Strange Grub Error Message on dual boot Dell laptop

[NoOp]

On 04/23/2010 12:21 PM, Tab Gilbert wrote:
> Hello-
> 
> I have a dual boot laptop with Vista (only for iThingies) and Ubuntu.  Vista
> had a security upgrade and after it finished I got the following error
> message when restarting the machine.
> 
> Grub Loading
> Ho :) Not Found ?YL
> Aborted Press ??*1?
> Any key to exit.
> 
> The smiley face is more like a little emoticon type symbol.
> The * is more like a little star emoticon.
> 
> I do not know squat about grub and really do not want to mess with it so I
> installed Ubuntu again.  Well, Vista uses the slow upgrade method and it
> took three Ubuntu installs before Vista was finished.  I turned off all
> updates in Vista since the only thing I use is iTunes and never even open a
> browser.  Problem solved.
> 
> However, the last time I used iTunes and rebooted I get the same error
> message.  So I installed the new Ubuntu Beta 2 figuring it was as good as
> time as any to see how it works on the Dell laptop.  Works great, btw. I
> googled around and could not find anything with this type of error message
> and did a post to this list the first time it happened but got no real
> response.  I have learned that if you do not format the Ubuntu partition it
> basically just install the system and leaves everything else where it was.
> I have gotten rather good a installing my whole Ubuntu setup in pretty good
> time from start to finish.
> 
> Any suggestions, hints or places to look for answers.  Thanks.

1. It sounds to me like your grub isn't installed properly. Seems that
iTunes may be writing crap to your grub.
2. You needn't reinstall Ubuntu for this.
3. Yes, when you install without formating, the install files overwrite
whatever you previously had in place. This is how I reinstall-inplace
when I wish to test and/or clean out an old install but keep all the
/home & /opt data.

Have a look at:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2
[assuming you are using grub2 as you did a new lucid install]
*Read the entire page* & then look at the section:
Reinstalling from LiveCD
 - SIMPLEST - Copy GRUB 2 Files from the LiveCD

I'd recommend that you either reinstall your grub2, or at least "Refresh
the GRUB 2 menu with sudo update-grub".