Ubuntu
grub package

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Grub error 17

Asked by Jim Hyde

I was running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS successfully on my Dell M1530 until yesterday. I did not respond quickly enough to a warning about an extremely low battery level. The machine shut down and I can longer boot. I get an error that says:

Grub loading stage 1.5
GRUB loading, please wait....
Error 17

I have a disk for an older version 8.4 and I can load that into a live session. I don't want to re-install from a USB or Disk for fear of wiping out a number of important files I have on my hard drive. The hard drive does not appear to have crashed--but I'm not sure how to check it. I cannot "see it" with the live session of 8.10 mounted.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Sam_
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Do you mean Maverick, 10.10 ?

Revision history for this message
Jim Hyde (james-hyde) said : 		#2

Correction: I meant 10.04 LTS NOT 10.1

actionparsnip wrote:
> Your question #119728 on grub in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub/+question/119728
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
>
> actionparsnip requested for more information:
> Do you mean Maverick, 10.10 ?
>
>

--
************************************************************
James Hyde
Associate Professor Emeritus
Tufts University School of Medicine
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine
136 Harrison Ave.
Boston, Ma 02111
<email address hidden>
************************************************************

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#3

Did you get this power failure during installation of Ubuntu ?

If not, with Ubuntu LiveCD, try to read file /boot/grub/grub.cfg ON INTERNAL DISK (not the file on the virtual file system mounted by LiveCD).
You can try this: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling%20from%20LiveCD

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#4

Good, there is a difference. PLease keep accurate.

I suggest you boot to live CD and reinstall grub.

Revision history for this message
Best Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#5

Error message indicates you're still using Grub_legacy, Grub_2 doesn't invoke such numbered error messages anymore.
Since some users have a reason to use Grub_legacy, you may refer to this
http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/p15.html#17

http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Stage1_002e5-errors
17 : Cannot mount selected partition
This error is returned if the partition requested exists, but the filesystem type cannot be recognized by GRUB.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GrubHowto

Difference of Grub_2.
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#Troubleshooting
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Grub2

Which Grub via CLI:
grub-install -v
## alternative
info grub |less

Revision history for this message
Jim Hyde (james-hyde) said : 		#6

No had the problem after 10.04 LTS had been running for a couple of
months. I will need to make a boot CD as I installed it originally with
a USB drive that I no longer have.

Thanks for the suggestion.

delance wrote:
> Your question #119728 on grub in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub/+question/119728
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> delance proposed the following answer:
> Did you get this power failure during installation of Ubuntu ?
>
> If not, with Ubuntu LiveCD, try to read file /boot/grub/grub.cfg ON INTERNAL DISK (not the file on the virtual file system mounted by LiveCD).
> You can try this: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling%20from%20LiveCD
>
>

--
************************************************************
James Hyde
Associate Professor Emeritus
Tufts University School of Medicine
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine
136 Harrison Ave.
Boston, Ma 02111
<email address hidden>
************************************************************

Revision history for this message
Jim Hyde (james-hyde) said : 		#7

I will try it and will report back.

actionparsnip wrote:
> Your question #119728 on grub in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub/+question/119728
>
> actionparsnip proposed the following answer:
> Good, there is a difference. PLease keep accurate.
>
> I suggest you boot to live CD and reinstall grub.
>
>

--
************************************************************
James Hyde
Associate Professor Emeritus
Tufts University School of Medicine
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine
136 Harrison Ave.
Boston, Ma 02111
<email address hidden>
************************************************************

Revision history for this message
Jim Hyde (james-hyde) said : 		#8

Thanks Sam, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Jim Hyde (james-hyde) said : 		#9

I was able to load Ubuntu 10.04 LTS using using an ISO version burned to a CD. I was then able to determine that I was running the legacy version of Grub v. .98 and install a newer version Grub 2 pc. Rebooting the computer worked and the problem is solved. I'm still not quite sure what happened, but I will be really careful about not letting the battery run down again.

Thanks to everyone who had suggestions.