0

I've been asked to fix a Windows 10 PC with a weird setup. It could not connect to any network except the one at the school where my friend works, and there it could not connect via WiFi, only through Ethernet and from a specific room. I don't know how this setup was created.

As my friend is unable to go there (closed because of COVID-19), she asked for a workaround.

I tried to install Kubuntu 20.04. I could boot it from an .iso image on a usb key, but the installation failed. After the installation, it says "You need to reboot". So I rebooted. When it said "Remove installation medium and press ENTER", I did so. But then it booted straight into her usual login screen, no sign of a grub menu. I tried twice.

I booted again from the usb, installed gparted and fiddled. I read the gparted information and found a small partition at the beginning of the disk, about 150 MB in size, ntsf or fat32 format (sorry, I've forgotten which). Gparted said it didn't know what it was. This seemed suspiscious, so I deleted it.

I installed Kubuntu again and this time it rebooted straight into Kubuntu. My friend is happy, but I find this unsatisfying. I would like a grub menu menu at startup, offering the choice between windows (for her school, though no-one knows when it will open again) and Kubuntu (for confinement home use).

I ran update-grub and grub-mkconfig. No changes.

I tried reading http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html#Multi_002dboot-manual-config but I didn't understand that.

The Windows file are still around. Dolphin shows them as "Basic data partition". Gparted shows /dev/sda8 as fat32 /boot/efi 115 MB and /dev/sda4, "Basic data partition", as ntfs /media/kub... 137.74 GB.

I've seen an example of command-line to tell grub to add stuff to it's boot options, but it came with a dire warning that this could break the computer altogether. It was not exactly my configuration and I didn't dare fiddle with grub. I've already been fiddling with gparted... I shouldn't, I know, but after seeing 2 installs fail I was getting desperate.

Please help. What I really need is advice like "type that in Konsole and it will function".

BTW, I don't know if the Windows partition is mounted. I don't think I unmounted it, but I don't know how to check that.

And, if someone knows the name of the program that was used to create the problem, please tell me.

K7AAY
  • 17,202
Alain Reve
  • 139
  • Try boot-repair – Ajay May 26 '20 at 18:00
  • Done. Thank you for the idea but it didn't function. It said "LegacyWindows détecté. Veuillez activer le mode BIOS-compatibility/CSM/Legacy dans votre firmware UEFI, et utiliser ce logiciel depuis un live-CD (ou live-USB)." Legacy Windows detected, activate BIOS (etc) in your UEFI firmware and launch from live CD or USB. – Alain Reve May 26 '20 at 19:36
  • LOG OF BOOT REPAIR

    sda2:

    File system:       ext4
Boot sector type:  -
Boot sector info: 
Operating System:  Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /etc/default/grub

    sda4:

    File system:       ntfs
Boot sector type:  Windows 8/2012: NTFS
Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:  Windows 8 or 10
Boot files:        /bootmgr /Windows/System32/winload.exe
    – Alain Reve May 26 '20 at 19:50
  • Please read this : https://askubuntu.com/questions/217904/unable-to-boot-into-windows-after-installing-ubuntu-how-to-fix – Ajay May 27 '20 at 00:54

0 Answers0