New to Linux....need help installing

munkyeetr

New Member
With your original setting (hd0,0) at least you are getting to the Vista startup; it's just not starting up. So I think that shows that hd0,0 is right. I think you have a botched Vista install, and if it were me, I would try to rebuild the Vista boot record (I posted the commands a few posts ago), then If Vista was booting I would reinstall GRUB to the MBR and hope that the two will live peacefully. If not, you could always either stick with GRUB and Ubuntu, or revert to Vista.

I'm not saying that would definitely work, but if it were my system, that would be my plan of attack.
 

tlarkin

VIP Member
well with vista it is different, they got rid of the boot.ini and now its an exe file instead for booting. Also, GRUB sits in your boot sector of your HD so it should overwrite a windows MBR, but then again vista has issues, I will copy/paste my grubmenu.lst here but I use SuSeLinux so some things may differ.

Code:
# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Fri May  4 09:52:34 CDT 2007
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd1,1)/boot/message

title openSUSE 10.2 - 2.6.18.8-0.3
    root (hd1,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18.8-0.3-default root=/dev/sdb2 vga=0x31a resume=/dev/sdb1 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.18.8-0.3-default

title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.2 - 2.6.18.8-0.3
    root (hd1,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18.8-0.3-default root=/dev/sdb2 vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume edd=off
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.18.8-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows###
title Windows Vista
    rootnoverify (hd0,0)
    chainloader (hd0,0)+1

I have multiple drives though....You only get this error when trying to boot into windows, if I am reading this thread correctly?
 

NJNETSFAN

New Member
ok, well I got the recovery cd's today and I pop them in and I get nothing! it sends me to a black screen with a blinking cursor(almost like a command prompt, except it won't let me type anything in). I think it has something to do with the access path linux has on my partitions, anyone think that could be it? It's just a wild guess on my part since Idk a lot, but that seems like the only thing we havent changed. Also I can't even get into system recovery through the bios(by pressing f11). I even got a keyboard hardwired to my computer to make sure it wasn't a keyboard issue. Linux has really dissapointed me(even though most of this stuff is my fault)
 

munkyeetr

New Member
Is your BIOS set to boot from CD? If not go into your BIOS (type the access key during boot) and change your boot order to:

1) CD (or DVD)
2) HDD
 

NJNETSFAN

New Member
The bios are set to boot from cd, so I have no clue what is going on. The wierd thing is that I can't get into system recovery through the bios( F11 is supposed to bring me into system recovery)
 

NJNETSFAN

New Member
ok, i will do, i think I tried that earlier today and nothing happened, but I'll try again and post back what happens.

EDIT: Yea, F1 is a dead end, nothing happens.
 
Last edited:

munkyeetr

New Member
Shot in the dark: Someone also wrote on an HP site that they had to press F9, then F1 to get the boot menu.

p.s. - one of the techs at work today told me that HP's can sometimes be a bitch to get booting from CD, so we persevere.
 

NJNETSFAN

New Member
ahh...you gotta love prebuilt pc's. I'm talking to a technician online right now, they may have sent me the wrong recovery cd's/
 

tlarkin

VIP Member
The bios are set to boot from cd, so I have no clue what is going on. The wierd thing is that I can't get into system recovery through the bios( F11 is supposed to bring me into system recovery)

did you wipe out the recovery partition when installing Linux?

You can download this, it seems to be recommended on the net

http://www.vistabootpro.org/

or you can boot into recovery console and run:

bcdedit.exe and manually try to rebuild the vista install.
 

NJNETSFAN

New Member
ok, well the computer is pretty much dead on vista, so idk if your program will work, but I'll read up on it. HP is sending me new recovery cd's . Like monkyeetr said, HP's can be a bitch so maybe its the cd, even though I doubt it. At this point I may just upgrade the mobo in the computer and buy a system builder's vista from newegg to solve my problem.
 

tlarkin

VIP Member
ok, well the computer is pretty much dead on vista, so idk if your program will work, but I'll read up on it. HP is sending me new recovery cd's . Like monkyeetr said, HP's can be a bitch so maybe its the cd, even though I doubt it. At this point I may just upgrade the mobo in the computer and buy a system builder's vista from newegg to solve my problem.

Don't upgrade the motherboard in a prebuilt system unless you want to purchase an OEM copy of vista along with it. Recovery CDs only work with the original hardware, and if you replace the motherboard in it, you will be forced to go buy an actual OS disk.
 

NJNETSFAN

New Member
if you read my post, I said that, maybe I didn't word it clear enough, but I understand that you have to buy a full OS cd and Vista Premium is only $110 on newegg.
 

munkyeetr

New Member
Sorry to hear about all this NJNETSFAN. What a hassle this whole ordeal has been. At least you still have Ubuntu running for now.
 

NJNETSFAN

New Member
yea, my names Vinnie btw. I think all my problems started when I let linux automatically partition my hdd(I chose the %, but it did all the stuff with the files). Hopefully the recovery cd's will work, the only thing that's bothering me is why the bios aren't opening up the system recovery when I press F11.
 

tlarkin

VIP Member
yea, my names Vinnie btw. I think all my problems started when I let linux automatically partition my hdd(I chose the %, but it did all the stuff with the files). Hopefully the recovery cd's will work, the only thing that's bothering me is why the bios aren't opening up the system recovery when I press F11.

I suspect the Linux installer wiped out your recovery partition, a lot of times they are their own little file system hidden away, so it may have recognized it as empty space.
 

NJNETSFAN

New Member
THe recovery is on a 7-8 GB partition on(I'm assuming) it's own little hard drive. When I look at the drives on linux, it shows that there still is a partition with 7-8GB of data(should be the recovery), so it may still be there, probably just corrupt. I don't see how I can fix it without just wiping the hard drive and buying a full version OS.
 
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