[GRLUG] D255E netbook dual boot - boot loader gone

[John Wesorick]

This may help to flash the BIOS,
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/13095-Undocumented-INSYDE-BIOS-recovery-method.-Use-andy-s-tool-to-obtain-possible-names..
Also, on some Gateway/HP laptops, removing the battery, unplugging the power
adapter and then holding down the power button for 15 seconds restores the
BIOS to defaults. I believe it's the same as jumping the reset on a desktop
mobo. It's worth a shot, although I have no idea if it would reset the
password. Actually, I don't recall ever seeing someone IRL actually set a
BIOS password... :-)

As far as GRUB goes, it uses the UUID by default, so it shouldn't care. If
not, I know you can edit it to use the UUID.

>From /boot/grub/grub.cfg on my machine:
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-8-generic' --class ubuntu --class
gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
 recordfail
set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode
insmod part_msdos
 insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 33ac49be-0a52-411b-9654-4b7ccb572180
 linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic
root=UUID=33ac49be-0a52-411b-9654-4b7ccb572180 ro   quiet splash
vt.handoff=7
 initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic
}

-John Wesorick


On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Bill Littlejohn <billl at mtd-inc.com> wrote:

> I've got this D255E netbook that was setup dual-boot Win7/Ubuntu 10.10 UNR.
> My daughter ran the system restore (damnit I should have removed that
> option from grub) and it destroyed the boot loader making nothing
> bootable.
> She also tried getting into the BIOS and failed the password prompt
> which makes it boot only from the internal HD.
> So I opened it up and removed the internal HD so that it will boot
> from USB flash drive, then connected the main HD with a USB adapter.
> So now the question is; how to reinstall a working grub on the HD?
>
> Does grub care that the drive ID is going to change when it get's
> installed back into the netbook? i.e. It's /dev/sdb now, but will be
> /dev/sda when installed where it's supposed to be.
> It's currently running Ubuntu 10.10 UNR from a flash drive.
>
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