I’m new to Linux and I’ve been trying out several distributions over the past eight weeks or so. My first problem occurred this morning when trying to install PCBSD. It boots to Grub 2 and just stalls there, so why am I not over in the PCBSD forums you ask? Well I noticed that out of all the different distributions I tried OpenSuse is the only one still in my Boot Menu in my Bios,
What puzzles me is I didn’t use my C: drive I used a new SSD. I’m not sure if it’s still in my MBR or not I’m not very technical but I’ve already repaired it using the Windows 7 disc I’ve used the CP to run “bootrec/fixmbr” which I read would remove OpenSuse however it’s still there.
Do you know of away to remove it from my Boot Menu? My motherboard is graphical like the one mentioned in this link I’m not sure if that’s the reason behind the issue or not.
If openSUSE is a boot option by name in your PC Setup/Boot menu, you may be using an efi boot and not an MBR boot as you suggest. For info on the different partitions, you may want to read my blog on the subject and then come back and tell us all about your PC and hard drives, their size and type and the history of the PC such as what OS did it start with and which ones have worked in the past before your present problems.
There is not much info here, and we need more to be specific in any answer. Apparently, you do not have Linux installed at the moment, and you have replaced the disk where Linux used to be installed. Still, you have OpenSUSE as a choice. If so, that indicates UEFI usage, and - since Windows is involved - GPT partitioning too (as opposed to MBR partitioning). If so, removing OpenSUSE from your boot-listing would be a job for (assuming Windows 7 only, no Linux available) bcdedit.exe (included in Vista and later), easybcd (third-party utility) or similar. Bootrec/fixmbr will not make any difference in such a case.
Please enter the CommandPromt in Win7 (start it as Administrator) and supply the output of:
C:\Windows\system32>diskpart
DISKPART> list disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 698 GB 0 B *
DISKPART> select disk 0
Disk 0 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> list partition
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Recovery 1024 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 System 260 MB 1025 MB
Partition 3 Reserved 128 MB 1285 MB
Partition 4 Primary 500 GB 1413 MB
Partition 5 Primary 21 GB 501 GB
Partition 6 Primary 88 GB 522 GB
Partition 7 Primary 88 GB 610 GB
DISKPART> exit
Leaving DiskPart...
C:\Windows\system32>
This is a recording of a similar sequence executed on my computer. The contents of the output will of course vary with your data. The key in the above, is the “*” (asterisk) below “GPT” following the “list disk” command, and that indicates the disk is partitioned using GPT.
Since you are using Windows 7, SecureBoot is not an issue. That means easybcd should be usable, and you will probably find it easier to use that than “bcdedit” that is included in Windows.
If the above is insufficient to resolve the problem for you - and provided you do find the asterisk-tag indicating a GPT partitioning scheme, please also provide the output of both “bcdedit /enum all” and “bcdedit /enum all /v” issued from a Windows 7 Command Prompt (again, must be started as Administrator). That will be helpful for further advices.
Thank you both for taking the time to reply to my thread.
**jdmcdaniel3:
**
I cannot be sure but I think I am using an efi type motherboard. My computer is a few years old but if I remember correctly I’m using an Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 Motherboard (Socket 1155).
As for previous OS install my current Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit no issues here. I’ve had Fedora 19, Ubuntu 12.04, OpenSuse 12.3 and Arch Linux all installed and booted without one issue.
The problem started this morning with PCBSD perhaps it’s my machine but I’ve tested the ISO burned two different copies and they both install fine from what I can tell. It sticks at Grub and I think it’s because OpenSuse is still there in the Boot Menu.
**DayFinger:
**
I have Easy BCD installed everything looks normal from there. I think this is what you requested please let me know if it’s not:
(code
DISKPART> list disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
Disk 0 Online 238 GB 0 B
Disk 1 Online 931 GB 0 B
Disk 2 Online 931 GB 0 B
Disk 3 Online 1863 GB 0 B *
Disk 4 No Media 0 B 0 B
Disk 5 No Media 0 B 0 B
Disk 6 No Media 0 B 0 B
Disk 7 No Media 0 B 0 B
DISKPART> exit
Leaving DiskPart…
C:\Windows\system32> /code)
Thank you both so much for your time and your patience.
DISKPART> list disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 238 GB 0 B
Disk 1 Online 931 GB 0 B
Disk 2 Online 931 GB 0 B
Disk 3 Online 1863 GB 0 B *
Disk 4 No Media 0 B 0 B
Disk 5 No Media 0 B 0 B
Disk 6 No Media 0 B 0 B
Disk 7 No Media 0 B 0 B
DISKPART> exit
According to the above, you have several disks: There are 4 harddisks. These are 1 x 250GB disk (is this the SSD disk?), 2 x 1TB disk and 1 x 2TB disk. There are also 4 CD/DVD removable media type disks, of which no media was present at the time of your dump. Is that correct?
Furthermore, according to your dump:
Of the four harddisks, there are 3 MBR partitioned harddisks, and one GPT partitioned harddisk (the 2TB one).
That adds a number of questions. E.g. Where is Windows installed? Which one is your boot disk? Also, you left out the “list partition” part I asked for (after "select disk <disknumber>). Since you have more than one disk, such output for every harddisk is of interest (repeat the “SELECT DISK <disk number>” and “LIST PARTITION” for each and every harddisk).
The fact that you do have several disks (vital info you did not provide initially), also raises the question of which disk you replaced(?) with the SSD etc. Also - since you weren’t able to sort it out from the suggestions given above, the history/sequence of the PC and OS-es installed would leave less to guess and enable better suggestions, as jdmcdaniel3 points out.
What is your BIOS (UEFI?) configuration? Is UEFI active? Can you provide a dump of the BIOS page where your harddisks are listed? How are the harddisks attached to your PC? Internal, external or a mix? Are they all connected to the motherboard’s internal disk controller (or controllers if there are more than one on-board) Are you using an add-in harddisk controller? If so: Which brand - and which disks are connected to which controller?
Also, since this is a hybrid setup (at least as harddisk partitioning is regarded) it would be helpful if you could provid the output of bcdedit as requested above, even if it looks right in easybcd.
