Grub Error 18 Ubuntu 9.04
here for a quick overview of the site Help Center Detailed answers to any questions you might have Meta Discuss the workings and policies of this site About Us Learn more about Stack Overflow the company Business Learn more about hiring developers or posting ads with us Super User Questions Tags Users Badges Unanswered Ask Question _ Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. Join them; it only takes a minute: Sign up Here's how it works: Anybody can ask a question Anybody can answer The best answers are voted up and rise to the top Ubuntu dual-boot installation Grub error 18 up vote 3 down vote favorite 2 I'm trying a dual-boot installation of Ubuntu 9.04 parallel to an exisiting Windows XP. On first Ubuntu boot I get a Grub error 18. As I already found out the reason therefore is a unfortunate combination of problems: The Ubuntu partitions are at the end of the partion table probably too far in the back to get found by the old BIOS. I'm installing on a rather old laptop with a BIOS where I can't set the HDD mode (from LBA to CHS or normal). This was mentioned as a workaround to get Grub boot from drives too large for old BIOS (in my case 250GB). One workaround mentioned was to create a boot partition as a first partition on the drive. But as the Ubuntu installer can't move partions, just resize them I can't make any free space that way. Would there be any problem regarding my existing Windows installation if I used another partitioning tool to resize and move my first Windows partition a bit to the back? If doing so would I still be able to reenable the Windows boot manager with fixboot/fixmbr? ubuntu multi-boot grub share|improve this question asked Jul 25 '09 at 13:47 desolat 5551715 add a comment| 2 Answers 2 active oldest votes up vote 6 down vote accepted Creating a new small first primary Ext2 partition for /boot with GParted did the trick. Then ran the Ubuntu Desktop installation and chose manual partioning. There I set /boot as the mountpoint for the small partition and put the rest of the Ubuntu partitions at the end. Works fine and Grub is able to boot both Ubuntu and Windows. Just wondering if Windows fixboot/fixmbr could cope with the moved first Windo
GRUB Loading stage1.5. GRUB loading, please wait... Error 18 I've booted from the CD and given the output to these commands: free -m: Mem: total 181, used 178, free 2, shared 0, buffers 4, cached 57 -/+ buffers/cache: used 116, free 64 Swap: total 1088, used 29, free 1058 sudo fdisk -l: Disk /dev/sda: 163.9 GB, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19929 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x37273726 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 * 79 9257 73730317+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA) /dev/sda2 9795 19929 81409387+ 5 Extended /dev/sda3 1 http://superuser.com/questions/12820/ubuntu-dual-boot-installation-grub-error-18 13 104391 83 Linux /dev/sda4 14 78 522112+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/sda5 9795 19861 80863146 83 Linux /dev/sda6 19862 19929 546178+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris Thanks in advance for your help. Question information Language: English Edit question Status: Solved For: Ubuntu grub Edit question Assignee: No assignee Edit question Solved by: Tom Solved: 2009-08-25 Last query: 2009-08-25 Last reply: 2009-08-23 Related bugs Link existing bug https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub/+question/80662 Related FAQ: None Link to a FAQ Simos Xenitellis (simosx) said on 2009-08-22: #1 "Error 18" is described at http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/GRUB#Error_18 The gist is that the BIOS of your computer is not in a position to access the start of your Linux partition that has the /boot directory. In your case, the relevant partition is probably /dev/sda3 (at position 73GB), a dedicated partition for /boot. Reading the above link, it appears that your computer may have a 8GB limitation. That is, you would need to move /dev/sda3 to come to the start of the hard disk. Can this be done with GParted from the installation disk? You can also check if your manufacturer provides an updated BIOS that does not have a BIOS access limitation. Tom (tom6) said on 2009-08-22: #2 Hi :) Yes Simos is right there. Updating the bios can be daunting and could cause problems if your machine gets stuck halfway through. i would avoid it unless you are either quite experienced with this type of thing or else don't care if the machine gets trashed. It's unusual for it to go that wrong but does sometimes happen. I have been trying to re-write/heavily-edit the LiveCd guide https://help.ubuntu.
Tags Search LQ Wiki Search Tutorials/Articles Search HCL Search Reviews Search ISOs Go to Page... LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie grub error 18 windows xp and ubuntu dual boot User Name http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/grub-error-18-windows-xp-and-ubuntu-dual-boot-793089/ Remember Me? Password Linux - Newbie This Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux. Just starting out and have a question? If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place! Notices Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community. You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our grub error newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today! Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in. Are you new to LinuxQuestions.org? Visit the following links: Site Howto | Site FAQ | Sitemap | Register Now If you have any problems with the registration process or your account grub error 18 login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here. Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies. Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter. For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own. Click Here to receive this Complete Guide absolutely free. Search this Thread 03-04-2010, 02:45 AM #1 00000 LQ Newbie Registered: Mar 2010 Posts: 3 Rep: grub error 18 windows xp and ubuntu dual boot hello, this question is regarding an error 18 message resulting from anattempted dual boot system. (first windows xp SP2 was installed, then Ubuntu 9.04). The installation was done using the largest continuous free spa