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How to fix grub after a Windows Install

February 26, 2009

I've had Ubuntu installed on my laptop for ages. Recently, I've wanted to play some Windows games with my co-workers, so the other night I shrunk my Ubuntu 8.10 partition with gparted and installed Windows on the free space.

After that I had a little trouble getting grub installed again. Here's how I finally got it fixed.

  1. Boot from Ubuntu CD
  2. Mount my Ubuntu partition (mount /dev/sda1 /mnt)
  3. Edit grub's menu.lst file(/mnt/boot/grub/menu.lst). I added these lines at the bottom.
    title		Windows XP
    root		(hd0,1)
    makeactive
    chainloader	+1
        
  4. remount dev (mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev)
  5. remount prov (mount -o bind -t proc /proc /mnt/proc
  6. chroot (chroot /mnt)
  7. reinstall grub on the MBR (grub-install /dev/sda)
  8. exit and reboot

Logitech Keyboard

February 23, 2009

I purchased a Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro the other day, and so far it's working great. I'm running Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex. I plugged it in, and all of the standard keys work. There are a few "media" keys around the eges like zoom, music, photos, etc that don't. The volume buttons do work. In the short time that I've used it I've noticed that I do make more typos than I did with my Thinkpad keyboard. It may be that I'm still adjusting. For the past several years I've used an IBM Thinkpad keyboard almost exclusively.

The mouse stands out in my opinion. It's responsive to very small movements. The curves fit my hand very well. The buttons are just right. I especially like the scroll wheel. It's very easy to move, but at the same time it doesn't move more than I want it to. The back and forward buttons on the mouse work in Firefox, too.

I have noticed that the reception is not infallible. My desktop sits on the floor just to the right of my wooden desk which is a completely solid object. With the mouse and keyboard on top of the desk the mouse reception does not always reach the sensor. I fixed this by getting a USB extender cable, so the sensor could sit on top of the desk. However, without the solid desk in the way the reception works across the room.

If you're in the market for a keyboard/mouse. I hope this helps.

Copyright (c) 2009