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My computer stopped booting up properly due to my hard drive being screwed up so I tried installing an ISO file from my flash drive for Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS. It ended up installing successfully and lasted me 6 months. I was able to save files on my computer, but my flash drive had to be plugged in the whole time or Ubuntu wouldn't boot (even though it had been installed).

Very recently my flash drive got crushed and when I put a new flash drive in with the same ISO file it didn't boot up to my login screen, but pulled up the Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu options. During install it saw the other Ubuntu version and I partitioned the drive so my files and programs wouldn't delete.

Now on startup it still goes to Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu like nothing happened, but on Try Ubuntu there are two drives in the bottom left and one of them has all my files. I don't have access to any of the programs on my main drive. Is there any way I can configure Ubuntu to start on my drive with all my files and programs? It seems to be there.

Edit: It was recommended I try using Boot-Repair. I did this and restarted my comp. On first restart my comp froze. On second restart it loaded back to Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. Here's the Boot Info Summary.

If I had to guess, as I said in the top of my post, my hard drive is pretty messed up. It's been plagued with an Error parsing PCC subspaces which it stopped saying when my old Ubuntu ISO flash drive wasn't smashed, but it is saying again before Ubuntu starts up now. I have a feeling I can start saving info again only if I delete my partitions and do a hard reset.

Zanna
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Mike Barnes
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  • If I follow you correctly, you have more than one installation, and I don't think you can run the programs in one installation whilst booted in to another installation. Your boot loader might also be corrupted. In any case, can you please provide the returns from these commands: sudo lsblk -o NAME,FSTYPE,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT,LABEL and awk -F\' '/menuentry / {print $2}' /boot/grub/grub.cfg? – Andrew Jan 11 '18 at 03:16
  • It's correct that I do have two installations, but as far as my computer knows neither one boots up on start up to go to a login screen. It always starts asking if I want to try or install Ubuntu as if it's not there. When I go to "try ubuntu" it shows two hard drives with all my files there. Return from the first command was: NAME FSTYPE SIZE MOUNTPOINT LABEL sdb 1.9G └─sdb1 vfat 1.9G /cdrom UBUNTU 16_0 sr0 1024M loop0 squashfs 1.4G /rofs sda 465.8G ├─sda2 1K ├─sda7 swsuspend 7.7G ├─sda5 swsuspend 7.7G ├─sda1 ext4 267.2G └─sda6 ext4 183.1G – – Mike Barnes Jan 14 '18 at 17:08
  • The second one returned: cannot open /boot/grub/grub.cfg? (No such file or directory) – – Mike Barnes Jan 14 '18 at 17:08
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    Possible duplicate of Error parsing PCC subspaces from PCCT: ACPI PCC probe failed – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jan 16 '18 at 02:59
  • Could you please [edit] your post, when you want to add information? Especially file or program output listings (with the help of the {} button in the editor toolbar) will be much more readable there; alternatively you can use a pastie service for longer listings and include the link of your pastie in your question. Overall it’s best to have everything relevant in one place. Additionally, comments may be deleted for various reasons. Thanks. – David Foerster Jan 16 '18 at 13:12

2 Answers2

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It seems as though you have a corrupted boot loader. Therefore, follow the instructions on this page (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair) to install and run Boot-Repair. Given that you are comfortable with the live-USB, I would use ‘2nd option: install Boot-Repair in Ubuntu’. Using that program, you should be able to get your computer to properly boot to the installation of Ubuntu that has your files and programs on it without having to use a live-USB every time. If and when you get that working, you should be able to format the partition that has the second, unnecessary installation. (If this doesn’t work, please describe what happened by adding to the end of your question.)

Andrew
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I think the problem is the Grub is installed to your USB drive during your installation process. So without the USB drive that used for installation there's no grub mean no booting. Try to Install the grub to the hard drive as this page (https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1398707)

Danushka herath
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