[Bug 1352523] Re: Ubuntu 14.04 i386 will not boot on Dell Dimension 4600

[Christopher Chavez]

The graphical capabilities in grub2 are supposedly rather sophisticated
nowadays. Graphical boot can be disabled by uncommenting
GRUB_TERMINAL=console in /etc/default/grub and running update-grub. This
is probably better for your monitor anyways.

I would think there are certain modules in grub2 that are responsible
for this, but I am not familiar with troubleshooting them other than
version-hopping, not unlike you have done. I might suggest installing a
more recent version of grub not yet in 14.04 to see if a more recent
version has fixed this.

Here's how we can install grub2-2.02~beta2-18 (while it's available):

mkdir grub2.02b2-18
cd grub2.02b2-18
wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/grub2/grub-common_2.02~beta2-18_i386.deb
wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/grub2/grub2-common_2.02~beta2-18_i386.deb
wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/grub2/grub2_2.02~beta2-18_i386.deb
wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/grub2/grub-pc_2.02~beta2-18_i386.deb
wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/grub2/grub-pc-bin_2.02~beta2-18_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i *.deb

We can downgrade back if necessary, but what could possibly go wrong?

sudo apt-get install grub2-common=2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1
grub2=2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1 grub-pc=2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1 grub-
common=2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1 grub-pc-bin=2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1

(2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1 is the current version for 14.04 at the moment;
change this for each package if this no longer the case.)


I wouldn't think the chipset is an issue, but I don't have any 845PE-based machines on me at the moment. According to the chipset specifications, this model does not have onboard video, so if you happen to have another AGP graphics card, I would suggest swapping to see if the graphics card is indeed an issue.

** Changed in: grub2 (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Incomplete

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1352523

Title:
  Ubuntu 14.04 i386 will not boot on Dell Dimension 4600

Status in grub2 package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  Recently I tried to install Mint 17 Mate (based on Ubuntu 14.04) on my
  trusty old Dell test PC. The OS worked from the CD and the install
  seemed to go fine. However, when I did the first reboot I only got as
  far as the grub menu. At that point the machine was totally
  unresponsive. Not even Ctrl-Alt-Del was recognized. So I then did a
  clean install of Ubuntu 14.04. Same thing. I have also tried Lubuntu
  14.04. It does not work. I have two of these PCs and they have run
  Ubuntu from 6.something through 12.04 with no issues. I think I tried
  13.something on the test one - not sure and I do not recall the
  results.

  I reinstalled grub onto the Ubuntu 14.04 system from the live CD. No
  improvement.

  I installed Fedora 20 Mate along side the non-functional Ubuntu 14.04
  install and I can now boot either one! I have observed that Ubuntu
  14.04. Lubuntu 14.04 and Mate 17 use GNU GRUB version 2.02~beta2-9
  according to the grub menu. Fedora uses grub 2-2.00.25.fc20.i686.
  Smells like an issue with the Ubuntu version of grub to me.

  For my next trick I did a clean install of Ubuntu 14.04. As expected
  it did not work. I then did an install of Lubuntu along side of the
  Ubuntu install. Again, both showed on the grub menu but the machine
  was frozen at that point. Considering that Ubuntu is based on Debian I
  installed Debian Wheezy alongside the other two operating systems. I
  can now boot to any of the three. The version of grub used by Debian
  is GNU GRUB version 1.99-27+deb7u.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: grub (not installed)
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic i686
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
  Architecture: i386
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Mon Aug  4 15:14:34 2014
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-08-04 (0 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release i386 (20140417)
  SourcePackage: grub
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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