(guide) How to boot ubuntu using MediaDirect Button

Hi, I just updated the spanish version here..

I added a FAQ and some people's suggestion that may help you.

Video HERE

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Important: the following is my own conclusion after my many and many searches. and it worked to me. I don't know what will happen with other MD version or notebook. so do it under your own RISK !

first of all, the credits belong to deadsimple for posting this useful link and to the kindly help of shoyer

I strongly recommend you to read that link

Notebook: M1330, 120gb, MD version 3.3

Step by step (remember under your own risk) :

1- I did a fresh install of vista (but this is not necessary). I inserted MD 3.3 disc , and booted from it. chose option 2 to resized my hard drive. I chose 80GB (because if later I shrink a space for Linux it will be at primary partition and will be easier the whole thing), the rest I use for windows data partition.

2- changed the MD disc with Vista disc (dell one) and boot into vista installation

3- in the partition window, choose "advance", since I won't use MD again, I chose the MD partition, and pressed "delete", so it became a unallocated partition. and then, I chose the 40 gb (windows data partition) and pressed "extent", then I resized it to 42 gb (what I actually did was merging the windows data partition with the MD partition)

4- after installing win vista. it's time to install ubuntu. I booted ubuntu live cd, when I pressed "start and install ubuntu 7.10" the screen became blank, looked like the screen signal has gone. Did some search, it was a bug of the splash screen. so I rebooted ubuntu live cd, in the menu, I pressed "F6" then replaced "quiet splash --" with "nosplash". it worked to me. (this is not necessary as long as you don't get the black screen)

5- once I successfully booted Ubuntu live. the installation began. when I was in the partition menu, I chose the first option which is the guided Installation. ubuntu will resize my 80GB partition (vista is previously installed). I scrolled it to about 60 GB because the free space (20 GB) is for Ubuntu.

6- when my Ubuntu installation finished, in terminal typed " sudo gparted" (you must install it first using " sudo apt-get install gparted") it showed me something like this: look at my attachment please

steps above are for people who is doing a fresh install. below are real steps

7- First, install GRUB on the partition where you installed Ubuntu. In a command line in Ubuntu (a live CD should work, too):

Code:

sudo grub

8- Then double check where Ubuntu is installed:

Code:

find /boot/grub/stage1

9- That should list the root devices grub is installed on. Look for something like (hd0,?)( in my case I got (hd0,3) )
Then

Code:

root (hd0,?)
setup (hd0,?)

where ? is that number from the last step.(in my case is "3")

10. Then configure Dell MediaDirect From the Windows command line, You MUST run cmd.exe in administrator mode:
Code:

Code:

X:\dellkit\rmbr.exe DELL Y Z

where X is the letter of your optical drive.(in my case it's 'E')

11- Replace 'Y' with the number of the partition you want the Power button to boot (in my case, it's 2 ), and replace 'Z' with the partition you want to boot if the MD button is pressed (in my case, Ubuntu is installed at partition 4). so I put

Code:

E:\dellkit\rmbr.exe DELL 2 4

*again, You MUST run cmd.exe in administrator mode

12- Now you should get to GRUB when you hit the MediaDirect button when the computer is off. You'll see the MediaDirect background for a short time and then GRUB will appear.

13. Finally, once that's working, reset the power button so it boots Windows directly. Boot from the Vista install CD and click Repair when the option comes up. Then click the option for command line, and type in the following:

Code:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot

Now Windows should be booting directly when you press the power button.

14- Once you've got all this working, it's just a matter of minor refinement to get other things working like adjusting the GRUB timing by opening your terminal in ubuntu typing:

Code:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

look for timeout, change the numer to '0' (this step is optional)

---------------------------------------------------------------
now you should be able to boot win vista using power button and Ubuntu using MD button.

if MD won't boot ubuntu suddenly, try to do step 10 and 11 again (I recommend you copy the dellkit folder from the MD disc to your windows )

Hope this help your guys


PD:
1- sorry for my bad English, if you found any Error please help me to improve my English lol

2- for spanish version here




FAQ:

1- I got a error of cyberlink when trying to run rmbr.exe
A: You MUST run cmd.exe in administrator mode

2- I got a partion tabler erro (without last "r")
A: try to update your BIOS

Suggestions/adjustment/comments from people that may help you(not special order):

 

Thank You!!!!! Buddy you deserve these Reps!!! I am just installing Vista on my new 64Gb SSD now.

 

WOW...and all this time we thought it wasn't possible...

 

no one understand my first guide :- ( lol

 

Gud work....I m gonna try it....If it woks...u'll earn reps

 

Here's what I want my drive to be when I receive my 1520:
-20gb WinXP
-20gb Linux and swap
-The rest for other stuff

Would it work if I do the following:
-Reformat drive, delete and combine all partitions including diagnostic and media direct and recovery.
-Split the drive into 3 (C, D, E) partitions and install windows XP in C
-Boot into ubuntu live cd and install it onto D
-Then follow the rest of your directions?

 

1- I don't think you can merge diagnostic partition, I just let it away.
2- I recommend you split into 2 partition like I did, C: 40 gb, D: rest. and them use ubuntu guided installation to resize the 40 gb to 20 and 20, so your ubuntu will be on a primary partition just like windows. doing this will avoid trouble of installing grub on linux partition. actually you can follow all my steps, just changing the size or partitions ( I give 60 windos, 20 linux, rest stuff)

 

Ok one more question. During the installation of ubuntu, did you install grub on the master boot record?

 

well, since when i installed ubuntu I didn't know that booting with media Direct button was possible. so I installed my grub on Master boot record, but step 13 is how to fix it later

 

hmm neato, and i was just about to reformat my laptop to update ubuntu and give it a little more space.

 

Next set of days off this is mine to explore... Got my review done (see site article page) and I got this nifty little 64Gb Samsing SSD to try it out on...if I can only figure out how to set the partitions.

 

shouldnt it be apt-get? (yes, my noobness made me try get-apt a few times in fustration)


and I didnt find timing in my menu.lst file, only timeout. same thing I guess.


when I boot using the media direct button,I sometimes get a blue screen with a "checksum error", anyone experience that?

 

OMG !! I did such noob error thank you very much.

Updated

Code:

when I boot using the media direct button,I sometimes get a blue screen with a "checksum error", anyone experience that?

hmm are you sure that your mediaDirect cd is fine?

 

I've only got one CD
dont know if it's fine anot.

 

hmm so strange :S, I did all the steps, and i got it, just like the video i posted. what notebook is it?

 

m1330, 160GB, nvidia card.

the pesky 2gb media direct partition keeps coming back after I deleted it.

 

I did it!!!!!! It was a heck of a job but i finally got Ubuntu to boot from the MD button while Vista boots from power...

Help and questions though Mr KOSSELL!!!!!

1. the boot takes about 45 seconds after a black screen. Any way to reduce this? I already set the boot time to 0.

2. Drivers!!! I need to find video and also my wlan driver is a Dell 1505. I cant get internet presently. Thoughts?? I can use all the drivers you can find.

Ill leave that for now and thanks...Putting her together one piece at a time. This system will be incredible if I can get the proper drivers. Love ubuntu so far!!

Word of the day.... Sudo!!!

 

Which wireless LAN module do you have? I have the Dell 1390 and got it working yesterday. If you have the same, I can tell you how I did it or you can search teh intarweb.

What about sound? I have Sigmatel HD audio that I got working yesterday as well.

 

I have the 1505 wireless n but I would try that. The sound would be appreciated as well. Im still fine tuning...

 

In my case, I went to System>Administration>Software Sources and enabled places where I wanted to download software from. I then used my wired ethernet connection. Then I went to System>Administration>Restricted Drivers Manager and found that my wireless driver was restricted because it uses a closed source firmware for functionality. I enabled it and the firmware was downloaded and after a reboot, I had wireless functionality.

For sound, I followed the instructions in the last message of the first page of this thread. Like magic, the sound started working.

 

1- what black screen? as you can see the video I posted, after grub, my screen became to black, looks like no video signal, but after about 30 -40 sec the login screen will appear, I don't know if u mean this black screen, if so, I don't know how to reduce the boot time :S (it boots faster than my vista anyway lol)

2- drivers, my wireless worked automatically in my m1330, and about video driver, you can try a program call "envy" it will install correctly any video driver for you with only one click, the legacy version is for old video card, new is for new video card lol. (but Internet connection is required, maybe you can try it using LAN)

hope I can help

 

I m sure that I deleted the 2 gb media direct partition. but today something strange happen. my windows data partition (30gb) will randomly change to a 2gb hard drive labeled "MEDIADIRECT" and it's just a blank partition, I can save stuff on it. and them will randomly turn back to my original windows DATA parition and
neither windows vista partition manager nor gparted shows this partition :S:S anyone got this problem?

 

Really great guide for re-mapping the MD button.... I think you can also boot the MD partition from GRUB itself by mentioning some optional boot parameters in GRUB for that entry and since you can do that why not try expanding the guide so that you can get all the 3 working - Vista, Linux and MediaDirect.... It would indeed be nice and an alternative method to mine....

 

Hey I'm having some trouble getting this to work for me. I can get the MD button to launch the GRUB. The power button will also launch the GRUB until I put the Vista repair in and then Vista is launched on both the power and MD buttons. I'm not sure where I am going wrong.

Vista is on the first partition and Ubuntu on the second. The GRUB is in the third part (hd0,2) if I understand the partitions correctly. Any help would be appriciated!

Great guide by the way. I'm sure I just have a number or two messed up somewhere.

 

I was in the exact scenario as you. If you were getting GRUB coming up upon pressing the power button, then GRUB was installed on the master boot record (MBR) and not the third partition. You need to do two things. Install GRUB on the appropriate Linux partition instead of the MBR and fix the MBR so it can launch Linux with the MediaDirect (MD) button and Vista with the power button. GRUB was installed on the master boot record. When you repaired it, you wiped out GRUB so now Linux can't launch. Also, the Vista repair knows nothing about MediaDirect, so both now buttons launch Vista.

Do you still have the Dell Diagnostic partition? If so, then Vista is on the second and Linux is on the third partition. If you wanted to install GRUB on the second partition, you should have put in hd0,1 (Linux starts counting partitions from 0).

To get GRUB installed on the right partition I had to reinstall Ubuntu. It sounds like you know this part, but I'll reiterate. At step 6 of the install, click the Advanced button. Instead of hd0, type hd0,1 (or whatever the appropriate partition number is). Remember, Linux starts counting from 0, so 1 would indicate the 2nd partition. Now GRUB should install in the right place. At this point, you won't be able to boot Linux until the MBR is configured correctly.

Now boot Vista and insert the MediaDirect CD. Open a command line Window. In my case, I had to find cmd.exe (in C:\Windows\System32 I believe) , right click it and select Run as Administrator. Now type D:/Dellkit/rmbr Dell 1 2. The 1 and 2 refer to the partition numbers (Windows counts partitions starting from 1, not 0) of the Vista and Linux partitions respectively. If you still have the Dell Diagnostic partition, you will have to increase all the partition numbers by 1.

This is what worked for me, except I installed GRUB on hd0,2 and for rmbr, I typed rmbr Dell 2 3.

 

With respect to this, was grub NOT installed automatically from the Live CD in the same directory as Ubuntu by default?

Secondly, this is what screwed me up as well. I got a check disk warniing after my installation, let it do its stuff to which it corrected some sectors. Only then did my Ubuntu not boot from the MD button. Vista did with also the much hated "Ntldr file is missing".

My partitioning is simple from the getgo. Its an ssd with 35 GB reduced during the partition process (in Ubuntu) to 20Gb Vista/15Gb Ubuntu and a separate logical driver of 5Gb is created for Ubuntu swap. This would have left me with around 20Gb for data. (Remember I run 4Gb and have no need for a large Vista swap file).

Did I not install grub or do the ubuntu installation correctly? I did the latter part 2,3.

I have other concerns as my Dell 1505n wireless did not work and i did not have the knowledge to get this fixed up as well, similar to my video which defaulted at 800x600.

 

By default, Ubuntu installs GRUB on the MBR. You install it onto the Linux partition as described in my previous post. I downloaded a program called Diskinternals Linux Reader which lets me see the contents of my Linux partitions in Windows. When I first installed Ubuntu, I was able to check the /boot directory and there was no GRUB there. Now that I reinstalled Ubuntu and specified hd0,2 during the install, there is a grub directory in /boot.

For your wireless and video, did you check your Restricted Driver Manager? On my Vostro 1500, the nVidia driver and Broadcom (Dell 1390) driver were both listed there.

 

DerKaiser thanks so much! I got it to boot from the Media Direct for Ubuntu and Windows from the power. I did it the exact same way that you did (with the 2 3) and it booted up perfectly. Just some more fine tuning and a lot of googling and I'll be set. I'm still new the the Linux community so this was a pretty big feat to complete. Thanks again to you and Kossel for the help!

 

Try Try again I guess... This is a difficult process, one which I normally should be picking up with no prob...

 

Are Windows and Linux really on the first two partitions of your SSD? If you still have the Dell Diagnostic partition, it would be partitions 2 and 3.

If Linux is really your second partition, you would need to install GRUB on hd0,1 and for running rmbr, it would be rmbr Dell 1 2.

 

No...I am on a Samsung so...there is no Dell Diag unless it is reinstalled in the primary activities of MD3.3 when i first throw that in and it creates new partitions.

 

I havent tried installing Ubuntu but doesnt Ubuntu give you a choice of where to install GRUB during the install process ? I believe that option will be available somewhere since I've seen it with popular distros like Fedora Core, OpenSuse, Mandriva and all....

Or may be Ubuntu would have liked to kept it simple by overwriting the MBR without asking.... If that is the case go for OpenSuse or FC

 

Ubuntu does give you a choice to not install GRUB on the MBR as discussed on the previous page, but it is definitely not obvious what you're supposed to do.

The only way you would know is if you did your research ahead of time.

 

hey guys! big thanks for your post!
i am trying to do this on my inspiron 1720
i have 2 hdds!
2*110 gb
On the first is winxp
the 2nd is empty
i want to give Ubuntu 50% of the 2nd
so where should i install grub?
hd1.0 ?
or should i format the 2nd hdd in windows as a extended and not a primary?

 

why resizing with media direct cd?
and getting this **** lil diagnostic partition?
i tried it with clean windows on 1 empty partition > resized it in ubuntu install so i had 80gb windows and 30gb ubuntu>
made all perfekt >diddnt work
when i boot from md-button > media direct screen with " extended partition table erro!" ( really without the "r") appears
so do you think it has smth todo with the first media dircet resizing?
i cant understand it, because in the next step u format all MD- partitions so
which diffrence makes the first mediadirect resizing??

 

to know where to install grub follow step 7, 8 ,9
i have never try install on 2 different hdd. but, i dont think it's a problem, simply use right "Letter" and right "number"
why i use md resize, look ur PM
hope can help

 

I have an M1530. I want to do the same with XP, is it the same process?

Also, would you be able to fix the guide concerning installing/not installing GRUB into MBR etc, I'm proficient at Windows, but I have hardly any idea about booting from partitions, let alone understanding how to work around MediaDirect.

Also, can someone tell me what pressing the MediaDirect actually button does? How does it know what partition MediaDirect is installed on?

Sorry for the questions, but this is a steep learning curve.

Thanks.

 

Yeah, having the MD button to boot XP would be awesome!!! Then I could get rid of the MD partition without the worry of hitting the stupid MD button.... I'm really noob at this GRUB thing and booting.... so ANY help on doing this would be appreciated (a walk through would be prime!)

 

Really amazing feature!...but i'd like to ask you just a little thing: IMHO i would prefer to install winXP in 1st partition e Ubuntu in 2nd partition, without running MD before this...only then procede with rmbr, fixmbr and fixboot.

Do you think it will be working?

thanks a lot, bye!

 

hi guys, i've tried to do this and I got a bit stuck.
My laptop arrived yesterday, so I had all the default partitions that dell makes.
One 100 mb long that I dont know what it is
10 gb recovery partition
150+ gb Vista
2 gb Media direct

I loaded the live cd and used gparted to only leave:
100 mb strange partition
60 gb vista
70 gb ntfs extended partition for data
20 gb free for the install

I started the installation and choose the option to use the largest piece of space to install ubuntu. I didnt unchecked or modify the option for where to install grub, so everything was default.
After the installation, I rebooted and grub appeared but if I try to load vista, it just reboots.
I don't know how to fix grub so it loads vista correctly :S

Any help would be very appreciate

Thanks

 

Can you install XP instead of Ubuntu?

Also, will removing the MD partition/program have any effect on my front media buttons?

 

Ok I give up. I've made a fresh install of vista + ubuntu. First vista, 60 gb on partition 2 (first partition is 100 mb dell strange one).
Then I installed ubuntu, creating a 70 gb ntfs partition, a 800 mb swap and 21 gb ext3 for linux.
I choose to install grub on hd 0,5 which is the ext3 partition.

If I press the power button, vista loads perfectly, but if I press the media direct button, it says MD partition table erro and that.

I've used "rmbr.exe DELL 2 4" because on disk management in vista I see:
100 mb partition // vista // ntfs // ext3 // swap,
So I guess I have to use 2 for vista and 4 for ext3 (ubuntu with grub installed on it).

What i'm doing wrong??

 

Hi,

I'm having the same issue with the partition table error when trying to get MD to boot linux.
Does anyone know what MD is expecting in the partition table? I have a perfectly simple partition table consisting of:

1. DELL
2. Recovery
3. Vista
4. Extended
5. Linux
6. Linux swap

I've tried booting both the extended partition with MD, and setting the recovery to a /boot partition to see if it prefered primary partitions, but the error remains.

Does it perhaps object to booting from a partition table that happens to contain any extended partitions?

If anyone has any thoughts/ suggestions they'd be greatly appreciated.

Oliver206: Your linux install is on the fifth partition, and partition 4 is the extended one. Did you install grub to the ext3 partition, or into the start of the extended?
I suspect this error is an exception to the partition table altogether though, and not to do with which partition it is pointed to...

 

HI people,

great guide worked really well, but now im getting a strange problem. Every time i boot into windows it makes my linux partion unbootable, this can be fixed by booting into a live cd and marking the partion as bootable again but thats a pain. any ideas?

i also got a mediadirect partition back but it didn't seem to erase any other partitions so no big deal.

cheers

 

hey
Don't work on my notebook.
1. DELL
2. Vista
4. PRIVAT
5. Linux
6. Linux s
wap

ok

I followed the guide but it will not work

1. Insert Media Direct DVD, choose "2"
2. Insert Vista, delete the media direct partition and created
- 1 C:/ Partition for Vista
- 2 D:/ Partition
- 3 I let the rest for linux later
3. install Vista
4. insert Ubuntu CD and installed
5. set now one ext partition and one swap partiton, now I have
- 1 C:/ Partition for Vista
- 2 D:/ Partition
- 3 Linux swap
- 4 Linux ext
6. than "rmbr.exe DELL 2 4"

Ok, than I shutdown a started with de MD Button and it got the grub.
than with vista dvd fixmbr & fixboot
than I shutdown and started with the Power Button and I got the error "Bootmgr is missing"
than I tried to rebuild the bootsektor. After a lot of trying vista boots.
but it was strange, in vista explorer I had 3 partitionen. C - Vista || D - Privat || E - Media Direct with only some kb on it
than I restarted and this partiton was away.
Starting with MD or Power Button is the same -> got always to the grub.

Now I will try again fixmbr and fixboot....I hope I don't get again "bootmgr is missing"

have somebody an idea why i got this error?

 

hey guys, I'm going to rewrite this guide later, with a esiear way.(due to more people failed than succeed) so plz stop following this guide before I update it. thanks

(not now, cuz I'm quite busy this month, maybe beginning of February)

 

Seems consistent with your partition table at the time
Power should boot partition 2, which is D: and has no boot manager.
MD should boot partition 4 which is Linux and has grub on it.

Try with rmbr.exe DELL 1 4

(backup any valuable data before doing that)

 

I've noticed the spanish version of the new guide is out today: http://www.blog.iknition.net/2008/dual-boot-ubuntu-vista-usando-dell-mediadirect/

 

Can I just stress how important it is to get this command right:

Code:

X:\dellkit\rmbr.exe DELL Y Z

I've spent a good few hours trying to istall my perfect system, which is Vista booted from the power button, and (a certain OS named after a wild feline that I can't name on these boards, and Linux Mint) booted via GRUB off the MD button. But I came to that command, got it wrong, and it completely destroyed my MBR. It's gonna be a few more hours before I can try again now....

A few lessons: back up your MBR; and practice makes perfect.

 

lol u r right, I reinstalled my system like 20 - 30 times (not a joke !)

basically Y Z are the number showed on "geparted"