[Bug 1061269] Re: 'Precise' installation via CD failed to create GRUB menu.

Wed Oct 3 22:24:04 UTC 2012

** Description changed:

- Boot Repair
- 	
- 19 Sep
- 		
- to me
- 2012/9/18 Michael Hislop <mike.hislop at gmail.com>
+ The problem is related to trying to upgrade from Oneric to Precise using
+ a CD.

-     Hello Yann,
+ On my first attempt I selected the upgrade install process (12.04). This
+ got to the 'choose region' dialogue and then hung. I left the system all
+ night with no progress and non-responsive forcing a restart. This
+ aborted process broke Oneric; the GRUB menu still worked but Linux would
+ not start.

-     Thank you for your prompt reply.
+     I tried to reinstall again. This time the upgrade option was no
+ longer available, only (i) replace existing Linux or (ii) replace Linux
+ and Windows. This was sad as it meant I would loose all my customised
+ software installations. I went ahead (out of desperation) and once again
+ the install got to the 'region' screen and then the system became non-
+ responsive forcing a restart, excepting this time nothing started. To
+ recover the Windows MBR I used the XP installation disk to 'fixmbr'.

-     The problem is related to trying to upgrade from Oneric to Precise
- using a CD. Previously I have upgraded over the internet. I have been
- running Ubuntu on this particular PC since 2007 as a dual boot with
- Windows XP. As the upgrades have become bigger and bigger upgrading has
- become tedious with the poor bandwidth on my DSL line. Bandwidth in
- general is not great in South Africa. On this upgrade I decided to
- rather upgrade from a CD which a colleague had used to install Precise
- on another system. This seemed to be a fool-proof strategy for a
- painless upgrade (wrong).
- 
- 
- Upgrading via a liveCD is always much more reliable than from the Update Manager... you're not lucky...
-  
- 
- 
-     I have installed various versions of Linux over the years from as far back as 1999 including Red Hat and Suse. Of all the installations I have done this has turned out to be by far the most epic fail that I have ever experienced. The issue may possibly be related to a hardware quirk on this PC. On my first attempt I selected the upgrade install process (12.04). This got to the 'choose region' dialogue and then hung. I left the system all night with no progress and non-responsive forcing a restart. This aborted process broke Oneric; the GRUB menu still worked but Linux would not start.
- 
- 
-     I tried to reinstall again. This time the upgrade option was no longer available, only (i) replace existing Linux or (ii) replace Linux and Windows. This was sad as it meant I would loose all my customised software installations. I went ahead (out of desperation) and once again the install got to the 'region' screen and then the system became non-responsive forcing a restart, excepting this time nothing started. To recover the Windows MBR I used the XP installation disk to 'fixmbr'.
- 
-     After a few days (licking my wounds) I got hold of a copy of
+     After a few days (licking my wounds) I got hold of a copy of
  12.04.01 on CD in case my installation problems were related to a bug in
  the 12.04 release. Once again the install process got to the 'choose
  region' dialogue and then hung. I forced a restart and this time I
  plugged in a blank 2 GB USB stick before once again attempting the
  install process. This time the installation completed?!? However, on
  restarting Windows was no longer accessible. On booting the screen was
  blank with a floating 'bubble' message which states something like "The
  input device could not be located." Then after a few seconds Ubuntu
  started up. The GRUB menu was not displayed. I need my Windows
  installation for work, so I had to restore the ability to boot Windows.
  This time the machine wouldn't even boot from the Windows recovery CD so
  I was forced to look for a Linux solution. If I remember correctly (it
  was late) I ran 'sudo apt-get install lilo' and 'sudo lilo -M /dev/sda
  mbr' from the live CD to restore the Windows MBR.

- 
- Please report this installer bug(s) here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+filebug
- And tell me the URL of the report, so that I can follow-up.
- 
- 
-     So now I have a system which boots directly into Windows. Precise is
+     So now I have a system which boots directly into Windows. Precise is
  installed but GRUB is not working so I cannot access it. A frustrating
  situation.
- 
-     Originally the system had a 250 GB HDD with three partitions for
- Windows (C: [NTFS] for OS and applications and E: and F: for data
- [FAT32]) and default partitions for Ubuntu install. More recently I
- added a 1 TB disk to the system which is Windows 'extended'. Under
- Windows explorer the different original 'drives' are available, but
- applications like PowerQuest Partition Magic no longer detects the
- extents of the partitions, reporting simply BAD which is concerning. I
- cannot afford the time wastage of damaging the Windows installation.
- 
- 
- This is a bug of PowerQuest.
- 
- 
- 
-     I am mystified why GRUB ran perfectly in the past but now does not? What happened to the original boot partition? 1GB is relatively small, but is still quite a fair amount of space; as a matter of interest will Linux fully utilise this space? Do you have any suggestions to restore the 'health' of the Windows partitions?
- 
- 
- 1GB is not much when you have 250GB+1TB. Boot files need to be placed somewhere anyway.
- You may be affected by this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/1030887
- 
- Yann

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1061269

Title:
  'Precise' installation via CD failed to create GRUB menu.

Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  The problem is related to trying to upgrade from Oneric to Precise
  using a CD.

  On my first attempt I selected the upgrade install process (12.04).
  This got to the 'choose region' dialogue and then hung. I left the
  system all night with no progress and non-responsive forcing a
  restart. This aborted process broke Oneric; the GRUB menu still worked
  but Linux would not start.

      I tried to reinstall again. This time the upgrade option was no
  longer available, only (i) replace existing Linux or (ii) replace
  Linux and Windows. This was sad as it meant I would loose all my
  customised software installations. I went ahead (out of desperation)
  and once again the install got to the 'region' screen and then the
  system became non-responsive forcing a restart, excepting this time
  nothing started. To recover the Windows MBR I used the XP installation
  disk to 'fixmbr'.

      After a few days (licking my wounds) I got hold of a copy of
  12.04.01 on CD in case my installation problems were related to a bug
  in the 12.04 release. Once again the install process got to the
  'choose region' dialogue and then hung. I forced a restart and this
  time I plugged in a blank 2 GB USB stick before once again attempting
  the install process. This time the installation completed?!? However,
  on restarting Windows was no longer accessible. On booting the screen
  was blank with a floating 'bubble' message which states something like
  "The input device could not be located." Then after a few seconds
  Ubuntu started up. The GRUB menu was not displayed. I need my Windows
  installation for work, so I had to restore the ability to boot
  Windows. This time the machine wouldn't even boot from the Windows
  recovery CD so I was forced to look for a Linux solution. If I
  remember correctly (it was late) I ran 'sudo apt-get install lilo' and
  'sudo lilo -M /dev/sda mbr' from the live CD to restore the Windows
  MBR.

      So now I have a system which boots directly into Windows. Precise
  is installed but GRUB is not working so I cannot access it. A
  frustrating situation.

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