on dual-boot system, Ubuntu stopped booting; it now just goes to Grub

2

I have a dual-boot system, Ubuntu and Windows XP.

Ubuntu has been freezing occasionally. I've just been turning the computer off and back on when that happens.

The last time it happened, I turned the computer back on, it went to the screen where you select Windows or Ubuntu, I selected Ubuntu, and then it went straight to a grub interface instead of the Ubuntu startup screen.

When I hit Escape from the Grub command line, it goes to a menu of 8 items, but they all just return me to the Grub command line (except for "reboot" and "halt").

I tried the command "boot", but it says the kernel must be loaded first. When I tried "kernel", it says it requires some kind of filename parameter.

It's possible my 2-year-old daughter may have hit some key as it was starting up. Could that have made it go to grub instead of Ubuntu? Or could the Ubuntu partition be damaged?

Windows XP is working ok; I'm submitting this from there.

Thx

JoshMaurice

Posted 2009-07-24T18:26:21.017

Reputation: 139

1

This kind of question is probably better asked on http://superuser.com.

– Mark Biek – 2009-07-24T18:27:54.523

2(beta password is ewok.adventure, so you can find it once it's migrated) – bdonlan – 2009-07-24T18:31:46.700

I don't think you are allowed to say that password here :p – None – 2009-07-24T18:33:31.267

also, make sure to link accounts or you won't be able to edit your post: http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/07/cross-site-account-associations/

– bdonlan – 2009-07-24T18:34:22.607

@ZOMFG, it's on the SO blog, it's public information as far as I'm concerned :) – bdonlan – 2009-07-24T18:34:52.713

"once it's migrated" -- does that mean it will migrate itself somehow, or shall I paste it into Superuser? – JoshMaurice – 2009-07-24T18:39:09.850

it has four votes right now, one more and it'll move on its own. make sure you associate accounts before then, or you'll lose the ability to edit – bdonlan – 2009-07-24T18:40:19.583

Once it migrates, there will be a link on this copy of the question that takes you over to the superuser.com site. – Mark Biek – 2009-07-24T18:41:28.690

Answers

1

I'm assuming you used Wubi to install it (if you booted from a CD to install, edit your question to reflect this or something). What's in c:\ubuntu\disks\boot on your windows machine? Also, add the contents of c:\ubuntu\disks\boot\grub\menu.lst (open in wordpad) to your question as well. You can format it properly by selecting it once it's pasted in, then clicking the 101010 button above the editor.

Edit: Based on the errors you give, your windows filesystem is corrupted. You need to run chkdsk as soon as possible. If you still have trouble booting after that, please add another comment.

bdonlan

Posted 2009-07-24T18:26:21.017

Reputation: 1 463

In My Computer, when I try to open the C drive, it says "Windows cannot find "RECYCLER\5-7-1-97-...6188.com.'..." On the command line, when I try to open C:\ubuntu\disks it says "The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." – JoshMaurice – 2009-07-24T18:51:26.997

I'm trying to run chkdsk, but I get the message: "Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)" I chose yes, and restarted, but it didn't seem to run the check, and gives the same message when I try to run it again. – JoshMaurice – 2009-07-24T19:24:51.440

Boot from a windows CD, and go into the recovery console. Then run chkdsk from there. – bdonlan – 2009-07-24T19:46:08.190

Asked: 2009-07-24T18:26:21.017

Viewed: 1 242 times

Active: 2009-08-09T02:43:36.380