Boot from Grub

[Just J]

Hi, I've really messed up and computer is at a complete standstill with a cd locked into the cd/dvd drive.

I wanted to install LL in a dual boot with Windows 7 on my laptop and everything went well but I messed up using Easy BCD and labeled the windows partition as LL. 

I know what happened and know how to fix it but I can't get into either Windows or LL.

When I try to boot the computer, I just get a 'grub>' prompt and cannot find how to go any further to get into LL.

What I really need is to get into Windows where I know how to fix the problem but no joy there - Windows isn't even recognized! 

If I can fix it from LL,I would appreciate detailed newbie instructions as to how to do it!  I can't use my LL live dvd as I have a Windows repair disk (useless) stuck in the cd/dvd drive!

I've been using LL on my desktop and really, really like it but have some Windows stuff on the laptop so I need to keep Windows for now.

Hate to be a pita but have been searching for days for a solution!

[trinidad]

Look for a tiny hole in the cd tray. Straighten out one end of a paper clip and push it into the hole. Tray should open. Take out the Windows disc and put your live LL disk in. Easy fix from there.

TC

[Just J]

I only wish it were that easy - no hole, no tray and I've searched all over the internet for a solution for that too!

I would burn an iso to a jump drive but I don't have one and we're forty million miles from the nearest place that carries any!  Well, slight exaggeration but probably 20 miles or so to the nearest place to have one.  Will probably have to wait until I can get to town.

Thanks, anyway. 

[justme2]

I only wish it were that easy - no hole, no tray and I've searched all over the internet for a solution for that too!

I would burn an iso to a jump drive but I don't have one and we're forty million miles from the nearest place that carries any!  Well, slight exaggeration but probably 20 miles or so to the nearest place to have one.  Will probably have to wait until I can get to town.

Thanks, anyway. 

Is it a drive with just a slot for the CD/DVD disk? If so, power off, fix a small piece of double sided sticky tape to an old CD, partly insert over the 'stuck' CD so the tape grips the CD and try pulling the old CD. The stuck CD might then come out with the old CD. That has worked for me in the past, releasing the jammed cone which grips the CD through its centre hole.
If that doesn't work, have you tried holding down the drive eject button whilst powering up?
Sorry, I can't offer any other suggestions.

[Just J]

Yes, it's an older Dell Studio laptop with just a slot.  I'd seen a tip about using double-sided tape on a stiff card and tried that but there seems to be something blocking the entrance.  i tried pushing down/back on that something thinking it would release the cd but it didn't and there wasn't room to get the card far enough into the slot to help.  There also isn't an eject button of any kind.

Came across some 'boot from grub" posts on the internet but the ones I've tried so far haven't worked.  They were for Ubuntu as I haven't found any specifically for LL.

Have also tried a boot repair disk that I found out about in the Ubuntu forums.  It just showed what I already knew but didn't actually fix anything.

Also just noticed that the subject of the thread should be 'boot from grub' instead of boot to grub!!!!!!

Thank you for responding to my plea for help anyway.

[trinidad]

1)Is the Windows repair disk you have stuck in drive not booting? If it boots you can get to a power shell to rename/restore the C\ drive partition you overwrote, (you have to find disks utility on the disk probably through a system call on the misnamed partition in your case) just remember Windows won't recognize the ext4 partitions so the C\ drive will be where it was originally, probably the beginning of the third partiton sometimes i/e boot/ backup/ C\drive/ Dell utilities.

2) Is the dvd drive broken? Check the BIOS first. If it's not listed restore the defaults... and/or remove the battery altogether and leave it out then plug in using only the AC adapter to power up. That can sometimes clear Windows control of the media channel (dvd) on some machines and the disk will eject itself on powerup.

3) What exactly is showing in the CLI when you attempt power up? (prompt) See here if you have: GRUB>

https://askubuntu.com/questions/929833/h...-from-grub

May not solve your issue if your grub is not installed on MBR. Really best to boot from a live disk first.
TC

[Just J]

yes, I get 'grub>' instead of the computer booting into LL or Windows.  Actually, there's no option to boot into windows as that's what I messed up.

I dual booted my Windows 7 (already installed on the laptop) with LL 4 per the instructions found at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dwwSSg-kJM

Everything seemed fine but after following the instructions regarding setting up Easy BCD, LL would only boot to the grub> prompt.  I went back to check on the Easy BCD settings to see if I'd done something wrong.  I got into a hurry and actually set my windows as linux as well as the actual linux file!  Stupid, I know.

Now I have two Linux Lite options for booting but both will just boot to the grub prompt.

I'm in the process of downloading LL again so I can put it on a usb drive.  I'm sure I can boot to live LL and extract the cd (Windows install disk but it won't work because not enough space on hd for another installation since I formatted a partition for LL)  I didn't want to wipe my HD if I can find anything else that will work.

I have yet to check your link too - I appreciate you taking the time to find it for me.  Will let you know if it helps.

MY download is nearly finished and when I have it on usb, what do I do to fix things once I'm into live LL?

PS - cd/dvd drive is not broken - it's just that you evidently have to have some sort of os loaded to eject the cd.  The windows cd that I have in there doesn't do anything but reinstall the os or, at least nothing I could find to do anything else.  I also have a repair disk but can't use it with the other disk stuck in the drive.

[Just J]

Hurray!  I'm very happy to report that using the usb drive to boot into live LL enabled me to remove the cd from the cd/dvd drive.

But my mind is sort of fried at this point and I don't know what to do next.

Is there a way to edit Easy BCD from LL or get into Windows to do it or fix everything from LL?  As i said, I'd really like to preserve my Windows 7 installation if at all possible.

[trinidad]

As soon as you power up the computer hold down the F8 key and you may be able to get to Windows safe mode. You may have to use F8+Shift. Give both a try. Safe mode will find the old C:\ drive if you're lucky. If you only labeled it you should be okay but if you wrote an ext4 fs to it you will need an ntfs recovery tool and a bunch of effort and luck. Because it's a laptop you really should be attempting repairs without the battery.

TC 

[Just J]

Thank you, trinidad,

i'm just seeing your post but was able to use my rescue disk and now everything is working smoothly again.  Fortunately, I had only labeled it and hadn't written an ext4 there.

May I ask why not to attempt repairs without the battery?

Thank you and justme2 so much for all your help.  It's really hard to come into an environment when everything is so very different from what you're used to.  I've never done it, but it must be similar to moving to a foreign country without knowing the language or the customs.

Anyway, thank God and both of you that everything seems to be running smoothly now.  I still have a couple of things to work out but they don't involve booting so if i can't figure them out, I'll start another thread.

J