Ubuntu help on vista machine please!

[joshwood123]

I have a computer that uses a 30gb ssd has the vista boot drive, all thats on it is vista and its stuff, and i want to put linux on my storage drive, a 1tb seagate drive...
i installed linux but when i boot i never get a menu that lets me boot into linux...?
did i install the GRUB bootloader in the wrong place? i put it in hd0 or whatever it gave me when i installed ubuntu...
thanks in advance
-Josh

 

[linux_0]

You can install GRUB onto the 1TB drive and set your BIOS to boot from the 1TB drive first or you can install it on the SSD.

Go to Applications, Accessories, Terminal

sudo su -

/sbin/grub-install /dev/sda

Replace /dev/sda with the actual drive you want to install it on.

GL

 

[randomizer]

Oh... I put it on /dev/sda1. Maybe that's why my bootloader didn't work... *runs horribly slow installation CD again*

 

[linux_0]

Are you re-installing?

 

[joshwood123]

im going to have to try and reinstall it, cuz i cant get ubuntu to boot...
so when it asks me where to install the bootloader... where do i put it?
on (hd0), swap area, or whatever? i am new to linux, and i want this to work...
thanks for the help

 

[linux_0]

You don't have to re-install.

Boot from the live CD, go to Applications, Accessories, Terminal

sudo su -
/sbin/grub-install /dev/sda
/sbin/grub-install /dev/sdb

Install on both, that should fix it.

You may need to reconfigure your BIOS to boot from the 1TB drive.

GL

 

[randomizer]

Are you re-installing?

I sent you a PM yesterday (well, maybe today depending on timezone) about what I was doing, or trying to do.

 

[joshwood123]

i already have to boot from the 1tb hdd first, cuz theres a vista boot file on it or something, idk why, it was just made me put it there when i installed vista...
ok, im going to try that now

 

[linux_0]

@randomizer, my bad, I missed it, didn't get email

 

[randomizer]

@randomizer, my bad, I missed it, didn't get email

Well that's not surprising, nothing seems to work as it should

 

[joshwood123]

ok i tried those and they didnt work... it says install device not found...

 

[linux_0]

i already have to boot from the 1tb hdd first, cuz theres a vista boot file on it or something, idk why, it was just made me put it there when i installed vista...
ok, im going to try that now

/sbin/grub-install /dev/sda should fix it then

Your 1TB drive should be /dev/sda.

fdisk -l will show the drives and partitions.

GL

 

[linux_0]

Run fdisk -l using the Live CD and post or PM me the results

 

[joshwood123]

ok, i type in fdisk -l and it says "cannot open /dev/sda and cannot open /dev/sdb..
and when i type in fdisk it comes up with a whole menu of stuff thats very confusing to a long times windows user... =/

 

[linux_0]

Sorry, run "sudo su -" first.

You should now be root, the superuser / administrator.

Then run "fdisk -l".

 

[joshwood123]

ok that worked now what? do i need to do /sbin/grub-install /dev/sda
/sbin/grub-install /dev/sdb?

 

[linux_0]

Yup! That should do it

 

[joshwood123]

ok, i couldnt get that to work, it still wouldnt install anything... so i am reinstalling it...
at the prepare partions screen, what do i need to do? how many partions do i need? and where do i put the bootloader??

 

[linux_0]

Backup important data.

The process goes like this => http://www.informit.com/articles/a [...] um=2&rll=1

Select partition manually, make sure you select the correct hard disk and create 2 primary partitions.

1st partition PRIMARY ext3 256MB /boot

2nd partition PRIMARY ext3 100GB or more /

3rd partition PRIMARY SWAP 4GB no mount point - swap

Optional 4th partition PRIMARY ext3 if you want to use it with Ubuntu or NTFS if you want to use it with Vista.

Install the GRUB boot loader onto /dev/sda ( 1TB drive ).

 

[joshwood123]

thank you very much, i have ubuntu installed and working great now! it is downloading 260 updates right now... haha
oh and i may need help on getting my drivers for my ati radeon 4870 working on ubuntu... =/

 

[linux_0]

No problem

Ubuntu should offer to install the latest ATI driver for you. Sorry, haven't tried the manual install recently.

 

[joshwood123]

ok, i got the ATI drivers working now ubuntu looks amazing...
but as always with computers, now something else is wrong
vista wont boot up anymore, it says NTLDR is missing press ctrl+alt+del to restart...
i have tried repairing vista with the installation cd, but it doesnt find any problems to fix... so idk, its typical vista problems i guess, it seems to freak out whenever i do anything... i think if i cant get it fixed, im going to have to uninstall ubuntu, and then fix vista or reinstall it...
what do you think i should do?
i cant find anything helpful on the internet...
thanks in advance
-Josh

 

[linux_0]

Is your vista on the SSD and only the SSD?