I have installed the Ubuntu 12.04 using a bootable USB. The installation went fine but after the installation there was just a blank screen with the cursor blinking and Ubuntu wasn't starting. Maybe that was an installation error but when I booted again from my USB surprisingly Ubuntu started working. Even if I remove the USB after the initial boot, Ubuntu keeps working fine. Do I have to boot from my USB each time I restart my computer?
Ubuntu – Ubuntu starts only when I boot from the flash drive
12.04bootboot failuregrub2installation
Related Solutions
It looks like Grub got installed to the USB drive. Boot with the USB drive, open a terminal window by pressing Ctrl-Alt-T then run
sudo grub-install /dev/sdX
Where sdX is the drive you wish to boot from. That command will install GRUB to the MBR of the desired hard drive (sda,sdb,sdc,sdd), which should make it bootable. The commands sudo fdisk -l
or lsblk
should help you identify which drive you want.
Secure Boot is usually OK, but can sometimes cause problems, so it's best to disable it during troubleshooting. Ideally, it will provide some added protection against pre-boot malware (which usually targets Windows but can theoretically affect any OS), so it's worth having -- IF it doesn't cause any other problems. It's possible that Secure Boot is causing your problems, but I suspect a defective firmware.
Your Boot Repair output indicates that Ubuntu should be booting; however, some EFIs have known problems that prevent the system from booting anything but the Windows boot loader (or a program with the same name as the Windows boot loader). There are a number of ways you can overcome this problem:
- Look for an updated firmware from your computer's manufacturer. (They'll probably call it a "BIOS update" or words to that effect, although it's technically not a BIOS.) After doing this, you may need to re-install a boot manager (see below).
- Using Boot Repair, click the Advanced item and select the option to back up and replace the Windows boot loader. (I don't recall the precise phrasing of this option.) Once this is done, GRUB should theoretically come up.
- Download the CD-R or USB flash drive image of my rEFInd boot manager and prepare an image with it. If that image starts, it should boot Ubuntu just fine. If that works, you can either continue booting with rEFInd on the external medium or install the Debian package in Ubuntu. If that works as-is, then great. If rEFInd also fails to start from hard disk, then you can boot to Ubuntu using the USB drive or CD-R, open a Terminal window, and type
mvrefind.sh /boot/efi/EFI/refind /boot/efi/EFI/BOOT
. (Note the doubling-up ofefi
, once in lowercase and once in uppercase.) Thismvrefind.sh
command essentially does what the Boot Repair option to replace the Windows boot loader does, but with rEFInd rather than GRUB. - Since the computer is new, return it to the store and buy another model. Make it clear (in a letter to Toshiba, if nothing else) why you're returning it. Manufacturers have had more than enough time to fix these problems in their firmware, and yet they keep delivering garbage. They do this because few people complained about the garbage in the first couple generations of EFI firmware, and they'll continue delivering it for years more if people keep accepting it.
- Enter the firmware setup utility and find whatever options exist to control the boot mode. Set the computer to boot in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode and to disable (if possible) EFI/UEFI mode. You can then re-install Ubuntu in BIOS mode, which should set up a BIOS-mode version of GRUB; or run Boot Repair in BIOS mode to do the same without actually re-installing anything.
Best Answer
The problem
Grub, Ubuntu's bootloader, was installed on the flash drive, and not on your internal hard drive, as it should have been.
Solution
Boot with the flash drive plugged in. Remove it once Ubuntu is booted up.
Run the following commands from a Terminal:
Click on the "Recommended repair" button, and reboot.
Explanation
Boot-Repair installed Grub to your internal hard drive. This allows your computer to boot without depending on the bootloader that was installed on the flash drive.
Glossary