Dual boot problem - Ubuntu and XP

[PC eye]

I have set the default drive in bios.

In the last step of Ubuntu setup i checked the 'Install Boot Loader'
and under that it is written - 'Device for Boot Loader Installation' and option below was - '(hdo)_________' this was in a drop down box with no other options.

So i selected that and completed the installation.
But it is still not starting . When i reboot it is asking same question 'Insert proper disk'.
Both my XP and ubuntu are not displayed by the boot loader.

Any guidelines for GRUB installation?

If you are using the live 7.10 version of ubuntu select the manual option for partitioning. Instead of the hd0 you would choose the ext3 extended partition by placing a check in the box seen in the line itself. When clicking forward you will prompted to specify a definer where you choose "/" from another dropdown list and ok on the popup followed by the forward again.

Appendix A How to obtain and build GRUB http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#Obtaining-and-Building-GRUB

15.2 How to install GRUB via grub http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#Installation-under-UNIX

Those are from the Grub manual seen at http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html

 

[Juven]

Thanks for ur help guys, I will try that.
Im using Ubuntu 7.10 Live Version.

 

[tlarkin]

That's easy enough to figure out. Once the installer goes to work it will copy the boot files for XP onto the drive where ubuntu is installed on. To see everything load up you now need to set that as the default boot drive in the bios.

The Vista drive here was already set as default seeing the option to load XP with ubuntu as default immediately. Now to simply see the working entry made in a different tool to see ubuntu load along with Vista and XP since that was corrected here. But there you would make sure to mount the root partition "/" as advised earlier during the installation.

Actually, not quite....

Once GRUB is loaded on the boot sector and after the system POSTs it will immediately load GRUB which takes place of any boot loader be in Linux or Windows. Once you make your decision it will then execute the windows start up process. It does not copy files anywhere.

 

[PC eye]

When you are in the installer for the live cd you select the partition where you want to Grub placed. When highlighting the root partition you click the edit button to select "/" in order to define that.

Grub is then installed to the partition you specify. If you want Grub on the first XP primary the "HD0,1" entry points to that. You can also see that go to the root like "HD0,2" if the second. Once the installation completes with Grub as the last item you will see the "continue live/restart" prompt come up.



The problem seen earlier was simply from not entering the correct entry to specify the partition that would see Grub installed. The mbr still sees entries there regardless of the partition chosen. You ended up seeing the Grub failed to install message for that reason.



Once successfully installed the screen showing ubuntu - 7.10, ubuntu - recovery, ubuntu - memtest will be listed above two entries for XP. That's the way this particular live version seems to want to install.

The installer is what copies files once you make another attempt to see Grub installed since it will automatically reformat the root and swap partitions to install 7.10 all over again where the correct entry should see Grub go right on.

 

[porterjw]

Where to begin with the ritual ownage...

When you are in the installer for the live cd you select the partition where you want to Grub placed.

Actually it goes automatically. When using the Alt-Install, you can select where it goes.

When highlighting the root partition you click the edit button to select "/" in order to define that.

/root doesn't define where GRUB is. Aside from that, the above quote makes zero sense.

I'd debunk the rest of your Post and continue to expose you as a fraud, but it's so hard to make sense of, I honestly stopped trying to comprehend it. At least BP knew he was a joke...

 

[PC eye]

I honestly stopped trying to comprehend it. At least BP knew he was a joke...

So what you are saying is that you are simply not able to comprehend things. Apparently the joke is on you! tlarkin works with this stuff on a day to day basis while you simply make noises! Otherwise the OP would already be up and running.

 

[Juven]

I didnt get none of those messgaes when i installed.
I think i didnt install GRUB?

 

[PC eye]

You asked earlier if there were any guidelines for seeing Grub installed. The Grub loader is part of the installation with the live version. In fact a full page of "how tos" for 7.10 can be looked over at http://www.funnestra.org/ubuntu/gutsy/

A Linux boot loader would still be needed like Grub, Lilo, DMRaid, etc. in order to see distro run. With the live version you will have to specify where you want Grub to go after defining which partitions will see a mounting point. The "/" chioce from the dropdown list would be set for the ext3 root partition where the ubuntu system files are located once installed.

The prompt for Grub is the last stage before the installer goes to work at formatting or in the case of a reinstall reformatting the root and swap partitions. The simple (HD0,1) or default on a one drive system will see Grub entries made in the mbr even if you change the (HD0,1) to (HD0,2) if the root is the second partition on the drive.

By simply leaving things at the default (HD0) you saw Grub installed but ran into the other error instead likely from not correctly defining the root partition correctly or something didn't fully copy to the drive during the installation. I've seen that with other distros like Fedora and Mandriva where it takes a few installs to finally see working results.

 

[porterjw]

So what you are saying is that you are simply not able to comprehend things.

No, I'm saying the format of your posts is dribble and the words in order are correct not... It's like listening to Yoda talk.

Apparently the joke is on you! tlarkin works with this stuff on a day to day basis while you simply make noises! Otherwise the OP would already be up and running.

And you know I don't work with some form of Linux in a professional manner each day how exactly...? tlarkin already corrected a few errors on your part in this Thread, as did I. If you're a demigod of computer knowledge, then perhaps you should take note of the above-bold, as well...

The prompt for Grub is the last stage before the installer goes to work at formatting or in the case of a reinstall reformatting the root and swap partitions. The simple (HD0,1) or default on a one drive system will see Grub entries made in the mbr even if you change the (HD0,1) to (HD0,2) if the root is the second partition on the drive.

No, it's not. GRUB is one of the last items run upon an install. That allows it to view all other installed OS's.

By simply leaving things at the default (HD0) you saw Grub installed but ran into the other error instead likely from not correctly defining the root partition correctly or something didn't fully copy to the drive during the installation. I've seen that with other distros like Fedora and Mandriva where it takes a few installs to finally see working results.

Oye...First off...you cannot install this Distro without designating a /root partition; it's like installing windows without specifying a drive path. You fail. Secondly, it's installed to a certain DEFAULT location for a reason, PC... And that reason is (are you ready for this?!): so others don't have to think/decide where to put it if they don't know anything about it. As far as multiple installs before seeing workable results - you were obviously doing something wrong.

Good gods, can someone please BAN this guy already?

I didnt get none of those messgaes when i installed.
I think i didnt install GRUB?

Juven, GRUB installs automatically with the Live CD of 7.10. Honestly, you need to rip PC off your leg. Have you considered you have a bad image burn? Try re-burning the image at the slowest speed supported by your drive and trying again. Or (come to think of it, I'd try this first) download and burn a copy of the Alt-Install CD, boot to it and enter the Repair option, then scroll down and select to reinstall either GRUB or LILO; it will bypass everything else, detect all OS's on the system, and overwrite your current GRUB.

 

[tlarkin]

GRUB is a boot loader which is 100% independent of any and all OSes. Grub is installed and run at the boot sector. At the hardware level a system will POST and once it passes POST it will load the boot sector of the HD to then start the process of booting, which is called a boot strap.

During the installation of Linux, if you have a current windows installation it should detect it and automatically configure the boot loader to have options to boot from all OSes installed. You can literally run dozens of different OSes on your computer and grub can manage them.

That being said, when you install Linux it should list all partitions and OSes installed, it will ask you to resize, and it will automatically load that information into GRUB, LILO, or whatever boot loader you use. With GRUB being the most popular.

 

[porterjw]

You're up late (or early!)

Insomnia like me?

 

[tlarkin]

You're up late (or early!)

Insomnia like me?

No not at all. I am what you called experienced...

I watched the KU game earlier, cooked fried tacos from scratch for about 8 to 10 people, and drank about 15 beers. I am just biding my time sipping on the last of my beers, and surfing the interwebs.

 

[porterjw]

Finishing up a vanilla vodka and diet coke myself hoping it will make me drowsy, surfing the web too. A damn shame about Charlton Heston

 

[PC eye]

Again you missed the actual problem namely the "please insert system disk" error upon seeing the installation complete. Even a good working burn to disk sees that same error. A good working set of Mandriva install disks saw the same error as well.

How do I know they were good? Mandriva was up and running on the last build with ease. As far as Grub installing to the root of the first hard drive by default Juven already knows that. He was asking about the prompt seen for (HD0,?) earlier.

For the insert disk error it's likely a need to repeat the installation or see the system restarted a few times to see the first load take effect unless something simply didn't see a full copy to the drive. That happens when installing Windows at times as well ruling it from always being a bad burn to disk.

This seems to be a problem seen mostly when installing a distro from a live cd. The installer readily detected the Vista primary here while Grub left Vista out of the equation entirely. After a couple restarts seeing XP boot up normally ubuntu took.

However Vista had to be reset as the default OS clearing Grub out for the 3rd party BCD editing tool called EasyBCD. Here Grub had to be redirected to the root and then added into the Vista boot loader since that version of Grub left the new version out. The problem of "please insert system disk" comes up after seeing Grub installed without problems once the "/ root" mounting point was specified.

You won't find any references to this particular error no matter where you look.

 

[porterjw]

You won't find any references to this particular error no matter where you look.

It just never ends, does it...

<counts to 10>

Ok, PC, whatever you say...

To quote Bobby Baccalieri from The Spranos: 'I'm in awe of you'.

 

[tlarkin]

Look, I never do this, but come on PC, calm down and take a deep breath. What you state in all your posts here never really truly answer the question, and in reality, you should be asking more questions than giving answers in a support type situation. You need to ask the user what they have done and how they have done it to get an idea of what actually is going on.

Again you missed the actual problem namely the "please insert system disk" error upon seeing the installation complete. Even a good working burn to disk sees that same error. A good working set of Mandriva install disks saw the same error as well.

Mandrivia is not based on Debian to my knowledge and ubuntu is, which is very different, however all of this is not even relevant because a boot loader like GRUB is totally 100% independent of the OSes ran on that system. I stated in the beginning if he had that error he most likely did not configure the boot loader to begin with. Just read up on the boot strap process.

How do I know they were good? Mandriva was up and running on the last build with ease. As far as Grub installing to the root of the first hard drive by default Juven already knows that. He was asking about the prompt seen for (HD0,?) earlier.

Wow, GRUB does not install on the root partition at all, it installs on the boot sector, however, GRUB may parse information in the grub.conf file on the Linux box, much like the boot.ini file does in XP. It does so through symbolic links to the config file on the HD itself.

For the insert disk error it's likely a need to repeat the installation or see the system restarted a few times to see the first load take effect unless something simply didn't see a full copy to the drive. That happens when installing Windows at times as well ruling it from always being a bad burn to disk.

This seems to be a problem seen mostly when installing a distro from a live cd. The installer readily detected the Vista primary here while Grub left Vista out of the equation entirely. After a couple restarts seeing XP boot up normally ubuntu took.

Again, you can only truly deduct that information from asking the person who installed it, how they installed it and how they configured it. By default in my experience most Linux installers configure this through a wizard.

However Vista had to be reset as the default OS clearing Grub out for the 3rd party BCD editing tool called EasyBCD. Here Grub had to be redirected to the root and then added into the Vista boot loader since that version of Grub left the new version out. The problem of "please insert system disk" comes up after seeing Grub installed without problems once the "/ root" mounting point was specified.

You won't find any references to this particular error no matter where you look.

Completely not even relevant as this particular user is booting XP and Ubuntu. This just confuses him and has no business being here.

 

[Juven]

Hey guys no arguments, I want all ur suggestions so that i can figure it out what can i do.
You all have experienced different problems while working on these stuff.
Thanks to all.
Coming to the point, i use the Free Ubuntu CD that i got delivered to me, so its not from image file.
Secondly, the Ubuntu installation recognises XP and also asked for importing the Administration data, and i didnt select it but i provided my name password seperately in next step.
Hope thts not the problem.
I will try to install again.
Thanks to all once again.

 

[PC eye]

tlarkin It does since you mentioned that Grub will load any and all OSs. That will depend on the version of Grub used since the Grub on the live cd doesn't recognise the newer version of Windows. Grub4Dos seems to be the winner in that sense.

Grub has seen numerous variations over several years time. You missed one thing I mentioned earlier about Grub still seeing entries in the mbr even while selecting another partition other than the first like the root for a dual boot. The boot loader was configured here to come up with the error message about inserting a system disk like mentioned at the beginning of the thread.

Ubuntu did load after XP was booted into a few times when the first installation was seen despite the error. XP saw no problem while ubuntu was stubborn. That showed that Grub was on properly while "something else" was preventing 7.10 from running the way it should. It's probably best described as when Windows is loaded for the first time and needs to configure itself.

You can import the user information from XP without seeing a problem. Entering a new user name and password is part of the install process and required by the installer.

UPDATE: Installed from the live cd ubuntu 7.10 is now the default OS with the Vista boot loader now seen as an option at startup. Once the installation goes on fully you should see...

ubuntu 7.10 kernel 2.6.22-14 generic
ubuntu 7.10 (recovery mode)
ubunto 7.10 (memtest)
Windows XP
Windows XP

The Windows option will be listed twice for some reason while thet points to the same installation and same option. When first loading ubuntu and the screen goes dark that will be ubuntu running and configuring itself for the first time. If it simply stalls after a minute or so simply press the ctrl-alt-del key combination to either see the system restart or ubuntu start to load up.