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Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:57 pm
by rloyed
I have a hp pavillion dv100 laptop which i have installed ultimate edition on about 7 times and i get the same error at reboot after installing.The install goes perfect with no probs at all until after it tells me to do a reboot and to remove the medium.The error is at load,it says...
grub loading.
(error):unknown filesystem
grub rescue>

and it just sits there indefinately.
I have partitioned my drive with the reiserfs,ext3,ext2 and i have let the install do it too.
The live cd runs great on my laptop with no probs.

I have manually done the partitioning too,swap 1st,/,/home..../,/home,swap........have tried just / and have tried just /home for partitions.

Is this a grub problem?or am i doing something wrong

I have installed and ran,dreamlinux,pclinuxos,trustverse desktop,opensuse,and kubuntu on this laptop and then i found ultimate and decided that i like it and wanted it installed as a standalone os(no pen drives or cd/dvd to fool around with.
Hopefully this is something i can edit and get to work.I am trying to install the ultimate edition 2.5,havent tried any other versions as of yet.
Any assist and advice would be helpful.I am not totally new to linux,but im not an expert by any means.Still in the noob class tho.

# 1.8ghz M Processor
# 2GB ram (1GBx2)
# 160gb 5400rpm HD
# CDRW/DVD-ROM combo drive
# Brightview Option
# Intel 2200 b/g wireless w Bluetooth
# 6 cel battery
# Remote Control
# 30" external flatscreen
# external usb dvd r/rw
# external 160Gb usb HD
# usb logitech elite keyboard
# usb microsoft wireless mouse

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 6:15 pm
by JOHNNYG

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:25 pm
by rloyed
thanx for the help,I have discovered that the problem i seem to be having is that somehow during the install the filesystem of my hd is being altered,even after manually doing the partitions or letting the OS do them on its own,for some reason if i try to check the HD it says there is a ext3,ext3,ext4(whatever i did the Hd with as filesystem)but it shows none for filesystems.I cant explain it and have never had anything like it happen b4.
I had been wondering why it says invalid filesystem or unknown filesystem after doing a complete install,it isnt grub thats causing this,it is definately something happening during the install process.Is there a way to convert the filesystem after install without formatting?Ive tried everything else,so i may as well try that too if it is possible.

I am going to try to do an install and tell it to not format the partitions after i manually create them.Trying it now,will add the result to this forum.


Update:
Ok i have done another install,partitioning the HD b4 i tried the install so that the OS would not have to format or do any partitioning for the install.
now i have the error:
grub loading.
error:out of disk
grub rescue:_(flashing cursor)

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:03 am
by Moebius
Hi rloyed.
Wow! strange indeed.
With your current knowledge, are you able to boot via live DVD, open GParted and take a snapshot of your drive setup and post here? Does your 'Notebook' have a Windows recovery partition?

Cheers.

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:19 pm
by rloyed
no,no recovery partition,i have totally removed windows and all of windows partitions.I
I am kinda hoping to get away from windows altogether,I like win7 and vista(beta tested both,own a copy of all microsoft windows),I will have to find 1 that runs on my laptop b4 i consider installing to my X64 custom built pc.
I bought another harddrive and some more mem last night,My laptop is kinda old(bout 5 yrs or so),and i dont really use it anymore except as a server for my home network(its cheaper to let it run all the time than my home pc),so just for the sake of doing it right i went ahead and upgraded some items.I want to give this system a good and fair chance to become my new favorite.

I have since found a forum in the bug forums that talks about a bug that does some stuff to the partitions and prevents booting in 2.5.I finally reported the bug when it asked me and it took me to another forum,they are not having the exact same prob,but its close enough to try to do some troubleshooting.
I didnt save the link to that specific forum,but i am planning to try to install again after i change some items on the laptop,If it doesnt work i will post the link to that forum in the next post.
Im running back and forth to my laptop and my pc in seperate rooms.

Also,my hd says it is trying to install to scsi sda1(Have been told that was an issue as well,it is supposed to be trying to install to the HD),after a fresh manual partition and manually setting the points,it still says i have another system installed when there is none.Nothing on the drive except for the partitions i just created.So with that,im guessing that the install is altering the partitions and is trying to install to the disk(im guessing here),thats the only way it can detect another system in my way of thinking.

Im working on it tho and will post the links and whatever i do new in here for you to check out.
Yes,i will take the snapshot and post from the next attempt to install.I have just redone the partitions and have restored the orig boot records and mbr.am currently downloading the 2.2,2.3,2.4 versions to check out.

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 5:28 pm
by dathem
Hello, I noticed in your first pot this (I have let the install do it too). Do you mean by that comment that you have left the installer or rather checked for the installer to use entire disk and install 2.5 at the default setting? Which would be ext 4 format. If not maybe let the installer do the ext 4 formatting and see what happens....

I also noted this (# external 160Gb usb HD) was this drive connected while you were doing the installation?

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:47 pm
by rloyed
yes thats what i meant.and i have also done the ext4 partitions manually too.No,i had all of my usb hubs disconnected at the time of install.Keyboard and mouse were the only usb anything connected.
I have since installed ultimate2.3 version and it didnt work either.but it didnt alter the hd partitions,had a grub loader prob with that 1.
I havent gotten the screenshot up for ya yet,i been tinkering with it and keep forgetting.just finished playing in a ut tournament so im gonna get back on it now and get the info and shots for ya on here.

These screenshots are from 2.5 installation,i let the install partition the hd automatically,Take over the entire drive and create the partitions ext4.It created the main ext4 partition and it created the swap partition as a logical partition.After this install i was back to the :
grub loading.
(error):unknown filesystem
grub rescue>

partitioning.jpg
this is the partitioning b4 installation and partitioning
installing 2.5.jpg
the end of the setup process b4 installation starts
b4 restart gpart shot.jpg
after the install but b4 reboot after install has completed
after restart_installation created.jpg
after the reboot after finishing the installation ,i still got the same error after this install about having an invalid filesystem.


It says i have a ext4 filesystem,but if i do properties on the partitions i get partitions:ext4 ,then under filesystems i get :none ,it shows i have a bootable partition.I cant alter them in any way,change,edit,changing anything about the partitions gives me a warning that the task cant be completed,the drive cant be accessed until i do a format and then go thru the entire process again.This was checked after install under acronis partition expert and partition magic.also with the disks i have for ubuntu,etc.
I have contacted hp,the system i have more than meets the requirements for basically all of the linux distros out today.I have a new bios for my laptop and am going to be flashing it shortly,this could very well be causing some of my issues.My bios is from 2004.Have new mem installed and new HD as well as of now.have installed windows on it to test it since i know more about windows for now.Will know about ultimate tonight or tomorrow

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 2:28 pm
by rloyed
HP Pavillion DV1000 LapTop ( http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/prod ... g=en&cc=us )
# 1.8ghz M Processor
# 2GB ram (1GBx2)
# 160gb 5400rpm HD
# CDRW/DVD-ROM combo drive
# Brightview Option
# Intel 2200 b/g wireless w Bluetooth
# 6 cel battery
# Remote Control
# 30" external flatscreen
# external usb dvd r/rw
# external 160Gb usb HD
# usb logitech elite keyboard
# usb microsoft wireless mouse

this morning i installed 2.5 again and got the same filesystem error after rebooting:
What i did different:
I installed windows xp on the laptop on a NEW hd(add new hd and 2gb mem yesterday)worked fine,
created 2 ntfs partitions-1=100gb , 1=60gb(160gbharddisk minus filesystem of course)
got all updates from microsoft
Booted into the live desktop for ultimate and played around for a minute(checking it out)
started the install,told the install to install beside windows and resized the windows and the other ntfs partitions to sizes which gave me a 60gb partition to install ultimate edition 2.5
I set the new ext4 partition to mount point "/" and set the size to 52gb,the remainder i then set to swap.
Partitons setup: sda=160gb hd seagate,sda1=windows xp , sda2=second ntfs partition(unused) ,sda4=/ext4 ,sda5=/swap
I told it to install on sda4 ext4 partition,and to add the bootloader to sda partition(add to the mbr-have installe the bootloader to the root of drive,/,/home,/root,/boot{yes,ive tried them all}have partitioned every and any way possible so far)
The install went perfectly as usual(i love the way this looks in the live desktop),watched it go thru the entire setup process and smooth as butter.
After install it asked for reboot or continue-i chose reboot and when it was time i removed the disk and hit enter:
It booted staright into windows xp,it didnt have a grub option,nothing

I went into the admin tools and did disk management to check the hd and partitions,it still shows the ext4 and the swap that i created,right clicking and going to properties opened an error saying the partiton was not accessible due to filesystem corruption.Opened my partiton magic and got the error right off the bat saying the drive was inaccessible due to corruption.
I shut down and booted into acronis disk director suite and tried to open,alter or save the partition in any way i could,it even let me delete the partition,it WOULDNT let me resize any other partitions into the free space,it WOULDNT let me create another partiton in the free space,UNTIL i booted from my winxp disk and repaired the boot and mbr,Afterwards i went back into acronis disk director and created a new ntfs partition and then merged into the existing winxp partion.
I reinstalled the ultimate edition 2.5 again and this time i got the error:
grub loading.
(error):unknown filesystem
grub rescue>
after installing and doing the reboot.
I went back into acronis and checked the partions again and got nothing,there WAS NO change to the partitions at all,still only 2 ntfs partitions,but yet i was getting the invalid filesystem error still at reboot.

I then created a ext4 partiion by resizing my winxp down 40gb,I created a 30gb partition "/" ,and a 10gb partition "swap",and rebooted back to the live desktop cd,did the install again and just as everytime the install goes great till reboot after the install,then nothing:
grub loading.
(error):unknown filesystem
grub rescue>

in acronis again i deleted the corrupt filesystem and did the stuff to restore it,mbr,boot,formatting,etc
I created a 30gb ext4 partition and booted into the ultimate edition 2.3 desktop,Installed it Telling it to install with windows and set the mount to the install partitions,the install went great,got to the reboot after the install and chose reboot,removed the disk and came to the boot screen where i have the options of 3 different kernels plus the 3 different recovery modes of the same options :
ubuntu 9.04. kernel 2.0.20-14-generic
ubuntu 9.04. kernel 2.0.20-14-generic (recovery mode)
ubuntu 9.04. kernel 2.0.20-13-generic
ubuntu 9.04. kernel 2.0.20-13-generic (recovery mode)
ubuntu 9.04. kernel 2.0.20-11-generic
ubuntu 9.04. kernel 2.0.20-11-generic (recovery mode)
ubuntu 9.04. memtest86+
Other operating systems:
Microsoft windows xp professional edition

Ultimate edition 2.3 only boots fully into the desktop with the first option with no problems and pretty quick too,the second option just hangs there and goes nowhere,
the bottom(last)option in the list boots but you have to wait a long time and then i did ctrl,alt,delete to shut it down and reboot but it then went into the 2.3 desktop and is running just fine.
Now to my question about the boot menu,do i really need to have all of those boot options or can i remove a couple of them and just keep the actual bootable option(top) and windowsxp .
Could it be possible that i have a bad disk of the 2.5?my iso is 2.96GB.
I have downloaded a copy of all versions that you guys have and am gonna try the 2.4 next,if it installs ill stay with that 1,if not i guess 2.3 is it.Still looks great and runs good too,I like it just as much as the 2.5 i guess(then again ive only seen 2.5 in live desktop).I do have 2.3 installed as bootable usb drive too,just for kicks.

The 2.5 version told me i had to have a dvd disk or a usb drive to install the image to,ok,now the kicker:
In 2.5 it told me the usb stick didnt have enough room for the image(8gb usb drive),BUT 1 dvd disk did have the room????Still dont get that 1 either myself,and yes the usb stick had been formatted to the ext3 and the ext4 partitions,even tried in in fat16 and fat32 filesystems.

Well,thats all for today probably,I have been trying to get this version of linux installed so i could fully explore it for the last week,so i think i may just run this version for awhile,at least till i make a disk image for restore purposes with acronis trueimage workstation.which may be today anyway,Like i said b4 i want to get it installed WITHOUT having windows installed.
But i will be trying the 2.4 version and if the size of my 2.5 iso is not correct i will download a new copy and try it again too.

Thanx for the help guys.I will post about any other probs i have with 2.4 next in here i guess,just to keep ya updated.

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 9:27 pm
by snout
@ rloyed

GREAT INFO MATEY - COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER.

Your not the only one with this problem.
I have run 1.9 right upto 2.4 without any problems.
Old acer laptop but 4 gig mem , 120 gig hd, ob graphics, never the less all ran great.
2.5 however - exactly same error as you - everything runs great from live DVD, Go to install - reboot - error again . I have tried several times , burned around x6 dvds downloaded 3 times '86 version'.
Tried from usb stick to - unebootin tool still no joy.
Tried running side by side with windows nok
Tried clean install use all disk nok
I have tried manually 110g ext 4 10gb swap nok

Going to try to install over an existing set up of knoppix next but keeping the file system intact what it created to install ext4 and swap - just clean them out.

Re: Problems installing Ultimate Edition 2.5

PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:21 pm
by rloyed
In all of the other linux systems,ubuntu,pclinuxos,dreamlinux,opensuse,kubuntu and linux mint8 the hd is listed as hda.For some reason or other in ultimate edition 2.5 it is listed as sda and has a hda partition that cant be touched(according to gpart).
Well,it created a ext4 partition on top of the hda partition and locked my drive,thought i was gonna have to get another hd but i got it fixed today and finally got windows to boot back on it.I had to rewrite the cylinders and heads and sectors for the hd and then run active killdisk on it to kill everything,then it left me with an empty hd that i couldnt format or create a partition on untill i wrote the new partition mapping for the drive and changed the cluster sizes manually to get the hd back to 160gb.It took me all week to do it and lots of reading,definately dont wanna have to do that again!!
But anyways,i have it fixed and i have a old 40gb hd that came outta my laptop originally that im gonna stick in it to tinker on and try to find out why it wont install correctly,all of them will except for the 2.5(tried 2.1 thru 2.5),but then again ubuntu9.10 wont install either.Had to use the 9.04 version to test that 1.Opensuse 11.2 wont install either without manually going in and manually setting up the grub loader-it will install,the grub just doesnt work after reboot.I had to test the 11.1 version,the new freespire wont install either without manually editing the grub loader as in opensuse.Even tested the trustverse 4 rc and fedora.
Seems as if the systems are good,its the grub loader i seem to be having the most probs with in everything but the 2.5 ultimate,which i cant get to install,partition the drive or anything.It runs off the cd great,love it,wish i could install it.Guess 2.4 ultimate or 2.3 gamers will have to do.
Been a fan of the pclinuxos system for yrs too,and the new 1 looks good and installs,but i do want to install and run the ultimate edition so i reckon ill take the 1 i can run and install.