Boot – Fix Ubuntu Winboot wubildr.mbr Missing Error

bootwubi

I have installed Ubuntu 12.04 (64 bit) operating system. It supports uefi so I installed it like a normal dual booting now (not like Wubi).

When I try to load Windows 8 it works fine. But when I try to run Ubuntu, I get the following error:

ubuntu winboot wubildr.mbr missing

How to fix the Ubuntu boot-loading issue?

UPDATE: I have tried bootinfoscript on my lap and this is the URL: http://paste.ubuntu.com/6073509/

Best Answer

The error message suggests a WUBI installation. Your computer, though, is clearly booting Windows in EFI mode, and WUBI is incompatible with EFI. Therefore, if you did a WUBI installation, it won't work.

There's also evidence on your computer of a standard partitioned installation of Linux: You've got a separate /dev/sda8 that uses a Linux ext4 filesystem and that seems to have boot files; and you've got a BIOS-mode GRUB in the disk's MBR.

Overall, therefore, my guess is that you've tried both installation methods, either intentionally or not. If so, one thing you should do is to remove the WUBI stuff. I'm not an expert on WUBI, so I'll just leave it with that link. Removing WUBI won't solve your basic problem, though; the point is to not waste disk space and to simplify the configuration so you're less likely to get confused in the future.

Assuming your Linux installation on /dev/sda8 is more-or-less complete, you're faced with the problem that you've got a mixed-mode installation -- Windows is booting in EFI mode, whereas Linux is set up to boot in BIOS mode. This can be awkward at best, so you should probably convert Linux to boot in EFI mode. You can do this in many ways, but either of the following is likely to be easiest:

  • Boot a live CD-R or USB flash drive in EFI mode and run Boot Repair. This should get GRUB up and running with Windows detected. The trick is forcing an EFI-mode boot of a live CD. You may need to play with your firmware's boot options. Typically, hitting a function key (which one varies) produces a boot menu, and you should select the one for your live CD that mentions "EFI" or "UEFI."
  • Download the CD-R or USB flash drive image of my rEFInd boot manager and prepare a medium with it. You should then be able to boot to it. If rEFInd lets you boot both Windows and Linux, boot to Linux, mount your EFI System Partition (ESP; your /dev/sda3) to /boot/efi, and install the Debian-package version of rEFInd. You'll then use rEFInd to select your OS on subsequent boots.

If one of these fails, try the other one.

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