Ubuntu doesn't start with "Error 15: File not found"

[Dominik Boehi]

I installed Ubuntu via the Wubi installer using the "Install inside Windows" option. After reboot, a progress bar appeared and Ubuntu installed itself. After the next reboot I got the following error after choosing Ubuntu in the Windows bootloader:

Error 15: File not found

Wubi Version: 8.10-rev507 (Version on the Intrepid Alpha 6 amd64 live cd)
Windows Version: Windows XP SP3, german
CPU: amd64

[Agostino Russo (ago)]

Can you please try to run chkdsk /r from windows and boot again? If that happens press insert rapidly after selecting "Ubuntu" at boot and report the exact error message.

[Dominik Boehi (dboehi)]

chkdsk repaired something, but it had no effect on booting ubuntu.

After selecting Ubuntu in the windows bootloader and then again selecting it in grub I get the following error message:

Booting 'Ubuntu intrepid (development branch), kernel 2.6.27-3-generic'

Filesystem type is ntfs, partition type 0x07
The current working directory (i.e., the relative path) is /ubuntu/disks
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-3-generic root=UUID=48D0-100A loop=/ubuntu/disks/root.disk ro quiet splash

Error 15: File not found

Note that the partition (UUID=48D0-100A) where I installed the Ubuntu files is not NTFS, but fat32.

[Agostino Russo (ago)]

Do you have two partitions with the directory /ubuntu/disks?
You can explore the filesystem from the grub console by pressing "ESC" and then "C" at boot (after selecting "Ubuntu"). You can also use tab completion.

[Dominik Boehi (dboehi)]

There's only one partition with that directory, the fat32 partition where I
installed ubuntu.

On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 12:41, Agostino Russo <email address hidden>wrote:

> Do you have two partitions with the directory /ubuntu/disks?
> You can explore the filesystem from the grub console by pressing "ESC" and
> then "C" at boot (after selecting "Ubuntu"). You can also use tab
> completion.
>
> --
> Ubuntu doesn't start with "Error 15: File not found"
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/272731
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

[acaurora (acaurora)]

I believe that I have solved this problem. I have spent nearly all day yesterday and this morning because, like everyone here, I was installing Intrepid through Wubi. Every time it would finish installing, and once I rebooted and selected Ubuntu from the BCD -> GRUB, it would give me that File not found error. So, after a while, it hit me that I should perhaps look in the GRUB menu.lst... and after some fiddling I noticed that the path after the "kernel" keyword starts with /boot/vmlinuz.... whereas for "loop=", it is /ubuntu/disks/...

So I added the /ubuntu/disks/ such that now it says kernel /ubuntu/disks/boot/vmlinuz... and also added the /ubuntu/disks/ to the initrd line below it. Now it works. Hope this helps. It sucks downloading different Intrepid ISOs over and over... and trying different Wubi versions... ouy....and running a ton of chkdsk /r /f, which is the most common recommended action that I saw for errors of this type.

Case in point: Add "/ubuntu/disks/" to the path after "kernel" in the menu.lst!