No boot Grub wait for orders

[fanisatt]

I don't know anything for LINUX operating systems. So , forgive me if Iam not accurate. I have a dual boot system with 2 internal hard disks (WIN XP PRO and WIN XP OEL correspodingly). I also have an external USB hard disk (USB HD) and I decided to install LINUX. I think I installed the latest ubuntu version. I downloaded it today (4 Oct 2008) from linux.com site as an ISO CD. Anyway, I made the installation to my external USB HD according to the installation CD guides , BUT .... I selected to install the loader in the same drive (the USB HDD) - not to the hda , because I have heard a lot for boot problems - mbr problems etc. I myshelf had a similar bad experience with Fedora 7 installation CD. Anyway, the Ubuntu installation seemed to be ok.
My bios gives me the option to choose the boot sequence (HDD-0 , CDROM, USB HDD etc) , so I imagined that if I select the USB HDD as the first option , I could see my LINUX.
Bad thought of me !! No Linux , only one word : GRUB. Nothing else.
I hate this "grub" because I also tried to install Fedora 7 to the USB HDD and to the end I had to fix my MBR or else my Windows 5 years works were invisible. Unacceptable.
I also have to report that this Ubuntu "Grub" waits for orders. If I press the TAB it lists some orders in text mode.
The good news are that the windows dual boot system works normally , so I will not search the Ubuntu makers this time....
Thanks a lot. With respect, Fanis Attard.
P.S. The Fedora makers change their occupation after my email to them !!! I think, they practice in electronic clever toys for children these last days. That's good - really good.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

I'm invalidating the grub task since this bug is in one package, and not two.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Your report is a little unclear. Could you please provide numbered steps to recreate the problem? Thanks.

[Monkey (monkey-libre)]

We'd like to figure out what's causing this bug for you, but we haven't heard back from you in a while. Could you please provide the requested information? Thanks!

[fanisatt (fanisatt)]

Hi everybody, I am still here...but I use a "multiboot" system today. There are 3 internal hard disks in my system , so I keep the windows xp and I also use Ubuntu 9 (x86_64) and Fedora 13 (x86_64) (one hard disk for every OS). My Bios has some particularities (if I can say so - you are the experts) ! The user has the freedom to choose very easily up to 12 different bios settings every time the system boots. So if I choose Bios No 1 the Bios loads the settings I have made for the windows XP (Hard Disk Boot Priority- CPU Functions- etc). If I choose Bios No 2 I have my Fedora 13 and with Bios No 3 I have my Ubuntu. If I choose nothing I have my last Bios choise ! Think about it - it's very nice. There is an other critical particularity here. One of the Bios settings (High Presicion Event TImer - HPET mode) has to be set by the user in order to work with a 32 bit or a 64 bit OS ! So , this setting for the Win XP (my Bios No 1) must be set (by the user) to 32 bit, but for the Linux OSs must be set to 64 bit. Tomorrow I can add another hard disk and I can install windows 7 (64 bit)...making the responding and accurate Bios settings for this OS.
But, try to understand the deepest meaning of this small detail. Mainly it is not good to run a 32 bit OS with a wrong HPET mode setting !! But, there is not only this, but a lot of other Bios settings especially made by the motherboard manufacturer for the Microsoft OSs (to the moment). So it is also not good today to have one Hard Disk MBR for all your OSs , because you will have the same Bios settings for every OS ! The Fedora 13 installation was easy because when I declare to the "installation wizard" that I give him one entire hard disk, it was installed without any question ! It has no relationship with other OSs. The Ubuntu installation wizard was more "social" and I didn't want it ! So, I disconnected the hard disks of win xp and Fedora 13 OSs and after that I made the Ubuntu Installation to the third hard disk as I really wanted - without questions about other OSs! I think you can understand me.
By the way, my motherboard is Gigabyte GA-X38-DS5 .
Thanks a lot - I am here for any questions.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

So, what exactly is Ubuntu doing wrong? Can you put it into one sentence? Thanks for your help.

[fanisatt (fanisatt)]

Hi David,
I will try to describe the problem. Well, during the installation of Ubuntu Studio 9.04 (some months ago) I choose to install it in a specific entire hard disk. Finally I noticed that, the installation wizard searched for other Operating Systems (OS) in other hard disks, even if I did not want it and wrote the grub "application" in the MBR of the Windows XP hard disk and the MBR of the Ubuntu hard disk.
Possibly I somehow made a mistake - I really don't know. Anyway, I fixed the Win XP MBR and I disconnect all the internal hard disks except the one I wanted to install UBUNTU. I did again the installation and I had no problem.
The point here is that, the Bios settings I reported above, are different for any OS. My system (and any system) at first loads the Bios settings and after that loads the OS. So, If my system boots to the UBUNTU OS and after that I select (into the grub application) the Win XP OS it will simply boot in the Win XP hard disk but..... KEEPING THE UBUNTU OS BIOS SETTINGS !! This is the problem !!
I can remember now a BIOS function of my motherboard (CPU Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology - EIST). By default it was enabled , but no Linux OS I tried last year could start if this setting was enabled..... I noticed that It is a very useful function and it is working very good under windows XP or windows 7 OS.
There are a lot of examples like this.
That's all David. I tried to explain the situation and I hope you get it.
Thank's a lot.
Regards.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

Hi, thanks for your response. In the future, please try to keep your responses as short as possible since we have many bugs to deal with on a daily basis.

So it seems the problem is that Ubuntu installs its bootloader in the MBR of multiple harddisks, correct? If this is the case, then I believe this is fixed in recent versions of Ubuntu because you can choose specifically which disks on which to install grub2.

Either way, I don't see why this would be an issue since the Ubuntu bootloader should be able to chainload to Windows XP or Windows 7 or anything else you have on your PC. If the chainloading doesn't work, then that is a serious bug.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for ubiquity (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]