Problem Dual Booting Windows 7 with Kubuntu 13.10

[mazdamj]

Hi All,

I'll start with my PC Specs

1 x DVD Samsung Superwrite Master Optical Drive
2 x 500GB SATA Hard Drives

Motherboard - ASRock G31M-S
CPU - Intel Core2 Duo 3GHz
RAM - 4GB DDR2 800 (3GB Usable)
GPU - NVidia GeForce 9600 GT
Sound Card - Creative XFi Titanium
Monitor - (Actually a TV) Onn LCD 32ANGEL-A 32" TV

Primary OS - Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Dual Booted - Kubuntu 13.10 x64

Saying Dual Booted, that's not entirely accurate. I've tried to Dual Boot Kubuntu 13.10 x64 with Windows 7 but everytime I complete the installation, restart, which automatically spits out the Kubuntu DVD, when it boots back up again, I get the error message:

error: no such device: cbfde183-59a1-42cf-b30c-0b6399642bf4.
grub rescue>

Before Dual Booting, I shrunk my Windows Partition using Windows Partition Manager.

I then followed these instructions for creating the partitions within the free space I created using Windows Partition Manager
askubuntu dot com / questions / 182794 / how-do-i-partition-my-hard-drive-to-install-kubuntu

I would've posted the link properly, but as this is my first post, the forum won't let me.

The only information I properly read from this site is:

• The root partition: here all the system files and applications installed with package manager will be stored.
  Click on free space to go to the Create Partition window. The absolute minimum for this partition would be 8000 MB, but that can be not enough. On the system I'm using right now I've installed tons and tons of different packages and I've used about 13 GB, so I recommend to make this partition 16000 MB or even 24000 MB. Also keep in mind this partition shouldn't be too large (i.e. more than 35% of the space), because the rest of the space will be used for your documents and application settings. The type for the partition should preferably be "Primary", but that's not a big deal. Leave the Location... as "Beginning". Use as: "Ext4 journaling file system". Mount Point: "/".
• The swap partition: this partition is used as additional RAM if there's not enough of it and also to store the state of RAM for hibernation.
  Click on free space. This partition's size should be the same as the amount of RAM on the computer, 2000 MB or something like that. Type... can be Logical. Location...: "Beginning". Use as: "swap area".
• The home partition is used to store all your data.
  Click on free space. You want this partition to take up all the remaining space, so don't change thepartition size. Type... can be "Logical". Location: "Beginning". Use as: "Ext4...". Mount point: "/home"

To sum up, the / partition should be about 16 GB, swap is a few GB, /home is the rest. So if you have 50 GB of space in total, the /home partition will be about 30 GB. If you have more space, go on and make the / partition larger as mentioned before. swap can be made larger too, maybe twice the amount of RAM.
If you have less than 50 GB of space, it may be better to not have a separate /home partition. In that case make one large / partition and then a swap partition of a few GB. swap is actually optional too, but it's quite important...
The Format? checkbox should be on the / and /home partitions if everything went correctly.
Device for boot loader installation should be "/dev/sda" (no numbers in the end!).
No changes have been made until this point, but when you click Install Now, there is no going back. So check that everything is alright and make sure that the computer is connected to a power source. It is also nice to have an Internet connection (through an Ethernet wire).
Select your country and time zone and click Continue. You probably don't need to change the keyboard layout. Click Continue. Your name is a display name. The username is made out of it. The password is quite important: you will be required to enter it to do administrative actions (e.g. sudo command). You may want to choose automatic login. I wouldn't recommend to encrypt the home folder; I've never used it and I'm not sure if it's reliable.
Enjoy the slide show, wait until the installation ends and reboot the computer.

To recap, after following these instructions and restarting my PC, I get the following error message:

error: no such device: cbfde183-59a1-42cf-b30c-0b6399642bf4.
grub rescue>

Note: To select which OS I want to boot to, I press F11 at the first screen after turning on my PC

I've had this method fully working no problem using Ubuntu 12.04 x64
The only difference being, I chose the option to automatically install Ubuntu alongside Windows.

Kubuntu 13.10 x64 doesn't have this option, which is why I tried to set up my partitions manually.

Sorry if this post is too long.

Thanks,
Adam

[tecnica]

Sounds like your master boot record is messed up.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/14366...ce-grub-rescue

[mazdamj]

If I start my PC and don't press F11 to bring up my boot menu, My PC boots perfectly into Windows 7 as if it's my only OS.

If I follow the instructions to the link you gave me, will that stop Windows from loading or will it sort both out?

Thanks,
Adam

Edited:
I noticed the link you gave me fixes Ubuntu 12.04. Will typing in the exact commands from that link also fix Kubuntu 13.10?

[Teunis]

I have no experience with UEFI but to my best knowledge there's no need to press an F11 to get to the grub menu...
Grub should just come up as first screen and give you 10 seconds to decide what OS to boot to.
F11 is often associated with EasyBCD, a boot manager that can be run from Windows, did you ever use/install it?
If so you might want to update it.

But start with checking which partition is set as 'active', it should be the Windows one or the one where you installed Grub.

[tecnica]

Mazdamj as Teunis mentioned, you are supposed to get a screen similar to mine.
I have attached a snapshot to show you. The link I had originally gave you, that I am not sure
if it's the same commands. The link was more of a reference to your issue. I am totally new
with linux, it's an everyday learning experience.

As you might of noticed, I am going through another issue
black screen desktop. I want to learn linux, and I do like the looks of kubuntu, but I will be honest simplicity
is out of the equation. I am glad I found out how to install the printer, but even that should be more simple.
Perhaps I have been spoiled with using windows. But I am not giving up on this, trial and error is the way to learn.
And this community is a wealth of knowledge.

[mazdamj]

I don't have a UEFI and I don't have EasyBCD installed.
I have a BIOS. It's American Megatrends.

BIOS:


Boot Menu: (When F11 pressed)


I can't remember If I used to get that boot menu that tecnica posted. About a year ago, I changed my motherboard.
If I boot Windows 7 with Windows 8, I'll get a boot menu similar to tecnica's but it says Windows 7 or Windows 8 and gives me 30 seconds by default to decide.
That's with the Motherboard I'm currently using.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks,
Adam

[Teunis]

Yes the menu tecnica posted is the typical Grub startup screen, yours should be similar.

What you posted are the Bios screens and there should be no need to enter them.

In other words, something unusual happened when you installed Kubuntu, from a distance hard to say what is the cause.
Because it's a new install (right?) I wouldn't hesitate do repeat it and make notes of the steps taken, that way you have something to work on in case it fails again.
Important is you first check the available partitions and make sure the one with Windows is bootable and that's also where you want to have grub installed.

[mazdamj]

Still can't get Kubuntu to install properly

Windows 7 has always been bootable but everytime I try to install Kubuntu aswell, it doesn't install properly.
Here is a linked Word document of all the steps I took. It's in docx format so hopefully, you'll have the software to view this properly.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...0Document.docx

Thanks,
Adam

[vinnywright]

I think your prob is knowing which disk is which ......lode up the live CD/USB and get to a live session ,, open a terminal and enter

sudo parted -l

and post it hear.

then go to your BIOS and post a pick of the screen that shows your drives

VINNY

edit: and wile at the terminal allso post the output of

sudo blkid

[tecnica]

here's a video, walking you through it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbwWUO8ImPI

[mastablasta]

I will take a wild guess -

1. grub wasn't installed to first disk - SDA (this is evident form the fact that windows is still booting normally whereas if grub was there it would be starting before windows boot manager)
2. you did not have an empty primary partition available (i.e. no more than 3 primary partitions on win7 before creating linux partitions)

have a look at this tool: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

you could post the result of info script in that tool so we can see how computer boot is actually set up.

F11 takes you to BIOS boot menu. there is no need for that. grub can handle multiboot of various OS.

[mastablasta]

I want to learn linux, and I do like the looks of kubuntu, but I will be honest simplicity
is out of the equation. I am glad I found out how to install the printer, but even that should be more simple.

it really depends on the hardware. so far i installed on two maschines with printers. one had HP printer. eventhough printer was off. Kubutnu itself recognised it was connected, installed necessary drivers and notified me that printer is ready to print. HP provides linux drivers as opensource i believe.
second one is Samsung printer. while they provide linux driver i am not sure they are open source. in any case their drivers are no good. however a friendly community member patched them (samsung still haven't implemented the patch) and provided PPA. so anyway i connected Printer to windowsXP mashicne installed it there. in Linux i added the drivers PPA - again printer connected in WInXP is recognised in linux and working propperly. all it took was the time to download drivers from PPA.

while installing in mutliboot environment with different OS one needs to do manual setups and such. if you only install Kubuntu on compatible hardware the whole thing is over in about 20 minutes. and all you do to install linux is click a couple of Next buttons, choose a user name and password and that's about all you need to do. everything else is recognised and configured automaticly for you.

[mazdamj]

Hi all,

I watched the vid that tecnica sent me and the only thing I didn't do was the 'Device for boot loader installation'. I left that as default. Everything else on the vid, I did.

Here are the pics that vinnywright asked me to post:

sudo parted -l


sudo blkid


BIOS Hard Disk Drives


I also booted to the Ubuntu Boot Repair Disk that mastablasta suggested but I didn't understand the outcome.

It just gave me this link:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/7051837/

Thanks,
Adam

[Shabakthanai]

It is time to get your help from a single source. VinnyWright is a sure source for help, so that would be my recommendation. I can also help you, but when the problems are really difficult, I go to Vinny for help. If those who are trying to help you were on the same path, I would not intercede with this advice, but his advice will solve your problem.

I am not well right now, but I will try to keep an eye on your progress, and if things don't change soon, I will return and try to help you.

I think your prob is knowing which disk is which ......lode up the live CD/USB and get to a live session ,, open a terminal and enter

sudo parted -l

and post it hear.

then go to your BIOS and post a pick of the screen that shows your drives

VINNY

edit: and wile at the terminal allso post the output of

sudo blkid

[mazdamj]

SOLVED - Problem Dual Booting Windows 7 With Kubuntu 13.10

Hi everyone, I managed to install Kubuntu 13.10 with Windows 7. I rewatched the video Tecnica sent me and it dawned on me that the The boot loader was set to /dev/dsa which I worked out is hard drive one. I have more than one physical hard drive in my PC.

I've now set it to /dev/sdb and it now works.

Here is a screenshot of what it now looks like.


Thanks for all your help.

Now I'm having a different problem.

I have a 32" TV
Manufacturer: Onn
Model Number: LCD32ANGEL-A
NVidia sees it as: Formac FOR-LCDTV

When I set my resolution to 1920x1080, it overscans and chops off a chunk of the interface around the edges. I can't see the start button or the time.
There is no option on my TV remote or the TV controls themselves to correct this problem. Is there a way I can resize the desktop?
I can do it in Windows using NVidia Control Panel.

In Kubuntu, I've looked in NVidia X Server Settings and I can't find it anywhere in there.

I currently have the 2nd largest resolution I can choose that fits my TV perfectly: 1360x765

Thanks,
Adam