[SOLVED] installed Linux Lite - only get GNU prompt

[misterbela]

Hello, loaded and installed Lite from USB. Gave me an error at the end of the install. Laptop now only shows GNU GRUB prompt. Can't get out of it. I did the exit twice and gave me a startimage failed: load error. I should still have Windows on the machine. I tried boot order to do computer first and also tried USB first too. No difference. Would like to be able to use either Linux Lite OR Windows at this point. But stuck at the grub prompt. Please help. Thanks!

[stevef]

Sorry to hear you have had a problem.

Please answer all questions as best you can.

Would like to be able to use either Linux Lite OR Windows at this point.

The manual recommends a full back up before the defragmenting and shrinking the Windows installation.
Restoring may be the best option at this point.

Do you have the backups ?

If not will try to help, this may be slow and complex and no guarantee of success.

Do you know if your computer is EFI or BIOS ?
Which install option (Alongside, Erase or Something Else), did you select at the Installation Type screen ?

Gave me an error at the end of the install

Do you recall anything about this message ?

Provided you have the grub> prompt (not grub rescue>) it implies grub is running but the necessary files aren't where grub thinks they should be.
This might be fixable but because something has gone wrong with your installation the state is unknown.

At the grub> prompt, type this command

Code:

set

Look for the line beginning 'root=', it should look something like

Code:

root=(hd0,gpt1)

This is where grub is trying to boot from. In this example, it shows the disk (hd0), the partiton type (gpt) and the partition number (1).
Make a note of the root= and post back what it says.

At the grub prompt check what the filesystem looks like to see if we can identify the Windows and Linux partitions.

Code:

ls

Look for entries associated with the the system disk (hd0 in the example).  It is likely you will see several entries, for example
(hd0,gpt1) (hd0,gpt2) (hd0,gpt3) (hd0,gpt4)

Run ls on each system disk partition in turn, for each one note the file system type and label and post back
For example

Code:

ls (hd0,1)

Code:

ls (hd0,2)

repeat for each partition number

On the individual partition which is listed under root= get a few more details
For example

Code:

ls (hd0,1)/

Summarise what this command shows and post back.

[misterbela]

Sorry to hear you have had a problem.

Please answer all questions as best you can.

Would like to be able to use either Linux Lite OR Windows at this point.

The manual recommends a full back up before the defragmenting and shrinking the Windows installation.
Restoring may be the best option at this point.

Do you have the backups ?

If not will try to help, this may be slow and complex and no guarantee of success.

Do you know if your computer is EFI or BIOS ?
Which install option (Alongside, Erase or Something Else), did you select at the Installation Type screen ?

Gave me an error at the end of the install

Do you recall anything about this message ?

Provided you have the grub> prompt (not grub rescue>) it implies grub is running but the necessary files aren't where grub thinks they should be.
This might be fixable but because something has gone wrong with your installation the state is unknown.

At the grub> prompt, type this command

Code:

set

Look for the line beginning 'root=', it should look something like

Code:

root=(hd0,gpt1)

This is where grub is trying to boot from. In this example, it shows the disk (hd0), the partiton type (gpt) and the partition number (1).
Make a note of the root= and post back what it says.

At the grub prompt check what the filesystem looks like to see if we can identify the Windows and Linux partitions.

Code:

ls

Look for entries associated with the the system disk (hd0 in the example).  It is likely you will see several entries, for example
(hd0,gpt1) (hd0,gpt2) (hd0,gpt3) (hd0,gpt4)

Run ls on each system disk partition in turn, for each one note the file system type and label and post back
For example

Code:

ls (hd0,1)

Code:

ls (hd0,2)

repeat for each partition number

On the individual partition which is listed under root= get a few more details
For example

Code:

ls (hd0,1)/

Summarise what this command shows and post back.

Hello. thanks for your info. Here is what I know: I only want to use Linux, not Windows. Unfortunately I didn't write down the error message at the end of install. My laptop is BIOS. Installation was to be alongside Windows. I looked at root= and got 6 entries (hd0,gpt6). I did the 'ls' for each and again with the '/' after each. I received: (hd0,1) is ntfs, 'system', WinRePartition.ini. (hd0,2) is fat, UUID12C3-08CD with startup.nsh. (hd0,3) is ntfs, System Volume Information. (hd0,4) is ntfs, 'TI10695300B, System Volunte Information, Program files. (hd0,5) is ntfs, 'Recovery', System Volume Information, volume recovery. And (hd0,6) is ext*, lost+found, boot. There...I hope that makes sense. As I mentioned, I only care about be able to use Linux Lite. I did read something about running Boot Repair for Linux Lite as terminal commands. Not sure if that's appropriate. Looks like this old Toshiba laptop was running Windows 8. I appreciate your help and guidence!

[stevef]

I only want to use Linux

If there is nothing you need on the old set up it will be better to get your system to boot the live media again so that you can re-install Linux Lite from scratch rather than trying to fix the current set up.

[misterbela]

I only want to use Linux

If there is nothing you need on the old set up it will be better to get your system to boot the live media again so that you can re-install Linux Lite from scratch rather than trying to fix the current set up.

Hello,
I'vd tried to re-install Linux Lite several times before I started this forum request. Have tried several times to do a clean restart to install, but the laptop will not recognize or does not want to recognize the USB stick. I have the laptop directed to read the USB first when booting up. However, the laptop first shows the Toshiba request to enter the correct date (and I then have an  option there to select boot up from USB), save changes, and then it simply goes to the Grub prompt. Still stuck at the prompt. 
Bela

[stevef]

If you can't boot the toshiba from the USB stick using the same method that worked before, then either the USB stick or the toshiba may have failed or changed in some way. Being able to boot the system from USB is likely to be important especially as your installation has failed.

Can you test the USB stick is able to boot in another system and try another bootable USB drive in the toshiba to work out where the problem is?

We can try to tell the system what to boot from the grub prompt.
Only follow these instructions if your system shows the line

Code:

root=hd0,gpt6

from running the set command.
If your system shows something different for 'root=' please provide us with the correct information.

These instructions assume an install of 7.0 as per your sign up information.
If the install is 6.x, 7.2 or 7.4, the kernel numbers will be different from this example.

At the grub> prompt type in

Code:

linux /boot/vmlinuz-

followed by the Tab key. The system should show possible completions for the kernels it finds.
As this is a new install, there may only be one valid kernel and the whole file name will be filled in followed by a space
After the space, continue the command with

Code:

root=/dev/sda6

At this point the 'linux' command should look something like this (though the number may vary)

Code:

linux /boot/vmlinuz-6.8.0-31-generic root=/dev/sda6

Press enter.

Now type in

Code:

initrd /boot/initrd.img-6.8.0-31-generic

It is important that the numbers match for both commands, you can use the Tab to autocomplete.
Once happy, press enter.

Provided both commands were accepted

Code:

boot

followed by enter

[misterbela]

Hello again! It looks like the last few lines of code did the trick! It booted up Linux Lite (long list of commands processing) and I was able to use it. Good OS for my simple needs. The only thing now is that each time I start the machine I get the grub prompt and I have to enter those few lines of code in order to get back into Linux Lite. But, it does boot up and runs perfectly. You have been a big help. I appreciate your input and patience!

[stevef]

The commands we ran at the grub prompt were just experimental to find the right parameters, they don't make any permanent change. When you are happy that the system has booted as you want, open a terminal (by pressing Ctrl Alt and T together).

Enter this command

Code:

sudo update-grub

Enter your password if asked to let the command run.
Close the terminal, then try rebooting.

It is still recommended to fix the USB booting problem.

[misterbela]

Hello! I entered the additional code line and rebooted. The machine now boots up with Linux Lite without any problem. Works great (and no MS Windows). Mouse, external speakers, USB ports working ok. External HD used for music is working great. You've made an old COBOL programmer from the 80's a happy man! Thanks for your help.
Bela