Ubuntu install error?

howdy folks

i downloaded ubuntu, burned the iso, rebooted the comp and it loaded right into ubunto's desktop. i double clicked the "install" file on the desktop and continued to manually resize partitions and assign root (/) and swap partitions. after doing so, it automatically reformated those partitions to install into.

i didnt see any progress bar for the install, not that i recall, but when i boot up my computer w/o the cd i cant boot into ubuntu or xp.

right now, when i boot up the computer, it goes straight to a "GNU GRUB version 0.97" screen and has "Minimal BASH-like line editing...." blah blah. I pressed tab to look at the commands but i have no idea what to do.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to how to either uninstall unbuntu and start again so i can correctly install it to dual boot? any help is appreciated. im reading through ubuntu dual boot/instal walkthroughs but it seems i did it all correctly...

btw windows and ubuntu are currently on the same harddrive. i did this because i couldnt dual boot when i installed fedora/red hat and xp on seperate HDs....

 

Is Windows your first partition? At the very least, I can get you into Windows...

Type these commands one at a time and press enter after each.

root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
boot

If it fails, restart, and try changing hd0,0 to hd0,1. Continue until Windows loads, or until hd0,3 which is about as far as you can hope it works.

I can't tell you how to get into Linux from the GRUB command line off the top of my head... maybe when I'm not half-asleep I'll remember how to do it.

- Trip

 

oh thank goodness! thanks tripinva for getting me back into windows!! what i'll do first is back up all my info before attempting to reinstall ubuntu.

would you recommend installing xp and ubuntu on the same drive, just different partitions?

 

Yeah. That's how most people manage to do it.

What happened is that GRUB was installed in the master boot record, but it points to the wrong spot on the hard drive when looking for your operating systems! You can try reinstalling to the same partition you made for it and that should clear it up. If it doesn't, then post here and we'll see about manually fixing it.

- Trip

 

ok, i tried it again and it SEEMED to have gone ok but still not loading with the bootloader correctly.

i decided to disconnect my 2nd harddrive (mainly for media) so that i dont "accidently" format and install on that but when i do that, it doesnt even get to the GRUB loader.

following the install, i only need ~500mb for "Swap" and atleast 2gb for "/"

my friend also suggested 10-13gb for "/home" is this correct? if so, that may be my problem and i cant try it right now cause i'll be busy all day till evening. any input is appreciated. i'd love to join the open source community!

*edit* i moved all my media from 2nd drive and put it all onto drive 1 on its own partition so now i have drive 1 with Partition1 40gb for XP, Partition2 40gb for Ubuntu, 500mb Swap, 2gb "/", the rest is media filled right now. 2nd hard drive is now formatted with nothing on it. turned on comp and now it has "GRUB" and a blinking "_" cursor. going to disconnect 2nd HD and see if its loads into anything on first HD

*edit2* disconnected 2nd HD and still loaded into "GRUB" with blinking "_" at this point i cant do anything till evening cause i gotta run. any suggestions for my next step? it seems at this point i cant type at all =( so i dont know how to get back into XP even

 

The steps I gave you should get you back into XP. Try this to get into Linux when you get the chance: [tab] being to press tab and allow it to autocomplete.

root (hd0,1)
kernel vmli[tab]
init init[tab]
boot

Again, try changing the (hd0,1) to other numbers such as (hd0,3) if that fails.

- Trip

 

There are some helpful guides out there to help you create a dual booting system. I personally used this one:

http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2006/05/08/dual-boot-laptop.html

What you want to do is AVOID putting GRUB on the MBR... set up your partitions as follows:
hda1: NTFS for Windows
hda2: ext3 for Ubuntu
hda3: linux-swap
hda4: FAT32 for swapping data between ubuntu/Windows <-- Optional, but recommended

Install Windows on the NTFS partition. Then put the Ubuntu CD in...
Follow all of the installation steps... then when it asks you to install GRUB, install it on (hd0,1) <-- hd0 is your FIRST hard drive, 1 signifies the SECOND partition; (hd0,0) would be your first HDD, first partition, which is your Windows partition... and you do NOT want to do that.

After that, reboot, and you should see GRUB... and you should be able to choose from Ubuntu or Windows.

 

thanks for the tip auroraS.

right now the problem lies that i have a screen that has "GRUB _" where the underscore is blinking, but it does not allow me to type anything so thats where the trouble of getting back into windows is now....

 

morning bump and update.

since im not to worried about settings on my xp, i went ahead and just installed ubuntu on my 2nd hd (the sata 100gb) and i'll use my main HD as an external to swap over files and what not and just dedicate my desktop to linux, but if someone could help me out it would save me the trouble....

 

no more help? really?

 

What did you do? It sounds like you broke GRUB so that it doesn't even know where to find its loader. The way to fix it would be to boot up the install CD and have it install GRUB again.

I don't know the specific instructions on how to do this using the Ubuntu CD, so someone else will have to butt in.

 

But you said it wouldn't let you type anything at that screen... if that's the case, then I hate to break it to you; you may have to reinstall Ubuntu again.

- Trip

 

as of right now, it seems i might have to do what you mentioned, syberdave, but does anyone know how i can get it to just install GRUB and not the whole system all over again?

also, i installed Ubuntu on a whole seperate drive to see how the install process goes and it does have a loading bar and takes about 20-30min to install. by witnessing that, it tells me that Ubuntu never fully installed on the first drive i tried to install it on as it only took 5min for it to "install" without a progress bar...

any ideas on either?

 

Um, I'm not entirely certain of the procedure, but from a command line within the live boot CD you could try the "grub-install" command... I don't know too much about it.

- Trip

 

thanks for the reply. at this point, i've extracted all my files and media from the drive that i tried dual booting xp and ubuntu on by using it as an external HD.

does anyone have a link to a HOW TO for the correct procedure to correctly install and dual book XP and ubuntu onto 1 hd? besides that, i think im going to purchase a seperate wireless USB adapter as setting up the driver for the linksys adapter seems a bit advanced from what i've tried....