OS Selector does not find Linux Mint

When you installed Mint did you have it take over the MBR or did you have it install GRUB to the Mint partition? It sounds like you installed it to the MBR. Usually, when multi-booting it's best to keep the GRUB out of the MBR (unless, of course, you're using GRUB as the boot manager).

It's possible that the Recovery partition may be able to be added manually.

What ever the Mint installation did automatically, which I assume was to let it take over MBR but how can you tell and is there any hope for getting Mint back or is the best thing to do is to wipe it out and do a reinstall?

Will this work?

http://kb.acronis.com/content/1686

How can I add the Recovery partition manually?

Thanks MudCrab

Mint should be fine. It's just the boot loader that isn't working. GRUB defaults to the MBR. GRUB (in this case, most likely GRUB2) would need to be installed to the Mint partition. However, this can be problematic depending on how the system is configured.

What version of Mint are you using?

Can you post a screenshot of what DD shows for the drive?

Manually adding an entry to OSS is something I usually just do. Most people don't want to get into the particulars of editing the file. If you post a copy of the BOOTWIZ.OSS file I'll take a look at it (instructions can be found here).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<bootwiz>
 <disks>
  <id168064432 bios_num="128" crc="62851110" real_bios_num="128" serial="35811" size="976773167" />
  <id859294704 bios_num="129" crc="15663108" real_bios_num="129" serial="6585" size="15671295" />
 </disks>
 <cds />
 <partitions>
  <id826766422 begin="2048" crc="8403" disk="168064432" fs="ntfs" number="1" serial="4e320c46450c460c" size="204800" type="7" />
  <id881683164 begin="206848" crc="8403" disk="168064432" fs="ntfs" number="2" serial="5d564f1a724f1a4e" size="896544768" type="7" />
  <id4153760755 begin="896755712" crc="56553" disk="168064432" fs="ext3" number="5" serial="1b35fc901f46403397b599ccf19991bf" size="29523968" type="131" />
  <id3835038818 begin="926281728" crc="0" disk="168064432" fs="linuxswap" number="6" serial="" size="8204288" type="130" />
  <id553600703 begin="934486016" crc="8403" disk="168064432" fs="ntfs" number="4" serial="dda29b42d49b422a" size="42283008" type="39" />
  <id899797506 begin="128" crc="56530" disk="859294704" fs="fat32" number="1" serial="0270f360" size="15663247" type="11" />
 </partitions>
 <oses>
  <id2799295133 boot_as_ms71="0" boot_as_os2="0" boot_cd_entry="0" boot_partition="826766422" bootname="bootsect.sys" icon="icon_sys_vista" language="english" lba="1" name_template="%n%l %l(%ll%l)" nthide="0" os_type="nt7" system_root_identifier="0000000000000000000000000000000006000000000000004800000000000000000050060000000000000000000000000000000001000000520083fe00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\Windows" uninstall_info="1" use_manual_disks_order="0" write_boot="1">
   <partitions>
    <id826766422 active="1" />
   </partitions>
  </id2799295133>
 </oses>
 <checkfiles>
  <checkfile crc="37149" name="Boot\BCD" partition="826766422" size="28672" />
  <checkfile crc="60861" name="Boot\BCD" partition="553600703" size="28672" />
 </checkfiles>
 <bootmgr default_os="2799295133" disks_order_feature="1" />
</bootwiz>

Photo is attached.

What version of Mint are you using?

Mint is installed on a Logical partition. This can make GRUB more difficult to install to since it "resists" this type of setup.

It's Mint 12.

Thanks. I'll download 12 and take a look at it. I have 11 installed currently, which is probably very close, but there may be important differences.

Hi,
Will this restore grub or just make OSS boot to Mint?

It will do both.

The instructions in the KB artical you linked should work okay. Follow the steps for GRUB2. For example, if your Mint partition is /dev/sda5:

sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda
sudo umount /mnt

This will restore GRUB2 to the MBR of the drive. Then boot to the DD CD and select the option to Reactivate OSS. When you reboot to the OSS menu, OSS should detect Mint and add it.

I'll look at adding the Recovery partition to the menu in the morning.

I've attached a modified BOOTWIZ.OSS file for you to try. Note that this file assumes you haven't done the GRUB repair yet. If you have, don't use this file. Instead, attach a copy of the current BOOTWIZ.OSS file (please don't paste it) and I'll update it for you to try.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<bootwiz>
 <disks>
  <id316799898 bios_num="128" crc="62851110" real_bios_num="128" serial="35811" size="976773167" />
  <id681590774 bios_num="0" crc="125534215" real_bios_num="0" removed="1" serial="30918" size="125534207" />
 </disks>
 <cds />
 <partitions>
  <id826766422 begin="2048" crc="8403" disk="316799898" fs="ntfs" number="1" serial="4e320c46450c460c" size="204800" type="7" />
  <id881683164 begin="206848" crc="8403" disk="316799898" fs="ntfs" number="2" serial="5d564f1a724f1a4e" size="896544768" type="7" />
  <id1999001460 begin="896755712" crc="40597" disk="316799898" fs="ext3" number="5" serial="1b35fc901f46403397b599ccf19991bf" size="29523968" type="131" />
  <id2003100016 begin="926281728" crc="0" disk="316799898" fs="linuxswap" number="6" serial="" size="8204288" type="130" />
  <id2679811151 begin="934486016" crc="8403" disk="316799898" fs="ntfs" number="4" serial="dda29b42d49b422a" size="42283008" type="39" />
  <id3634141817 begin="32768" crc="8022" disk="681590774" number="1" serial="" size="125501440" type="7" />
 </partitions>
 <oses>
  <id533365722 boot_as_ms71="0" boot_as_os2="0" boot_cd_entry="0" boot_partition="826766422" bootname="bootsect.sys" icon="icon_sys_vista" language="english" lba="1" name_template="%n%l %l(%ll%l)" nthide="0" os_type="nt7" system_root_identifier="0000000000000000000000000000000006000000000000004800000000000000000050060000000000000000000000000000000001000000520083fe00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\Windows" uninstall_info="1" use_manual_disks_order="0" write_boot="1">
   <partitions>
    <id826766422 active="1" />
   </partitions>
  </id533365722>
  <id903187694 boot_as_ms71="0" boot_as_os2="0" boot_cd_entry="0" bootname="bootsect.sys" icon="icon_sys_linux" language="" lba="1" name_template="%n%l %l(%ll%l)" nthide="0" os_type="linuxmbr" use_manual_disks_order="0" write_boot="0">
   <partitions>
    <id826766422 active="1" />
   </partitions>
  </id903187694>
 </oses>
 <checkfiles>
  <checkfile crc="21980" name="Boot\BCD" partition="826766422" size="28672" />
  <checkfile crc="60861" name="Boot\BCD" partition="2679811151" size="28672" />
 </checkfiles>
 <bootmgr default_os="903187694" disks_order_feature="1" />
 <uninstall_info>
  <active_lba_state>
   <p1-1 active="1" />
   <p1-2 />
   <p1-3 />
   <p1-5 />
   <p1-6 />
   <p1-4 />
  </active_lba_state>
 </uninstall_info>
</bootwiz>

I saved your changes to bootwizz.oss and rebooted but nothing so I restored grub then I booted to mint and then booted to restore and then reactivated OSS. A little penguin showed up with a Linux label and I click on it but it just reboots to OSS every time.

Can you please attach a copy of the BOOTWIZ.OSS file to your post instead of pasting it? It's hard to work with the pasted version.

Are you using the latest build of DD/OSS 11 (build 2343)?

Sorry, this is easier for me as well.

Can you please let me know if you're using DD 11 build 2343? Detection can be different between builds so it can help to know. The testing I did was with build 2343.

See if the attached file will let you boot to the Recovery partition.

For the Mint OS, did you check if the computer booted directly into Mint after doing the GRUB repair? If not, you may want to do the repair again and see. If it doesn't boot into Mint at that point other GRUB repairs may be required.

Hi MudCrab,
Yes it is DD 11 2343. After the GRUB repair it booted to Mint just fine. Should I do the Grub repair before or after putting the new bootwiz.oss in or not do the grub repair at all?
Thanks

Hi MudCrab,
Yes it is DD 11 2343. After the GRUB repair it booted to Mint just fine.  I went ahead and put it in without doing a grub repair.  Samsung recovery showed up in OSS and I could boot to it as well.  Linux is there in OSS but when I click on it, it just reboots to OSS.  Here is the bootwiz.oss after that
Thanks

Use the updated BOOTWIZ.OSS file before trying the GRUB repair again (if you try it). Otherwise, OSS may change ID values again.

Exactly what happens if you try to boot Mint from OSS? Is it instantly booting back to OSS? Any other screens shown?

I edited my reply while you were making your reply so check my last reply for what happened.

As far as I can tell from the file it looks okay. Can you attach the BOOTWIZ.LOG file so I can compare to mine?

My test system only has Mint on it. It's possible GRUB or OSS is acting differently because of Windows 7 also being on your system. I can test that setup and see if it also fails like yours is.

When you first installed Mint, was the system dual-booting through the GRUB menu? In other words, when you booted the computer did the GRUB menu appear and you would then select either Windows 7 or Mint?

Here it is.

It worked for a while and starting yesterday it stopped working.  I changed the label from Linux to Linux Mint on the icon withen OSS.  I don't know if that did it or not but that is when it stopped working.

Can you also attach a copy of the current BOOTWIZ.OSS file? It might be helpful to see if it changed anything.

Changing the label shouldn't have caused a problem, but OSS can be fussy sometimes about changes. Have you tried doing the Grub restore/OSS reactivate procedure again?

I'm going to run some tests right now and see if anything happens on my system.

My test system had Windows 7 installed (System Reserved and Windows 7 partition, both Primary). Then I installed Mint 12 (Swap and Mint 12, both Logical). I let Grub install as default (to the MBR). Grub detected Windows 7 and set up the menu for both Mint 12 and Windows 7. Next, I installed OSS, letting it place its files on the Windows 7 partition. OSS detected both Windows 7 and Mint and added them to the menu.

I've booted between them several times and so far it's working correctly.

Is there any notable difference between the configuration of my system and yours?

Could it be my hardware. That's the only thing I can think of.

It's certainly possible. OSS does have problems with some systems/setups.

If the Grub repair/OSS reactivate method works I would try it again and see if it sticks. Otherwise, the only thing left is to force Grub into the Linux partition. I've done this before and didn't have problems, but it's "not recommended" by Grub.

It worked! Why it didn't work before is a mystery.
Now if only some could tell me if Migrate Easy will copy all this over to a new hard drive, I would be set.

Thank you MudCrab!

I have never used Migrate Easy. You could try cloning the drive with DD. I would recommend booting to the DD CD if you do it this way.