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I used to have a dual boot with Windows 7 and Ubuntu 14.04. I wanted to update the latter to 18.04, so I made a bootable USB with Rufus and made the replacement. The Ubuntu installer itself told me that it had identified Ubuntu 14.04 in the computer, and it asked me whether I wanted to uninstall it to install the newer version. I clicked on this option, and then when I tried to boot with Ubuntu in the GRUB menu, a shell appears:

Gave up waiting for root device. Common problems:
  — Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline)
    — Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
    — Check root= (did the system wait for the right device?)
  — Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/<long-number-i-wont-type> does not exist.   
Dropping to a shell! 

BusyBox v.1.21.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.21.0-1ubuntu1) built-in shell (ash)   
Enter 'help' for list of built-in commands.  

(initramfs)

To solve this, I ran from the Live USB the Boot Repair tool. After doing this, when I turn on the computer, the GRUB just shows Ubuntu. Namely, I can't access to Windows anymore, because the screen that lets me select the OS doesn't show it now. The Ubuntu booting was solved, though, but I would like to have the previous GRUB menu back.

The files are still there I believe, because I can see the Windows partition from my Ubuntu.

Here is the output of the Boot Repair I performed before the issue appeared.

Is there any way to do this?

Tendero
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  • I'm not sure why a usb would cause this issue, but it's probably not worth wasting time trying to work out what went wrong. As you selected the option to uninstall 14.04, I would just restart the installation process, and in the disk installer just delete the partitions related to ubuntu, then let the installer take default options for a fresh install. If it doesn't work, no harm no foul, so use a friends computer to write the dvd and restart the installation from the dvd. – nobody special Aug 25 '18 at 18:41
  • Have you tried holding left Shift during boot to force the grub menu to appear? Alternately, you could edit /etc/default/grub to force it to appear always. There are plenty of questions on this site about that. – Organic Marble Aug 25 '18 at 19:42
  • Just run the summary report, the auto fix sometimes can create more issues and post link above in your post, not in comments. Boot Repair -Also handles LVM, GPT, separate /boot and UEFI dual boot, only use ppa download into Ubuntu live installer. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair – oldfred Aug 25 '18 at 19:47
  • @OrganicMarble I just tried that, and now I saw that Windows isn't on the list anymore. So I have the GRUB menu, but just with Ubuntu in it. – Tendero Aug 25 '18 at 19:52
  • OK, that's important info. So the problem that needs to be fixed is that a Windows install is present, but does not show up in grub. Try searching the site, I am sure I've seen questions on that before. I will look as well. – Organic Marble Aug 25 '18 at 19:54
  • @oldfred I've added it to the question now, thanks. – Tendero Aug 25 '18 at 19:54
  • Check out this question and its answers. https://askubuntu.com/questions/600042/installing-windows7-after-ubuntu-14-04-other-recommendations-not-working/600063#600063 – Organic Marble Aug 25 '18 at 19:57
  • @OrganicMarble Well, that was easier than I had ever expected! I tried with this approach, and it worked like a charm. Should I delete the question or could it be useful for future readers? – Tendero Aug 25 '18 at 20:03
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    Don't delete the question. – nobody special Aug 25 '18 at 20:37
  • Good news! I am glad it worked for you. People will vote to mark your question as a duplicate, and it can help people in the future find answers. Since you appear to be new to the site, don't forget to up-vote the answer that helped you (and the other question as well)! – Organic Marble Aug 25 '18 at 20:39
  • Looks like you installed Ubuntu in UEFI boot mode. And Boot-Repair converted it to BIOS boot. And you may have had UEFI Secure Boot on, which will not normally allow BIOS boot. Later you may need to repair Windows so use gparted or Windows tools and move boot flag back to sda1. Grub does not use boot flag, but Windows has to have it on the partition with boot files to boot or repair Windows. Also make a Windows repair flash drive. – oldfred Aug 25 '18 at 22:04
  • Have you tried Grub-costomizer? Have you checked if windows is still installed ? – An0n Aug 26 '18 at 01:02

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