Re: REWRITE of " Recovering from _misinstall_ of GRUB 1.98"

[Richard Owlett]

Jordan Uggla wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 7:10 AM, Richard Owlett<address@hidden>  wrote:
> > I've received "on list" and "off list" replies which demonstrate that where
> > I did not confuse the reader I inspired them to answer questions I wasn't
> > asking. So I'll do a complete rewrite using high school journalism questions
> > of 50+ years ago.
> >
> > Who  - a Linux newbie
> > What - two computers - WinXP Pro installed, BIOS allows booting from USB
> > device
> >        a Lenovo (IBM) ThinkCentre whose only internet connection is dialup
> >        a Lenovo (IBM) ThinkPad with dialup and WiFi connectivity
> >        "live cd" of Ubuntu 10.10 (includes GNU GRUB version 1.98)
> >        a blank USB stick
> > Goal - Linux on a bootable USB stick such that I could seamlessly switch
> > between
> >        machines depending on which was more convenient without context loss.
> > *RESTRICTION* - _NOTHING_ written to hard drive (no dual boot)!
> >
> > Attempted installation by following menu prompts. I was allowed to install
> > to a removable device and specify that all of the space on that device was
> > to be used. My assumption (which proved false) was if an OS was to placed on
> > a removable device, it would be bootable.
> >
> > Symptoms:
> > 1. on system boot a menu is presented offering choice of OS.
> >    *FAILURE* project specification was "no dual boot"!
>
> You want to set GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=true in /etc/default/grub

I can see how putting that on a system residing on a 
bootable removable device would prevent future problems. I 
do not see how that gets me out of the current problem 
(recall the the problem specification is that only the 
original Windows install shall be on the internal hard drive).


> > 2. when forced to dual boot was not given option of specifying default OS.
> > 3. when USB stick not inserted boot fails although BIOS is told to boot from
> >    internal hard drive - expectation of booting Windows. Grub crashes to
> > "rescue mode".
> > 4. when USB stick is inserted in second machine and BIOS instructed to boot
> >    from external device - it doesn't.
> >
> > Diagnosis:
> > 1. Grub installed to hard drive where it *does NOT belong*.
>
> This is a bug in Ubuntu's installer which has been fixed in subsequent releases.

That explains one cryptic response on a Ubuntu list saying I 
missed an option on the install menu. Which version has the 
fix. As I'll probably go for one of the Ubuntu derivatives, 
what question should I ask to discover if chosen derivative 
has the fix?


> > 2. Grub *NOT* installed to USB stick where it is needed.
> >
> >
> > Original requests:
> > How to remove grub from hard drive and repair MBR if required?
>
> > From Ubuntu, "sudo apt-get install mbr&&  sudo install-mbr /dev/sdX"
> where sdX is the drive (*not* partition) containing Windows. This is
> most likely /dev/sda, but be sure.

Is that one line or two?
IOW is the double ampersand a continuation "character"?

> > How to get grub unto USB stick?
>
> Boot Ubuntu normally and run "sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc". This
> command will ask you questions about configuring the grub-pc package.
> The first two questions will be about the linux cmdline, simply keep
> those at their defaults and press enter to continue (one will probably
> be blank, this is fine). When you get to the install devices question,
> use space bar (not enter) to check / uncheck drives. Make sure that
> only the USB drive is checked (*not* any partitions) then hit enter to
> continue.

Thank you. Part of reason for moving to Linux is education.