ubuntu recovery instructions don't work

[Elan Kugelmass]

"fdisk -l" didn't show me anything unless I used sudo
>>FIXED

"sudo mount /dev/sda1 /media/root" -> IMHO there should be a small
sidenote telling the user to replace "sda1" with whatever partition
fdsik told him Linux was on.
>>FIXED

"sudo grub-install -root-directory=/media/root /dev/sda" should be
"sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/root /dev/sda"
>>FIXED

Finally the whole procedure didn't work for me. It installed Grub, but
it didn't show a list of boot options, it gave me a command line
interface instead. (Since I have a separate home partition anyway, and
needed my system repaired quickly I reinstalled karmic).
>>WON'T FIX
>>Instead, I will add useful links for trying other grub repair methods.

manual lucid alpha
chapter 8: troubleshooting
code example error, instruction error

[Elan Kugelmass (epkugelmass)]

the syntactical errors are confrimed and need to be fixed for the beta release

[Elan Kugelmass (epkugelmass)]

Uli,

Thanks for letting me know. I'm going to open a bug report for this and figure out what's wrong. The syntactical errors are easy to fix, but I'm surprised that the procedure didn't work for you.

I worked off of the instructions at
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows
which is up-to-date for karmic.

Elan

The failure of grub-install must be confirmed before this bug report can be considered complete.

[Elan Kugelmass (epkugelmass)]

I have fixed the following:

*lack of sudo in front of fdisk
*formatting of fdisk -l output
*clarification of fdisk -l output meaning
*double-check of syntax

still need to do:
*confirm failure of process
*if instructions are bad, fix

lp:ubuntu-manual rev 513

[Elan Kugelmass (epkugelmass)]

can anyone confirm this bug?

[Elan Kugelmass (epkugelmass)]

Benjamin, I can't fix this bug because I don't know what's wrong (if
anything is indeed wrong). This bug must be confirmed by someone else. At
this point, only Uli has reported an issue. I'll try to duplicate this issue
on a virtual machine in the next few days.

status incomplete

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 4:35 AM, Benjamin Humphrey <email address hidden>wrote:

> ** Changed in: ubuntu-manual
> Status: Incomplete => In Progress
>
> --
> ubuntu recovery instructions don't work
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/532747
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Ubuntu Manual: In Progress
>
> Bug description:
> from <email address hidden>
>
> Hi Elan,
>
> I tested the instructions for restoring GRUB from the manual alpha (I
> had to reinstall win7 anyway because the RC was about to lock up) and I
> noticed some mistakes:
>
>
> "fdisk -l" didn't show me anything unless I used sudo
>
>
> "sudo mount /dev/sda1 /media/root" -> IMHO there should be a small
> sidenote telling the user to replace "sda1" with whatever partition
> fdsik told him Linux was on.
>
>
> "sudo grub-install -root-directory=/media/root /dev/sda" should be
> "sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/root /dev/sda"
>
>
> Finally the whole procedure didn't work for me. It installed Grub, but
> it didn't show a list of boot options, it gave me a command line
> interface instead. (Since I have a separate home partition anyway, and
> needed my system repaired quickly I reinstalled karmic).
>
>
> Hope this helps,
> Uli
>
> manual lucid alpha
> chapter 9: troubleshooting
> code example error, instruction error
>
> To unsubscribe from this bug, go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-manual/+bug/532747/+subscribe
>

[shriah (shriah)]

The present instruction for reinstalling grub works correctly . Installing a grub is a complicated topic and it might be a good idea to add a "Useful Links " section at the end of the section as there are a few method to reinstall a grub than the one mentioned in the manual and any one method might work for the user. reinstalling a grub is hit and miss if you don't know what you are doing .

[Elan Kugelmass (epkugelmass)]

Made changes to bug description. Will leave re-installation method as is and add useful links.

 status inprogress

[Elan Kugelmass (epkugelmass)]

fixed in lp:ubuntu-manual rev 653