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I'm on a Eee PC and I am running Windows XP and Ubuntu 10.04. I'm starting a big project tomorrow and I wanted to cleanly reinstall both operating systems. After entering the pre-install Windows environement, I let my system run as per usual, however, after I returned to my desk I found a blank screen with error: no such partition and a GRUB rescue command prompt. After digging around a bit online I found ls which returns (hd0) (hd0,4) (hd0,3) (hd0,2) (hd0,1) and set which returns prefix=(hd0,5)/boot/grub && root=hd0,5

I have Ubuntu on a flash drive, but I can't get that to work because every time I boot up it goes straight to the error screen.

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Adding lots of && operators, // comments and nested () to your post does not automatically qualify it as programming-related. Belongs on Super User. – Thomas Aug 13 '10 at 19:22
thanks thomas // i wasn't aware of super user before // i just turn'd to the most reliable help source i could think of when i couldn't find anything on google // any ideas super users ?? – flash Aug 13 '10 at 20:02
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I hope you know that sentences are separated with periods, not double slashes. – Wuffers Feb 4 '11 at 3:02
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Aug 13 '10 at 19:54

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4 Answers

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I believe you did not explicitly specify where do you want to GRUB (the bootloader with Ubuntu). considering that you installed Ubuntu after Windows was already installed, you have to see that if you want to install GRUB over MBR (Master Boot Record), then you have to specify that during Ubuntu installation when it asks for GRUb Installation.

I think it should be /dev/sda or something like. It WILL say that it is installing GRUB on master boot record but you have to ignore the default screen and choose the manual select and then give MBR or root as an option. Hope this helps.

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unfortunately, it doesn't. // all i can see when i turn the computer on is "error: no such partition" && the "grub rescue" command prompt // i'm posting this from another box // any ideas on what i can do from the command line to get into my system ? – flash Aug 14 '10 at 1:06
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up vote 0 down vote

well,what OS do you want..? well if you want xp,then follow all these guidelines... :)

*first,boot your windows xp recovery disc. *then press R to go to recovery console. *then type these codes:

fixboot fixmbr then type EXIT to restart your pc.now the xp bootloader appears..! :)

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unfortunately i don't have the recovery discs or a disc drive – flash May 10 '11 at 4:42
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up vote 0 down vote

To get it to boot from a cd you may need to change your boot priority in your BIOS settings, these are usually found by pressing Del or F2 on startup.

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there was no startup screen, it went straight to no os screen – flash May 10 '11 at 4:43
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up vote 0 down vote

I had this same problem, and I only managed to fix it by installing the OS I wanted to use onto a different drive. I believe the problem was cause by the drive grub thought contained the OS to boot only being accessible after any given OS had fully booted (I don't know why, it wasn't my computer, but the drive seemed to be some sort of add-on SSD drive).

To get back to the way everything was before, you're going to have to find a way to boot into Windows and use the mbrfix program or boot into Windows recovery and use the built in fixmbr command (confusing, I know).

Sorry this couldn't be more specific, but I don't know what your exact problem is.

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