e.g. groot=(hd0,0)

groot=(hd0,7)

should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options

e.g. alternative=true

alternative=false

alternative=true

should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options

e.g. lockalternative=true

lockalternative=false

additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the

alternatives

e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5

defoptions=quiet splash vga=792

should update-grub lock old automagic boot options

e.g. lockold=false

lockold=true

lockold=false

Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option

xenhopt=

Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option

xenkopt=console=tty0

altoption boot targets option

multiple altoptions lines are allowedsudo sh ~/Desktop/boot_info6.sh.txt

e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options

altoptions=(recovery) single

altoptions=(recovery mode) single

controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst

only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the

alternative kernel options

e.g. howmany=all

howmany=7

howmany=all

should update-grub create memtest86 boot option

e.g. memtest86=true

memtest86=false

memtest86=true

should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system

can be true or false

updatedefaultentry=false

should update-grub add savedefault to the default options

can be true or false

savedefault=false

## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic root (hd0,7) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=1869fedd-4125-4bbc-94ff-65c782c2f77c ro quiet splash initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic quiet

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic (recovery mode) root (hd0,7) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=1869fedd-4125-4bbc-94ff-65c782c2f77c ro single initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic root (hd0,7) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=1869fedd-4125-4bbc-94ff-65c782c2f77c ro quiet splash initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic quiet

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode) root (hd0,7) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=1869fedd-4125-4bbc-94ff-65c782c2f77c ro single initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, memtest86+ root (hd0,7) kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin quiet

END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

title windows Vista rootnoverify (hd0,4) savedefault makeactive chainloader +1 boot

title windows se7en rootnoverify (hd0,2) savedefault makeactive chainloader+1 boot

title vista rootnoverify (hd0,5) savedefault chainloader +1 makeactive boot

sda8/boot

total 35000 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 2008-11-28 10:46 . drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4096 2008-11-28 10:40 .. -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 422667 2008-06-18 14:11 abi-2.6.24-19-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 507665 2008-11-04 16:00 abi-2.6.27-7-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 507665 2008-11-20 18:46 abi-2.6.27-9-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80049 2008-06-18 14:11 config-2.6.24-19-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 91364 2008-11-04 16:00 config-2.6.27-7-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 91364 2008-11-20 18:46 config-2.6.27-9-generic drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 2008-12-14 07:30 grub -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8265639 2008-11-26 19:46 initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8120885 2008-11-26 19:45 initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8121863 2008-11-28 10:46 initrd.img-2.6.27-9-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 124152 2008-09-11 16:11 memtest86+.bin -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 905146 2008-06-18 14:11 System.map-2.6.24-19-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1029585 2008-11-04 16:00 System.map-2.6.27-7-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1029585 2008-11-20 18:46 System.map-2.6.27-9-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1073 2008-11-04 16:02 vmcoreinfo-2.6.27-7-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1073 2008-11-20 18:48 vmcoreinfo-2.6.27-9-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1920472 2008-06-18 14:11 vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2244464 2008-11-04 16:00 vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2244304 2008-11-20 18:46 vmlinuz-2.6.27-9-generic

sda8/boot/grub

total 240 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 2008-12-14 07:30 . drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 2008-11-28 10:46 .. -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 197 2008-11-26 12:31 default -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15 2008-11-26 12:31 device.map -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8056 2008-11-26 12:31 e2fs_stage1_5 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7904 2008-11-26 12:31 fat_stage1_5 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 16 2008-11-26 12:31 installed-version -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8608 2008-11-26 12:31 jfs_stage1_5 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4874 2008-12-14 07:30 menu.lst -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4874 2008-12-14 07:26 menu.lst~ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4620 2008-11-26 19:33 menu.lst-backup -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4624 2008-11-26 18:59 menu.lst.backup -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4624 2008-11-26 18:49 menu.lst_original -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7324 2008-11-26 12:31 minix_stage1_5 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9632 2008-11-26 12:31 reiserfs_stage1_5 drwxrwxr-x 2 root evan 4096 2008-11-26 18:50 splashimages -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 2008-11-26 12:31 stage1 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 108356 2008-11-26 12:31 stage2 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9276 2008-11-26 12:31 xfs_stage1_5

#4 December 14, 2008

please note in the post above that the entries used for booting vista have been edited numerous times.

#5 December 14, 2008

It also looks like you might be missing Vista's boot files, so how about downloading the attached "script1.sh.txt" and run it with:

sudo sh ~/Desktop/script1.sh.txt

And please post the output.

#6 December 14, 2008

+ mkdir /mnt/sda1 /mnt/sda5 /mnt/sda6 + mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 + mount /dev/sda5 /mnt/sda5 + mount /dev/sda6 /mnt/sda6 + ls -l /mnt/sda1 /mnt/sda5 /mnt/sda6 /mnt/sda1: total 6464617 -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 2008-06-25 16:54 autoexec.bat -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2008-06-25 16:54 config.sys drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-25 15:46 Documents drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-13 22:21 Documents and Settings -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3152887808 2008-11-25 07:35 hiberfil.sys -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3466776576 2008-11-25 07:35 pagefile.sys drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-14 07:57 PerfLogs drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-23 01:21 ProgramData drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8192 2008-11-24 20:47 Program Files drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-23 01:05 Recovery drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-23 13:06 $Recycle.Bin drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-23 10:19 swsetup drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-25 15:22 System Volume Information drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-12-14 00:50 Temp drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-15 15:59 Ubuntu usb drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-23 01:05 Users drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16384 2008-11-25 15:10 Windows

/mnt/sda5: total 6466094 drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-22 10:43 2caafe7616c0c5a44221b9afb0 drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-14 21:25 AHCache -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 2006-09-18 17:43 autoexec.bat drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-20 22:06 $AVG8.VAULT$ drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-24 16:44 black USB -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 25687 2008-04-18 15:47 cmdtool8.bat drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-21 15:28 Config.Msi -rwxrwxrwx 4 root root 10 2006-09-18 17:43 config.sys drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-10-30 19:50 Converted drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-22 14:21 CoolOutput drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2006-11-02 08:02 Documents and Settings drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-06 21:27 drives drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-10-19 20:12 DVDVideoSoft -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3152871424 2008-11-25 16:11 hiberfil.sys drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-25 15:23 Kalyway_10.5.2_DVD_Intel_Amd -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1117 2008-03-02 17:20 mannager.bat drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-23 18:18 MSOCache -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3466776576 2008-11-25 16:11 pagefile.sys -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 177 2008-01-11 15:36 part3.bat drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-10-19 13:22 PerfLogs drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8192 2008-11-19 21:45 ProgramData drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 28672 2008-11-22 12:44 Program Files drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-23 01:06 $Recycle.Bin drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8192 2008-11-24 16:50 seans computer drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-14 13:23 shares old files drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-10-11 20:53 swsetup drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-10-12 17:08 sysl drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20480 2008-11-25 19:45 System Volume Information drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-10-12 17:08 Ubuntu810 drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-10-10 21:34 Users -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 917096 2008-02-17 10:29 vista.exe drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24576 2008-11-22 22:27 Windows drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-09-14 08:22 $WINDOWS.~BT -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 362766 2008-03-23 16:17 xp.exe

/mnt/sda6: total 953 drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-16 12:24 $AVG8.VAULT$ drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16384 2008-11-22 23:22 Documents drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-14 20:06 EVAN-HP6910 drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12288 2008-11-22 23:44 Hacks 'n such drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-22 23:44 Infiniti drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-25 15:56 making themes -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 528 2008-11-14 20:01 MediaID.bin drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12288 2008-11-25 15:56 Music drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-22 23:59 My U3 drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20480 2008-11-25 15:56 Pictures drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-23 01:06 $RECYCLE.BIN drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 786432 2008-11-11 15:22 System32 drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16384 2008-11-25 16:18 System Volume Information drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-23 00:12 Videos drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-25 15:42 Windows.old

#7 December 14, 2008

OK, it looks quite messy because it seems you have remnants of XP left in your partitions; it also looks like you may have Vista installed to both sda1 and sda5, yet neither of those partitions have Vista's boot files. If you have your Vista Install CD, I would boot that and do a "Vista Repair". That should reinstall Vista's boot files to sda1. If you don't have a Vista Install CD, you can instead download and use a Vista Recovery CD from here. Once you are done with that, open up your menu.lst in Ubuntu:

gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

And change your Vista's entry to be:

title Windows Vista
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

And then try to boot Vista with that entry; let me know how it goes.

#8 December 14, 2008

Thank you!!!!

#9 December 14, 2008

Glad that worked for you; cheers and have fun with Vista and Ubuntu. :)