Re: [opensuse] Installation of 11.4 fails: Error 22 for GRUB --- now also Windows disappeared!

On Tue, Jul 05, 2011 at 10:27:13AM -0400, Felix Miata wrote:
On 2011/07/05 14:59 (GMT+0100) Oliver Kullmann composed:

When starting the machine it says now:

Error No operating system

Apparently that's where the typical boot-choice-menu
would show up, but since it wasn't installed correctly
(without a chance of doing anything on that), now nothing
works anymore.

How do I get rid off that, and enable at least the Windows again?

I would really appreciate some information.

Even though your thread has provided a lot of information, important things
have been left out.

Was/is the original installation by HP an EFI type, or PC standard MBR?

I don't know. I have never seen that any such information would be provided
by any laptop-provider.

Is/was there a restore partition?

There is such a thing, but when trying to go into it, all what results
is just "no operating system available".

How many partitions were there
originally?

4

Was there a restore partition that you eliminated?


Nothing was eliminated.

How did you make the Linux partitions in the first place? Did you use
Windows' built-in partition resizer first, then create the additional
partitions during oS installation?

The installation-process yields, as I think is usual for Suse, that "parted"
can not create or change any partitions. So I did shrink the main partition
from windows, and created then three further partitions from it.

Did you use the oS installer for all
partitioning?

What is "oS" ? All what is there is the Windows system and the Suse DVD. Suse can not
partition anything, and so Windows did all.
Then with the Suse installation I assigned /, /boot, swap and /home.
No warnings etc., and I donn't think there is any principle problem here.
(I did the same in the past; it was always like that with Suse.)

Or did you first/only use some other partitioner (what I
always do)?

I didn't use any other partitioner.


What is the current output of fdisk -l?

How would I get that? All what is left is
- rerun the installation, but that yields always the same
- there is some rescue system in the Suse menu, but no information
how to use that, so I have no clue what to do with it.

IOW, what type of partition is your
new /boot? It needs to be a primary

What does "primary" mean? And shouldn't the Suse installation process tell me,
if the partition is not suitable?

to work with standard MBR code, which
is the preferred type when using Win7. If you've replaced the standard MBR
code with Grub, you've become dependent on Grub working correctly for
access to Win7.

But I the old partitions should stil be untouched. The inaccessibility
of windows only occurred with using a special /boot-partition.
So there should be some way to get it back to the old state, with
a working system?


It sounds to me like at this point you have a failed Grub MBR installation,

I guess so

and MBR needs to be restored to standard, along with resetting the boot
flag in the MBR to the Win7 "boot" partition in order to restore Win7
bootability. If you can't figure out how to get the oS install media into
recovery mode there are multiple varying ways to get standard MBR code
back, along with setting the boot flag. A bootable MS DOS or FreeDOS floppy
can do it.

The laptop didn't come with anything else except of the usual "your great
laptop is here".

DFSee can do it, from floppy, CD or Knoppix boot. Any live Linux
CD's fdisk can set the flag. A CD made from http://ultimatebootcd.com/ can
do it, and more.


I have another Linux-laptop, and I have a spare DVD. Nothing else.
Can one do it with that?

Why you've had the Grub trouble during oS installation I'm at a loss to
guess, since I have no hands on experience installing alongside Win7. It
should work, though there are bumps in the process possible as a result of
different ways different vendors install Win7. The bumps are mentioned in
various archived mailing list threads and in the forums, both oS and other
distros.

What I can see is that with no newer laptop with Windows 7 on it on can
install Suse anymore --- all three other cases I know of the harddisk had
to be erased, due to these now standard HP/Dell etc. special partitions.

thanks for your help!

Oliver

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