Hi,
i dual booted my laptop with opensuse 12.1 , windows 7 was already installed on it , but now there is a problem , when i started the computer , the windows 7 is gone , and opensuse also doesn’t opens , this message comes :
***" cannot find Active Partition
Reboot or boot by inserting a disk and press any Key" ***
Please tell me what to do , is my windows 7 also gone ?!
help!
If you have another computer, it would be best to download or create a LiveCD, from which you can boot from and then use the utilities on it to look at and repair your present laptop setup. Basically, without more info and a bootable software disk, there is not much we can do to help you out. Of course, if you know, you can provide full computer, brand and model, hard disk size and number of disk partitions now present for starters. If your disk was using a UEFI boot disk, normally required for large hard drives but sometimes its used anyway, it would not be compatible with openSUSE 12.1 and its default grub legacy OS boot selector for instance.
Thank You,
On 2012-06-02 19:36, aniee7 wrote:
> -" cannot find Active Partition
> Reboot or boot by inserting a disk and press any Key" -
>
> Please tell me what to do , is my windows 7 also gone ?!
> help!
My guess is that somehow you changed the active partition somehow, so now
you need to boot any Linux live system - for example, the install DVD has a
rescue mode - and run fdisk -l on your system disk. Do so and post a photo
to susepaste.org
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
Most likely nothing is gone. You’re just using a generic MBR with no active partition. For some reason the bootflag got unset (maybe by Windows) but not set properly on another primary bootable partition. Thus nothing will be booted. If you boot from a livecd and install updategrub on the live system, either** updagerub -a** or** findgrub -a ** will set the bootflag on the the Grub partition on the first BIOS disk, provided there is one.
su -l
zypper ar [noparse]http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/please_try_again/openSUSE_12.1/[/noparse] PTA
zypper refresh -r PTA
zypper in updategrub
findgrub -a
or
updategrub -a
Or, as Carlos said, post the output of fdisk -l and we’ll guess which partitition you need to activate and explain you how to do it.
Hi, i have already Re installed opensuse 12.1 , and made proper partitions , but now windows 7 is totally gone 
,
i did not do it deliberately , please tell me what can i do , and the opensuse which i installed had 2 errors in it , “wrong digest , checksum is not same”, this was for two packages only, but i still installed the rest of opensuse , do you think there is going to be a problem with the operating system in the future ?!? should i keep using the opensuse ?
I would suggest you follow please_try_again’s suggestion and post the output from findgrub for us to see. I think the wrong digest suggests an install disk corruption or read errors during the installation of openSUSE. Its not normal to get such errors. If the bad package did not get installed or if it gets updated into a working copy of openSUSE, it may be OK to continue and use your present installation. Give us the output of findgrub so we can tell if Windows is still there or not. Consider than openSUSE does not remove Windows by default, so its hard to understand what has happened to you.
Thank You,
aniee7 wrote:
> but i still installed the
> rest of opensuse , do you think there is going to be a problem with the
> operating system in the future ?!?
Unlikely
Post install the software manager will usually correct that.
Are you sure windows has gone? Open a terminal and post result of
su -
fdisk -l
On 2012-06-03 20:56, aniee7 wrote:
>
> Hi, i have already Re installed opensuse 12.1 , and made proper
> partitions , but now windows 7 is totally gone ,
You have not replied our questions and suggestions. Please do.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
Hi
I am facing the same error / problem. Since there is no solution to this thread I will not open a new one, but respond to the questions that aniee7 didn’t.
I followed the steps described by please_try_again. I admit that I have a bit a complicated filesystem. the extension -a for findgrub and updategrub does not work for me. Probably because I cant use the first drive.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
linux:~ # findgrub
Find Grub Version 4.4.1 - Written for openSUSE Forums
- reading MBR on disk /dev/sda ... --> Grub2 (1.99) found in sda MBR => sda1 0xc (Ubuntu)
- searching partition /dev/sda1 (FAT32) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sda2 (Extended) ...
- searching partition /dev/sda5 (FAT32) ...
- reading MBR on disk /dev/sdb ... --> SUSE Generic MBR (Sig: 0xed0a5378)
- searching partition /dev/sdb1 (NTFS) ... --> Windows7/Vista Loader found in /dev/sdb1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can add the following entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst :
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: WindowsBootLoader###
title Windows on /dev/sdb1
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- searching partition /dev/sdb2 (NTFS) ... --> Windows7/Vista Loader found in /dev/sdb2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can add the following entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst :
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: WindowsBootLoader###
title Windows on /dev/sdb2
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- searching partition /dev/sdb3 (NTFS) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb4 (Extended) ...
- searching partition /dev/sdb5 (FAT32) ...
- skipping partition /dev/sdb6 (swap)
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb7 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb8 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb9 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb10 (LINUX) ...
- searching partition /dev/sdb11 (NTFS) ...
- reading MBR on disk /dev/sdc ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdc1 * (LINUX) ...
********************************************************************************
WARNING: /boot/grub/device.map not found.
Displayed BIOS device mapping may be incorrect!
********************************************************************************
On 2012-12-03 13:36, serengeti wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> I am facing the same error / problem. Since there is no solution to
> this thread I will not open a new one, but respond to the questions that
> aniee7 didn’t.
Ok.
What disk is selected in the BIOS to be the boot disk?
Is it sdb, perhaps?
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)
Hi Carlos. thanks for the fast reply.
Currently, the BIOS loops through all possible disks. sda is a SSD with storage only. sdb has Windows7/OpenSuse12.1 dualboot with two extra windows partitions. sdc is my recovery USB stick.
On 2012-12-03 14:36, serengeti wrote:
> Currently, the BIOS loops through all possible disks. sda is a SSD with
> storage only. sdb has Windows7/OpenSuse12.1 dualboot with two extra
> windows partitions. sdc is my recovery USB stick.
And none boots?
I think that the message comes from sdb. It has a generic boot, which
expects a partition to be marked bootable, and none is marked (like
sdc1). If you mark, for instance, sdb1, you would boot Windows, I think.
Normally you would have grub installed on one of the sdb partitions. It
could be sdb4. Or it could be installed on the MBR of that disk, with
the rest on one of the linux partitions there (the root partition of
openSUSE, normally).
However, you have grub installed on sda, and I have no idea why that one
doesn’t boot. It belongs to an Ubuntu install, maybe it is incomplete.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)
And all the partitions on that disk are FAT32 - which is extremely strange.
Not so strange. I formatted this disk in windows and use it for media only. Very strange is why there is a GRUB2 (and from Ubuntu). I did never install Ubuntu other than in a VM
No. (Except sdc1 of course)
Things are clearing up a bit. sda is actually not recognized in BIOS (and never was) as it is an expresscard. For simplicity I have removed it now.
This leaves me with sdb.
I have opened the bootloader app of YAST. It launches with an error saying “Because of the partitioning, the boot loader cannot be installed properly.” Does this mean all the changes I do will have no effect?
I then tried to set a custom boot partition /dev/sdb4 This creates an error (Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition)
I have the feeling I am editing /boot/ of the sdc and changes are lost after reboot. How can I check that I am doing the right thing?
You do have Grub in MBR of your sda, and it is most likely Ubuntu’s Grub. Don’t ask me why!
The information in blue must be correct. But the information in red might be wrong - and is wrong in your case - because findgrub can not guess the BIOS drive mapping since you don’t have a device.map, as the warning at the end says. The partition information is correct though, but the disk is wrong. It should be sdc1. You installed Ubuntu - somehow - while sda was set as your first BIOS disk - and Ubuntu installs by default the Grub boot loader in the MBR of the boot disk - because it is the one which is supposed to boot after all.
linux:~ # findgrub
Find Grub Version 4.4.1 - Written for openSUSE Forums
- reading MBR on disk /dev/sda ... --> Grub2 (1.99) found in sda MBR => sda1 0xc (Ubuntu)
- searching partition /dev/sda1 (FAT32) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sda2 (Extended) ...
- searching partition /dev/sda5 (FAT32) ...
- reading MBR on disk /dev/sdb ... --> SUSE Generic MBR (Sig: 0xed0a5378)
- searching partition /dev/sdb1 (NTFS) ... --> Windows7/Vista Loader found in /dev/sdb1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can add the following entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst :
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: WindowsBootLoader###
title Windows on /dev/sdb1
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- searching partition /dev/sdb2 (NTFS) ... --> Windows7/Vista Loader found in /dev/sdb2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can add the following entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst :
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: WindowsBootLoader###
title Windows on /dev/sdb2
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- searching partition /dev/sdb3 (NTFS) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb4 (Extended) ...
- searching partition /dev/sdb5 (FAT32) ...
- skipping partition /dev/sdb6 (swap)
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb7 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb8 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb9 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb10 (LINUX) ...
- searching partition /dev/sdb11 (NTFS) ...
- reading MBR on disk /dev/sdc ...
- reading bootsector /dev**/sdc1** * (LINUX) ...
********************************************************************************
WARNING: /boot/grub/device.map not found.
Displayed BIOS device mapping may be incorrect!
********************************************************************************
This is an update what I have. Not sdb became sda and sdc became sdb as I removed the sda (removable SSD)
linux:~ # updategrub -a
- patching /etc/default/grub ...
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found theme: /boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/theme.txt
Found background: /boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/background.png
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.4.6-2.10-default
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd-3.4.6-2.10-default
No volume groups found
Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda1
Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda2
Found openSUSE 12.1 (x86_64) on /dev/sda7
done
linux:~ # findgrub -a
Find Grub Version 4.4.1 - Written for openSUSE Forums
- reading MBR on disk /dev/sda ... --> SUSE Generic MBR (Sig: 0xed0a5378)
- searching partition /dev/sda1 (NTFS) ... --> Windows7/Vista Loader found in /dev/sda1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can add the following entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst :
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: WindowsBootLoader###
title Windows on /dev/sda1
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- searching partition /dev/sda2 (NTFS) ... --> Windows7/Vista Loader found in /dev/sda2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can add the following entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst :
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: WindowsBootLoader###
title Windows on /dev/sda2
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- searching partition /dev/sda3 (NTFS) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sda4 * (Extended) ...
- searching partition /dev/sda5 (FAT32) ...
- skipping partition /dev/sda6 (swap)
- reading bootsector /dev/sda7 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sda8 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sda9 (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sda10 (LINUX) ...
- searching partition /dev/sda11 (NTFS) ...
- reading MBR on disk /dev/sdb ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb1 * (LINUX) ...
- reading bootsector /dev/sdb4 (LINUX) ...
********************************************************************************
WARNING: /boot/grub/device.map not found.
Displayed BIOS device mapping may be incorrect!
********************************************************************************
Bootflag can not be set: No Grub was found in primary or in the extended partition.
Why does updategrub complete, but findgrub not find any grub on the system?
I think I have to give up.
Now the recovery live USB fails to load. I get
Loading Kiwi CD- Boot system
-----------------------------
Creating device nodes with udev
...
failed to mount root filesystem
rebootException: reboot in 120 sec
I will try if I can fix the MBR with the windows recovery CD and go from there
Don’t give up! You have just worked out the easiest solution of using the Windows recovery CD. For detailed instructions, see How to Fix Windows 7 When It Fails to Boot [NB/ the most important part for you will be the use of the DISKPART utility which will allow you to select the Windows C:/ as your active partition].
This will restore your Windows installation but will not allow you to boot into Linux. When this works, you can then come back to us and ask a Linux expert (and that’s not me!) the best way to set up your dual boot if you still want one … my advice would be to use GRUB Legacy because my experience of GRUB2 has been pretty horrendous, but the experts would probably think (rightly!) that this was mostly likely due to my own ignorance.
Because updategrub -a only rewrites the boot menu but doesn’t install the boot loader. updategrub -i can be used to install Grub2 boot loader under 12.1, but this feature is disabled under 12.2. Here’s the code:
...
if $distnum -ge 122 ] ; then
printf "updateGrub2 should not be used to install Grub2 on openSUSE >= 12.2
"
else
...
As for findgrub, it doesn’t find grub because there isn’t any. The question is: how come you ended up with SUSE generic boot code in MBR but not a single Grub boot loader anywhere? That’s the problem here.